Chicago, Illinois, 18 July 2011 - On his last day of
this two-city current tour of the United States, on July 18, 2011
morning, His Holiness participated in a dialogue with interfaith leaders
in a session entitled, Building Bridges: Religious Leaders In
Conversation With The Dalai Lama. Hosted by the Theosophical Society and
held at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Chicago, it was
attended by a sold-out crowd of 1500 people.
Theosophical Society President Tim Boyd introduced His Holiness to
the audience. He recalled the visit of His Holiness to the headquarters
of the Theosophical Society in America, located in Wheaton, Illinois,
in 1981. He said His Holiness had given a talk at a local school then
but not many students knew who he was. Since then things have changed
greatly, Mr. Boyd said adding that His Holiness has now become one of
the most recognized and the most respected persons in the world. Mr.
Boyd said that His Holiness’s continued call for adherence to the
universal qualities to bring change to human hearts and minds have made
him one of the greatest teachers in the world.
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| Mr. Eboo Patel, His Holiness the
Dalai Lama and Dr. Thupten Jinpa (His Holiness's interpreter) at the
Harris Theater in Chicago on July 18, 2011. Photo/Mike Kelly |
Thereafter, Mr. Eboo Patel, the founder and
executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core, a Chicago-based
international nonprofit that aims to promote interfaith cooperation,
moderated a brief session with His Holiness alone before inviting the
other panelists. Mr. Patel called His Holiness as probably being the
world’s leading example of religious tolerance.
A short documentary on the artwork created by religious organizations about their perception of other religions was screened.
Mr. Patel then said that he would be asking His
Holiness some questions, which have been compiled through different
channels from different individuals. In his first question, Mr. Patel
asked His Holiness the reasons that led to him adopting religious
harmony as one of his commitments, in addition to the promotion of human
values and resolving the Tibetan problem.
His Holiness responded that if we use common sense
then it would be clear why he was stressing on the need for religious
harmony. He said every day we hear news about violence, some of which
are related to different religions. Having a feeling of sadness for a
short moment in such situations was not the right approach. He said
that while praying for the wellbeing of all sentient beings may be seen
as unrealistic there was the need for considering the wellbeing of the
nearly seven billion human beings on this planet. He added that there
was the possibility of all people co-existing in harmony.
His Holiness referred to the harmony among different religious
practitioners in India as an example. He talked about how Muslims in
Bodh Gaya have friendly relationship with the Buddhists there despite
the historical fact that they are descendants of people who may have
been involved in the destruction of Buddhist institutions in the past.
He made the case for the need of the existence of the different
religious traditions to fit the different mental dispositions of the
people. He talked about the projection of the entire Islamic community
negatively in the wake of the September 11 incident and how he had come
to defend Islam.
His Holiness stressed on the need for religious communities to be
more involved with society. He praised the Christian community for their
involved in the health and education sectors. He also said that
Buddhist monks in Thailand and Burma were active in ecological
preservation.
In response to a question on how the young interfaith leaders, who
are humanists, should play their role, His Holiness talked about his
commitment to promote basic human values through secular moral ethics.
He said we could all work to cultivate warm-heartedness, which builds
trusts, which in turn builds friendship. Saying that his concept of
promotion of moral ethics was not based on religion, he said this makes
it possible to easily introduce it in the education system. If moral
ethics is to be based on religious faith, His Holiness said that it
couldn’t become universal.
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Rev. Peg Chamberlin, Rabbi Michael
Lerner and Dr. Ingrid Mattson join His Holiness the Dalai Lama on stage
at the Harris Theater in Chicago on July 18, 2011. Photo/Mike Kelly
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Thereafter, Mr. Patel invited the other
panelists to the stage. They were Rabbi Michael Lerner, founding editor
of the progressive Jewish interfaith magazine Tikkun, which is dedicated
to building bridges between religious and secular organizations; Dr.
Ingrid Mattson, Hartford Seminary Professor of Islamic Studies and
Christian-Muslim Relations; and Rev. Peg Chemberlin, executive director
of the Minnesota Council of Churches.
Discussions touched on their personal experience at interfaith
initiatives and the challenges they have faced. Dr. Mattson said how she
was inspired by His Holiness’ outreach to scientists to have a new
perspective in her ethical research in schools. Rabbi Lerner said how
the Buddhist concept of letting go attachments enabled him to strengthen
his own faith. They also talked about how interfaith dialogue could be
promoted in today’s world.
Mr. Patel in his concluding remark expressed his gratitude to His
Holiness for his interfaith initiatives. He said that His Holiness could
have chosen to live in the bubble of his Tibetan Buddhism but he chose
to learn about the best of all religions. He thanked His Holiness for
setting an example.
In his concluding remarks, His Holiness said that he was not saying
anything new but only being a messenger of the ancient Indian teachings.
He thanked his co-panelists for their work, including one of them for
highlighting women’s rights.
TV Journalist Bill Curtis was the MC for this session. His Holiness
then had lunch with the Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr. and some guests who
had attended the dialogue.
In the afternoon, His Holiness addressed around 300 members of the
Theosophical Society. He told them about his appreciation of the
Society’s mission. He then answered some questions before departing to
the airport to begin his return journey to India.
During this tour His Holiness arrived in Washington, D.C. on July 5 and spent 13 days in Washington, D.C. and Chicago.