Considered one of the great spiritual leaders of our time, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama travels the world to spread his message of peace and reconciliation. During his recent UK tour themed ‘Be the Change’, the 77- year old Dalai Lama gave an exclusive interview to Danielle Batist of the In- ternational Network of Street Papers, of which Street Sense a member. For the full version of this interview and a gal- lery of images donated by photographer Simon Murphy, see www.streetsense.org.
Many of our 12,000 street paper vendors in 40 countries around the world are or have been homeless. The Buddha was homeless for most of his life. And you, like many of your people, have spent most of your life in exile. What does homelessness mean to you?
For people without a home, it is almost like they have no basis from which to conduct their lives. They have no anchor. That is very sad. But from a larger viewpoint, I would say that this whole planet is our home. The individ- ual may be in a difficult situation, but he is still part of the society of human- ity. I think it is innate to human nature that if someone is going through a diffi- cult time, there is some kind of willing- ness to help out of a sense of concern that we have. So from that viewpoint, for homeless people their direct home is no longer there, but the big home is still there. So people who are homeless should not feel desperate. On some level, I am also homeless. But being homeless sometimes is useful, because you realize that in many places you can find a new home. If you have just one home, in some way you can get stuck in that.
When people fall on such hard times, including in your country, how do you manage not to let feelings of anger, frustration or hatred take over?
Our emotion is a master check through our intelligence. On an intellectual lev- el, we analyze each situation. If a situa- tion is as such that we can overcome it, there is no need to worry. If there is no way to overcome a situation, there also is no use in too much worrying, as usu- ally worry brings frustration and frustra- tion brings anger. It is therefore always better to try not to worry too much. The emotion itself cannot do that, but with the help of human intelligence we can do that. I think whether God-created or nature-created, emotions are sometimes very troublesome. So God or nature also provided us with a kind of counter- balance, which is human intelligence. When animals face a problem, they al- most crash and black-out. But us human beings, because of our intelligence, we have a way to judge and measure our response. That is my view.
In your autobiography ‘Freedom in Exile’ you blame the Chinese state media for misleading the people by grossly misrepresenting the situation in Tibet from the 1950s onwards. How important is the role of independent media in today’s society?
Independent media are extremely important. The media, as I see it, are almost like a third eye. Now, sometimes the third eye itself is a little bit biased [laughs]. That is a problem. If media first objectively analyze and then report and make a story known to people, their role is extremely helpful and very effective. When I meet media people, I tell them that they should have a long nose and investigate all sides; not just the front side, but also behind. They must under- take thorough investigation to find out what the reality is. People have every right to know the reality, particularly in democratic countries. Media should undertake full investigations, present their findings objectively, without a bi- ased view and then inform the public. If they work this way, they have a very important and great role to play.
International Network of Street Pa- pers (INSP) street papers often cover issues that would otherwise go unre- ported. What stories regarding your own country are the most important ones that need to be told?
As for the Tibetan issue, it is that the very nature of the Tibetan struggle is strictly non-violent and very much in the spirit of reconciliation. Therefore, our struggle needs worldwide support. It must succeed, because if it fails, it will encourage those people who carry a different method, including force and violence. Also, some aspect of the Tibetan story is not just a political matter, but an environmental issue. The Tibetan Plateau [part of the Himalayas] plays a greatly important role in global warm- ing. Nearly all major rivers in that part of the world rise on the Tibetan Pla- teau, so the preservation of Tibetan ecology is not only in Tibetan people’s interest. More than one billion people’s lives depend on these rivers. Another top priority is the preservation of Tibetan culture, which is a cul- ture of peace, a culture of non-violence and compassion. It is not only an ancient culture, but also one that is very relevant in today’s world. We live in an increasingly materialistic world, which is all about consumerism. And there are moral problems which sometimes lead to violence, particularly among the youth. Whenever they face problems, the response of some of them has become more violent.
Our street paper vendors around the world face different kinds of social and economic difficulties, but when asked what the hardest thing about their situation is, their answer is often the same: the feeling of loneliness. A search party recognized you as the 14th Dalai Lama when you were two years old; you spent your childhood among adults in monasteries and faced the huge responsibility of protecting your people from foreign invasion and being their spiritual leader at age 15. With your experience of loneliness in your life, what advice would you give to them?
In my own case, if I only think of myself as ‘I am a Tibetan’ or ‘I am Buddhist’ that in itself creates a kind of distance. So I say to myself: ‘Forget that, I am a human being, one of the seven billion human beings.By saying that, we immediately become closer. If people put the empha- sis on their situation by thinking ‘I am poor’, or ‘I am homeless’ or ‘I am in a difficult situation’ they put too much of an emphasis on a secondary level. I think that this also is a reality, but still another reality is that we all are human being, one of the seven billion human beings on this planet. I know that in a practical sense that might not be of much help, but emotionally, it can be very helpful.
In recent years we have seen with- in the street paper movement many new people becoming vendors as a result of the global recession. People haven’t got enough money to live on or lose their jobs and end up on the streets. What do you feel about aus- terity measures introduced by govern- ments to tackle the crisis?
This is a very complicated situation. Immediately, I think governments have the responsibility for the country as a whole, so sometimes maybe these measures are necessary. But if you take an overall view, the real causes of the present difficulties started with the past governments and some companies. I think, without a proper plan in place, they are simply concerned about immediate profit and are not concerned about the long- term consequences. From that level, of course not seeing it from an individual person, but government or organizations which have the responsibility, the results now are due to their own actions. Only now, when difficulties have come, they put some sort of restrictions in place. It is complicated. Either way, for thousands of people, their livelihood is almost zero, which is really very, very sad. Very sad. But then, how to handle these things, I don’t know. Two or three years ago, one newspa- per, I think in Mexico, reported of one family whom, because of the economic difficulties, had to abandon their dog. The dog was now truly homeless. There was a picture of the dog and he looked very sad. Now really nobody took care of him. When I saw that picture, I my- self almost felt some kind of hopeless- ness. Taking that to a human level, you can certainly see how life has become more difficult.However, whenever I meet people who are in a difficult situation, I always share with them, in spite of a lot of difficulties, as a human being you should keep self-confidence and work hard. Due to certain difficulties, if you completely lost your self-confidence, hope and will, then inevitably difficulty will continue and it will lead to real disaster. So it is very, very essential to keep hope and determination.
You have often said about your own situation that it is important to keep hope. In your autobiography you write that as far back as in 1953 you were convinced ‘no matter how bad things become, they will eventually get better.’ Given the current situation in Tibet, how do you succeed in that?
In my own case, at age 16 , I lost my freedom. Difficulties had already started. Then, at 24, I lost my own country. Over the last 52 years, there have been a lot of problems. The news from within our own country has mostly been very heart-breaking news, very sad. In the meantime, Tibetans have put their trust in me, trust and hope. I cannot do much, so sometimes I really feel hopeless and desperate. But then, as I mentioned earlier, it is much better to keep my own enthusiasm and optimistic attitude, rather than allowing myself to completely lose hope and demoralise. That is of no help. So to other people I also say that no matter what difficul- ties, we should keep our self-confidence and determination.
