A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN FPMT LAMA

GESHE LOBSANG DOGA has been resident lama at Tara Institute in Melbourne, Australia since 1985. He talked to Loren Nania of Gippsland FM radio in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria in March. Here are edited excerpts from the interview.

What do you feel about the 40th anniversary of the failed uprising of Tibet against China?

In one person’s lifetime, 40 years is many many years; however, if you talk in terms of the history of a country, 40 years is nothing. Generally it seems very sad for Tibetans to lose their country and to see the extinction of their culture, but the Tibetan people don’t mentally go through the tragedy and sufferings because of the continuous inspiration that the Dalai Lama gives to his people. Of course, His Holiness is not only seen as the political head of Tibet, but spiritually he is like the living Buddha. So the external situation for Tibetan people is very sad; however, the Tibetan spirit is still very strong and alive.

Is there a lesson that Tibet is learning and at the same time teaching the rest of the world?

The lesson is clear. Basically many Tibetan people left Tibet after the Chinese occupation. They have established their whole culture and identity in the refugee settlements in India under His Holiness’ guidelines. The Tibetan people are very strong in preserving and maintaining their culture and religion which is very ancient and rich. Keeping the unique Tibetan cultural identity alive gives a lot of hope and spirit to the Tibetan people outside of Tibet, as well as to those in Tibet. Even though the Chinese government is destroying everything Tibetan within Tibet, they know that outside of Tibet everything has been restored. It’s given a lot of hope.

The Tibetan settlements show the uniqueness of the Tibetan race to the world and are proof that we are separate from China. The outside world community can now clearly see how the Tibetan race and the Chinese race are different, in terms of their mentalities, their way of living, their mannerisms, their language, culture and food. Tibet is unique as a nation and as a race.

The concept of nonviolence is the main principle we are using to regain the Tibetan people’s freedom. It is something we don’t just do to receive admiration from the outside world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama sees this as most practical, effective and beneficial for the long term benefit of the Tibetan people and even for China. We are talking about negotiation and conflict resolution between two nations. If you hold onto hatred, then you can’t negotiate and reconcile differences. You have to have genuine friendship, and this has to come from compassion. In the past, China and Tibet had a close relationship, and if our struggle is based on violence, we might regain our independence but that could affect the long-term relationship with China.

That to me is so inspiring and that is why people come and see the Dalai Lama, and that is why people support Tibet.

According to the Tibetan people, His Holiness is regarded as a bodhisattva, which is a Sanskrit term meaning “compassionate one.” In his mind, there is no division toward the people of the world. He has the same spirit of compassion to all.

His Holiness had a lot of admiration for the late Mao Zedong. He regarded him as a great and very experienced leader. However, there was one thing that Mao said with which His Holiness did not agree, and that was that religion is a poison. When he made that comment, it was very unwise at that particular point of history as religion has flourished everywhere in the world. What Mao was saying has not been accepted by people.

In a tragic way, the takeover has started a new chapter by Tibetan people spreading Tibetan Buddhism all over the world.

I’ve heard some Western people saying that for them it is good that China conquered Tibet; otherwise, they wouldn’t have this opportunity to meet a Tibetan lama and learn about Tibetan religion and culture.

If people are Christian can they still incorporate Buddhist philosophies of compassion in their practices?

I have heard from Christian friends that there is a lot to learn from Buddhism especially with regard to the Buddhist teaching on bodhichitta. There are great teachings not only saying this is a marvelous mind but also instructing us how to develop that mind. There are also many aspects of meditation techniques which Christians can use in their practice.

In order to practice some aspects of Buddhism you don’t have to be Buddhist and vice versa. The Dalai Lama thinks that there is a lot in the Christian faith. He has sent monks from Tibetan monasteries to study at a Christian monastery in America to learn and share knowledge.

In Buddhism, the emphasis of the teaching is placed on the mind, transforming your mind and understanding your mind. Action is the most important thing; however, we cannot correct the action without correcting the mind.

Having been in a similar situation, you must have great compassion and understanding for indigenous Aboriginal people here in Australia. Do you have some words of wisdom for them?

One of my students in Melbourne has a husband who is Aboriginal. I used to tell them that for the future of Aboriginal identity, maintaining their culture is the most important thing. However, because times have changed and most people don’t know much about their rich culture, I told him to put some effort into getting modern education, not at the cost of losing their culture but in order to maintain it.

If we don’t have traditions, it’s like sucking the oxygen out of the air. Traditions are oxygen for human beings, aren’t they?

Clean oxygen. A lot of new ones are polluted!