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| Source: HH the Dalai Lama. Photo by Ven Tenzin Jamphel. HH the Dalai Lama answering a question from the virtual audience from his residence in Dharamsala, HP, India on September 28, 2020. |
His Holiness (HH) the Dalai Lama recommends using compassion to counter negative emotions and exposing ourselves to different religions and cultures to help attain religious harmony. The more contact we have with people who have different histories, religions and culture, the more likely we will have to experience the feeling of sameness and oneness, he said.
"We should not remain isolated. We should develop more concepts of other religions," he said in an online dialogue with Professor Professor Emeritus Datuk Osman Bakar, the Al-Ghazzali Chair of Epistemology and Civilizational Studies at International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization (ISTAC) about Compassion and Mercy as the Common Values Between Islam and Buddhism on September 28, 2020.
“One of my commitments is to encouraging harmony among our different religious traditions. The simple reason for this is that they all teach compassion. A sense of concern for other beings is part of human nature. Human life depends on living in a community," he said.
“In our world today, everyone wants to live a happy life and indeed everyone has a right to a happy life. Yet we face problems, many of which are of our own making. If we look a little deeper, we may see that loving kindness is the key to our survival — and all religions teach the virtue of kindness and compassion.”
Professor Emeritus Datuk Osman Bakar called the meeting a significant one for Malaysia as Islam and Buddhism are the two largest religions in the country and in the wider Southeast Asian region. He said that the purpose of such an interreligious dialogue is to identify what the traditions have in common in order to nurture a culture of mutual respect.
Professor Osman shared that mercy (رحمة, rahmah) is the essence of Islam and may be defined as compassion, love, mercy, and kindness. It is comparable to what karuna (करुणा) or compassion means to Buddhists and what agape (ἀγάπη) or love signifies for Christians. Mercy, he said, is the most divine attribute of God, who is described as ‘most gracious’ (الرحمان, Ar-Rahman) and most compassionate (ٱلرَّحِيمِ, Ar-Rahim). Mercy to the world (رحمتہ للعالمین) is one of the epithets of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), who was especially compassionate to orphans, the poor, the weak and oppressed.
Professor Osman also said that Islamic law (شريعة, shari'ah) was given as guidance and mercy by God the lawgiver, not to punish, but out of compassion, mercy, and kindness. The Professor added that all human beings have a seed of compassion and mercy.
"Compassion is key to internal and external peace," he said.
HH, who is based in India, explained that theistic religions believe in God or Allah, whose very nature is loving kindness. In India there are also longstanding traditions of non-violence and compassion, as well as practices for training the mind in concentration and insight. These can lead to understanding how to tackle negative emotions. Even in pre-Buddist times, Indians have explored how to train the mind and use intelligence to increase positive emotions and reduce negative ones.
He said that in the 21st century, it is time for a change: “Today, we need compassion to create a happier world. Unfortunately, in recent times, there has been less interest in compassion and more enthusiasm for developing weapons with which to destroy others. We need to learn how to develop peace of mind by taking a secular approach to cultivating compassion. We must learn how to tackle our destructive emotions, which I refer to as observing emotional hygiene.
“It is crucial that we work to encourage interreligious harmony because we still see too many cases of fighting and killing in the name of religion. It is particularly sad when traditions whose purpose is to foster love and compassion become a cause of violence. We all have a responsibility to help resolve such conflicts. For example, although I’ve not heard of any quarrel between the Shia and Sunni traditions in India, I believe such antagonism takes place elsewhere. “As a Buddhist monk, I’m committed to encouraging harmony and respect among religious traditions.”
Since 1975, HH has made it a point to pay his respects at places of worship dedicated to other traditions. His first time doing so, he was in Sarnath near Varanasi in India, and visited a church, a mosque, as well as a Hindu temple, and a Buddhist one. He has also done the same on a visit to Jerusalem, in Israel, visiting churches, mosques and synagogues.
HH recommends promoting religious harmony through:
- Tackling destructive emotions, that is achieving emotional hygiene. He said that doing so will help us to achieve peace of mind, calling the cultivation of compassion far more effective than taking tranquilisers. "Compassion is the key factor to bring about hygiene of emotion," he said.
One way is to distinguish between appearances and reality. HH said destructive emotions arise on the basis of appearances, whereas compassion is founded on a deeper understanding of reality.
- Learning from others, which reduces the likelihood of misinterpretation of teachings. He stressed that it is important to reach out and maintain good relations with religious brothers and sisters.
"If every one of us chose compassion against each other then the world would be a very much better place," commented Professor Osman. He also noted that different interpretations of teachings is not the same as misinterpretations.
- Changing the education system to add instruction on developing inner values including emotional hygiene as opposed to religion. HH elaborated that classes could teach how to develop peace of mind and introduce methods to reduce anger and fear as well as increase loving kindness.
- Removing attachment to the ego. When we are moved by attachment, HH said, we tend to see others in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’.
“Today, the world is interdependent as never before, which is why we need a keen sense of the oneness of all human beings. We have to take the whole of humanity into account. We have to understand what we have in common with everyone else,” he said.
Professor Osman added that shari'ah offers guidance as well. Prayer with a focus on the inner dimensions can weaken self-centredness, as can fasting - abstaining from things we should not do - and zakat (الزكاة) or charity, he said.
Invited to say what Muslims and Buddhists can learn from each other, HH suggested that when we notice differences in our approaches, we should remember our common goal of compassion. He stressed the importance of Buddhists, Muslims and others taking the opportunity to meet and discuss the different ways they approach these things. Professor Osman supported the idea of dialogue as a means to do this.
"We would like to see a new culture of dialogue and understanding. This is a new beginning for us in Malaysia," Professor Osman said, ending with a call for everyone to educate and transform themselves, help the orphans, needy, weak and oppressed, as well as to focus on the common good.
HH also shared a number of stories about his encounters with Muslims, including during the search for the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. "There had been indications that he had been born in Amdo. The delegation to the area around Kumbum, where I’m from, made a shortlist of three boys. My mother told me that one of them passed away. The remaining two came to the attention of the local warlord, Ma Bufang.
“My mother recalled that when the other boy was brought to Ma Bufang in his mother’s arms, he was shy and scared. The warlord offered him sweets, but he reached out and grabbed a handful and turned away. When my mother brought me to him, I was apparently composed and unafraid. And when he offered me sweets, I took one for my mother and one more for myself. He looked me in the eye and said, ‘This boy is the Dalai Lama’. So, we could say that this Dalai Lama was first recognised by a Muslim warlord. Anyway, there seems to have been some special connection," he said.
The talk was organised by the Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (ABIM) and the Tibetan Buddhist Culture Centre (TBCC), Malaysia.