my religion

"My religion 

is very simple.

My religion is kindness."

H. H. the 14th Dalai Lama

compassion

"If you want others to be happy, 

practice compassion. 

If you want to be happy, 

practice compassion." 

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

seven years in tibet

Heinrich Harrer (6 July 1912 – 7 January 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer, sportsman, geographer, and author. He is best known for being on the four-man climbing team that made the first ascent of the North Face of the Eiger in Switzerland, and for his books Seven Years in Tibet (1952) and The White Spider (1959).

In 1948, Harrer became a salaried official of the Tibetan government, translating foreign news and acting as Court photographer. Harrer first met the 14th Dalai Lama when he was summoned to the Potala Palace and asked to make a film about iceskating, which Harrer had introduced to Tibet. Harrer built a cinema for him, with a projector run off a Jeep engine. Harrer soon became the Dalai Lama's tutor in English, geography, and some science, and Harrer was astonished at how fast his pupil absorbed the Western world's knowledge. A strong friendship developed between the two that would last the rest of their lives.

In 1952, Harrer returned to Austria where he documented his experiences in the books Seven Years in Tibet (1952) and Lost Lhasa (1953). Seven Years in Tibet was translated into 53 languages, and was a bestseller in the United States in 1954, selling three million copies. The book was the basis of two films of the same title, the first in 1956 and the second in 1997, starring Brad Pitt in the role of Harrer.

In Seven Years in Tibet, Harrer wrote:

Wherever I live, I shall feel homesick for Tibet. I often think I can still hear the cries of wild geese and cranes and the beating of their wings as they fly over Lhasa in the clear cold moonlight. My heartfelt wish is that my story may create some understanding for a people whose will to live in peace and freedom has won so little sympathy from an indifferent world. (read more) (7 years in tibet trailer)

irony

The Way Of Peace

Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the 51st Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day
March 10th 2010

Today marks the 51st anniversary of the Tibetan people's peaceful uprising in 1959 against Communist China's repression in Tibet, as well as the second anniversary of the peaceful protests that erupted across Tibet in March 2008. On this occasion, I pay homage to those heroic Tibetan men and women, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of Tibet, and pray for an early end to the sufferings of those still oppressed in Tibet.

Despite the great hardships they have faced for many decades, Tibetans have been able to keep up their courage and determination, preserve their compassionate culture and maintain their unique identity. It is inspiring that today a new generation of Tibetans continues to keep Tibet's just cause alive. I salute the courage of those Tibetans still enduring fear and oppression.

Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, it is the responsibility of all Tibetans to maintain equality, harmony and unity among the various nationalities, while continuing to protect our unique identity and culture. Many Tibetans in Tibetan areas are working in various responsible posts in the party, government and military, helping Tibetans in whatever way they can. We recognise the positive contribution that many of them have made up to now, and obviously when Tibet achieves meaningful autonomy in the future, they will have to continue to fulfil such responsibilities.

Let me reiterate that once the issue of Tibet is resolved, I will not take any political position nor will members of the Tibetan Administration in exile hold any positions in the government in Tibet. I have repeatedly made this clear in the past. To understand the situation of the Tibetans in exile and their aspirations, I invite Tibetan officials serving in various Tibetan autonomous areas to visit Tibetan communities living in the free world, either officially or in a private capacity, to observe the situation for themselves.

Wherever Tibetans in exile have settled, we have been able to preserve and promote our distinct cultural and spiritual traditions, while generating awareness of the Tibetan cause. Unlike other refugees, we have been relatively successful because we have also been able to give our children a sound modern education, while bringing them up according to our traditional values. And because the heads of all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism and the Bon religion are in exile we have been able to re-establish various institutions for religious training and practice. In these institutions over ten thousand monks and nuns are free to pursue their vocations. We have been readily able to provide educational opportunities for those monks, nuns and students who have continued to come from Tibet. At the same time the unprecedented spread of Tibetan Buddhism in both East and West and the prospect of continuing to flourish in the future gives us hope that it may yet survive. This is some solace to us during this most critical period in Tibet's history.

Today, the Chinese authorities are conducting various political campaigns, including a campaign of patriotic re-education, in many monasteries in Tibet. They are putting the monks and nuns in prison-like conditions, depriving them the opportunity to study and practise in peace. These conditions make the monasteries function more like museums and are intended to deliberately annihilate Buddhism. (read more) (the global community)

It's Time To Change The World

"I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Each of us must learn to work not just for his or her own self, family or nation, but for the benefit of all mankind. Universal responsibility is the real key to human survival. It is the best foundation for world peace, the equitable use of natural resources, and through concern for future generations, the proper care of the environment."

read more of "The Global Community"

Let's be Peace-Makers

In these past ten years or so we in Ireland, North and South, have been enjoying a stable and hopefully lasting peace. The thirty years of conflict, bloodshed and loss of life are more or less over. (It ended in the early to mid-nineties of the last century) Yet, as peace-makers we can never become too complacent, because there is much hatred and bitterness North of our border. Now, I am not saying for a minute that our brothers and sisters in the North of Ireland have a monopoly of these two vices - far from it. I readily admit that there is not a little hatred and bitterness in the hearts of some South of the border. However, statistics show that the North of Ireland is an extremely racist country. A report recently declared that some 20 or so Romanian people of the Roma ethnic minority had to flee back to their homeland because they had literally been burnt out of their homes. I am old enough to remember such happening in the Catholic areas of the North of Ireland in the early to mid 1960s. So, all people of good will, North and South of the border, and, indeed, all people of good will everywhere must be peace-makers with a deep compassion for all our fellow human beings! There is too much conflict in the world today - and there probably always was - but in these more enlightened days let's be conflict breakers or conflict busters.

Sadly religions of all hues have been more often than not repositories, and indeed often promoters, of hate and bitterness. Anywhere in the world where there is inter-national and indeed intra-national war oftentimes religion or interpretations of that phenomenon lie at its heart. We have to go beyond religion and find a spiritual ground or baseline - the only solid foundation for intra and inter-national peace. With these thoughts in mind I offer here some words from the wonderful Dalai Lama on the matter of the difference between Religion and Spirituality:

I believe there is an important distinction to be made between religion and spirituality. Religion I take to be concerned with belief in the claims to salvation of one faith tradition or another--an aspect of which is acceptance of some form of meta-physical or philosophical reality, including perhaps an idea of heaven or hell. Connected with this are religious teachings or dogma, ritual, prayers and so on. Spirituality I take to be concerned with those qualities of the human spirit--such as love and compassion, patience, tolerance, forgiveness, contentment, a sense of responsibility, a sense of harmony, which bring happiness to both self and others.

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama
From "The Pocket Dalai Lama," edited by Mary Craig, 2002. Reprinted by arrangement with Shambhala Publications, Boston, www.shambhala.com.

Man of Peace

Be kind whenever possible.

It is always possible.


.....His Holiness The Dalai Lama.....

Ten to the One Hundredth Power

I have submitted an entry to Google "Project 10 to the 100" contest and we are all in it together. The following is my mission statement to Google entitled "A mothers' love" inspired by a speech from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.


"A Mothers' Love"

Instead of the Orwellian nightmare that is our world today......we could have something else.......we can do better.......we deserve GlobaLove Inc.

The purpose of GlobaLove Inc...... is to initiate a global paradigm shift towards the "Star Trek" world. A world where money is not necessary to "survive", a world where food, shelter, education and healthcare is a non-profit endeavor and the right of every human on the planet........a world where profit is no longer the primary goal.

It is possible to eliminate all poverty and starvation, everything is free. What that means is that if we choose to, we could move to a higher level of community by working for ourselves and the group, like a union, a union of earth people......if you're a human, you belong to the union. This union of earthlings will insure the basic human rights to food for the prevention of starvation, shelter to eliminate homelessness, education to lift us into the realm of awareness, and basic healthcare to sustain us in our difficult journey through human existance........a mothers' love. GlobaLove Incorporated will serve as The Human Union....a mothers' assurance of love for all of earths' children. The Human Union......you are a member.......everyone is a member.

I know there are many wonderful organizations that provide much needed aid to the many poor and starving unfortunate of the world but......with an estimated 30,000 people starving to death every single day.......we will have to create a union that agrees to the basic human rights that we all deserve and works to link all global aid efforts. With starvation being our primary concern, the many innocents who want only for a mouth full of food to survive will be first on our list.

GlobaLove Inc. has created GlobaLove Think Tank......we intend to create a brainstorm by linking as many minds together as we can to identify creative actions that will cascade into an unstoppable force......to initiate "Paradigm Shift."

The "Paradigm Shift" would be the optimal outcome......from the "every man for himself" world to the "one for all, all for one" world of the Three Musketeers. Of course I don't expect that to happen overnight but, if we can begin the process, the journey will begin. The primary goal is getting food to starving mouths, then we'll work on housing, education and healthcare. I would have to say that measuring our success would be reflected in how many hungry mouths we feed, how many people we can save from dying of starvation. Like a mother' love, GlobaLove Inc. wants to give what is needed......love and life. Remember your mother.......she bore you......cared for you......loved you.