Losar (Tibetan New Year) greetings and guidance message

(This transcript is of the greetings and guidance message by His Eminence Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, webcast on 12 February 2021, on the occasion of Losar, Tibetan New Year.)

Tashi Delek! greetings on the occasion of the seventeenth Rabjung periodical cycle’s Iron Ox New Year, to all friends!

“Losar” (a New Year) is celebrated universally as an occasion for joy in all human societies, irrespective of diverse languages and cultures. In general, the way a year is calculated is the same throughout the world, notwithstanding various similar and dissimilar ways of doing astrological calculations. Since a year is the main basis of counting the phases of a person’s lifetime, so when a new year comes about, it is celebrated; perhaps, this had been so in societies since earlier historical times.

The astrological calculations followed in our Tibet is mainly of Kalachakra system, as taught in Kalachakra Tantra, and added with good parts taken from non-Buddhist Vedas and so on, and good parts taken from Chinese astrology and others, becoming one of our unique Tibetan fields of knowledge. This year, some 995 years have passed since the way of doing astrological calculations of year, months and sourced from Kalachakra system, came about in Tibet.

During a new year—when a year, one of the most important bases for calculating a lifetime, has finished, and one is going into a new year—the main objective of the celebration, certainly, has to be by way of looking both retrospectively and at the front of our life, in the manner of “a lion’s raised gaze [in turns]”, as the great major texts speak of, that is, when outside, a lion walks looking both ways, both back and front. In the manner of “a lion’s raised gaze [in turns]”, we look at the past, how we had spent our life in the years gone, and how would we lead our life in the forthcoming year and thereafter. And, in brief, it is important to not let go to meaningless waste this greatly precious human life. “To live”, to lead a life, is something we have to do; just recently, an acquaintance of mine has written a book, entitled in English, Living is Not a Choice, saying that to live is not a choice, whether or not one wants—that’s factual.

As the result of our good deeds in the past lives, we have acquired a human rebirth. It goes without saying that human life is greatly precious, yet as regards putting it into use, whether it is used correctly, for good purposes, or whether the entire life is wasted meaninglessly, is in one’s hands. That one has to live, there is no choice, yet as regards how one were to lead one’s life, it is entirely in one’s hands, one has complete freedom.

As such, taking this occasion, I thought of bringing to your attention, briefly, Friends, the factors needed for leading one’s life happily, the additional factors needed for leading one’s life meaningfully; also, there were requests by others.

For not having to lead a life in sufferings, not having to live in sufferings all the time, rather to lead life in happiness, the factors needed are a healthy body, that is the first factor; to have a healthy mind is the second factor. With any living being, what makes it into its entity as a living being is the composite of the mind and the body; the body and the mind are the main components with any living being, and so the two have to be healthy. With a healthy body and a healthy mind, when one leads a life the next that one needs along with is a livelihood, and as regards livelihood, in Dharma expression, it has to be a “right livelihood”, not tainted by wrong livelihood. The basis for livelihood has to be right (right livelihood), stable and sustainable. If these three are present, then although there could be hardships due to external factors, one would be alright with leading a happy life.

First, for the body to be healthy, one needs to do regular check-ups and to take responsibility, by parents and oneself, ensuring proper growing up from a young age. And, regularly, to be not lacking sensitivity towards the body, to be not lacking attention towards it, that when there is even a slight sickness with the body one seeks to identify the sickness, and then apply all means for its cure. Food and conduct are the two main factors for the body to be healthy, that they need to be moderate and appropriate, appropriate in that they do not contravene health. Body is composed of the four elements, and for the potencies of the four elements to be in balance it depends much on food and conduct. As regards how to go about with food and conduct, one needs to make oneself know well mainly the traditional methods: such as, to know the limit in eating, and to do regularly physical exercises, wind trainings (breath exercises pranayama), and so on. If one does them, it would be easy for the body to be healthy.

Especially, as regards health, in the traditional health systems—more so, for us Tibetans, in the unique Tibetan medical tradition of Sowa Rigpa (gso wa rig pa)—there is much instructed, in the Tibetan medical texts, principally about food and conduct, for the health of the body. With conduct, there are timely conduct, regular conduct and temporary (or situational) conduct. If one makes oneself know them well, certainly there would be benefits to the bodily health. The modern system of bodily health is something one has no choice but to rely on it when one becomes ill. In general, the modern system of bodily health is where the main objective is not for making everyone bereft of diseases, rather the bodily health too has become a business; in the modern society, there is not any activity that is not aimed at commercial and economic profits, that even in regular oft-repeated expression, health has become a factory, called “Health industry”, it has anyway become a business. Since it is just business, physicians do not keep as the main objective making society bereft of diseases; if there were no diseases the medical business would cease, thus to have unending flow of patients has become their capital. As such, for the treatment of illnesses that are of pressing urgent kind, there is no choice but to rely on the modern medical treatments, otherwise, for regular bodily health I think it would be good if one does in accordance with the traditional systems, especially that of Tibetan Sowa Rigpa medical system.

Of them, the principal thing is the mental health, the wellbeing of the mind. Merely being not insane does not mean “healthy mind”. In the present century, that is, people living in the post-modern and ultra-modern way of life, our environment around us has become very unsuitable, very discordant, so it is very difficult to have a healthy mind. Healthy mind means the mind has freedom; present with the freedom of the mind, one has to, in one’s thoughts, know how to examine things, following valid reasoning, and to have the ability to examine. That is called a healthy mind.

At present, if we look meticulously, at the outlooks or views that we have in our thoughts—“this is so”, “this isn’t” and so on—checking whether they are conclusions one has drawn from examinations by one’s intellect, or they are assumptions dependent on external advertisements and so on, ninety per cent would be assumptions due to external influences, perhaps there would not be any from examinations by one’s intellect. When advertisement power on television, newspapers, periodicals and so forth has become so strong, especially, when so much is said strongly in the regular, daily broadcasts on television, radio, and so on, one concurs, thinking, “that’s it”, “that’s it”. The ability to examine from one’s part—examining by one’s discerning intellect, to determine things well, and then to decide, ‘This is good, this is to be taken up, this is bad, this is to be given up’—has diminished so much. As a past Tibetan saying goes, “A fool swayed like diverting a water flow to wherever at will”, fools’ thoughts are swayed by others, thinking, things to be so as told they are, and thinking, things are not so when told they are not—to go about like that is what is called, unhealthy mind, a mind that is not well. Generally, very few are people whose mind is not normal; yet, while our mind stays normal, naturally, it is let to follow so much all the time after others’ charm, others’ influence, which is not only the case with us, rather all who live in the modern society, in the post-modern way of life, are in the same situation. Politically, economically, commercially, party-factionally, advertisements are done continually, swaying people’s thoughts this way or that way, not letting people live with freedom of thought, thereby people lose their ability to independently decide things for themselves.

Apart from that, due to thick imprints of afflictions from many previous lives, we are very egoistically insistent, that we insist on what we think and have decided by ourselves, that even when others rationally explain to us we do not relate to the reasoning and it so happens that the thought lags behind, not able to follow reasoning. As such, one needs to be unbiased in one’s thoughts, not to be insistent on the basis ‘I think so’, or ‘Because everybody says so, it must be so’; through one’s wisdom of discerning things, through relying on reasoning, through relying on proofs—with anything, what are the corroborative reasons, what are the contradicting reason, what are the reasons this is good, what are the reasons this is bad, are the reasonings valid in terms of the present, are they valid in the ultimate—one examines meticulously, by one’s intellect, by applying reasoning, and draws conclusive findings.

When doing examinations, we can certainly take as bases for examinations the reasoning put forth by others, examining whether they are invalid or valid. Likewise, even if one had earlier clinging towards a thought—‘This is so’ and ‘This isn’t so’—one does not absolutely, doggedly cling on to that, rather, when examining things, one does so with a truthful mind, an unbiased mind, and then one draws conclusive findings—to be able to examine thus and to have the ability to decide through the wisdom of discerning things as they are, is described as healthy mind. Along with that, in one’s thought there should not be partiality and thoughts of victory for oneself and defeat for others. In general, our Tibetan society is a spiritual one, “of spiritual realm Tibet”, so everybody says, “Be of kind thought”, “Be of kind thought”, Be kind, Be kind. As regards the way to be of kind thought, it is to be unbiasedly, honestly benevolent, only wanting to help others, not to have thoughts of harm and violence to others—these are the basic kind thoughts, one may although not have [the kind thoughts of higher levels:] lovingkindness, compassion and enlightenment mind (bodhicitta). At any rate, to be bereft of thoughts to harm and of violence to others, rather to be as helpful to other as one can.

That would be what is described as a qualified thinking, a healthy mind. In such a way, when both the body and the mind are good, in healthy state, then most of the bases for problems and miseries to occur in one’s life have become annulled. If there do occur problems, one examines by one’s intellect, through reasoning—what these problems are, what are their causes—and one would be able to remove them.

Together with them there has to be qualified livelihood, for if there were no qualified factors for livelihood there would not be a good way of living, notwithstanding even if one’s body and mind are well. The source of livelihood must not be tainted by wrong livelihood, it has to be right livelihood, which means, it has to be devoid of violence, that one’s livelihood has not come from violence to others, directly or indirectly—’directly, implicitly and indirectly’; has not come from causing loss to others, not from harming others, not from stealing and so on. It is important that the means of livelihood has to be right (perfect) like that. Not only it has to be bereft of violence, it has to be not by violence to person/s and violence to environment, as violence could be in terms of those two kind. Any work as livelihood has to be not harming the environment, for if one harms the environment it becomes a violence. Also, livelihood has to be stable, not unstable like the of the kind where there is much profit at one time but suddenly suffers loss. It is important that those three are present: 1) not of wrong livelihood, 2) bereft of violence and 3) stable and sustainable.

Such a livelihood has to be concordant with one’s needs. If it is in excess of one’s needs it cannot become naturally bereft of violence. There are enough resources in the world to fulfil the needs of all who live in it, not for fulfilling greed. These words of Mahatma Gandhi are very precious and powerful: “The world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not enough for everyone’s greed”, this earth has sufficient resources to sustain—for sustaining the body and to feed to stomach’s fill—all that live on this earth, but there would not be enough even to fulfil one person’s greed. As such, certainly, when we go about with livelihood we do not follow greed, rather to follow needs, to be suiting our needs, to be enough for living a happy life, whatever way of life one were to live, not in excess of that. Anything in excess of that would be, actually, of others’ share. With the natural resources, everybody has equal share, not in excess of that, and so if one uses, or hoards, or simply keeps around, anything, it is in actuality being greedy of others’ shares. If the resources are used appropriately, suiting one’s needs, one then would have all the conducive factors complete for living happily.

Even if one thus leads life happily, would that have made achieve [one’s and others’] welfare of next life, would that have made one’s life meaningful? There is nothing certain that would be so. Merely living happily does not make it meaningful. For making it meaningful, there has to be another conducive factor in addition to those three, and that is, to have a spiritual thinking, that of the inner knowledge. Spiritual thinking means to not seek merely this life’s happiness, rather to think of doing virtuous deeds, to accumulate merits, to eschew negativities and non-virtuous actions, so as to be of benefit in the next life, beyond this life. One certainly needs the ability to think in that way.

Whichever spiritual faith one follows there is no difference in that all the major spiritual faiths that are now in the world universally instruct a spiritual way of living, there is perhaps, none that does not instruct so. In terms of the view of phenomena reality, they vary, yet in terms of conduct they all advise uniformly to be non-violent, to be of kind thoughts, to be loving and compassionate. Even if one has no faith in spirituality, ‘the inner knowledge’ or ‘spiritual thinking’ is not just for seeking to know the extent of external things; it is to enquire oneself: Who is this I (me)? What is this I? From where has this I come? Was there a past life to it?—If so, how would that be so? If not, how has this life come about in the beginning, what is its present situation, where would it go in future, at the time of death? To scrutinize one’s own inner details, to be thinking in that way, does not have to be following a spiritual system, nor requiring faith in a spirituality. Anyway, just as one seeks to know the extent of the external phenomena, one looks at the inner things, mainly of the mind and mind-emerged (secondary mental states) that are related with mind. For instance, to seek to know what would be the benefits and losses—for oneself, for others, for society—if one were to harm others, and what would be the benefits and losses—for oneself, for others, for society—if one were to bear a benevolent thought; those are the way of thinking of the inner-knowledge, of spirituality. As such, one does not stay thinking only of ‘food, clothing and name (reputation)’, instead, as a human, as a living being—one who enjoys (consumes) food, clothing and name’—to look into one’s inner things, how the daily thoughts changes, what are the bases of thoughts, how would the continuity of the mind continue in future, subsequent to death, and so on and so forth; that is ‘inner knowledge’, and one does not have to enter a spiritual system for that. As you would know, His Holiness the Dalai Lama advises much on secular ethics and ethical thinking.

In our Tibetan society, for example, it may be very rare to find someone asserting to be agnostic, not of any spiritual system; perhaps, there may—or may not—be one or two among those with modern education, although I don’t know of anyone. Since everyone is born in [the lineage of] “the spiritual realm Tibet”, everyone thinks of themselves as Buddhists and spiritual, all has such an awareness. It is alright to retain as it is that awareness, and then do some thinking on one’s respective teaching tradition within Buddhism, and when living your life, to observe one’s situation of the body and the mind. It is easy to know the rise and decline of body, the bodily health, but with the mind—as His Holiness the Dalai Lama regular says, Everybody knows how to be hygienic bodily, but not everybody knows how to be hygienic mentally, the mental hygiene; that is a great summarization. The way to keep mental hygiene is to examine the inner mind’s movements, how the pure (wholesome) thoughts emerge, how the impure, afflictive thoughts arise, and to improve on pure thoughts and to decrease the wrong thoughts. If one does so, there would be the means, the way forward, to have a meaningful life.

On the occasion of a New Year, similar to what is always mentioned in the modern Western societies, “New Year resolution”, one looks back at one’s life gone thus far, and how one needs to spend the remainder of life to come; to check whether or not the factors for leading a meaningful life are present, and if so, to rejoice, if not, to resolve in one’s thought to work towards making them present.

As a general message in particular to Tibetans, I would like to say: at present, it is a time of major hardships, socially and politically, for us all Tibetans at home and in exile, yet we are very fortunate that we have the perfect guidance and leader in His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and as such, we should try to lead our lives in accordance with His Holiness’ advice and thought; to think of what needs to be done in restoring to our past society of the “spiritual realm Tibet”, with those at home and in exile in reunion; and to carry out the responsibilities we have individually towards humanity in general. On the present occasion of Losar (Tibetan New Year), if we are able to think, review and make resolution on them, I think it would be greatly beneficial.

My greetings of wellbeing to all. Last year was of much hardship, mainly of the pandemic, and many other matters. Unlike that, may in this New Year all humankind be with spirituality and necessities, and live happily and joyfully—thus I pray. Thank You!

(Video recording, in Tibetan, of this greetings and guidance can be viewed at this link:)

https://www.facebook.com/Samdhongrinpoche/videos/266742468135688