|
||||||
------------
TIME Lists Dalai
Lama Among Asian Heroes
------------
TIME Magazine
November 7th, 2006
60 Years of Asian Heroes
Time magazine has listed the Dalai Lama as one of the heroes
in Asia in the
60 years since the magazine began publishing an Asian edition.
In its issue, Vol. 168, No. 20, dated November 13, 2006,
Time said, "The
most tumultuous decades of the most populous continent on
earth have
produced an astonishing array of heroes." "In this special
anniversary
issue, we pay tribute to the remarkable men and women who
have shaped these
times," it continued.
Time listed the heroes in five categories: Nation Builders;
Artists and
Thinkers; Business leaders; Athletes and Explorers; and Inspirations.
The
Dalai Lama is listed under the Inspirations category. Tenzing
Norgay, the
ethnic Tibetan, who ascended Mount Everest with Edmund Hillary
in 1953, is
listed under the Athletes and Explorers category.
Time had special writers report on each of the more than
50 heroes that they
had listed. The essay on the Dalai Lama is written by Deepak
Chopra, the
popular writer and speaker on spirituality. Chopra writes,
"It's the fate of
great spiritual leaders to be both lighthouses and lightning
rods.
No one has endured this double act more gracefully than the
Dalai Lama. As a
lighthouse he represents Buddhism for most of the world outside
Asia.
Welcomed everywhere but in his own homeland, revered beyond
the narrow
limits of sectarianism, his visits bring out throngs of people.
What they
crave is his presence and his peacefulness. He travels the
globe to remind
us of our better selves. Yet the presence of the Dalai Lama
is also
immediate and worldly. He's the lightning rod for Tibet,
and a symbol of its
subjugation under Beijing's rule. As long as that injustice
persists, the
Dalai Lama will remain peaceful and poignant at the same
time."
Following is the full text of Deepak Chopra's essay. The
entire Time story
can be read on http://www.time.
The Dalai Lama
Tibet's spiritual leader is otherworldly, yet deeply engaged
in this world.
With remarkable subtlety, he teaches patience, humility and
compassion
By Deepak Chopra
It's the fate of great spiritual leaders to be both lighthouses
and
lightning rods. No one has endured this double act more gracefully
than the
Dalai Lama. As a lighthouse he represents Buddhism for most
of the world
outside Asia. Welcomed everywhere but in his own homeland,
revered beyond
the narrow limits of sectarianism, his visits bring out throngs
of people.
What they crave is his presence and his peacefulness. He
travels the globe
to remind us of our better selves. Yet the presence of the
Dalai Lama is
also immediate and worldly. He's the lightning rod for Tibet,
and a symbol
of its subjugation under Beijing's rule. As long as that
injustice persists,
the Dalai Lama will remain peaceful and poignant at the same
time.
Over the centuries, Buddhism has spread more quietly than
any other faith or
philosophy. In that quietist tradition, the current Dalai
Lama stands firm.
Buddha said, "Whoever sees me sees the teaching, and whoever
sees the
teaching sees me." Whenever I have the privilege of sitting
with the Dalai
Lama, I feel that I am, indeed, seeing the teaching - and
that it sees me.
Benign as His Holiness is, one senses detachment, which isn't
the same as
indifference. This is a detachment born of immense patience.
It's rooted in
a deep belief in the power of consciousness. No one I've
ever met is so
involved in the material world without actually believing
in it.
He is also insidious, if you can use that word about such
an innocent man.
If you ask his opinion, he invariably murmurs, "Ah, I'd rather
listen to
you." Instantly you feel a bit of your own egotism fall away,
and, despite
yourself, the presence of humility is felt deep inside.
So I salute the Dalai Lama as a great spiritual seducer.
We will never know
how much he has changed the world - and us - because we never
see it coming
until the change has already occurred. He is a time bomb
of compassion, and
that is the source of his greatness.
Deepak Chopra, who writes and lectures widely on spirituality,
is writing a
book on the Buddha
------------
We are waiting for the Dalai
Lama to come back: Chinese Buddhists
------------
By Tsering Tsomo
Phayul
Monday, November 06, 2006
MIYAJIMA, Japan, November 6 - Buddhist devotees from China
said Monday that
many Chinese want the Dalai Lama to come back to Tibet. "Tibet
is his home
and he should be where he rightfully belongs", a 54-yr-old
Chinese man from
Beijing said requesting anonymity.
He is among a group of Chinese devotees attending the Dalai
Lama's teachings
at Daishoin Temple in Miyajima Island.
"We are waiting for him to come back. It is not only the
Tibetans but also
millions of Chinese Buddhists who want to get his blessings
and hear his
teachings," the man's 35-yr-old wife said in an interview
with the exile
Tibetan journalists at Daishoin. She is attending the Dalai
Lama's teachings
for the first time but her husband has attended twice in
the past.
The complete ban on religious books authored by the Dalai
Lama has compelled
many Buddhists in China to engage in underground activities
so that they can
have access to his teachings. "Everything is done surreptitiously.
We buy
his books during overseas tour; print them clandestinely
and distribute
among Chinese Buddhists who really wants to see the Dalai
Lama," a 34-yr-old
woman said showing an old photograph of the Dalai Lama, which
she says she
carries daily in her purse. She said 'Awakening the Mind,
Lightening the
Heart,' a book by the Dalai Lama on core teachings of Tibetan
Buddhism is
very popular among Chinese Buddhists.
When asked if it was illegal in China to display photographs
of the exile
Tibetan leader, she said it is relatively easier for the
Chinese because
they can place his photographss in the privacy of their homes
where the
police generally cannot enter. "So, even if it is illegal,
we still have
this freedom; our only freedom. But it is not easy for the
Tibetans", the
woman said refusing to reveal her identity.
Many in the group said they have visited Tibet to learn more
about Buddhism
from Tibetan lamas. A couple said they visit Tibet every
year to meet their
Tibetan teacher. Recalling a false news that spread in the
middle of this
year about the Dalai Lama's arrival in China and Tibet for
pilgrimage, they
said they were "very disappointed" when it turned out to
be a rumour. "We
prayed and wished for it to be true but sadly it was not
to be!"
"We love the Dalai Lama! From our heart! Very much! And we
hope he comes
back soon, " the group cried in unison when asked about their
sentiments
towards the Dalai Lama.
|
||||||
|