Dalai Lama Makes Second Visit to Taiwan

On April 9, with tears in his eyes and a smile of joy on his face, the Dalai Lama boarded a plane and returned to be with his people in exile in India. His ten-day visit to Taiwan was packed with events, including a four-day seminar on the Heart Sutra, a two-day guanding ceremony, meetings with top political figures (including the president, vice-president, premier, and leaders of the various parties such as Lien Chan, Frank Hsieh, James Soong, and Ma Ying-jeou), an address to the Legislative Yuan, and discussions with local Buddhist notables Cheng Yen and Sheng Yen.

On his first day, the Dalai, seated in the lotus position, delivered a lecture at the Taoyuan Stadium on the Ethics of the New Millennium, going directly to the hearts of the 15,000 faithful who sat listening. "If you came to see me thinking that you can get some spiritual quick-fix, that you can witness some sort of communion with deities, or that I have some divine powers, you are on the wrong track. As an ordinary person like you, I simply feel that it is very meaningful to help others escape pain and find contentment."

The Dalai noted that time is always moving, that a person is born and dies, and that all things, including the sun and indeed the universe itself, are dying away like an illusion. It is meaningless to focus on what happens at a certain time. It is certainly not as meaningful as helping others use their time better to pursue contentment.

But how? The Dalai Lama drew on the lessons of the Heart Sutra. He noted that the Prajna Paramita is one of the most familiar of the Buddhist "three treasures and twelve classics." The Heart Sutra is the very essence of the Prajna Paramita. Though the Heart Sutra is very short, having only 260 characters, it is very profound, which is why he selected this verse as a means to relate to the people of Taiwan.

The Dalai Lama pointed out that the Heart Sutra describes the Buddhist idea of emptiness. Most people, he explained, seek to find joy and escape from pain through satisfying their sensual desires, but the mind is often unhappy even after the senses are satisfied.

After his lectures on the Heart Sutra, the Dalai began a two-day guanding ceremony. (The term guanding literally means "to have poured into one's head." Through such a ceremony, believers hope to have a rapid path to enlightenment transmitted to them through the teacher.) Markedly more people attended this event than attended the lectures, with all 15,000 tickets selling out in a short time. The Dalai personally led the crowd in rites honoring Sakyamuni (the founder of Buddhism) and other Buddhist holy figures (bodhisattvas). First those in attendance bowed to the Dalai in respect, then the Dalai moved to the center of the altar and did the same toward the statues of Sakyamuni and other holy figures, while spreading flowers in offering. As the Dalai meditated on the sublime state of emptiness attained by the bodhisattvas, those in the crowd held their hands in prayer, and then listened to the Dalai lecture on injunctions to attain enlightenment. In his remarks he advised people to approach the world in the same state of mind as a bodhisattva.

The Dalai Lama stressed that his teachings in Taiwan were interconnected. He began with the Heart Sutra, inspiring people to seek awareness, thus laying the foundation, and then held the guanding ceremony on the injunctions for attaining the state of mind of a bodhisattva. He conducted the guanding ceremony, he said, in order to help people more quickly taste the fruits of Buddhism, but warned that such a ritual is useless to those who do not first cultivate a pure bodhisattva state of mind. He hoped that all followers of the Buddha would reflect carefully on the themes of state of mind and of emptiness discussed in these days.

Seeing on this trip that many believers in Taiwan are more interested in what they can personally get out of Buddhism than in real cultivation of the path, the Dalai did not mince words. He noted that Taiwanese want everything fast, seeking "to become a Buddha overnight," and that they much prefer guanding over self-cultivation, making their practice of Buddhism into the spiritual equivalent of instant noodles. The Dalai Lama hit the nail on the head, drawing the attention of people in Taiwan to their own get-rich-quick mentality.

Beyond his teachings, the Dalai's open-heartedness and generosity of spirit were even more valuable lessons. For example, he presented a US$150,000 contribution to continuing relief efforts for victims of the September 21, 1999 earthquake. Knowing the dire financial straits of the Tibetan government-in-exile, relief fund managers were "reluctant" to accept the donation, but did so given the very natural and charitable way in which the Dalai offered it. In contrast, when the Dalai met with high-ranking officials, his only request for help was that Tibetans be allowed to come and work in Taiwan. In deed as well as word, the Dalai Lama set an admirable example during his visit.