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“Taking care of our planet, environment, is something like taking
care of our own home,” he told the audience at Crisler Arena, as
he sat cross-legged on a chair on the main stage in his
traditional saffron robes. “This blue planet is our only home.”
Earth Day is
celebrated on April 22.
The Dalai
Lama, who fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959 in Tibet,
arrived in the United States on April 10, a day after
demonstrators disrupted the Olympic torch run in San Francisco in
a protest of China’s treatment of Tibetans.
During “Earth
Day Reflections,” the sustainability lecture sponsored by the
university’s School of Natural Resources and Environment, he said
U.S.-Americans in particular should be more content with what they
have because of anticipated shortages of natural resources.
“It is better
to know the limitations of material value,” he said. “We always
want more and more and more. I think some lifestyle ... has to
change.”
During
applause from the audience, he added: “But this is not my
business.”
In his
introduction, the Dalai Lama informed the audience—“My Brothers
and Sisters”—that his English language skills were limited, that
he knew “100 things in bits and pieces” (an ancient Tibetan
saying) but “not to expect anything profound.”
The Dalai Lama
said that the environment was important and should become part of
our ‘every present moment’ lives. Conservation of the Earth’s
resources was extremely important.
The Dalai Lama
also stressed that dialogue among the Earth’s citizens was
important—dialogue, mixed with wisdom and compassion.
‘While
religion and the secular domains have different traditions, they
have the same important message—there is no reason to fight,’
concluded the Dalai Lama.
“I’m a
Christian,…I am a Buddhist,” he told the gathering. “Both have the
same message.”
The three
teaching sessions were sponsored by the Jewel Heart Tibetan
Buddhist Learning Center, The Tibet Fund, and the
Garrison Institute.
At the end of
Sunday morning’s session, the Dalai Lama presented a $10,000 check
to Jewel Heart, and it was announced that the teaching sessions
netted $52,132 after expenses such as security and advertising.
Three
University of Michigan graduate students— Julie Maslowsky,
Danielle Bober, and Arie Jongejan—were awarded $5,000
for their community-service involvement; they received personal
congratulations on-stage from the Dalai Lama, who also presented
each with a kata, a white silk scarf that honors the work
of the recipient and signals the good intentions of those offering
it.
The trio were selected for “Compassion In Action Awards” bestowed by
Jewel Heart.
The three were chosen from students nominated by their U-M deans.
Maslowsky was honored in the area of public health, Bober for
poverty, and Jongejan for the environment.
Ann Arbor area
high school/elementary students were honored for their work on a
booklet of poems submitted the Dalai Lama, including: Shane
Mendez (Bedford High School), Josh Perry (Temperance
Bedford High School), Aiyana Emerson (Dexter High School),
Sam Ellison (Abbott Elementary in Ann Arbor), and Tara
Dorje (Wines Elementary in Ann Arbor).
Ford Motor Co.
Chairman Bill Ford was in the audience for Sunday
afternoon’s lecture, and actor Richard Gere attended the teaching
sessions.
During the
morning teaching session, the Dalai Lama revisited the Buddhist
teachings of wisdom and compassion he had begun the day before.
His answers didn't contain the quick fixes that modern culture has
come to expect from Dr. Phil and other tough-love-dispensing talk
show hosts.
“We have to
deal with the causes and conditions of that anger,” he said in
response to a question about living with someone who is angry and
argumentative. He elicited large laughs for his long,
contemplative pause before answering.
“The best
thing—try to remain a bit (of) distance. If it’s a husband and
wife, then I don't know. Worst case? Divorce? I don't know.”
On Saturday,
he encouraged people to preserve their own religious traditions
while respecting others with differing beliefs. He expanded on
that theme Sunday in a response to a question about whether
someone should convert to Buddhism.
“Among
Tibetans, some are Muslim as far as religion is concerned, not
Buddhism, but they live a life that is very much in the spirit of
Buddhist culture. And maybe there is an individual Buddhist in the
Christian culture,” he said. “That’s OK, isn't it?”
Still, he
said, there is a freedom and right to choose for those who have
practiced their faith and do not find it effective.
Rico
de La Prensa contributed to this report.
On the Net: Jewel
Heart:
http://www.jewelheart.org/
University of Michigan Center for Sustainable Systems:
http://css.snre.umich.edu/facts
Editor’s Note:
Gelek Rimpoche, founder and spiritual leader of Ann Arbor’s
Jewel Heart, will visit numerous Midwest cities as part of a
multi-city lecture tour following the teachings by His Holiness
the Dalai Lama.
Visit La Prensa at: http://www.laprensatoledo.com/Stories/2008/032108/Lama.htm
Speaking on
Engaging Wisdom and Compassion, Rimpoche will elaborate
how we can apply these teachings to our daily lives, providing
follow-up for those who attended in April as well as serving as an
excellent introduction for those who were not able to attend the
Ann Arbor event.
These talks are
open to all and free of charge. The current schedule includes the
following venues:
ANN ARBOR, MI –
Sunday, April 27, 2008, 10am, at Jewel Heart, 1129 Oak Valley
Drive.
KALAMAZOO, MI
- Saturday, May 3, 2 pm, at People’s Church 1758 North Tenth
Street, Kalamazoo, Mi 49009.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI
-
Sunday afternoon, May 4, 2pm, at Grand Valley State University,
Loosemoore Auditorium, 301 W. Fulton St., EC 210, Grand Rapids, MI
49504
CHICAGO, IL AREA
-
Wednesday, May 7 , 7pm, at Theosophical Society 1926 N Main St,
Wheaton, IL 60187
TOLEDO, OHIO -
Saturday, May 10, 7pm, at Toledo Botanical Gardens, 5403 Elmer
Drive Toledo, OH 43615
WINSOR, ONTARIO,
CANADA
– Monday, May 12, 7pm, at Hospice of Windsor, 6038 Empress Street.
CLEVELAND, OHIO
- Wednesday evening, May 14, 7pm, at Jewel Heart Cleveland, 2670
W14th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113
BLOOMFIELD HILLS,
MI -
Sunday, June 1, 3 – 5pm, at Birmingham Unitarian Church, 38651
Woodward Ave., Bloomfield Hills, MI 48103
SAGINAW, MI -
Friday June 13 evening, at Rhea Miller Recital Hall in Curtis
Hall in Groening Commons, Saginaw Valley State University, 7400
Bay Road, University Center, MI 48710
WARREN, MI -
Wednesday, June 18, 7pm, at Renaissance Unity – 11200 E. 11 Mile,
Warren, MI 48089. |
