His Holiness, the XIVth Dalai Lama of Tibet

This post has been a loooong time a-comin'... Sorry for the long delay!

Last month I had the honor and pleasure of attending an interfaith discussion featuring the Dalai Lama, who was in Chicago for a few events. It's taken me a while to get around to publishing this post because there was just so much good stuff from the Dalai Lama event that I wanted to write about! (That, and the fact that my life suddenly got super busy-- weird how that happens...)

Sitting on the stage with his Holiness were three religious leaders from the Abrahamic faiths: Rev. Peg Chamberlin, President of the of the National Council of Churches of Christ; Rabbi Michael Lerner of Beyt Tikkun synagogue and editor of Tikkun magazine; and Dr. Ingrid Mattson, professor of Islamic Studies and former president of the Islamic Society of North America. Founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core, Eboo Patel, moderated the discussion.

The panelists, His Holiness, and His Holiness's interpreter,
Dr. Thupten on stage at the Harris Theater.
Photo credit: Mike Kelly

The day started off with some basic Tibetan (recent) history, so we learned things such as: 1959 was a sad year for Tibetans as so many of them began their exodus from their China-invaded homeland and the 14th Dalai Lama came to the U.S. for the first time in 1981, when he stayed at the Theosophical Society headquarters. After a short inspirational video about faith communities coming together and the future of Tibet, the Dalai Lama was introduced. It is important to note that the first thing he did on stage was take his shoes off to sit cross-legged on the big comfy chair they provided for him. I decided, at that moment, that regardless of holiness, this guy was cool in my book.

Eboo Patel asked His Holiness a few questions to start off, and I found it supremely interesting--not to mention extremely pertinent to my upcoming studies in India--that the Dalai Lama continuously cited India as a country whose culture of inter-religious harmony is one to which we should all aspire.

Even with fundamental differences--the question of God or no God--you can still talk about religious harmony. What really matters is the practice of love and compassion and through that - tolerance. These different philosophies are simply different ways to approach these same goals. 

[Dalai Lama - note: all quotes in this post are paraphrased from my notes]

Throughout the event, the Dalai Lama (as well as the other "experts" on stage) managed to articulate thoughts and feelings I've held for a long time.

The discussions that followed the Dalai Lama's "interview" were, unsurprisingly, enlightening. Not just from a religious standpoint, but actually more from a perspective on relating to fellow human beings. Each religious leader had excellent words about their own faith in various contexts, but ultimately, all of them spoke about the power of everyone from every tradition--faith-based or not--coming together to address key global issues and solve conflicts. One phrase they all kept coming back to was common effort. 

One of the speakers, Rabbi Lerner, was very political in many of his contributions to the discussion, often going off on tangents to reference various policy campaigns he's been involved in, etc. It was funny to watch the other panelists react to his comments: oh there he goes again with his political agenda! Despite this, he made excellent and eloquent points throughout the program. I especially liked his advice on pragmatism: "Don't feel that your project or goal is worthless if you don't get short-term results. Don't waste your time on this planet sitting back when reality tells you you can't. Go out and make it all possible."


The reverend was originally from Minnesota, and the moderator asked her specifically about the interfaith community's reaction to the 2007 collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis. She said of the powerful faith community she witnessed come together in the days that followed the tragedy: "unfortunately, unless we have those times to know each other, we don't have interfaith relationships".

Dr. Mattson was asked to give advice on how to handle that relative or friend who says hurtful or prejudiced things at the dinner table or party, and her answer was excellent: "You cannot overcome someone's prejudice in one encounter. Humiliation - what you achieve by publicly calling them out - does not progress unity. Make sure your relationships are meaningful, because nothing can replace our commitments to each other." I'm not sure if the paraphrase really gets her point across, but basically she's saying, lead not only by example, but also that through a respectful relationship, you can help someone challenge their own prejudices.

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So many good things were said in the 3+ hours we were there. Here's a nice smattering of their words (in my words, of course):

"When people after 9/11 generalize Islam as a militant religion, that is unfair. There are few mischievous (he liked that word) people in all religions, and that's understandable. But due to a few mischievous activities, some generalize all of Islam as mischievous - that is unfair."- DL

"We have unity in creation as humans. That is at least as important as Christian unity in Christ. That unity [of humanity] is a given and we need to make that work." - Rev. Chamberlin

"There are several ways to categorize people's traditions. There are religious traditions, and, within each of those, there is a love tradition. Do our traditions say we have to militarize? No. It really says we need love, compassion, and generosity." - Rabbi Lerner

"All of our religious practices have roots in earlier religious practices. It's not just historical, but current reality. We're being unfaithful to who we are and our ancestors when we deny our religious plurality. Each of us is a result of many people of different traditions forming us as human beings." - Dr. Mattson 

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As you can see, it was a wonderful event and I am so pleased to have been part of it. The topics covered by the Dalai Lama and the panelists are ones I expect to come up throughout my group's travels and studies in the months to come. I know I'll have several opportunities to offer the wisdom I heard from the five "experts" at this event.