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HEIGHT: 45pt" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="The Jerusalem Post Internet

Edition"> Holy man in the Holy Land SIGALIT AVIGDORY-RUPERT,

THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 15, 2006 The arrival of His Holiness the

14th Dalai Lama in Israel yesterday has generated only mild attention

from the general public. After all, what relevance to the lives of

ordinary Israelis can this venerable Buddhist monk (and Nobel peace

laureate) bring? The answer is: A great deal. We need only

appreciate what a rare opportunity we have to learn from one of the

most respected religious figures in the world, one whose concern for

our own concerns is untainted by history or culture. After all, he is

not a Muslim, a Christian or a Jew. We can learn from his kindness.

Kindness, he has said, is his religion in a single word. Wouldn't it

be grand if more of our religious thinkers and writers could achieve

that economy of expression? It's simple to be kind, it's a practice

we all need, and it will always make our days better. "To be happy

is easy," he said, "Because when you make someone else happy, you

always get happy yourself. So, you see, twice the happy but only half

the work." Try that on anyone. It always works.

MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 7.5pt">We can learn from his

scholarship. The Dalai Lama is no devotional guru followed by the

faithful. His Holiness is a keen scholar, conversant in many

languages, and the author of numerous books. His wisdom lies in the

same economy of thought. He believes that making an effort to end

violence, anger and anxiety both in our world and in ourselves is

essential even if everything - to a pure Buddhist - is temporary. He

teaches: "As anger is a phenomenon, like all other phenomena it cannot

exist without dependence on other phenomena. Hence it cannot be

eternal. It would be useless to work against an eternal state, but

since all negative states are phenomena, we have both the opportunity

to change them, and with proper effort, to end them."

MARGIN-LEFT: 7.5pt; MARGIN-RIGHT: 7.5pt">COMPASSION isn't just being

nice, it's a logical practice.We can learn from him as a warrior:

"All beings want exactly the same things, they want to be happy, and

they don't want to suffer." It takes real strength of mind to extend

that line of thought to those we consider unalterable enemies and

political opponents, but it is true. Tibetans, like all Buddhists,

say we have lived countless lives before this one, so every person

has been your mother in some previous life. His Holiness uses that

image when admonishing young Tibetans not to take the path of

violence. Every Chinese soldier was, after all, their mother in some

previous life and remember, all they want is to be happy and not

suffer.

7.5pt">SO WHY can't we all get over the differences and live in peace?

Because of the one thing Buddhists really hate. Ignorance. The Dalai

Lama never stops his ongoing attack on the ignorance that leads us

astray, and tricks us into stupid acts based on our dreams and our

fears rather than the basic goodness of every living creature. He's

been fighting all his life. Just one year after the creation of the

State of Israel, Mao Zedong gained control of China and began his

march on Tibet. As the Jews came home to Israel, the Tibetans

suffered their Diaspora. In 1954, still

in his teens, the Dalai Lama fled his homeland, and has lived in exile

since while he works tirelessly for his people. He comes to Israel to

talk to us about collective and universal responsibility, our daily

responsibility to use our precious human bodies and minds to truly

act like humans. He comes to honor the 100th anniversary of the

aliya of David Ben-Gurion. Israel's first premier awoke every day to

engage in his daily practice of yoga, a discipline near and dear to

this wise monk and world leader. How can a man endure the life he

has had to endure, and still find the strength to enthusiastically

ask us

to consider our own worth, and join his fight to be kind and

compassionate to all? Through the same meditation and the same yoga

and the same belief in a better world that helped preserve the

strength and wisdom of Ben-Gurion during his long life. The Dalai

Lama is a highly spiritual being, (as was Ben-Gurion in his day).

There will be no official government welcome ceremonies for His

Holiness. For some the visit will go largely unnoticed. Except, that

is, for those who manage to attend one of his appearances. Most of

those will, I believe, be changed for life. They will carry his

smile, and his kind common sense, with them forever. The writer

holds a master of theological studies degree from Harvard Divinity

School and is

currently an instructor in Intercultural Dialogue at the Institute for

Mindfulness in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This article can

also be read at

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1139395420371&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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