Levels of Commitment

Dalai Lama
4/24/2015

Think About
Do you think the world is not being a better to
live?
Do you think human beings are being
irresponsible?
Do we, as members of this planet, need to
take some share for this?

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Dalai Lama
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin
Gyatso, describes himself as a simple
Buddhist monk.

He is the spiritual leader of Tibet. He was born

on 6 July 1935, to a farming family, in a small
hamlet located in Taktser, Amdo, northeastern
Tibet.

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 At the very young age of two, the child who

was named Lhamo Dhondup at that time, was
recognized as the reincarnation of the
previous 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso.
The Dalai Lamas are believed to be
manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or
Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion
and the patron saint of Tibet.
Bodhisattvas are believed to be enlightened
beings who have postponed their own nirvana
and chosen to take rebirth in order to serve
humanity.
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His Holiness began his monastic education at the age of six.

The curriculum consisted of five major and five minor subjects.

The major subjects were logic, Tibetan art and culture, Sanskrit, medicine, and
Buddhist philosophy which was further divided into a further five categories:
Prajnaparimita, the perfection of wisdom; Madhyamika, the philosophy of the
middle Way; Vinaya, the canon of monastic discipline; Abidharma, metaphysics;
and Pramana, logic and epistemology.

The five minor subjects were poetry, music and drama, astrology, composition
and phrasing, and synonyms. At 23, His Holiness sat for his final examination in
Lhasas Jokhang Temple, during the annual Monlam (prayer) Festival in 1959.

He passed with honors and was awarded the Geshe Lharampa degree, the
highest-level degree, equivalent to a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy.
In 1950 His Holiness wa

s called upon to assume full political power after China's invasion of Tibet in
1949/50. In 1954, he went to Beijing for peace talks with Mao Zedong and other
Chinese leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Chou Enlai.

But finally, in 1959, with the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in
Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to escape into exile. Since
then he has been living in Dharamsala, northern India.
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 His Holiness has three main commitments in

life.
Firstly, on the level of a human being, His
Holiness first commitment is the promotion of
human values such as compassion,
forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and selfdiscipline.

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All human beings are the same.

We all want happiness and do not want suffering.

Even people who do not believe in religion recognize the importance of these
human values in making their life happier.

His Holiness refers to these human values as secular ethics.

He remains committed to talk about the importance of these human values and
share them with everyone he meets.

Secondly, on the level of a religious practitioner, His Holiness second

commitment is the promotion of religious harmony and understanding among the
worlds major religious traditions.

Despite philosophical differences, all major world religions have the same
potential to create good human beings.

 It is therefore important for all religious traditions to respect one

another and recognize the value of each others respective
traditions.
As far as one truth, one religion is concerned, this is relevant on
an individual level.
However, for the community at large, several truths, several
religions are necessary.
Thirdly, His Holiness is a Tibetan and carries the name of the
Dalai Lama.
Therefore, his third commitment is to work to preserve Tibet's
Buddhist culture, a culture of peace and non-violence.
(source: http://www.dalailama.com/biography/three-maincommitments)
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 Our sense of universal responsibility that is

being better, more compassionate
individual, may help us to make this world a
better place to live.

For this we do not need to give up our normal

life but need to feel that My work is for
others and realize that all the jobs are equally
great.
Without feeling of humanity, nothing (religion,
politics, economics, philosophy to name but a
few) can contribute to society.

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 Being aware of universal responsibility does

not make any sense if we do not put into
practice.
To put our sense of universal responsibility
into practice, we need to do what we can from
our own paces as a student, as teacher, as a
businessman/woman, politician and so on.
Our commitment should be voluntary and
spontaneous.
Luxurious life, according to Dalai Lama, is
unworthy and spoiling given the fact that we
as a human beings do have limitations on our
need.
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 If we have surplus we may use that properly by

helping others who are in need because
everyone, either rich or poor, has an equal
right to be happy.

Finally, Dalai Lama says that we should do as

much we can to fulfill our universal
responsibility for making this world a better
place to live.

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