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As
the leader of the Tibetan people His Holiness the 14th
Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, leads a life of exile in India.
After an uprising against Chinese rule 42 years ago, the
Dalai Lama fled, followed by thousands of Tibetans.
In
1989 the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The citation read, "The Committee wants to emphasise
the fact that the Dalai Lama in his struggle for the liberation
of Tibet consistently has opposed the use of violence.
He has instead advocated peaceful solutions based upon
tolerance and mutual respect in order to preserve the
historical and cultural heritage of his people."
This
"simple Buddhist monk" is considered by some
to be one of the world's enduring figures of struggle
and compassion against oppression.
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As a boy
studying Buddhism, I was taught the importance of a caring attitude
toward the environment. Our practice of non-violence applies
not just to human beings but to all sentient beings any living
thing that has a mind. Where there is a mind, there are feelings
such as pain, pleasure, and joy. No sentient being wants pain;
all want happiness instead. I believe that all sentient beings
share these feelings at some basic level.
In
Buddhist practice we get so used to this idea of non-violence
and the ending of all suffering that we become accustomed to not
harming or destroying anything indiscriminately. Although we do
not believe that trees or flowers have minds, we treat them also
with respect. Thus we share a sense of universal responsibility
for both mankind and nature.
Our
belief in reincarnation is one example of our concern for the
future. If you think that you will be reborn, you are likely to
say to yourself, I have to preserve such and such because my future
reincarnation will be able to continue with these things. Even
though there is a chance you may be reborn as a different creature,
perhaps even on a different planet, the idea of reincarnation
gives you reason to have direct concern about this planet and
future generations.
In
the West when you speak of "humanity," you usually mean
only our existing generation of human beings. Past humanity is
already gone. The Future, like death, has yet to come. Western
ideas usually deal with the political side of things for only
this present generation of human beings.
Tibetan
feelings about the environment are not based entirely on religion.
They are derived from the whole Tibetan way of life, not just
from Buddhism. For example, consider Buddhism in Japan or Thailand,
in environments different from ours. Their culture and their attitudes
are not the same as ours. Our unique environment has strongly
influenced us. We don't live on a small, heavily populated island.
Historically, we have had little anxiety with our vast area, low
population, and distant neighbour. We haven't felt as oppressed
as people in many other human communities.
It
is very possible to practice the essence of a faith or culture
without practising a religion. Our Tibetan culture, although highly
influenced by Buddhism, did not gain all its philosophy from Buddhism
I once suggested to an organisation dealing with Tibetan refugees
that it would be interesting to do some research on how much our
people have been affected by their approach to life itself in
Tibet. What are the factors that make Tibetans generally happy
and calm? People are always looking for answers in our unique
religion, forgetting that our environment is just as unusual.
Concern
for the environment is not necessarily holy, nor does it always
require compassion. We Buddhists express compassion for all sentient
beings, but this compassion is not necessarily extended to every
rock or tree or house. Most of us are somewhat concerned about
our own house, but not really compassionate about it. We keep
it in order so that we can live and be happy. We know that to
have happy feelings in our house we must take care of it. So our
feelings may be of concern rather than compassion.
Similarly,
our planet is our house, and we must keep it in order and take
care of it if we are genuinely concerned about happiness for ourselves,
our children, our friends, and other sentient beings who share
this great house with us. If we think of the planet as our house
or as our mother-Mother Earth we automatically Feel concern For
our environment. Today we understand that the future of humanity
very much depends on our planet, and that the future of the planet
very much depends on humanity. But this has not always been so
clear to us. Until now, you see, Mother Earth has somehow tolerated
sloppy house habits. But now human use, population, and technology
have reached that certain stage where Mother Earth no longer accepts
our presence with silence. In many ways she is now telling us,
"My children are behaving badly." She is warning us
that there are limits to our actions.
The
Tibetan Buddhist attitude is one of contentment, and there may
be some connection here with our attitude toward the environment.
We don't indiscriminately consume. We put a limit on our consumption.
We admire simple living and individual responsibility. We have
always considered ourselves as part of our environment, but not
just any part. Our ancient scriptures speak of the container and
the contained. The world is the container our house and we are
the contained the contents of the container. From these simple
facts we deduce a special relationship, because without the container,
the contents cannot be contained. Without the contents, the container
contains nothing. It's meaningless.
In
my Five Point Peace Plan I have proposed that all of Tibet become
a sanctuary, a zone of peace. Tibet was that once, but with no
official designation. Peace means harmony: harmony between people,
between people and animals, between sentient beings and the environment.
Visitors from all over the world could come to Tibet to experience
peace, harmony. Instead of building big hotels with many stories
and many rooms, we would make small buildings, more like private
homes, that would be in better harmony with nature.
It
is not at all wrong for humans to use nature to make useful things,
but we must not exploit nature unnecessarily. It is good to live
in a house, to have medicines, and to be able to drive somewhere
in a car. In the right hands, a machine is not a luxury, but something
very useful. A camera, for example, can be used to make pictures
that promote understanding.
But
everything has its limit. Too much consumption or effort to make
money is no good. Neither is too much contentment. In principle,
contentment is a goal, but pure contentment becomes almost like
suicide, doesn't it? I think the Tibetans had, in certain fields,
too much contentment. And we lost our country. These days we cannot
afford too much contentment about the environment.
Peace
and survival of life on earth as we know it are threatened by
human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values.
Destruction of nature and natural resources results from ignorance,
greed, and lack of respect for the earth's living things. This
lack of respect extends even to the earth's human descendants,
the future generations who will inherit a vastly degraded planet
if world peace does not become a reality and if destruction of
the natural environment continues at the present rate.
Our
ancestors viewed the earth as rich and bountiful, which it is.
Many people in the past also saw nature as inexhaustibly sustainable,
which we now know is the case only if we care for it. It is not
difficult to forgive destruction in the past that resulted from
ignorance. Today, however, we have access to more information.
It is essential that we re-examine ethically what we have inherited,
what we are responsible for, and what we will pass on to coming
generations.
Clearly
this is a pivotal generation. Global communication is possible,
yet confrontations take place more often than meaningful dialogues
for peace. Our marvels of science and technology are matched,
if not outweighed, by many current tragedies, including human
starvation in some parts of the world and extinction of other
life-forms.. Exploration of outer space takes place at the same
time the earth's own oceans, seas, and freshwater areas grow increasingly
polluted, and their life-forms are still largely unknown or misunderstood.
Many of the earth's habitats, animals, plants, insects, and even
micro-organisms that we know as rare may not be known at all by
future generations. We have the capability and the responsibility.
We must act before it is too late.
(My
Tibet - The Dalai Lama and Galen Rowell)
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