The Dalai Lama arrives in Israel

Holy man in the Holy Land
By SIGALIT AVIGDORY-RUPERT


The arrival of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama in Israel yesterday has generated only mild attention from the general public. After all, what relevance to the lives of ordinary Israelis can this venerable Buddhist monk (and Nobel peace laureate) bring?

The answer is: A great deal. We need only appreciate what a rare opportunity we have to learn from one of the most respected religious figures in the world, one whose concern for our own concerns is untainted by history or culture. After all, he is not a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew.

We can learn from his kindness.

Kindness, he has said, is his religion in a single word. Wouldn't it be grand if more of our religious thinkers and writers could achieve that economy of expression?

It's simple to be kind, it's a practice we all need, and it will always make our days better.

"To be happy is easy," he said, "Because when you make someone else happy, you always get happy yourself. So, you see, twice the happy but only half the work."

Try that on anyone. It always works.

We can learn from his scholarship. The Dalai Lama is no devotional guru followed by the faithful. His Holiness is a keen scholar, conversant in many languages, and the author of numerous books. His wisdom lies in the same economy of thought. He believes that making an effort to end violence, anger and anxiety both in our world and in ourselves is essential even if everything - to a pure Buddhist - is temporary.

He teaches: "As anger is a phenomenon, like all other phenomena it cannot exist without dependence on other phenomena. Hence it cannot be eternal. It would be useless to work against an eternal state, but since all negative states are phenomena, we have both the opportunity to change them, and with proper effort, to end them."

COMPASSION isn't just being nice, it's a logical practice.
We can learn from him as a warrior: "All beings want exactly the same things, they want to be happy, and they don't want to suffer." It takes real strength of mind to extend that line of thought to those we consider unalterable enemies and political opponents, but it is true.

Continued - http://snipurl.com/mmg1