At one point, the dialogue focuses on the theme of compassion, and his holiness (as he is often called) says:
«Compassion. If we seek it in depth, inside
ourselves, it is logical that we will find this sentiment. And it
must be practiced on any life that is not ours. Although, sometimes
it seems difficult to practice. So, at the moment, I am trying to
feel compassion for those who are called my enemies, for the Chinese
who have invaded Tibet. The actions they have committed and continue
to commit, contribute to forming a bad karma in them, for which, they
will one day or another receive, punishment.»
Then after a few pages, the dialogue returns to the
same subject and the journalist asks:
«Speaking of Tibet, did you not recall, in several
of your books, you spoke of a collective karma?»
«This is an intimate part of our classical teaching.
What is true for an individual – that he will feel in one of his
lives the effects, whether favorable or not, of his own karma – is
also true for groups, for a family, for a nation, and for a
population.»
«Did Tibet, therefore, have something to ‘pay’?
Was this punishment inevitable?»
«We can ask ourselves about it. For a long time,
Tibet was cut off from the world, it had rejected any change, any
influence. It wanted to believe itself to be the only one to possess
the truth, and to be able to live in isolation.»
«But Tibet was reminded that the rest of the world
still exists.»
«Very harshly. And we wonder, in fact, if our
collective karma has not brought us to this clash, which proved to be
a disaster.»
«Would it be about a subtle form of collective
responsibility?»
«Maybe.»
«Do you still believe that today?»
«As always, in Buddhism, we must distinguish the
causes and conditions. The main causes of aggression, of so many
misfortunes and sufferings, are to be searched for in previous lives,
and not necessarily just those of the Tibetan people.»
«In other populations?»
«Perhaps even in other stars, other galaxies.
Everything is united. No event can be considered isolated, unrelated
to others. We have already discussed this. Other sentient and
responsible beings, through their behavior, could create a negative
karma, the effect of which was felt at that time. This unlimited
chain of causes and effects is almost impossible to see clearly, but
it exists. All our actions have weight. This weight will be felt, one
day or another, here or there, either individually or collectively.
This is one more reason to respect the path of Dharma.» I do not
know why the Dalai Lama in this dialogue is using this
“illogic-logic.” May be because he
is also the political leader of Tibet, and so, he is perhaps wants to
avoid theological arguments that would blame his own people and
justify the Chinese invasion. Or perhaps he is simply using two
different measuring sticks for the Chinese and Tibetans. In fact, for
his enemies, he uses a very clear consequential logic: bad actions =
negative karma in their next lives. For the Tibetan people, the
logic he uses (after sickening beating around the bush) is: bad karma
in this life = maybe due to bad actions in the previous lives of
anyone from anywhere, even from other galaxies or stars! And then,
just to complete the picture he drew of esoteric relativity in the
style of ‘whatever is better for me’, he reminds us that all is
one, that we are all connected, and that it is still almost
impossible to determine with precision the relations of cause and
effect (except when it concerns the Chinese! Bad actions = negative
karma in the next life).
It should be obvious that even if ‘his holiness’
falls into the temptation to manipulate the relations of cause and
effect to support his cause, how can we imagine ourselves to be
immune from falling into the same trap?
Taken from the book "Flying with your feet on the ground"
*This
is the translation of the Italian book La compasione e la
purezza, R.C.S. Libri S.p.A., (Fabbri Editori) Milano 1997 –
collana I Classici dello Spirito – Original title: La Force Du
Bouddhisme, Editions Robert Laffont, S.A., Paris 1994.
