Terentyev Andrey Anatolyevich

Humanistic ideas of The Dalai Lama: spiritual revolution.

The speech for the IX conference of the Coalition "For Humanism!"

During last decades His Holiness The Dalai Lama XIV speaks in public and writes about problems common to the whole mankind: morality, politics, peace, economy ecology etc. 1989 he was awarded by the Peace Nobel Price because of his activity.

1. His ideas found the fullest reflection in his book “Ethics for the new millennium” published in New-York 1999. The basic mindstream is the following:
   1. People and other beings aspire after happiness. The experience of the modern industrial society proved, that material progress alone can’t give us happiness.
      Moreover, people who became just screw in a consumer society are less happy then people in more primitive societies. Increasing estrangement and loneliness result into increase of psychic disorders and even suicides.
      
   2. The Dalai Lama sees the way out not in turning of everybody to Buddhism or any other religion, on the contrary: he thinks the way out lies out of religious dimensions. But in his opinion our material progress should be accompanied by spiritual progress as well, it is crucial.
   3. The spiritual revolution he is appealing to is not an appeal to religiosity, it is an appeal to change the value orientation from self to others: to become less egocentric, what brings real immediate benefits to ourselves and to others, in the field of personal, intercommunal and international relations. E.g. yielding to our neighbor in a quarrel we get his sympathies which might be more important for our happiness and peace then a consent wrested in fighting and a humble neighbor dreaming of revenge.
   4. It is easy to understand, bearing in mind the general cause-and-effect law. We are depending on others in every step in our live, and others are depending on us.
   5. The psychological analysis of the feeling of happiness also reveals that it is connected with the experience of love, compassion and kindness. One can’t feel happy and hate at the same time. Consequently, one of the keys to the happiness is the development of kind-heartedness. And one should begin with oneself.
   6. Understanding the general correlation between the benefits for oneself and others calls for the development of the sense of responsibility in every our action.
   7. The same principles of kind-heartedness and responsibility have special role in politics and economics. An example of working out the ideas of The Dalai Lama for the concrete economic models is a book written after The Dalai Lama’s request by Stanislav Menshikov, a Russian economist. (“New Economics”)
2. The ideas of humanist ethics proposed by The Dalai Lama are very relevant for the whole mankind, and especially for Russia, where after the ruin of the communist ideology and commercialization of the whole society and in particular - mass media - especially the growing generation has difficulties in finding valid morals and the meaning of life.
3. For the purpose to popularize and introduce the ideas of love, compassion, tolerance and responsibility, systematically founded by The Dalai Lama, the International Association for Peace and Tolerance was created – The Dalai Lama Foundation. In 2004 the Russian Chapter of the Foundation was started. The aim of the Foundation is to promote the activity of organization and individuals who are working against the individual and collective egoism in society, who are working for the development of tolerance, love, compassion and esteem to the others. It seems to have much in common with the activity of the International Coalition “For Humanism!”