BSDA - Karma and the Dalai lama

Question 1

what is karma

Answer 1

• conditioning: buddhist psychology, karmic fruits –> we are karmically conditioned to think in a certain way (an incidident can have a different effect dependant on conditioning)
• actions with consequences, cause and effect, intention et cetera
• understanding the effect of your external actions
• karmic neutral: no intention, the enlightened

Question 1

misconceptions about karma

Answer 1

• not always achieved through physical action: thought and speech is not always physical
• ultimate reality: mind creates reality, enlightened beings create not karma as they have no intention
• laity: do good, get good, and multiple actions and consequences

Question 2

karma and rebirth

Answer 2

• bad moral actions lead to a bad rebirth
• good moral actions lead to wholesome rebirth
• anatta: karma for all is karma for yourself, so good actions are selfless –> conditions are reborn, not a self
• rebirth is rebecoming, not the reincarnation of a fixed self

Question 3

how does karma interact with samsara

Answer 3

• T: Nirvana is the unconditioned
• M: Nirvana is the conditioned

Question 4

misconceptions of karma concerning free will

Answer 4

• no determinism as we can change wat we experience and what we do
• not predetermined as someone external does not determine what will happen
• there is no free will as their is no individual independent of everything, as all we experienced is caused by something else

Question 5

quotes on karma

Answer 5

• ‘karma is action, and..its reaction’
• ‘if with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow’ Dhammapada
• ‘every volitional action of individuals..is called karma’
• ‘the buddhas view rooted karma in the process of rebirth’ Erriker

Question 6

how is a dalai lama chosen

Answer 6

• monk dream about location to find him
• oracle lake to find him
• folow smoke from dead lamas cremation
• child picks artefacts from previous lamas

Question 7

who is the dalai lama

Answer 7

-Head monk of Tibetan Buddhism and traditionally has been responsible for the governing of Tibet until Chinese government took control in 1959
-Belongs to the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, which is the largest and most influential tradition in Tibet
-According to Buddhist belief, the current Dalai Lama is a reincarnation of a past lama who decided to be reborn again to continue his important work
-Tibetan Buddhists believe each Dalai Lama is the reincarnation of his predecessors who, in turn, are the manifestations of Avalokiteshvara, or Chenrezi, the patron saint of Tibet and Bodhisattva of compassion

Question 8

renunciation in the wheel of life

Answer 8

• we see our worldly goals as less priority, continuing to pursue them makes us a slave to our habits, making us go round in samsara
• need to escape 3 poisons
• develop a wish to free ourselves from samsara and follow a spiritual path –> aren’t limited by short term goals
• vision of the future is only about this life, but also our future lives

Question 9

summary of Tenzin Gyatso’s life

Answer 9

• At 5, enrolled in local monastery and began training
  >trained by highest monks in the land at Lhasa
  -Enthroned at 15
• Took leadership of a country that was, according to traditional maps, still a Chinese province
• Around 1950, political landscape of China changing
  > plans to bring Tibet under Chinese control, but March 1959 Tibetans demonstrated to end Chinese rule
  -Dalai Lama fled to India
  -Prime minister gave him permission to form the Tibetan Government in Exile in Dharamsala in India
  -First Dalai Lama to travel west
  -1989 - received Nobel Peace Prize for maintaining a policy of non violence with Chinese government

Question 10

is the Dalai lama reincarnated?

Answer 10

• Avalokiteshvara’s CONCSIOUSNESS is reborn
• rebirth influenced by prayer and compassion only for advanced spiritual beings like Bodhis –> unique to Tulku in Tibetan B
• Buddhas in Sambogakaya (Enjoyment bodies) can create manifestations of themselves in Nirmanakaya (emanation body/Tulkus) –> appear as God’s or humans and are available/accessible to ordinary beings
• Tulku: due to the compassion of a sambhogakaya buddha that takes on rebirth through reincarnation

Question 11

qualities of the Dalai Lama –> why does he keep coming back

Answer 11

• Dalai lama is a Bodhisattva who has delayed parinirvana
• viewed as reincarnation of all previous dalai lamas and AVALOKITESVARA, bodhisat of love and compassion
• DL: can choose time and place of birth, as well as parents, rebirth solely for the benefit of others through compassion and prayer
• they aim to embody wisdom and compassion
• they come back for the benefit of humans -> bodhisattva vows
• all Dalai Lamas have been male

Question 12

Work of the current Dalai Lama –> political action in Tibet

Answer 12

• exiled from Tibet due to Chinese Communist party and now resides in Northern India (Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1949)
• 1959: Central Tibet administration –> Government in exile with refugees coming to India
• believed that Tibet should have its own democratically elected government –> March 2011 first election of a prime minister
• DL has said his position may not be needed anymore as people of Tibet become self governed –> reincarnation still unanswered but has said he will not be reborn in a Chinese controlled Tibet

Question 13

social/environmental work of the Dalai Lama

Answer 13

• ‘living symbol and embodiment of deep spirituality, social engagement and altruism’
• ‘a living teacher’
• ‘help others if you can but if you cannot atleast refrain from harming others’
• ambassador of Buddhism, teaching principles like ahimsa globally and has facilitated the growth of T buddhism worldwide –> established more new centres than any other schools in B in 20 years
• nobel prize for peace –> socially engaged Buddhism, involved with other winners like Nelson Mandela
• environmental issues: ‘our planet is our house’ –> chinese destruction of wildlife and habitat in T