This interview is just one of the many that took place for “A New Generation of Buddhist Young Practitioners,” the cover feature of Mandala July-August 1998:

How did your first meet Buddhism?

My father, Jordi, and mother, Blanca Vila, are Buddhist. The two of them, along with a group of people were some of the first to connect with Dharma in Spain. This group of people started Nagarjuna Valencia. My father was 19 when he had me, so it must have been when he was 16 or so when he met Dharma. All my life I have known about the Dharma.

Was Buddhism taught to you by your parents, or did they raise you so you could choose your own religion?

I have a brother and a sister, Jordi and Davinia, and my father told all of us we are free to be another religion. He used to always speak about Buddhism, and when any great masters would come we would go to see them. We would also stay in the center. Here in Barcelona there is Geshe Lobsang Tsultrim and Tibet House, and we are connected with all of them.

But my father always said we can learn about any other religions. I like to read about and study other religions. When I was in school when I was little, I studied Catholicism for two years.

Did you like to study Buddhism from your own side?

Yes, I love it. As I mentioned, it is something very familiar. I don’t have any problems with geshes or practice, or anything like that, as it has been my experience since I was born. It’s my life, really.

Do any of your friends practice Buddhism?

I have met people my age in Dharma centers who like Buddhism, who practice and like to read about it, but I don’t have any friends who are practitioners who I know from school or who I know from places other than Dharma centers.

Do they think it’s strange?

I don’t really tell them I am Buddhist. If they see me reading some book of Lama Zopa or His Holiness and they ask what I am reading, then I will explain. Or if I wear the red protection string, they ask me, “What is this, Aida?” I tell them what it is, and if they want some explanation I will share. I don’t say, “Hey, I’m Buddhist,” or, “Look, I’m different!” I don’t feel different, it’s just part of my life – and they are another part of my life.

What kind of advantage does Dharma give you?

It’s based on your attitude. Buddhism is a way, and if you choose it and have a real good attitude, it can be positive. One part is the feeling – I love to stay like this! When I stay with special people, or meditating with my family, I like to do it very much. It also helps me think about things people might not usually think about.

Like what?

For example, when I feel angry, sometimes I think, “Hey, Aida, what are you doing? Think about it.” Or if I see another person who has a bad attitude towards me, it protects me and I can take control of the situation by thinking, “Wait a minute, this isn’t real. This person isn’t totally bad.” I try to put into practice the things I read and study. I also like it because it is a path I can study and I can grow in it.

What kinds of problems do young people face in your society?

I suppose one thing is that a lot of people feel a little bit lost, and in a lot of cases they feel like they are alone, that they cannot share with anyone. They build a wall and don’t have any kind of relation with other people. They don’t know how to express the way they feel about their situation. And the people who want to express it don’t know there are other people around whom they can help.

I think difficulty in communicating is the basis of this problem. To express what they feel, what they need, what is the process they are going through inside. I think this connects with all the problems – with the violence, with the anger, with the sadness inside.

For example, I study in the university, and people say, “I have to study,” or, “I have to go to this party”; and when they are older and you ask them who they are, all they identify with is their profession. It seems like some part of them inside didn’t get a chance to grow. It is more focused on what society says is good to be.

I like to study and spend a lot of time with it, but I also like to have time to read and to practice Dharma. I don’t think it’s necessary for them to practice Buddhism. His Holiness has said there is religion and there is spirituality, and both can share. There are people who are not directly religious, but are spiritual.

So I think communication is a big problem. This happens a lot within families, and if you have no communication in the families, you are as a tree without roots and without leaves.

How does the Dharma help?

If you feel better with your internal world, it helps you to learn more about the situations you live.

Is it important to you to have a job that is socially accepted, and to make a lot of money?

I want to be a physiotherapist. My father is a homeopathic doctor, and I also love that medicine. I love to work with people with my hands. That’s my way, you know. For me it is not important to be the best physiotherapist, but just to be good at my job. I would like to earn a lot of money because there are so many things I would like to do – I would like to travel to India, to Nepal, to Tibet! I have been working for two years but don’t have the money to go to Tibet – I am very poor!

Sometimes I develop strong ambitions. For example, when I read Scientific American I think of how much I would like to write an article and sell it to them, or if there is a conference I like to think someday I will teach at it.

When I think about this, I try to remember that it is not only for this. It is so I can grow inside. If I want to be a physiotherapist, it is to cure people to help them, not to be the best. Of course, if somebody tells me I have been the best doing something, some part of me feels a bit proud, like, “Oh, yes, I have been the best.” But I try to control it.

Do you participate in the Universal Education summer camp in Barcelona?

Yes. When I was 12 or 13, my sister and brother stayed at the first summer camp. The next year when it was in Granada, Rafael Ferrer told me that even though I am younger I can help out with the camp. I went and I like it very much. Last year Rafa sent a letter to my sister and brother to go to the summer camp, and I felt strongly to go. I stayed and tried to help all the people. It is a nice group.

How many children go?

Last year there were 25, and everyone was really happy with it. This year there are supposed to be 30. Many people are asking to come, but we only have 30 beds for the kids, so I hope not too many people come!

What activities do you do?

Well, I like to explain this a lot, so if I talk too much, tell me to stop! We would divide the day into morning and afternoon. We would wake up at 8:30. This year we will do chi-gong and meditation. Some kids will do meditation and some will do chi-gong, and they will alternate days. Then we take breakfast, and then we will do two things: one activity is tai-chi and the other activity is games, which I will prepare. I am really, really excited to do the games and I have been thinking about what to do since last year. These activities will be shared on alternate days, split between older and smaller kids.

I think the idea of the summer camp is to give kids the opportunity to do things they wouldn’t normally get to do. It is a new group running it now, and we are still discussing and sharing the ideas we have. I am more talking about the spirit of the activities we will have.

Our thinking about the Universal Education that Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa Rinpoche and His Holiness talk about is to give the children something they don’t usually have during the year. For example, last year we would talk about different people like Gandhi, St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Theresa of Calcutta – people that weren’t necessarily Buddhist, but people who had something inside that made love in them grow for all humanity. We try to explain about them.

The flower needs some external conditions to grow, but to grow they need the light inside. I think it’s the same. For example, in my life, I have always known about Buddhism, but it was something in me that made me practice Buddhism. All the things I know about Buddhism were not enough without that something inside of me. I think this is the idea of all the great people who have helped or have grown or have shown humanity that the big belief in love could grow and extend. Gandhi, for example, had the message of non-violence. At that time violence was a sort of communication. Gandhi then said his message was non-violence – he had this message inside.

You can tell children not to hurt their friends a thousand times, but if they don’t feel it inside it will not make any difference. You can tell them to love all people, but if you don’t give them something more than this, it won’t help them. It’s something more than words. It’s to give children a base on which to grow, not to make them do something. It’s to ask them what they think, what their ideas are.

Have you met Lama Zopa Rinpoche?

Yes, we met.

What kind of impact has he made in your life?

Oh my god! Very big and very nice impact. You know when there are some people that are special, you can feel something. When I am around that person I feel something very strong, and this can impact me in two ways – one is when I am with him in the moment, and the feeling directly involves me. I feel better, I feel stronger, like a new person. The other way it has an impact is if I know someone like him, when I think of this person I can feel their influence, like you have been touched by the sky. I feel different and new.

When the time with this person has passed, I always have their influence with me. Sometimes the feeling decreases, after the fourth or fifth day of being apart from the lama. But I think you always have this impact inside of you. When you remember him, you have this feeling inside. The influence is directly on your heart. In the other way when you are directly with him it is very strong and very new.

Did he ever give you any important advice?

A lot. The last time I saw him was near Barcelona, and the teaching about the compassion and great love were important. Sometimes there is advice he says that fits perfectly in the moment you are living. Sometimes the advice they give opens part of us that was not opened before. With Lama Zopa, he makes an impact on everybody, exactly according to the conditions in their lives. After being around him, everyone says they have learned something from him. All the people are learning in every moment, but how it might be expressed to them is different.

All advice he gives is very important. Suddenly he gives you the advice you need right in that moment. He does that for a lot of people. He gives you a way to practice something you need right then. It gives you something that goes intimately with whatever you are learning.

When a person hurts you, he said you have to think the other person is suffering in the same way as you, so you develop compassion for them. Another time he continued teaching past the scheduled two hours. He continued nonstop for a long time and I was so tired. The teachings were interesting, but I was too tired to concentrate.

Suddenly I remembered how Lama Zopa said you have to change your mind, change your attitude when there are difficulties. Suddenly all the obstacles completely disappeared and I could listen for a long time with no problem. I really felt then that changing mind exists – if I change my attitude, then the whole experience changes.