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Spoundfile 19951017GRTGG

Speaker Gelek Riimpoche

Location ?

Topic Perfection of Wisdom

Transcriber Sally Tittmann

Date 5/01//2023

I don’t think I have to put a new introduction. Since we’re already late, we’ll skip the introduction.

Since I’ve been requested to speak about the dharma practice and politics together, and since I’ve been asked to speak on that I’ll speak a little bit on that tonight.

(Tibetan)

Let it be clear first: dharma and politics is absolutely two separate things. Let it be very clear. There should be no misunderstanding at all. However, can a politician be a dharma practitioner, or spiritual practitioner? If they choose to do it, it is great. If they don’t choose to do it, they don’t have to. Can a dharma practitioner be a politician? Why not? They can definitely be. So there is no bound. Politics is not a out of bounds for the practitioners.

(Tibetan)

So, as basically buddhists, we accept interdependent relationship, the understanding of interdependent relationships does many ways of explaining and understanding, and here we can also say, there is a tremendous amount of complementary contact between the politics and dharma practice. I will give you an instance.

(Tibetan)

6:47

Basically, I’d like to give you myself as an example. But before I do that, look at me: I am a dharma practitioner. I am a dharma person. And I can definitely… there is no question that I am a dharma person. Not only am I a dharma person, but I’m also a Buddhist monk and a bhikshu. (Full-fledged monks are called bhikshu.). So I’m a buddhist bhikshu. As a bhikshu, to be a politician is wrong. Definitely wrong. Why? Because if you are a monk, and if you are a full-fledged bhikshu, then of course your duty is, you don’t have much goals, you have to be very simple, simple living, simple everything, and less activities, and simple ends, simple goals, less activities. Has to be very simple. That is the rule of a full-fledged monk. And as an incarnate lama, my job is to study, learn, meditate, teach. So, going into politics is actually wrong for me.

(Tibetan)

9:00

If you ask me, well you know, you can’t do that, and then you still say, why did you do it still? Why are you still in that, knowing you can’t do that? So I have many reasons.

(Tibetan)

11:23

So, you have to know where I was born. I was born in, let’s say, Ladakh. It is poor, difficult, backwards place. However, Ladakh has a huge name. The name of Ladakh is a very well known lot of places. It is a very big area. It has a very close connection with the earlier kings of Tibet. Ladakh was absolutely independent kingdom by itself. So, by the Kashmir and Jammu government, there is a ruler, and a group called Dogras. They are the Kashmiri kings. They colonized Ladakh and completely overran the Ladakhi culture, the Ladakhi traditional way of living, and of course the independence of Ladakh was completely wiped out by the military power of those Kashmiri kings. And, not only they have run over Ladakh, they totally robbed Ladakh of whatever wealth they had, whatever the culture they had. So they are not even allowed to practice Buddhism or anything. So they are sort of run over, and the people of Ladakh become extremely poor. Extremely poor, beyond the limits of poor. Not only that, if you are looking at the history of Ladakh, there are many monasteries. Some are 800 years or some are 900 years, 400 or 500 years of old monasteries. And there is a tremendous artist being before. They had built beautiful, a lot of artworks of images of enlightened beings, etc., but the overpowering by the Dogra kings, the Kashmiri kings, deprived the Ladakhi people even of there living, getting daily food or everything. So I happened to be at that critical period.

(Tibetan)

16:13

For that, about buddhist knowledge or education, etc., they don’t even give any school system at all for Ladakh. It is not that Kashmiris don’t have school — they do have complete western-style perfect education level, graduate level, everything is available — but they totally deprived the opportunity for Ladakh. When I was a kid, if somebody could get to the level of high school class 8 — not complete high school, but like class 8 — then we are told, this guy is overeducated and we have to say, oh, he is very learned and blah blah blah. So, etc. in that manner, not only they have robbed the wealth and culture and craft of Ladakh, but also they completely robbed the education and the knowledge of the people. They will never never permit them to learn buddhism, or go to buddhist school. But even ordinary, normal school system, that also they have deprived to the Ladakhi people. At about that time, in the 1940’s, I have just passed my studies in Tibet, and just came back to Ladakh. It happens to be that period.

(Tibetan)

19:28

That’s in 1947 and 1948, fortunately or unfortunately, there was a big war broke out between Pakistan and India. A powerful military attack came from Pakistan, and they almost reached 7 miles away from my monastery. They came up to that level. And about that time, the Dogra king has to renounce his independent power, and he submitted all control of his areas to India. So fortunately, or unfortunately, and about that time the Dogras lost their political power completely to ??? so Ladakh became part of India.

(Tibetan)

So, about that time, the Indian government has protected Ladakh very strongly, though there is no road or nothing, not even a plane or anything, but somehow India sent a very strong armed force to protect Ladakh against Pakistan’s attack. So somehow they send them. And even my own major monastery, called Pitug. Pitug monastery is about 900 years old, and we have given shelter to the Indian soldiers to protect Ladakh. So we kept them there.

And, as myself is concerned, I went to Tibet at the age of 10, and by the age of 20, I completed my studies in Tibet. And, very fortunately, when the present His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the moment he was enthroned, and recognized and enthoned that year, I happened to pass the outstanding geshe number one exam in that year. In my case it has been very fortunate incident. But when I return to Ladakh, Ladakh in that sort of situation, in that time, the Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who is Gandhi-ji’s sort of number one person who runs India — so he came up to Ladakh, and seeing the situation, and went out of his way to protect Ladakh from both powers, from Pakistan on one side and also the releasing of the Dogra control form the other side. So he helped a great deal.

24:47

(Tibetan)

27:38

At about that time, he does return from Tibet, and his plan is to go for a few years’ retreat, meditate the Lam Rim, and linking what he learned, and gradually he wanted to teach in ??? Of Ladakh, and that is how he would like to spend his life. However, during the change, the new Kashmiri government which comes up, and is supposed to be democratic, or whatever, but they also started making new rules in Ladakh, and not only they wanted to take, — they took everything before — but then they set up new rules, and all the monasteries cannot have land at all. So when the monasteries cannot have land, the monks have no food left. So before that, he received a couple of letters from Nehru asking to come and meet him and talk to him, but he said, I don’t speak any language. I don’t have any knowledge of western-style whatever it is. There is not use. So he didn’t go at all.

About this time, when they are taking all the monastery lands away, so all the monasteries got together, and they told him, hey, you have to lead the monasteries. You have to go and do something. So he said, now we have to shout and scream and slogan and do all this. So first he went to Kashmir only, and tried to talk to the Kashmiri leaders, and they pay no attention, just totally ignored. So then finally he went to India, and this was the first time I was meeting with Indian leader Nehru and all this, and Mahatma Gandhi was not there. I did not meet him. But Nehru was there, so I met Nehru. And Nehru did a great help, and not only help, he called the Kashmiri leaders down, at this time it becomes a part of India — the Kashmiri leaders down, and told them, do not touch them. Keep their traditional way of life. And he said, this is an order from the central government. This is an order from the state government. And so he was a great help.

30:07

(Tibetan)

So in 1949 Nehru came and visited Ladakh. He said, there is nothing. No roads, nothing. He came on horseback, and when each and every monastery — the big ones — and he did not come as a tourist, there is nothing to be toured. He just came there to show support. And he also brought the prime minister of Kashmir at that time, a guy named Sheikh Abdullah — I never got long well with him for the rest of life. So he is also there at that time. And so they called me — to make a story short — they called him one day, and so he went there, he said, look, if you need help, these people of Ladakh need help, and I could not find anybody to lead these people, so you are the only hope they have, so you have to be the political leader of the Ladakh, and you have to lead the people. Otherwise you will have the same difficulty will repeat. So he started laughing. He said, what do you mean? I went to Tibet, I studied buddhism and meditation, if you want to know how to meditate, I can tell you, but in politics, I said, that’s nothing. Even in your own language, you call it pani is water, and jao

means go. You tell me to drink water, I won’t know! If you say go, I won’t know! How can I be in politics? Don’t make jokes.

33:45

(Tibetan)

So he thought about it, and he said, if you really get inside the political power, it can maybe make a difference to the people of Ladakh. So, whether I am a monk, or a bhikshu, or an incarnate lama, whatever it may be, it can be help, and since I’ve been called by the great person like Nehru, who is sort of like the lord of lords, or whatever it is, so that’s the view. So it’s very hard to say no. And finally we thought about it, and he said, all right, if it helps. So you say, he even thought about it, and he said, maybe it has some help. So that made him to decide. And so that’s how I got into politics.

35:42

(Tibetan)

Well, he said, since he is in Tibet, and a few years to meditating, he keep on saying every morning, for the benefit of all sentient beings I would like to obtain enlightenment of buddhahood, and all this and that, and he has been thinking for years, and he says now, I do not know if it is for the benefit of all sentient beings or not, for the benefit of the people of Ladakh, here I have something to do, so he thought, well, let that be my guiding principle. So he kept that as a guiding principle. So he says, what is bodhimind? I don’t have it. I don’t even know what it is. But I have good and kind thoughts. And good and kind thoughts, that made me totally dedicated to the service of the people of Ladakh, and then I went to join in politics, and worked with them, and settled by the good fortune of the people of Ladakh, and by the blessings of the buddha, dharma and sangha, or whatever it may be, if I look back today at Ladakh, it is not that old, total difficulty Ladakh anymore. It is quite ok. Compared with that, economically, the public is much much better than before. And getting quiet ok. Educationwise, we may not have many PhDs, but there is a number of BA or MA people, a number of them now. Not only a handful, but quite a lot of them. And as far as the politics is concerned, we also have the

[audience explaining — too hard to understand]

(Tibetan)

41:20

So he said, all these struggles, and I have, then about 10 years, becomes a member of the legislative assembly of Jummo and the Kashmiri government, and I became a minister of that state, and that was the period I had a tremendous fight with Sheikh Abdullah, for the sake of the people of Ladakh. Not my personal… nothing wrong, but we really had a tremendous fight, and then finally I moved to the central government — that is the federal government — in… it’s like moving to Washington. So I moved to Delhi and became a member of parliament in India, for a long time, and then finally, became the leader of all the buddhist of India, their difficulties. And, so about 38 years for the political and spiritual struggle there, for the people of Ladakh, and finally the position is now quite ok, at that level. And then six years of India’s ambassador to Mongolia. That is how I have wasted my life.

(Tibetan)

45:09

So he said, like this, when I see the opportunity to literally serving the people of Ladakh, so then I choose to move one step away from sitting there and saying for the benefit of all beings. Whether it is all beings or not, but there’s a lot of human beings that need to be served, so when somebody asks you to do it and the people are throwing opportunity for you to serve people, so then I took it. And that is right to do. And that is the way how the dharma practitioners should do it and can do it. But if you want with desire and with attachment, you cannot let a position go — if you move in that manner, that is the wrong way. But when there is an opportunity to help, and they are throwing the opportunity in front of you, and you are sure you can help, then you should take it. That is how I went.

Even when you say politics. If you do politics with kindness and compassion oriented, totally dedicated to serve whoever you are representing,, or whatever your position is, with this, whether it is politics or any other work, dharma practitioners can definitely do it. But if it is mixed with the eight worldly dharmas, then one should withdraw. The moment the eight worldly dharmas come in, then one should withdraw.

47:08

[silence — no recording?]

47:39

…and they should know how people can suffer. Tiny little deeds of theirs will make a difference to hundreds and thousands of peoples lives and their feelings. So when you know that, it will be a great help. Actually, it is not important that the dharma practitioners can do politics, but if the politicians have dharma, it is much more important and more beneficial, for much more number of people.

(Tibetan)

49:24

Look at Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi-ji. The Indian Gandhi. He did not do a dharma practice of going to the temples and worshiping and all this. But what he did is total dedication of the Buddha’s message. And that, he had kept it as a principle, and followed by Nehru, and they even formed five ethics of the functioning of the country’s policy. So from that time onwards, it sort of gets into basic principles. So even if India is not free from problems, but the basic root of Indian policy and politics itself is the touch of Gandhi and all this in their principles, on the basis of the five ethics. So basically, it has become tremendous help, for those millions of Indians, and also dealing with others. So that is how dharma can influence politics.

(Tibetan)

55:32

So I’m not telling you you should all go in politics. But most important politics, of all the important politics, is the politics of self. In one individual, a very wise way, to gain over the control of delusions, that anger, attachment, hatred — ignorance, attachment and hatred, he said, which is known as the three poisons. So if you need to defeat something, that is the biggest point where you can defeat. Those are the points. The change what you really need is a big change. What you have is a mind change. If the mind if very strongly influenced by those three poisons, then remove that and make it better. And that is the good change you have. And you people here have a great opportunity to learn through the Lam Rim, which is one of the best methods to develop one individual, to bring one individual to the high level.

Tomorrow we are going to have a high jump, but don’t be rushed. And if you just jump for nothing, and if you climb those steps, you are going to fall down for sure. The higher you jump, if you fall from there, the more painful it is. So usually people go very slowly, and very gradually. That is good. And you have been listening to the Lam Rim teachings, you have been practicing, as I told you the other day, where and how you make the offerings for the Lama Chopa, and those who are involved there last night, who are doing the practices, protectors puja offerings, and everywhere. You do very well, and you have a great opportunity. Do not miss it. And not only here. There are various centers; I am sure they are doing the same thing. But the centers with Jewel Heart, I have seen with my own eyes, so they are doing really good, and the efforts are really good. So don’t miss the opportunity, and make a difference to yourself, develop your own mind, and that’s what you need. And along with that, you also have to work, because you have to live. You have to eat. You have to pay your bills in other words.

So that also, if you are a business person, you have to go to do business. And if you don’t do business, and you are depriving yourself of an opportunity. You have to be very diligent and work hard, but you are cheating other people if the principle of the business is cheating other people, you should have limited cheating, and if you know the dharma, if you have good and kind mind, your cheating will be automatically limited. If you cheat unlimited cheating with people, then another result will come, a terrible one. So the circle will function. It is not very good.

And if you are in politics, as I mentioned to you earlier, and if whatever the profession you may be in, it is an opportunity to serve the people, and it is instead of sitting there and “for the benefit of all beings…” just by thought, but here is an actual opportunity, practically do something. So don’t miss the boat.

And if you can gradually take like a upashika vow. Upashika vow is a lay vow. If you can take that, it can be useful. Good. But you don’t have to take it. Dharma does not depend on changing of dress or shaving your head or anything. It depends on changing your mind and attitude.

1:00

So if you can do this, taking lay vows or something, upashika vow, they are very good, and whatever the teachings you have obtained, every evening make sure you think tomorrow on that. Just don’t take notes and then leave it till next week, and then bring the notebook next week and try to see what happened. It will not do any good. And unlike we people, the western people are extremely intelligent and well educated, so when you really pay attention, you can learn far better than other people. You can really do better. So don’t miss the opportunity. Read your notes, take notes, read your notes. Try to think. Raise questions. You don’t have to feel embarrassed or shy or anything. Raise questions. And learn more. And make dharma the practice of changing the mind, and motivation, and way of living, and that’s the greatest way.

(Tibetan)

1:03

So in Mongolia, there is not upashika available. Since I’ve been there, there’s now like 30 or 40 people have taken lay vows. And among them a number of women who have also taken monastic training and vows. And there is not a single nun available in Mongolia before. Now there are quite a lot of them. And I’m sending them to India for further training, and they are very nice. And if some of you like to do that gradually, will be good. But you don’t have to do it. Dharma is in the mind. You can do it within your own family set up, everything. You can do that too.

And also if you work and if you make a little extra money, it is also very useful to make the best use of it. That is generosity. Generosity here, to helping the poor, those who are not having, and give them a little help. I heard over here people do giving food for the poor, and things like that. They are very good. And also making a gift, helping the schools to learn, or hospitals, or whatever, whatever the needs are there, and make donations, and doing these sort of things, is an act of generosity.

Well I don’t have much to say today, and tomorrow is supposed to be real dharma. So today with had the dharma-politics mixed together.

I have nothing more to say.

Thank you.

(Tibetan)

1:07

In a way, how we do is, we normally say, “all sentient beings be happy and have the cause of happiness, all sentient beings be free of suffering and the cause of suffering”. So when you have to argue with somebody, fight with somebody, and think those lines. He’s also a human being. He or she is also a human being. If a human being, if I keep on telling, is hurting a human being. And he may get something be able to pick up. Have some compassion for that person to change his attitude not to hurt somebody else. With that sort of compassion, with that feeling, you can go and argue. For example, if you are having some naughty boy around or something, who is being very naughty, stealing something, you tell them a number of times, they don’t listen, so you catch them and give them 2 or 3 spanks, and with love and compassion, feeling that this boy will learn better in the future. So with that, and I think it’s ok. But if you really want to hurt him, and you’re angry, then you are wrong. But in that same principle, if you are thinking, this is another human being, your attitude, your thinking, is hurting this sort of number of people here doing this and that, sort of pointing to him, with love — with love, that is the most important — so, at the beginning, we may not have the great love that we have been talking about, but at least have a kindness and compassion to that person, and so try to get that way, and that’s probably — that’s what I did.

1:09

(Tibetan)

Even in the Buddha’s life story, Jakarta tales, there was one great pilot, ship captain, and who, in order to save some kind of 700 people, he had to kill some human beings. That also was done with compassion, for 700 people. So it is considered a positive, virtuous act. So, sometimes you have to think in that manner as well.

Thank you.