KALACHAKRA 2000

SPITI / INDIA
a public talk
by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama
August 10th, 2000

His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

Of course, I am very happy to be here. People are really showing genuine
faith, genuine interest about the Dharma and particularly
about Buddhadharma. There are quite a large number of people from
different places, including Europeans, who came to participate
in this gathering. So I am very happy. I feel this is important because,
you know, in our modern time people usually show much
attraction towards the material, sometimes we neglect our inner value.
In order to be a happy person and to have a happy family, the inner
human value is something very very essential. So, I always try to promote
basic human values - irrespective of whether you believe in religion or
not. Despite the difficulty to reach here and the uncomfortable
accommodation, still quite many people come and that means - they
desire the Dharma.
And what is Dharma - it is another way to strengthen human values.
Therefore I am very happy. I am mentally very happy, but physically not
very fit; because of high altitude I have some headaches. I think you also
have a similar experience.

According to my own past experience, whenever Kalachakra initiation

takes place, a big gathering usually happens. This gathering takes place
not for business or for watching a play, it is a spiritual matter.

Therefore, at least I think, that the positive motivation, positive

spirituality and positive experience - happening at the same place at the
same time - can make some contribution. At least regarding peace of
mind concerning people and also some positive impact on ecology and the
whole place. Therefore I have some enthusiasm to perform the Kalachakra
initiation and here at this remote place this has materialized now, so I am
quite happy. That's the additional benefit.

I personally lay more emphasis and give more importance to the

preliminary teachings before the initiation. They last a few days and I
always consider them more important, because they are a more or less
thorough explanation of Buddhadharma - how to practice, what's the
value and what's the benefit.

Sometimes it is like this - we announce that there is the Kalachakra

initiation, so people come, but actually my interests are the preliminary
teachings. A little trick. You see, if you announce only the preliminary
teachings, people may not come, but when you show that there will be a
Kalachakra initiation, then they come.

The essence of preliminary teachings is explaining the Buddhadharma,

human life, how to develop peace of mind and how to have a happy life.
After a few days of preliminaries a lot of complicated rituals follow and
only if you have a good knowledge of Buddhadharma and especially
Tantrayana, you can understand these rituals. Otherwise you may get
only more confused.

Question: What challenges is Buddhism finding in India, excluding the

Himalayan region?

His Holiness: India as a whole is a historical place of Buddhadharma. All

the great Buddhist masters like Nagarjuna and Asanga come from India,
and from India Buddhism spread to different places - Southeast Asia, Sri
Lanka, China, Japan, Tibet, Mongolia and a part of Siberia.
Then, at one time Buddhism in India declined. Of course, the Hinduism
and Buddhism are like twin brothers, there are many similarities like
samadhi (calm abiding) and vipassana (special insight) and also some
tantric teachings - Hindus are also involved in that. One unique thing
about Buddhism is the concept of dependent arising.

Now in the 20th century people in India are gradually once more taking
interest in Buddhism.
People in all northern Himalaya - Ladakh, Spiti, Arunachal, Sikkim and
also in other areas - already have the Tibetan Buddhist culture as well as
Buddhism. In the last 41 years since I came to this area, I noticed that
people's realization of their own cultural heritage, including
Buddhadharma, has been growing and this is a very positive development.

But still it is not sufficient to have just a few gompas or temples there.
They must study and learn the Buddhadharma, just praying and reciting
some mantras is not sufficient. They must study!

Question: What contribution is Buddhism making to the human heritage?

His Holiness: It's a matter of fact that a lot of changes are taking place in
the sense of material development. We have technology and science and
that's very good. But at the same time, as I mentioned earlier, the human
needs cannot be fulfilled by money alone. That's very clear, we can see
that there are people who have all the material facilities, but still they are
very unhappy.
That means, if money alone could remove all problems, dissatisfaction and
unhappiness, rich people should not have any reasons to complain.

Therefore, spirituality and human values are very essential. There are two
levels of spirituality - one even without a religious belief - simply to
remain a good human being without any religious faith.

The basic human nature is gentleness. The seed of a sense of caring for
one another is in our blood, because the human being is a social animal.
Therefore, right from the beginning the seed of community is there in our
mind.

According to medical science it is like this - even an unborn child still in

the mother's womb can recognize the mother's voice. This is due to the
fact that one's existence is very much dependent on the mother's
affection. That means, even before birth there is a sense of closeness,
because of one's own survival one needs someone to rely on. Even in the
few weeks after birth, according to medical scientists, the mother's
physical touch is the most important thing for a proper development of
the brain.

These are the signs that we are human beings, these are the indications
of how important human affection is. The sense of community, caring for
one another, sharing with one another, a more compassionate attitude, a
warm heart - these are basic human values. If these are present, a person
will be happy, one's whole life and family will be happier and more
successful.

Basically, we want to have a happy life, that's our aim whether we are
believers or non-believers. One factor is money, but the main factor is
peace of mind and this comes only if you have a warm heart. This basic
human value is essential.

Now the real answer to your question - various religious traditions have a
great potential to promote these human values and Buddhism is one of
them. One unique thing about Buddhism is the concept of dependent
arising, which gets on very well with the scientific point of view. Some
scientists are beginning to show interest in Buddhist concepts.

In fact, one of the leading Indian scientists, someone who is compared

with Socrates - some people even call him "Indian Socrates", once he
attended a conference and according to his paper, he found similarities to
Nagarjuna's work, he found very similar things about nature and reality.
One example is the concept of quantum physics - the Buddhist
interdependency theory is very similar.
If we investigate, there is no independent substance. Existence happens
due to many factors - not by itself. In quantum theory they have come to
similar conclusions. So, there are many similarities. Regarding the world
evolution - the Darwin theory - there are also quite similar ideas.
Therefore it happens more and more that scientists show genuine interest
in the Dharma. According to my own experience of the last 10-15 years
when I was regularly meeting with scientists, so far there are four fields of
common interest:

∙ cosmology
∙ neurobiology
∙ quantum physics
∙ psychology

In these four fields there are similarities between scientific and Buddhist
concepts. Meeting and discussing with scientists in these four fields is
important, and we Buddhists also got great benefits learning from the
latest scientific findings in these fields.

Of course, scientific explanation or understanding is much deeper than

Buddhist explanation, so it is very useful to learn from the scientific
findings. Referring to scientists as well - the Buddhist explanation gives
them a new way of looking at their field.

One example - on one occasion I was meeting some scientists in California

and there were some scientists who did not have any opportunity to have
a dialogue with Buddhism before. Some of them got a little bored at the
beginning; their attitude was that they couldn't learn anything from
Buddhism. Then the seminar started, and after one or two sessions they
developed a great enthusiasm to learn something new, they got very
interested in specific points and they were coming up with incessant
questions.

Therefore I feel that Buddhism can help to bring closer science and
Dharma. In the last century science and Dharma went generally in
different directions, because scientists had the feeling that Dharma is
based on faith without much reason, just on acceptance. The scientists`
way is more skeptical and carries out more investigation, brings more
questions.

Also, in Buddhism and especially in Mahayana Buddhism the approach

gives importance to remaining skeptical. Even Buddha's own words say
that we must remain skeptical and investigate, study, experiment and
that's quite similar to the scientific approach. We should not accept
blindly, we should remain open and skeptical - then investigate and
experiment.

Therefore I feel that Buddhism certainly can make a contribution

regarding the promotion of human knowledge. And through that way it
certainly has the potential to make a contribution regarding the peace of
mind. And that's the foundation of world peace.
Question: There were already six Kalachakras taking place in this
mountain area, but no effect. People are not becoming Buddhists?

His Holiness: There are many Hindus, but it's a different faith. Kalachakra
is a teaching meant for Buddhists.

Question: On basic human value. Relationships between men and women

in the west are falling apart. Where is the problem and what are basically
the things we could do better?

His Holiness: Marriage should not be done just on the basis of physical
attraction. I think marriage should happen on the basis of recognition or
understanding of each other's qualities. It is important to develop genuine
respect, not just physical attraction. When both sides develop genuine
respect, some kind of admiration of one another comes and then the
marriage could be a long lasting marriage. I see people getting married
without knowing each other, just because of physical attraction. Then, for
two weeks they are mad, get married and after two months it's finished.
Of course sexual freedom is very good, but going to the extreme without
self-discipline - sometimes that's a real disaster!

In the human way of life there should be more balance, discipline is not
just a religious matter. There is always some conflict between the long-
term interest and the short-term interest. In order to save the long-term
interest sometimes we have to sacrifice the short time interest and
benefit. So, you need discipline. Some sense? No sense?

Question: What makes you always happy?

His Holiness: I take it easy. I always try to take things lightly. Then
another factor is that one should be truthful, sincere and hide nothing,
just be open. So I say whatever I feel. That's one factor.

Whenever I meet someone, I consider him a human being, there are no

differences between people. Emotionally, mentally and physically we are
all the same, we all have the same potential for good and bad. Nobody is
a stranger, we are all brothers and sisters. I think that's the source of my
happiness. I always feel happy whenever I meet someone.
Question: When I met you the first time we were both 25 years younger.
It was in Dharamsala at a public audience. I want to repeat my silly
question I asked you there. Again - do you think we will have the chance
to meet one day in Lhasa?

His Holiness: I think most probably, there's real hope. I will give you one
simple answer - If we look at the Tibetan situation locally, then we see the
things as very difficult. We get the feeling of hopelessness and
desperation.

But if we look at the Tibetan issue from a wider, global perspective, then
there is real hope; you can realize that things are changing a lot, people
from China itself are in the process of changing. On the other side, the
Tibetan spirit is very strong. I think from this wider perspective there is
real hope. Therefore it is possible.

Question: Why are Westerners so interested in Kalachakra and what are

the benefits of Kalachakra?

His Holiness: Individually speaking, when you talk about receiving benefits
from Kalachakra, it's very much dependent on the level of fundamental
knowledge of Buddhism. So, if it is someone who at least has a basic
knowledge of the Buddhadharma and some experience, mainly of
bodhicitta* and understanding of shunyata (emptiness), then the initiation
of Kalachakra certainly makes some progress for this person, it will make
the mind serviceable for further spiritual development.

If the person has not much of these basic qualities - then it's difficult!
bodhicitta - the altruistic wish to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of
all sentient beings

Q: So, why do they come?

A: Curiosity!

Question: Why did you decide to give the full Kalachakra initiation?

His Holiness: In the West I usually give the vase initiation and also the
initiations that are the maturing factors for the completion stage practice.
Then, like in Bodhgaya and once or twice in South India, there are many
young important lamas and they will have the responsibility for future
initiations. So these people get the complete initiation. I am willing to give
the full initiations, but it also depends on my physical condition. If I am
too tired, I better go to sleep.
Question: I am studying the mandala from the symbolic point of view.
Doesn't Kalachakra itself have healing energy, even for Non-Buddhists?

His Holiness: Healing power - I don't know. Actually, I am very skeptical

about this. I often see people who come to see me and they think that I
might have some healing power. That's nonsense. If I myself had these
healing powers, I should not have these physical problems here.

I can see some people coming out of curiosity - this is no problem. Then I
see some people coming with great expectations - that's wrong, because
they get disappointed. The worst thing is if somebody comes thinking that
I have healing powers - then that's a great disaster.

Basically, I am very skeptical about this sort of healing powers. As I

mentioned earlier - if there is someone who has a healing power, then I
want to show this person my skin disease - I've had it for more than 45
years, since 1955 when I visited China. I still have it.

Question: This is the first Kalachakra of the millennium and you're calling
it "Kalachakra for World Peace". Do you see in the coming century less
and less or more and more conflicts to be resolved between the northern
richer world and the southern world? On what ground do we meet?

His Holiness: I don't have much interest concerning new and old
millenniums, there's not much difference. But I feel the 20th century
perhaps was one of the most important ones. In this century humanity
carried out many experiments in many fields - ideology, science,
technology... Within the century itself, I think, a lot of things changed.
The human concept at the end of the 20th century is much different than
it was at the beginning of it.

I think in this 20th century we human beings gained many experiences.

As a result I think humanity, generally speaking, was becoming more
mature. One indication is that the concern about the environment - a very
positive development, as well as the concept of non-violence and peace.

Look at South Africa. Under the leadership of Nelson Mandela the concept
of non-violence is actually becoming a political reality. So you can see that
in many places the concept of peace and non-violence is becoming really
very strong.

A lot of positive changes took place in many other things as well. I think
the new 21st century will be more peaceful. I am quite sure that if human
beings will handle the problems on the basis of our past experience -
properly and wisely, with more patience, then the 21st century will be
more peaceful, more harmonious.
Now your question about North and South - rich and poor. This gap is a
very serious matter. Not just on a global level, also within the nations
themselves. In the U.S., a very rich country with the strongest
consumerism, some people are very rich, but the gap between rich and
poor is huge.

The number of people is increasing, but the poor still remain poor. Even in
Washington, the capital of a great nation, the richest nation, the most
powerful nation - you can see a lot of poor people there. This is not only
morally wrong, but also practically a source of problems. So, we have to
deal with this. I think on the government level people have a great
responsibility. But also, each individual and each family in the community
has the responsibility to try to change this situation.

Also in India, like in Bombay - some of the families are very rich, some
are very poor. There are lots of children without anything, without
education, they have no proper food and no shelter. You can see a lot of
slum children on the street.

Question: What about my question?

His Holiness: In America and also in many other places I can see this - the
lifestyle of the richer side is too expensive, that's useless, it's an illusion.
From their side, out of their money profit they should spend more money
helping the poor ones, their education. Then from the poor people's side,
they develop hate towards the rich families. They should not do like that.
They should concentrate on education and with self-confidence - through
education and hard work - they can make it. And the richer families
should provide them facilities. I mentioned this in South Africa, too. A sad
problem is that these people feel inferior. Once in Sueto, South Africa, I
visited one family of black Africans. They really enjoy Indian music and
they played it very loudly. That family arranged a tea for me and as I was
very thirsty, I found it very delicious. Then I found something to discuss
with them.

One young, energetic man introduced me to his teacher and I told the
teacher that he has a great opportunity to serve their community, that he
should spread the feeling that white and black people are equal. Not only
according to the constitution, mentally and emotionally as well. They must
have that feeling of equality.
But he said: "We black people are inferior, we can't compete with white
people".
In that moment I really felt very sad. Then I told him that that's
absolutely wrong. We are the same emotionally, intellectually, physically
and mentally. Now the new constitution gives the same opportunity to all.

Then I mentioned my own case. Unfortunately, in Tibet, the Chinese

communist propaganda says that the Han-people are much more
advanced and they call the ethnic-people like Tibetans "barbaric". Usually
they describe the Tibetan culture and the Tibetan way of life as backward.

After we came to India as refugees, we built our own community and we

carry on different activities for the preservation of Tibetan culture and
learning new things. I explained him something about our own
experience.

So, you see that sometimes the situation creates a certain impression, but
in reality we are all the same - Tibetans and our Chinese brothers and
sisters. Actually, we have the same potential. We are same - whatever the
Chinese can do, we Tibetans can do as well.

Then with a low voice this black person turned to me with tears in his
eyes: "Yes, now I believe, we are all the same". At that moment I felt a
tremendous relief.

So, this is the problem. People from poor sections usually have the feeling
of inferiority and out of this feeling some kind of hatred arouses and that
causes self-destruction. So, the poorer section should have self-confidence
and put much effort in education. I think that's the proper way and in the
long run the only way to make the gap smaller in a friendly and peaceful
way.

You can see this also in Brazil - rich families and street children. Every
night some get killed, they have no protection, nothing. This is really sad.

So, finished. You can go....

Question: (about India) ?

His Holiness: India is a great country. With a long history and a rich
culture. I think, as far as spirituality is concerned, this is the nation with
the longest, richest and most profound philosophical and religious
tradition.

The remarkable thing is religious tolerance (ahimsa). Through centuries

there have developed local religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism,
Sikhism and many other religions and besides the native religions it
provided shelter for Zoroastrians, Christians, Muslims and others. That's a
great thing.

In the outside world, like in the West, religious tolerance is something

strange. Even within Christianity Catholics and Protestants have usually
very much distance.

In India, especially in South India, you can see - one family Hindus, one
family Muslims, one family Christians. No quarrel! This is the greatness of
India and these are the foundations of non-violence. On the religious level
and also on the social level we have no violence. This richness of India
must stay alive. Despite some difficulties, this spirit must be kept alive.

Sometimes I tell this as a joke to my Indian friends:

In the 20th century the Indian export to the outside was non-violence. But
then what happened - too much export and not enough production in the
country. That was a mistake. You must export continuously and in the
meantime produce more - otherwise there is nothing left here and that's a
disgrace.

Then, of course, I am Tibetan, I am a Buddhist. The relation between

Indians and Tibetans is like the relation between guru and chela (disciple).
We are chela - you are guru. Nagarjuna, Arya Asanga and others - they all
were Indian masters. Without their wisdom - Tibetans´ mind and eyes
would still be closed, so we always feel grateful.

But sometimes the chela's knowledge and wisdom - as far as Buddhism is

concerned - is better than the guru's knowledge. (laughing)