How Should One Be a Leader of Thought in a Society?

His Eminence Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche

(The following guidance talk was kindly given at the request of the Alumni of the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, on 23 December 2021, at Gyuto Monastery, Dharamshala, subsequent to the ceremony of Tenshuk-formal request to kindly live long, offered to His Eminence, by the Alumni, in the morning of that day.)

The president of the Alumni Association of the Central Institute of Tibetan Higher Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, the executive members, and the alumni from Dharamshala and other regions gathered here today;

I thought there would be only the executive members of the Alumni Association—I wasn’t aware there would be a gathering of many alumni members from everywhere. In meeting with you all today there are former students from many parts of the world, for which I’m glad. But in my personal view, earlier during the occasion when I turned eighty, and on my birthday last year and this year, the alumni members got together and put on various celebratory programmes, and this time the Alumni Association has organised a Tenshuk-Request to Live Long, and so on; when I thus see most of the works of the Association are being done about me, I’m bewildered. In general, for a good teacher, even after retirement there is the opportunity to remain in a good relation with the students; most teachers do have such an opportunity, but it is rare to have a sound relation between the principals, the administrative heads of the schools (educational institutions), and the students. For example, with our host India, when Vice-chancellors’ term of three or five years expires, they are almost as if expelled. Likewise, in Tibet, even if a monastic administrative head were one’s teacher one would end up criticising him. It is difficult for the works of the administrative heads to suit students’ wishes, and to wholly fulfil them. Students’ aspirations follow daily needs, of what are visible at the front; for instance, their thoughts are to have an easy examination, not having to attend classes, and so forth. Generally, it is difficult for the works of an administration to be liked by everybody. Also in Tibet, in the major monasteries, those who give tutorials only, with no other duties, were more revered by the general monks, but if such a teacher was later appointed as an abbot there would be gradually things heard about of not going alright. Once, when a student of the Gadhen Shartse’s abbot criticised the abbot the others reminded the student, “You’re a student of the Precious Abbot, haven’t you received tutorials from him?”. The student responded, “I’m a student of his, but if the teacher himself goes to the position to be criticized, I can’t be helped.” There was such a narrative.

In one of the writings during monastic abbotship, Gungthang Tenpai Dronmey said:

At first one may be prostrated to and revered upon the shoulder,

Gradually there are series of big and small hits, and finally,

At the end one is discarded after the sound of crescendos:

Holding such a state akin to a gong are the abbots!¹

In the monasteries, for the ordained residents to gather for a communal activity, there is a ringing of the gong, called gaṇḍi, made of wood. The monk whose duty is to ring the gong would at first prostrate three times to the gong, then take it on the shoulder, and gradually hit it, from high to low sound, and then from low to high, three times; at the end the monk would hit the gong for three crescendo sounds, and then would leave it. The monastic abbots would, likewise, be first reverently prostrated to by all at the time of enthronement, and when the abbots actually start their work, they would be criticised—“big and small hits”—and then eventually, just as a gong is discarded on the ground, they would get expelled. That is what Gungthang said. The great scholar Gorinath Shastri was in the first administrative board meetings of our Institute. Since he was a former Vice-chancellor of the Sampuranand Sanskrit University, Varanasi, he used to be very cautious and reluctant to attend the meetings if they were convened at the Sanskrit University, for the concern that the students there would protest and so on.

When I was working at the Institute, Sarnath, Varanasi, other than the thoughts of the students’ present, longterm and ultimate welfare, I never held the aim of appeasing the students. Yet, even after some twenty years have passed since I left the Institute, when I see all alumni—new and old, and notwithstanding whether or not they were present during my time at the Institute—have affection for me, I feel much moved.

As regards today’s Tenshuk (Request to Live Long), for example, there is generally the tradition of offering Tenshuk at the conclusion of a teaching. With other Tenshuks, not only I ensure that there would be no need for them, I have so far never accepted one. This time, at the end of teaching seven-eight days at Gyuto Monastery a Tenshuk was offered as a regular thing.

Today, with a pure dedicated mind, you have insisted on offering a Tenshuk, saying it is the purport of His Holiness Sakya Gongma Trizin Rinpoche’s thought. Also, in Dharamshala, there would be no accepting of Tenshuk and so on without an approval from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.² As such, when consulting His Holiness there was the advice that it would be good to accept, and the approval was bestowed. There was therefore the Tenshuk through the rites of White Tara today. In general, as regards ‘offering a Tenshuk’, ‘offering a formal request to kindly live long’, if it is a person who has gained control on rebirth and death the Tenshuk would be meaningfully pertinent, but for me and those like myself who have no control on rebirth and death, there could be a benefit just of the power of the rites and dhāraṇī–mantra-s. The great Dharma-guardian Nechung has said several times in the last several years that I need to do White Tara Longevity Achievement. That you have also done the Tenshuk through White Tara, I think there certainly would be a connection. It would be strange if the persons who have not gained control on rebirth and death were to accept a Tenshuk, a formal request to live long; during the Gratitude Mandala Offering, although there is nobody accepting the request, nor somebody able to accept, the words of the rites are recited anyway as if the request has been accepted.

Recently, you have done many things: prayer-services by sangha for my longevity, saving lives, and so on. These are virtuous deeds, so if those related through Dharma and material things do mutual dedication of the merits there would be the hope of definite benefits. As such, I rejoice in them.

There was a request that I should give a talk today on how the alumni who have graduated from the Institute, should be leaders of thought in the society. I always say the alumni of the Institute should be leaders of thought in the society. In our Institute Song as well there is the mention of the need for the alumni to be leaders in principles and thought in their societies. That is because the syllabus of studies at the Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi, is a blend of the modern and the traditional courses, and moreover the traditional is considered more important or it is the main course of studies. At the same time, the traditional subjects are placed in the modern tutorial system, and the modern system of examinations, awarding of certificates and so on, are being implemented. If it is someone studying at one of the major monasteries it would be as Jey Tsongkhapa says in The Excellent Way Forward—An Expression of Realisations:

At first, I sought much extensive learning,

Midway, all scriptural systems dawned upon as instructions,

At the end, I practised all day and night;³

Accordingly, apart from the sole aim of practising, there is no aim of at the same time to do mundane social activities by the monastic scholars.

‘Society’ refers to a collection of humans who are related by their race and language. A crowd of many people gathered together is not called a society. For example, a great crowd of people in the evening at Godowlia, Varanasi, is just a crowd, it is not a society. A society is to be understood as a section that has an interrelated relationship. Those who know Political Science would know that. The alumni of this Institute, for example, are composed of Tibetans, Indians, Nepalese, Bhutanese and so on, from the neighbouring countries, and each has their society, and thus when graduating from the Institute they need to benefit that society, and be able to be the leaders of thought in their society. To make others know what are things to be taken up and what are those to be discarded, the discernment as regards taking up and eschewing [concerning the conducts of the body, speech and mind], or to be able to give to others such intellect of the thought is called ‘a leader of thought’. As humans, we need to serve the humanity in general, and as for this service to humanity the best medium to do so is through one’s society. In his book The India of My Dream (Me-re Sapnoṁkā Bhārat) Mahatma Gandhi says:

I have the awareness of the oneness of humanity; I also know that I need to serve the world in general, but the reason why I specifically work for India and the people of India is that, as the medium to serve the humanity in general, if I serve through those with whom I have the same language and culture, to be able to reach conveniently, it would be fruitful and of greater benefits. But that is just a medium, it is not my ultimate goal and the reaching point.⁴

That is true. Notwithstanding the background thinking, there is a saying in the West: “Think globally, act locally”. It is therefore easier to accomplish things if one aims for the welfare of all beings through the society with which one is connected through race, language, economy and so on.

To be a leader of thought, there are some indispensable conducive factors that one should have in completeness. Of them, the most important ones are 1) to be unbiased, and 2) to know to examine through reasoning. As regards them, one does not apply as reasoning the views of one’s friends and dear ones, nor of one’s thinking, rather when examining through reasoning, to be able to establish the points of what to take up and what to discard, without prejudice and partiality. ‘Without partiality’ means to not assume to be correct that one has from the beginning thought of to be the things to adopt and to eschew; it is to be as Buddha said: “Examine well my words| And take them up, not because of reverence in me.|”⁵ Accordingly, one has to proceed after having examined through a valid reasoning. If one is biased from the beginning there would be the thought of partiality, thinking what one’s side say has to be true, and what the other side or the opponent’s side say would not be true—such a thought is not unbiased. To become a good student, it has been advised that to be unbiased and to have presence of intellect, are important at the beginning, as Vasubhandu says:

Unbiased, presence of intellect, being interested,

Such should be a listener, [the right] recipient.⁶

If one’s mind is fallen to partiality or is not unbiased, even with one’s spiritual teacher’s words one would accept if they accord with one’s views, and reject those that are at discord; as such, it is important to be unbiased. One may be unbiased, yet one still has to have the intellect to see whether or not what the teacher says accord with the Dharma (Buddha’s teachings), and whether they withstand examination through reasoning. Finally, since oneself is a student, one should be interested in the things to learn. Just as they are required when oneself is a student, when one is leading others in thought if these three—1) abiding by an unbiased mind, 2) possessing the intellect to examine through reasoning, and 3) presence of diligence of taking interest in any activity—are not present complete one would be unable to be both a follower of thought and a leader of thought. Whether one has to be a follower of thought subsequent to having become a follower of a spiritual teacher, or whether one is to emerge as a spiritual teacher to lead others in thought, for both of them one needs to have complete those three criteria mentioned earlier.

Moreover, to be a leader of thought in a society it is important that one knows that society’s past events, present situation and future direction. A Buddha is called “Knower of the Three Times”, past, present and future, and there is the tradition that some past Tibetan spiritual teachers are called “Dhue-sūm khyen-pa” (dus gsum mkhyen pa), Knower of the Three Times. What would knowing the three times do? By knowing the three times, Buddha is able to show others the way that is not wrong. The past events have produced the latencies of our thoughts. From where has come our situation of the body, speech and mind? It has come about through the force of the latencies influenced by a past situation. If one does not know the present situation it would be difficult to know what needs to be amended and added. It is important also to be able to assess what hope there is in going to which direction if one is careful now, and the danger of falling where if one is not careful now. If one is not able to do such, not only one would not be able to think well as regards both one’s career and the society’s direction, it would be very difficult to be able to lead the thoughts of others.

Here, most of us are Tibetans, of Tibetan ethnicity. ‘Bod-rigs’ is understood in two different ways of broad and narrow usages. For example, the Sanskrit words rāṣtra, kula, gotra, jāti are in English, nation, ethnicity, race, etc., for which the Tibetan word used is rigs. When there appears the word rigs, it is important to look at the Sanskrit and Western languages. The reference here of ‘Tibetans’ is like rāṣtra and nation. All who speak Tibetan would not be counted as Tibetans; there are those who are Indian citizens, using as their native vernacular the language that is based on the four vowels and the thirty consonants, and those who use [that language] for spiritual purpose—there are these two kinds. Normally, I use the word bod-rigs (Tibetan, Tibetan ethnicity) for those whose native language is the communication system based on the thirty consonants and the four vowels, and their language the “Tibetan language”. In terms of a nation, there are, at present, only six million Tibetans who use the four vowels and the thirty consonants, nonetheless it is speculated that there are around eight million who use the same language of the four vowels and the thirty consonants outside the borders of the three regions of Tibet: in the Indian Himalaya regions, from Pakistan to Bhutan and Myanmar, and in central Asia. Those who use the Tibetan language for spiritual purpose are in Russia, Mongolia, Manchuria, etc. Many such nationalities use the Tibetan language when studying Buddhism, and although the Ka-gyur (bkaḥ-ḥgyur, Buddha’s Words in Tibetan Translation) and Tan-gyur (bstan-ḥgyur, Commentarial Indian texts in Tibetan translation) had already been translated into Manchurian and Mongolian languages, from the Tibetan, most of the studies continued to be done through the Tibetan language, as was the earlier tradition; because of that, those using the Tibetan language as the spiritual language are greatly spread out far and widely.

What we need to know from these is that it is important for all those speaking Tibetan and more so for the persons who belong to the Tibetan nation comprising the three regions, to know clearly the past situation. When we first arrived in exile into India, for some years there had been many who felt embarrassed to tell others they were Tibetans, and said they were Japanese. But there is no reason to be meek and concealing our race. There is no need to extensively explain that the entire teachings of the Buddha, composed of the three vehicles and the four categories of Tantra, are at present in the country called Tibet, and their vast scriptures are perhaps solely in the Tibetan language. At present, on this earth, of the nearly three hundred nations that have a government, populace and territory, qualifying for the entity “nation”, it is rare to find one which has a population of less than six million. ‘Six million Tibetans’ are therefore in the minority in terms of population. And in terms of historical duration, since Buddhism took hold in Tibet in the seventh and eighth century onwards, merely some twelve to thirteen hundred years have passed up till now. To be able to have translated the Ka-gyur and Tan-gyur and to have written texts exceeding those volumes in number—if one were to search around the world, there is only Tibet [that has produced such amount of written works].

China has a big population and Buddhism had flourished there prior to its flourish in Tibet, yet if the Chinese Ka-gyur and Tan-gyur and the Tibetan Ka-gyur and Tan-gyur are compared, there is a huge difference both in terms of the quantity and the quality. Other than translating into Indian languages, from the Chinese, no restoration is possible, whereas from the Tibetan the texts could be restored exactly back into Sanskrit.

The modern scientists say the Sanskrit language is the best language for computers. Other than the Tibetan language, there is no language that can go shoulder to shoulder with Sanskrit; in the Tibetan the twenty-two upsarg (close modifiers, ~ qualifiers) are present in their entirety, it would be difficult to find so even in other languages of India. As such, the language into which the scriptures extant in the Sanskrit and Pali languages could be translated is solely the Tibetan language. It is inconceivable that a population that was only six million was able to translate within a time of two to three hundred years such a large number of texts. In terms of written works, it is perhaps rare to find such a large corpus of writings as that of Tibetans’. We cannot assess how many hand-scribed editions in gold and silver [inks] of the over-three hundred volumes of the Ka-gyur and Tan-gyur were produced. Now, if we were to hand scribe a small text—say, of The Essence of Wisdom and Diamond Cutter—it would be difficult to find a scribe, in the absence of a computer. Throughout the extent of the three regions of Tibet and also in India, Nepal and other places where Tibetan Buddhism flourishes, perhaps there would not be any region where there are no hand-scribed texts of the sixteen-volume Perfection of Wisdom in a Hundred Thousand Verses, and Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses, Compilation of Dhāraṇī–s, etc. It is important to clearly know that we are the descendants of a race of people with such will-power and diligence.

Had not there been even one mistake and shortcoming with our forebears? In terms of politics and international relations, there were big mistakes, but as regards the legacies left by our forebears the mistakes were very minor. We do have in our thoughts the history of such great legacies that are inconceivable and beyond description, but we do not have the feeling that it is an astonishingly important. As for me, I think the spiritual kings of the seventh and eighth century and the lotsawa-translators of that time had been so efficiently tough. Prior to its entry in Tibet, Buddhism had already flourished in south-east Asia, China, etc. As regards Arya Theravada tradition, for instance, it was already prevalent in Srilanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Combodia and in the neigbouring countries. When the teachings were propagated in those countries, although there were local languages, the abbots and the elders did not allow to translate the Pali texts into the local languages. As the consequence of that, since at that time not all of the bhiksus and sramaners knew the Pali language, when the activity rites were recited in the Pali—“O sangha bhante, I request you to please listen”—not all sangha bhante knew Pali, so they could not understand.

The former Tibetan spiritual kings and particularly, due to the compassionate kindness of the Great Abbot Shantaraksita, even the Vinaya activity rites were translated into the Tibetan language. At that time the Indian scholars asked the Great Abbot if that would be appropriate, but the Great Abbot gave the advice to translate, which we can now see as a great far-reaching intelligent decision. We should certainly know the achievements and the splendour of the entire Tibetan society prior to the year 1959, and how much of a legacy our past generations have left.

As for Tibetan refugees, the whole of Tibet was forcibly occupied by China, resulting in us having to come into exile in 1959; that major upheaval time was the worst event in Tibetan history. Yet it is very important to know also how much achievement there has been during the last sixty-two years, the time we have been as refugees. Throughout the world there were refugees from earlier times, and even now each year the United Nations brings out a statistic of the large number of refugees. When looking at them, we, the Tibetan refugees, composed of some fifteen hundred thousand, is a very small number. Nevertheless, in the countries—India, Nepal, Bhutan and others—where we live as exiles there have been very great achievements in education and spirituality during the last sixty-two years. Most of the great monasteries or the great monastic seats of Tibet have been re-established anew in India and Nepal equal to as they were in Tibet. This Gyuto Monastery, for example, is more splendid than the Ramochey of Tibet. We have been able to provide the opportunity of traditional and the modern education for all Tibetan children, and for all of us exiles to be able to create our respective careers. As regards the administration, we have been to change the nature of our governance into a democratic one and to have it functioning so well. If we think of them, we have been able to do things that no other refugees have been able to do; we need to be aware of that. We also need to know that these achievements are solely due His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s leadership and splendid capabilities. At a sudden glance, therefore, at many of our situations it may be rare to see them vividly, but if we think meticulously they are something worthy to feel amazed and bewildered about. When all have been completed, other than thinking, “O such have been completed”, it has become difficult even for us to explain how we have been able to achieve them. For example, with our monasteries, the administrative officials get changed after every three years, yet the construction works and the functions and the works proceed exactly, which so proceed through a non-obvious force—this is something one would be able to know if looked at thoroughly. Yet if we stay satisfied with that, though our past and present situation may be good, it would be difficult to say whether or not the future situation would surely be good. If someone therefore with an unbiased mind reviews Tibet’s past history and the history so far as refugees there is nothing for us to feel meek and embarrassed about. Wasn’t there even one deed we have done during those times that we should feel embarrassed about? No at all; there had been many things done in the past to be embarrassed about, and many that are being done now, but it is important for us to know what things to be not embarrassed about, rather to be proud about, we have done at the same time, and how they have been achieved.

Particularly, as regards how the exile Tibetan political nature has moved to a genuine democratic path, and how the framework of our democracy is, if a scholar of political science were to do a research, there is nothing unable to say that in terms of the framework ours is better than those of the best democracies of the free countries. Subsequent to assuming the powers as the religious and political head of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama had established the Reformation Office and carried out other initiatives, and from a young age continued to have the intention to transform into a modern democracy the nature of the Tibetan politics, but while under Chinese rule nothing could be done. After our arrival in India, although our society was not up to the standards for the implementation of a democratic system like the one we have now, through a way of leading the thoughts of the Tibetans His Holiness has as if by a sudden forcible means transformed the nature of the Tibetans politics into a democracy. More so, if one looks at the framework of the exile Tibetan constitution, all the principles of distribution of powers and checks-and-balances are contained in it in their entirety, besides to be able to go by, without contradiction, even if the term “religion and politics conjoined” were to be used. And, the framework of the constitution has been made so good, where the parliament is placed at the centre. One thing I still clearly remember now is that when the exile Tibetan constitution was being drafted by the Constitution Drafting Committee many of the best experts had worked together: Professor Rao the great professor of law and political science, in India, and Professor Dokhaliya, et al, and many experts from England. Finally, prior to passing the draft in the parliament, along with the Drafting Committee, His Holiness the Dalai Lama went through each word—‘checking with each word in the black [ink]’—thereby comparing the understandings, at the residence chamber of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, for five days, daily from nine o’ clock in the morning to five or six o’ clock in the evening, and in accordance with His Holiness’s special thoughts His Holiness himself made additions and deletions, and inserted anew many pivotal things which we thought were difficult to implement. It was finalised in such a way. As a Tibetan saying goes, “An order paper is not enough, there has to be a human strength”, if there is the sufficiency from the part of persons, there is still an excellent framework on paper to be put into use. Similar to that, we have been able to produce many documents which when looked at by anyone, could not be faulted as not up to the standards. For example, Tibet: A Future Vision and Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for Tibetan People are documents that have become worthy to be regarded as reputable by all when shown at any international forum. Likewise, as regards our Constitution, it is a reputable document at any international forum of experts on political science and law, that there is the confidence and pride that nobody would be able to point as fault of drawbacks in it. But when we implement those documents whether how much of them we are able to be put to use, and how much becomes careless wastage, can be differentiated if one has an unbiased intellect.

The Tibetan struggle is within the Tibetan culture, but in terms of politics, even if reflected upon from the part of those who are not Tibetan citizens, the nature of the problem and struggle is the same, uniform; if we do not know well this situation, and stay thinking that our struggle is solely a struggle between the communist China and the six million Tibetans, it would be difficult to challenge and gain victory over that. Up until 1949 and 1950, the Great Britain, considered amongst superpower countries, wage war against Tibet, and China had many times attempted to take over Tibet, and continues to occupy Tibet. Also, the neighbouring country Nepal had waged wars against Tibet. But during all those times Tibet had never been under the rule of any other country. Britain’s power at that time, for example, was such that when its army arrived in Tibet if it continued its advance with occupying Tibet, nobody could have challenged that, yet Britain did not occupy Tibet; things got anyway as if resolved subsequently through the Simla Treaty. Nonetheless, we should know that for Tibet to become under Chinese rule in 1949 was due to the situation of a major change internationally.

If we are to search for the source of that major change, it was primarily due to struggle between Modernity and Tradition. ‘Tradition’, in brief, is called ‘lineage’. From the time Modernity emerged not many years passed for the world to become of Modernity; if counted from the beginning, it took only some two hundred years, and only over two hundred years have passed for the major change, or to become industrialised. In Modernity are these two: science and technology. What did humanity gain from these two? There came about the ability to ulitise resources and produce things, more than what humanity needs. In the ancient times, it was not that the human needs could not be achieved, and things were produced for just what was needed, there was no capability to produce more than that. But as a consequence of science, there emerged technology, and dependent on that when industrialisation came about there was the ability to produce more than the needs, thus there arose the situation of having to use human greed, resulting in Marketisation. Along with marketisation there came about Capitalism, and due to exploitation and oppression of Capitalism there flourished forth Communism. Between the struggle of communism and capitalism Tibet got stuck. In the past, a journalist and some other persons asked me the question, “Why instead of occupying Tibet in the mid-twentieth century, China did not occupy Tibet before that?”. I answered—which I still continue to maintain so—that, Tibet came under Chinese rule because there prevailed capitalism in the West. At that time they, the journalist and others, were acting surprised. We have a saying in Tibetan: “When asked, ‘What happened to your head?’, the answer given was ‘A sheep charged me on the bottom’”. As regards that, instead of explaining how the wound appeared on the head, in response to the question, how there was a wound on the head, when the answer was that a sheep had charged on the bottom, it is possible that there is no connection. But in actuality, due to having been charged on the bottom by a sheep the head got banged on the ground, causing the wound. As such, that answer had a great connection, but when looked at it suddenly, it appears as if there is no connection. If capitalism did not prevail, communism would not have emerged.

If the theme of the eight-parts volume entitled Das Kapital of Karl Marx are summarised, it explains that capitalism collects capital, but does not give the necessary profit to the working class, or robs off the profits received from the efforts of the workers, and exploits them, thereby there came about Marxism and Communism. Say, a factory is established, and if the person who has invested the capital for that had put a hundred rupees and if the profit gained is five hundred rupees, where the capital was a hundred rupee, and although the four hundred rupees are made by those who put the effort, the workers, they do not receive that profit. Unfortunately, at present, all Marxism and communism have declined; Russia too is going towards capitalism, and the Chinese too are not only going towards capitalism—although they simply give a different name as “communism with Chinese characteristics”—we can see that China has become one of the worst adherents of marketisation and consumerism. That now throughout the world there is no systems remaining other than capitalism and marketisation is a matter to be sad about. As regards Marxism, at the beginning, everybody had very great expectations. His Holiness the Dalai Lama had often said that, except for the method of Marxism, His Holiness had liking for its objectives; that is factual. In any case, at present in Consumerism humankind have already become consumers, from being users. In the past, people were users (unitisers), not consumers. In Hindi, the words are upayog and upabhog; the former means user, and the latter consumer. Because of that, this earth has mostly been made to waste.

Everybody knows and it is visibly factual that there is an inseparably deep relation between the world of habitats and habitants. Since this world of habitat, the environment, has formed out of the collective karma of sentient beings, it is therefore there for sentient beings. According to differing explanations from religions, in the Vedantic’s Jagatapurāṇa there appears the line, “Brahma has created the various worlds”; in our [Buddhist] Abhidharmakośa the line reads, “From karma the various worlds arise”. Whichever of the two—Brahma or karma (previous actions)—they arise from, nevertheless the habitat world is for the use of the habitant sentient beings. Due to recklessly consuming the habitat world, the environment, there is at present the degradation of the environment and global warming, so it is possible that at the end of this century all who live in this world would face an immense danger.

In our teachings, there is the mention of the emergence, during the increase of the five generations, the Aeon of Diseases, Aeon of Weapons, Aeon of Famine, etc., which are as if we are able to witness them directly. As for the Aeon of Weapons, two World Wars have occurred already, and other than them, there has not been at all in our living memory a time when there was no war going on in the world. The reason for that is, in the capitalist system the weapons—which are for destruction—are one of the most profitable businesses, able to make huge profits from a little capital investment. To create the market for this business there have to be wars or there has to be the threat of wars; if there are two nations at discord, then those two nations at discords become the best market. As we see with our eyes, for example, if a weapon is sold to Pakistan, immediately India is persuaded to counter that weapon, and with the pretext that if the counter-weapon is not bought there would be a grave danger, India is made to buy it. Straight away, Pakistan is told that there would be the same danger, and so forth, and through such a means the market is being secured. Between the human lives and business profits, the business profit is considered more important, not that much the human lives.

When this Covid-19 pandemic initially emerged, there were many lockdowns enforced, but gradually when it was seen things were getting detrimental to economy, between the protection of economy and that of human lives, all countries had to reluctantly concede that the protection of economy is more important. Now, even if people are dying the governments have become lacking the courage to enforce lockdowns. Not to mention of other things, let’s look at medicines, which is actually a means for reviving from diseases, but now even medicines have already become a business. It is no more the aim of a physician to make a society devoid of patients. In the Allopathy system, there is no side-effect, but it has been made deliberately to make the business go well. For instance, when agriculture was turned into that of using chemical fertilizers there were ingredients created for growth of insects (“pests”), so farmers have no choice but to buy pesticides. Likewise, as regards crop seeds as well, hybrid and terminal seeds were created, thereby the seeds planted in one’s field do not grow again. Under such situations the general situation of our world is such that there are the threats of the environmental degradation, population increase, conflicts of violence, pandemics, and so forth. As for the danger of pandemics, there is the idea to use biological and chemical weapons in the event if there is going to be a third world war; it is being said that the present Covid-19 pandemic came from a Chinese virology laboratory, and though it may not be proven to be so, it is nonetheless not baseless.

One needs to look at, under such a situation, what deep a source the Tibetan problem (Tibetan issue) is, and due to what kind of struggle there are at present those supporting the Tibetans and those objecting. If one looks at whether those who support are doing so because they like the Tibetans, those that object do so out of animosity at the Tibetans, perhaps it is not like that. Both who support and those who object to, do so with the aim to achieve their respective aspirations and self-interests. As such, along with the intense struggle between tradition and modernity, there are pandemics, environmental degradation, wars and conflicts, economic exploitation and so on—by looking at all these multitude of calamities it becomes important for us to clearly see how the resultant situation is such that there is no peace in the human society. In The Bouquet of Specific [Advice], Buddha says: “Oneself is one’s own protector,| How would anyone else be the protector?||”.⁷ These Words spoken over two thousand and five hundred years ago is not confined to spirituality only, rather it is factual.

Out of this active and wide struggle that is related to all the humans and living beings in this world, one needs to know fully one’s own situation, it is indispensable that we need to think about how we should act. It would be difficult for us to make understand ourselves in details the entirety of this situation, yet, as it is said, “To the intelligent ones, a partial [mention would do]”,⁵ you need to please think on what is presented here in part merely.

On the theme of ‘How to Be a Leader of Thought’, therefore that I have said earlier the three—1) abiding by an unbiased mind, 2) possessing intellect, and 3) to be interested—are indispensable to be a leader of thought, are as the backgrounds. The situation of conflicts of the whole world is one background, and through repeated reviews on what were the splendid things worthy of pride we have achieved in the past and the present, and those that were mistakes to be embarrassed about, we need to take a framework.

Even for a religious person, one has to be a religious person of the twenty-first century, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama advises. A religious person needs to be able to go together with the people of the twenty-first century; if one thinks of becoming firstly a twenty-first century person, and thereafter to be a religious person, that would be not right. The advice does not mean a person of the twenty-first century has to become a religious person, rather it says the religious person has to become a religious person of the twenty-first century. It is important that we need to see, while being a religious person, how one should go in the twenty-first century.

In summary, as regards our Tibetan struggle, we need to have a clear thinking on which side should be our stand in the wider struggle, for our struggle is a part of the wider struggle of the whole world, the humanity. When one engages in this struggle between tradition and modernity, if one acts as a modern person, one stands on the side of modernity, one is not standing on the side of those struggling. One needs to be not mistaken, therefore, with holding the demarcation of one’s stand and direction when engaged in a struggle. I have been regularly saying that we cannot struggle with modernity by taking the modern tools, we need to struggle with modernity by taking traditional tools. In any case, as regards one’s stand, one should stay on one side; for example, due to the perfect leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, most Tibetans say we are struggling through non-violence and peaceful way—if we stand on the side of non-violence and peace, we should have in fact the belief in non-violence and peace, and one should also be someone who practises the path of non-violence and peace. Otherwise, while there is anger in one’s mind, if one says by mouth “the path of non-violence and peace”, no beneficial power would come from that. The main reason the path of non-violence and peace has not been powerful in our Tibetan society is clearly the discord between our viewpoints and the implementing in practice the path of non-violence and peace, the situation of the distance between the two.

The late Prof Gene Sharp was not only an expert on Gandhi’s philosophy, he wrote many books and gave many intensive trainings in the Tibetan society, on the path of non-violence and peace. The main thing we two were at odds was that he used to say Gandhi used this path of non-violence as a strategy, that Gandhi had no inner belief in it. I maintain with conviction that Gandhi’s non-violence path was a sādhana, a spiritual practice, not a strategy. The reason he said that it was a strategy is that, since England and India were not at all equal militarily, economically, etc., and thus because there was no way India could challenge England through violence, India had no choice but to find another method; if India had the military might, economic riches and human-power matching that of the British, India perhaps would have possibly used violence, but due to lacking such capabilities India had to use non-violence as a desperate measure—Prof Sharp had said thus. For Gandhi to often say that other than the brave, a coward cannot practise the path of non-violence, is because of such a reason. In the Tibetan society, too, there are people who think in their mind like that, and also it seems there are those outside of the Tibetan society who think, since Tibetans cannot challenge the Chinese, there is no way other than that of non-violence. When would our path of non-violence become an actuality? Say, for example, if one or two Chinese come where there are some ten Tibetans, and while there is the occasion for the Tibetans to be able to kill and beat, even so if they, through lovingkindness and compassion, do not harm, that would be a genuine non-violence. But the reason why our path of non-violence has been ineffectual is because we are not able to uproot the hatred and anger directed at our adversary in our minds. While we have in our thought a blazing anger, even so if from our mouths we say “Ours’ is a path of non-violence”, that actually would be a strategy, it would not become a valid spiritual practice. It is therefore important that our mouths and the hearts (minds) are the same.

For any struggle, at first, one should be clear with one’s stand. Second, one should have belief in the method of the struggle, where the mouth and heart are non-dual, not at odds, in the manner of a spiritual practice. If one has them, one would be able to face the adversary, and there will be the hope of power to emerge with the method and tool. Under the leadership of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, just as we say from our mouths ‘the path of non-violence and peace’, it is important that at all times there be no violence, anger, hatred, animosity and so on in our thoughts. One has to have well set in one’s mind one’s stand at the beginning, the nature and aims of the struggle, and then what path to rely on when putting into practice the path.

Then, at the end, as regards what would be the situation with the exile Tibetans in the next hundred years, and what would eventuate in the future hundred years if the compatriots inside Tibet go on as now, it is so important that we need to assess them. Through what should we do the assessment? It is important to look at our exile society’s present situation, the situation of the Tibetan society inside Tibet, and moreover the growth of the youth.

Inside Tibet, mainly the Tibetan religion, and the language and culture are being targeted by the Chinese. When the British destroyed India they targeted the culture and language. When the Mughals ruled India, there occurred only the forcible conversion into their religion, they could not undertake a deeply-planned project of destroying the language and culture. Within a hundred years since setting the strategy by Macaulay the British were able to change India almost into British. The same is now continuing in Tibet. If we look at the situation of the exile Tibetans, although there may not be anyone forcing us, it is while with freedom, a change is happening. As regards the situation of the exile Tibetan society in India, it is very difficult to speculate whether the next fifty-sixty years would be the same as the past fifty-sixty years.

As His Holiness the Dalai Lama had pledged to live up to a hundred and thirteen years of age, we also have the belief that His Holiness will kindly live that long. Still now, we can clearly know that His Holiness has a firm pledge in the mind to kindly live up to a hundred and thirteen years of age. Likewise, because His Holiness has appeared in the form as a human, not only we see, but can assume as well, that upon arriving at an advanced age His Holiness would not be able to keep an active schedule of benevolent activities as when young. Also, in recent times, when the monasteries of the exile Tibetan society were in a critical situation there emerged the opportunity for new arrivals from Tibet, but that opportunity has now ended. Now, it is the recruits from Himalaya regions to whom we rely on; they have now kept the monasteries going, and there is the hope that the monasteries would remain firmly for fifty-sixty years in the future. As for the situation of the exile Tibetan administration, it is, among them, one of those in the greatest danger. It is therefore important to have a good feeling and vision in our thoughts, of such and such means need to be applied when such possible situations arise in the future. Moreover, it is becoming important that, through being with the presence of feelings and visions in our thoughts, on the guidance given in the past and present by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, that we reflect in detail. Not only we listen to His Holiness’s advice, many do try to implement into practice, but it often happens that people fail to understand and lack feelings. For example, since 1960’s, an important thing His Holiness had been advising often was, “Whether or not there will be the need for the Dalai Lama Institution, with successive Reincarnates, will be decided by the Tibetan people and the people following Tibetan Buddhism; perhaps this will be decided when I reach the same age as Gyalwang Gedhundrub (His Holiness the First Dalai Lama, who lived to 84 years of age⁸).” But no interest is being shown on that statement in the Tibetans society. On many issues of great importance like that which His Holiness has spoken of in few words or has shown a part or has hinted, there is no interest coming from Tibetans. If the exile administration gets disintegrated, there would be the danger of perhaps nothing to finger-point as the framework of the exile Tibetan society, and if such happens there would be the danger of the Tibetan struggle becoming rootless.

My talk today has become not orderly. When one gets to advanced age it becomes difficult to have in the mind the outlines and sequence in order. In any case, of the many things spoken of, you need to pick and put together. Earlier, when the president was giving the introduction, I was asked to talk on “How Should One Be a Leader of Thought in a Society?”. Regarding that, as I have said twice earlier, one has to have complete these three: 1) one has to abide by an unbiased mind, 2) one should possess the intellect to differentiate between the good and bad, and 3) the diligence to complete the [context] activity. In addition to them, i) one has to recognise the splendour of the past history and the shortcomings, ii) one has to recognise the details of the present situation, iii) to be able to assess the possible good and bad that might occur in the future, iv) and through them, what changes need to be made in the future; and most importantly, the one making the change, or the person putting efforts at making the change, needs to be able to become himself/herself in the nature of the change. For example, if it is a person implementing into practice the path of non-violence and peace, that there needs to be a thought of non-violence, brought about through lovingkindness and compassion, is the principle (philosophy, ideology); to generate that thought of non-violence in one’s mental continuum is the process of the actual action; having generated them well in one’s thought, to guide others is the actual way of leading others.

Within what kind of present situation of the whole world we are living in; within that state, what are the order of our efforts and goals; what are our ultimate goals for the welfare of the world in general, and for that, what are things one can do for the Tibetan people—and as regards that, not what from outside things can be done for the Tibetan administration, Tibetan society, settlements and schools, rather to see, What I can do? That is, the need to check what things that are lacking in my daily actions, and so forth. In a training in France, there is the motto: “Better self, Better we, Better World”. Gandhi always used to say: To make a change in the society, firstly that change has to be within oneself. That is a sublime advice. Even in the context of religiosity, if one teaches others without having done the practices by oneself, there would be the danger of it becoming what Za Pel-gae (rza dpal dge) said, “Oneself lacking experience is [akin to] beating a dance-drum with a textual [reading],| Listeners may like, but it’s really untrue!||”.⁹One needs to therefore think and put effort at what one can do, what one can make one’s family members to do, and through that, what one can do in one’s society or the small surroundings. And, along with that, when there take place various occurrences in the society, one has to take interest and from one’s part to do things that would benefit the society, and to be able to advise the like-minded ones what to do, and so on—if one begins from small, there would be the hope to be able to go to a long distance. For someone practising the Dharma, to train one’s mind on the stages of the paths common with the small and intermediate capable persons is not for just staying at those two levels, rather one has to go up to the six perfections and the four means of drawing-in sentient beings; it is like that. Through really gaining mastery by oneself with one’s thoughts, and through that power, to strive at being able to change others’ thoughts, is a way to be a leader of thought.

My apologies that there was much disorder in what I said. I hope and pray that we all shall have good health, and the pandemic ends soon throughout the world and we get to travel well and meet frequently. Thank You!

Translation Notes

ཐོག་མར་ཕྱག་བཙལ་ཕྲག་ཏུ་བཀུར་ན་ཡང་།། རིམ་གྱིས་ཆེ་རྡེག་ཆུང་རྡེག་སྤེལ་བའི་མཐར།། མཐའ་མར་ཏོག་སྒྲ་དང་བཅས་དོར་བ་ཡི།། གཎྜིའི་ངང་ཚུལ་འཛིན་པའི་མཁན་པོ་རྣམས།།
The ‘approval’ here has the meaning as receiving advice from one’s Teacher, prior to accepting to teach and so on, while being in the same locality as where one’s Teacher is staying. This is in following the guidelines in The Fifty Verses on [Devoting to] a Teacher, (गुरुपञ्चशिका, Gurupañcaśikā; see Verse 40), and of the first of the nine ways of mentally devoting to a Teacher, advised in Lamrim Chenmo.
༄༅། །རྟོགས་བརྗོད་མདུན་ལེགས་མ།། rtogs brjod mdun legs ma.
The citation here is as paraphrased in addressing a Tibetan-speaking audience.
His Eminence Prof Samdhong Rinpoche remarks in the inaugural address at the Major Dialectical Meet, 2015, “This citation is not found in our Kagyur (bkaḥ ḥgyur); there is a similar one in the Śrīmahābalatantrarājanāma. This quote was cited, as ‘from Sūtra’, in Ācārya Kamalaśīlā’s Tattvasaṅgrahapañjikā. More extensive [than that verse] is in Kālām Sutta, in Pāli.” (༄༅། །སློབ་དཔོན་ཟམ་གདོང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་མཆོག་གི་གསུང་བཤད་དང་གསུང་རྩོམ་སོགས་གལ་ཆེ་ཁག་ཕྱོགས་བསྡུས། པོད་ཕྲེང་བརྒྱད་པ། A Compendium of His Eminence Prof Samdhong Rinpoche’s Important Speeches and Writings, Vol. 8, pp. 600 – 601; Gyuto Library Publications, 2020). Of a slightly variant wordings (third line) appears in Śrīguhyasamā-jālaṁkāranāma—དགེ་སློང་དག་གམ་མཁས་རྣམས་ཀྱིས།། བསྲེགས་བཅད་བདར་བའི་གསེར་བཞིན་དུ།། རིགས་པས་བརྟགས་ནས་ང་ཡི་བཀའ།། བླང་བར་བྱ་ཡིས་གུས་ཕྱིར་མིན།། ~ Having examined by reasoning my Words| ~.
Vyākhyāyukti (The Rational of Explaining).
Udānavarga.
The years given in Dungkar’s Illuminating the Fields of Knowledge are 1391 – 1474, of 84 years of age. During the Tenshuk-Request to Kindly Live Long offered to His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, by the Education Department, Gyalrong People and others, on 27 February 2019, His Holiness remarks, “the Omniscient Gedundrub (HH the First Dalai Lama) had lived up to 84-85 years of age”.
Also known as Za Peltrul (rza dpal sprul). རང་ལ་ཉམས་མྱོང་མེད་པའི་དཔེ་ཐོག་གི་བྲོ་རྡུང་།། ཉན་མཁན་མོས་མོས་འདྲ་ཡང་མི་བདེན་ངོ་མ།།

The video recording of this guidance talk, in Tibetan, is at this link:

https://www.youtube..com/watch?v=a5C9tth1X4Q