Recently I participated in a leadership program, organized by the Centre For Global NOnKilling, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. On one of these days, we had Dr Joan Chatfield as our guest speaker. Joan, from “ Interfaith Alliance Hawaii” spoke on the spiritual perspectives and practices and their relationship to killing. In her speech, Joan referred to a conversation, which was made between Leonard Boff (a noted Brazilian theologist), and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In this conversation, Leonardo Boff, had asked the Dalai Lama about the best religion in the world. Boff, continued to explain how he was expecting the Dalai Lama, to announce “ The Tibetan Buddhism”, or “ the oriental religions much older than Christianity” as the best religion in the world. To his surprise, the Dalai Lama gave him a different answer. He, with a smile on his face, answered: “ The best religion is the one that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better person.” Boff, then asked the Dalai Lama that what makes him a better person.
The Dalai Lama responded: “ Whatever makes you more compassionate, more sensible, more detached, more loving, more humanitarian, more responsible, more ethical. The religion that will do that for you is the best religion and I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not. What really is important to me is your behaviour in front of your peers, family, work, community, and in front of the world. Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts. The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for physics. It is also of human relations. If I act with goodness, I will receive goodness. If I act with evil, I will get evil. What our grandparents told us is the pure truth. You will always have what you desire for others. Being happy is not a matter of destiny; It is a matter of option.”
He concluded, “ Take care of your Thoughts because they become Words. Take care of your Words because they will become Actions. Take care of your Actions because they will become Habits. Take care of your Habits because they will form your Character. Take care of your Character because it will form your Destiny, and your Destiny will be your Life … and … There is no religion higher than the Truth.”
(The photo is from my trip to Poland in December 2008, where I had the pleasure of meeting with the Dalai Lama in a ceremony organized for the 20th anniversary of the Lech Walesa winning of noble prize for peace. He also gave me this white scarf, as a symbol of peace.
Recently I participated in a leadership program, organized by the Centre For Global NOnKilling, based in Honolulu, Hawaii. On one of these days, we had Dr Joan Chatfield as our guest speaker. Joan, from “ Interfaith Alliance Hawaii” spoke on the spiritual perspectives and practices and their relationship to killing. In her speech, Joan referred to a conversation, which was made between Leonard Boff (a noted Brazilian theologist), and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In this conversation, Leonardo Boff, had asked the Dalai Lama about the best religion in the world. Boff, continued to explain how he was expecting the Dalai Lama, to announce “ The Tibetan Buddhism”, or “ the oriental religions much older than Christianity” as the best religion in the world. To his surprise, the Dalai Lama gave him a different answer. He, with a smile on his face, answered: “ The best religion is the one that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better person.” Boff, then asked the Dalai Lama that what makes him a better person.
The Dalai Lama responded: “ Whatever makes you more compassionate, more sensible, more detached, more loving, more humanitarian, more responsible, more ethical. The religion that will do that for you is the best religion and I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not. What really is important to me is your behaviour in front of your peers, family, work, community, and in front of the world. Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts. The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for physics. It is also of human relations. If I act with goodness, I will receive goodness. If I act with evil, I will get evil. What our grandparents told us is the pure truth. You will always have what you desire for others. Being happy is not a matter of destiny; It is a matter of option.”
He concluded, “ Take care of your Thoughts because they become Words. Take care of your Words because they will become Actions. Take care of your Actions because they will become Habits. Take care of your Habits because they will form your Character. Take care of your Character because it will form your Destiny, and your Destiny will be your Life … and … There is no religion higher than the Truth.”
(The photo is from my trip to Poland in December 2008, where I had the pleasure of meeting with the Dalai Lama in a ceremony organized for the 20th anniversary of the Lech Walesa winning of noble prize for peace. He also gave me this white scarf, as a symbol of peace.
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