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Dalai Lama visit provides educational opportunity

Dr, Rich Rees, ADJUNCT INSTRUCTOR reesr@muohio.edu

I was very excited to read my friend Dr. Nick Money in The Miami Student calling attention to the imminent visit from the Dalai Lama. He appropriately challenges the Miami community to apply its critical self-reflection to the question, "Why is the Dalai Lama's visit such a big deal?"

Dr. Money poses a fictional character, Angelina, for comparison and asks why we should be any more excited about the Dalai Lama's visit than hers. Angelina is a bank teller, has a conscientious, peaceful outlook, neo-Buddhist opinions and her boyfriend, Brad, who thinks she is a goddess.

Dr. Money is posing a very good question: why should we pay any more attention to one person over another when apparently they hold approximately the same views? This is a very egalitarian and down-to-earth perspective. The only difference, Dr. Money suggests, between Angelina and the Dalai Lama is that his divinity is more widely held. (Only love-struck Brad believes in the divine status of Angelina.) The excitement about tickets for the Dalai Lama, Dr. Money seems to be implying, is because he is a god and, even better, a celebrity on par with Lindsay Lohan.

Lest it be concluded that this is true, it should be noted there are many other reasons the Dalai Lama's visit is a big deal. The Dalai Lama is a world historical figure, not merely because the paparazzi and celebrities think he's cool. The Dalai Lama himself claims to be an ordinary person from a small town. He would not say that he was a living deity any more than Angelina, despite whatever beliefs others may hold. His word is not divine law and many people, myself included, will not hold with all of his opinions and decisions. Among the many views that differ between Angelina and the Dalai Lama that Dr. Money does not mention are those on the plight of his country, Tibet. The Chinese Red Army invaded in 1949 and the occupation has since had a devastating effect on Tibetan life and culture that continues to the present. As head of state in exile since 1959, the Dalai Lama may have some views we can learn a great deal from this situation.

There are other reasons to be excited about the Dalai Lama's visit. Miami's new relationship with the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics and the College for Higher Tibetan Studies is tremendously promising and fortuitous purely from an academic standpoint. There is much about the Dalai Lama's visit to recommend. He is the head representative of a philosophical tradition, Tibetan Buddhism, and a culture that has been studying and contemplating peace and the expansion of compassion and awareness for more than 1,000 years. Public recognition and awards are merely celebrity hype, but the Dalai Lama was awarded many significant honors, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989. The Dalai Lama has dedicated much of his life to the knowledge and practice of mindfulness and non-violence and is worthy of our attention as an authority. Buddhism in general has a great deal to teach any thoughtful, open-minded person about the nature of mind, truth, consciousness and many other subjects. Rather than dismissing or trivializing those views, we might try to see what they might have to offer an inclusive, comprehensive and interdisciplinary understanding of the world. In any event, those who want a more peaceful, mindful and humane future will be very interested to hear what the leader of Tibet and authority on its rich religious philosophical traditions has to say.

I agree with Dr. Money about the utility of questioning our motives and clarifying our interests regarding the Dalai Lama's visit. I do not agree this is a good time for closed-mindedness and categorical opposition. The excitement about the good fortune in the Dalai Lama's visit to an educational institution comes from adding to Dr. Money's critical questions, "What can we learn from this?"

 


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