His Holiness's address at the Lerab Ling Temple Consecration 2008

On the occasion of the consecration of the temple at Rigpa’s retreat centre Lerab Ling, in southern France in 2008 the Dalai Lama gave the following address.

His Holiness began by auspiciously quoting the words of the great philosopher Nagarjuna: 

You showed that everything is interdependent:
Unceasing and unborn,
Neither non-existent nor everlasting,
Neither coming nor going,
Neither multiple nor single.
With this teaching, all complexity is pacified,
To you, supreme among all teachers,
The perfect buddha, I bow in homage!

The Dalai Lama then welcomed the guests, dignitaries, esteemed representatives of different religions, Sangha members and all those gathered in and around the temple, adding his thanks to the organisers for making this event possible. He continued:

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lerab Ling 2008

Today we are living in the twenty-first century, a time of great material development. Generally speaking 1 think that we six billion human beings have achieved a considerable degree of material progress. However, one thing is also quite clear, and quite obvious. Even a millionaire or a billionaire, a person with great wealth and influence, can still, as a person, be very unhappy. We can see this everywhere. What it shows is that material development alone cannot satisfy our deep, inner needs. Naturally, these material facilities provide us with physical comfort and pleasure, but mental problems constitute something different. Of course, some kinds of mental suffering are caused by physical pain, but there are many types of psychological and emotional distress that are not connected with our physical experience. Human beings are endowed with intelligence, which means that certain kinds of mental pain will arise on account of our Imagination. With imagination comes over-expectation, which in turn provokes jealousy, fear, mistrust and the like. As a result, we become unhappy. This is a reason why, even today in the twenty-first century. the various different traditions of spirituality still have an important role to play

So, my number one commitment is the promotion of compassion and other human values. Irrespective of whether we are believers or non believers, these inner values are essential in order to bring us inner peace, inner strength and self-confidence. This is what I usually call the secular way of promoting these values. Because I don't know whether my spiritual brothers and sisters will agree with me or not, but I believe there are two levels here. One is to promote these human values in a spiritual way, which can be very powerful. The other involves recognizing that quite a number of people do not have much interest in religion. Yet they are also human beings, and they too deserve to be happy human beings, and enjoy a happy family life. Therefore, these basic human values, such as love and compassion, are, I think, secular values—universal principles that are the basis of secular ethics—and promoting them through secular means is my number one commitment. These days, many people, including a number of scientists, are joining us in this endeavour. There are now people everywhere who are really making an effort to cultivate inner peace and, through inner peace, a peaceful society and peaceful families.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Lerab Ling 2008

Now for my second commitment: promoting harmony between the different religious traditions. At a time like this, all the major religious traditions have an important role, because, in spite of their different philosophies, they all have the same potential to bring inner peace. This is very clear.

Furthermore, I think that the concept of God or a Creator, and the concept of the law of causality, both possess the same potential for bringing inner peace. So harmony between the different traditions is really vital, because it will allow us to make a much greater contribution to humanity. For example, it can help us make clear to the public how we all have a responsibility to take care of this planet.” Some of my friends tell me that a person who believes in God and who loves God must extend his or her love towards all creation. In that case, then, not only what Buddhists call 'sentient beings’, but also the planet, the trees, and all these beautiful things around us are also the creation of God. Therefore, we must respect them and protect them.

For such reasons, harmony is essential, and so I am extremely happy that here today we are welcoming spiritual brothers and sisters representing the different traditions. In recent years I believe that a real spirit of spiritual brotherhood and sisterhood has been growing among the different religions. I think this is a very healthy sign. With us here today, for example, is Father Laurence, a Catholic monk, with whom I have worked for many years to try and promote genuine harmony. Father Laurence, I appreciate you very much. I consider you a true spiritual brother—a spiritual comrade. I think we really need this kind of spirit. We all have a common experience, and we all share a common responsibility to look after humanity and the planet, and to make a contribution through our own personal experience and beliefs.

So, to encourage harmony and understanding between the world's religious traditions forms my commitment number two.

The audience overflowed onto the lawn outside the temple where people watched His Holiness’s address on a big screen

Now, about Buddhism. Of course, everybody knows that the Buddha is almost like a symbol of non-violence and a symbol of compassion. The Buddha's message of compassion is, generally speaking, common to all the different religious traditions. However, one feature that is unique to Buddhism is the concept of interdependence.

This concept itself, I feel, is one that comes specifically from Buddhism. But it is a principle that is applicable and relevant to every field of human life today: the economy, environmental issues, religious harmony, international relations, and even our health.

The reason why it is so very relevant is because this view of interdependence offers us a more holistic picture. Let's take one example to explain what I mean. Whenever we encounter things and events of any kind, positive or negative, they usually appear to us as independent and absolute. So if something appears negative, we react with anger and hatred, and if it seems positive, we experience desire and attachment. But this positive or negative object is completely dependent on, and related to, countless other factors. If we can only see that, then this understanding itself will definitely reduce the strength of our excessive emotional reactions. Interdependence, then, is revealed to be something quite useful.

Nowadays, certain scientists are also drawn to this concept—that everything is interdependent. Modern quantum physics for example, has a similar view: if you investigate things thoroughly and deeply enough, there is no objectively independent existence to be found. So, the principle of interdependence has profound implications.

In the same spirit, then, this institution should be one that not only gives information and guidance to Buddhist practitioners, but it should make a more universal contribution toward developing our human understanding, as well as academic knowledge.

So this is my hope, and I think you can do it! You can do it! So I appreciate what you are doing very much.