Waldzell Meeting 2007

What is our legacy?

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Wherever I go, I always keep two things on my mind: the promotion of human values–wise compassion–and belief with reasoning. Without that we can’t survive. The entire world is one entity and therefore we have to devote ourselves to the entire humanity and the environment.

…. on religious doubt: Analytical meditation is an important part of Buddhist religious practice. For this, you need doubt. Doubt leads to questions, questions lead to efforts, and if you make an effort, you will find answers. The Buddhist tradition is in favor of doubt because it makes you see.

… on suffering: When faced with problems, we should be realistic. If there is a way out, take it. If there is none, accept things the way they are.

 

David Rosen

… on religious doubt: Anyone who does not doubt is a highly dangerous individual. Doubt is an important moral value. We should keep asking questions to enable continuous growth – it is a central part of our civilization.

… on wars of religion: Many conflicts are not necessarily religious conflicts even though we think they are. In fact, they are more about identity. Religion helps us to understands ourselves, religion is inextricably linked with identity. Anyone who thinks his identity is in jeopardy, will tend to look for justifications and demonize the other. In this case, religion becomes part of the problem instead of being part of the solution. Therefore, it is important to give people faith, hope and help for their community – especially people in exile.

 

David Steindl-Rast

… about faith, trust and silence:

The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is fear. Faith is trust. Faith is not trust in this or that idea of God but trust in life. You can consider life to be a force emerging from nothingness. Look at your hand and allow yourself to be surprised at the fact that you have a hand! Where does it come from? It emerged from nothingness. Every moment things emerge from nothingness, just like sound is born from silence. Silence carries the sound. If we allow ourselves to do that, we will see that the sound comes to us out of silence as a gift. All we have to do is trust silence and ourselves. The three great realities are silence, word and understanding.