The Dalai Lama: Answers to various Questions

Tibet and China, Marxism, Nonviolence

• "A considerable portion of Tibetan territory has been redistributed to neighbouring Chinese provinces. What do you think the borders of the future autonomous Tibet should be?"
• "You have often stated that you would like to achieve a synthesis between Buddhism and Marxism. What is the appeal of Marxism for you?"
• "You have called for the repatriation of the Chinese who now line in Tibet. Might there be a place for a Chinese population in a democratic, open Tibet?"
• "Your Holiness, in your struggle to liberate Tibet, do you absolutely refuse the use of violence, or is nonviolence for you simply the best way to attain your goal?"

Death, Peace, Environment

• "In your opinion, is death a biological and medical event, or is it simply personal and spiritual? Is a right that we do everything in our power to save or at least prolong for a few years the life and human being? Or conversely, is it un-fair to impose the risk that death will occur in a highly technical medical context, where the patient is cut off from family and friends? Do you think death is good or bad? And finally, do the efforts of western medicine to thwart death seemed questionable to you? If, on the contrary, death belongs the dying and they close friends and family, at what point should the physician withdraw? Under what conditions must we inform the patient that death can no longer be avoided?"
• "Just as one often asks a doctor if the day will come when there will no longer be any disease, do you think that after cozens or hundreds of meetings like this one, the day will come when the world will truly be at peace?"
• "The film "Why Did Bodhidharma Go to the East?" allowed us, through its very beautiful images, to gain experience and understanding of the extent to which spiritual liberation goes hand-in-hand with the enlightenment of consciousness that comes about in the interaction of human beings with their natural environment. But Buddhism also professes the absence of the actual existence of phenomena which, naively, we consider to be "natural." Would you tell us what place the idea of nature nonetheless occupies in Buddhism, and how the recognition of the emptiness of phenomena can lead us to alter our way of looking, at the environment?"

Advice to Buddhists in the West

• Your Holiness, what advice might you give those of us who are working to develop Buddhist communities and organizations in the West?"

Christianity and Buddhism, 10 virtues

• "Your Holiness, you have just visited a Catholic shrine. Do you hope to one day go to Jerusalem or Mecca?"
• "Have you and the other representatives discussed among yourselves the issues raised by conversion, changing from one religion to another, in particular the different forms of Protestantisrn, Catholicism, or even Buddhism here in France?"
• "What do you think of the work of solidarity taking place between Christians in the West and in China?"
• "You have said that according to Buddhist philosophy there is no Creator, no God of creation, and this may initially put off many people who believe in a divine principle. Can you explain the difference between the Vajrayana Primordial Buddha and a Creator God?"
• "Do you think it is possible to be 60th Christian and Buddhist at the same time?"
• "Christ's words "Love thy neighbour" embody for us the Christian religion. What is your message to humanity when you meet another human being?"
• "What are the ten virtuous acts spoken of in Buddhism?"
• "If we have committed a serious negative act, how can we let go of the feeling of guilt that may follow?"

Philosophical questions on Creation

• "You have said that according to Buddhist philosophy there is no Creator, no God of creation, and this may initially put off many people who believe in a divine principle. Can you explain the difference between the Vajrayana Primordial Buddha and a Creator God?"
• "Interest im the discoveries of modern astrophysics and the "Big bang" theory reveal both a great fascination in the cosmos and a probing interrogation by members of our generation into their origins, their destiny and the meaning of their existence. The "Big bang" theory has had a significant impact on our way of looking at matter and nature; it has introduced considerable conceptual innovations. The formation of the structures of the universe, which function in interdependence, and which new research continues to reveal, is a seemingly endless source of wonder. Like all spiritual traditions, Buddhism conveys a cosmogonic myth. And yet Buddhism rejects the idea of creation. Why?
  Most Western scientists think that life and consciousness are a magnificent result of the universe's material evolution, and yet they know neither how nor why matter emerged in such a way as to fulfill the conditions necessary to engender life and consciousness. What they do know is that these conditions are very strict, yet have nevertheless been fulfilled in our universe in an astonishing way. You have a very different point of view on this subject. Would you therefore speak to us about consciousness in its relation to matter and the universe?"

Philosophical questions on consciousness

• "Given the fact that in your tradition there exist states of clarity and there are reports of people experiencing this more subtle state of mind, my question is two-fold: first, do you think that such non-cognitive states of mind could in theory be observed with our external tools? For example, if we were to place a meditator who is in a state of clear light into one of our modern machines with magnetic resonance, using new brain-imaging techniques, would we be able to see something, some sign of this subtle state? Perhaps we do not yet know how to do this but, in theory,. do you think it would it be possible? If so, what, in your opinion, would be the relation between the two levels, gross and subtle, in the field of interdependence? We do not want to succumb to a new dualism, that of grossness and subtlety. What is the nature of causality between these two levels?"
• "I am particularly interested in the question of the validation of phenomena by consciousness, and therefore in the conditions of their integration. I would like to ask if, apart from certain limited analogies -- which are very interesting -- between the Dharma and contemporary sciences, Buddhism has something more fundamental to offer the West. I am thinking here of the practice of meditation in particular: a renewed open-mindedness and sense of space and time which might give scientific information access to a more truly conscious "reality," so that it would no longer be merely a fascinating "fiction" related to matter/ energy, the space/time curve, the nonsubstantiality of phenomena, etc."
• "What is the concept of time in Buddhism?"
• "If consciousness has neither beginning nor end, and if it is not permanent, does it age like an old house, changing with each moment? And if it has neither form, nor colour, nor odour, bow can it be transformed?"
• "How did illusion begin?"
• "Is there a primordial cause for all causes?"

Philosophical questions on reality and interdependence.

• "Over the last few years the physics community has shown increasing interest in questions dealing with the understanding of a reality which seems to escape scientists, despite the great precision and powers of prediction of modern theories, such as quantum physics. Generally a physicist seeks not only to report on appearances and the sequence of an events's cause and effect, but also to perfect an intelligible way of interpreting what we call "nature." Our creativity seems to depend largely on this. In order to accomplish this we create representations in term of atoms, particles, forces, energies, space, time, etc.
  The Buddhist tradition contains a great number of texts dealing with the nature of phenomena, discussing the reality of atoms, the nature of space and time. Would you explain to us why Buddhist teachings insist on this question? Do you feel it is important for scientists in their research to take into consideration the explication found in the Middle Why which refutes the inherent existence of phenomena?"
• "You just said, a few minutes ago, that emotions can be a source of suffering. Do you have a definition for illness specific to Buddhism? Is illness the sign of an anomaly in one: biological or psychological behaviour, or is it a physical disorder pointing to a psychological disorder? Isn't it normal that at certain times in life a human being will become ill! And what should the attitude of the medical profession be in these conditions; should it seek to remove the anomaly, by any means possible or help the human being live with it?"
• "We have the unique opportunity to examine, together with the Dalai lama, some issues dealing with the heart of scientific practice from the point of view of interdependence. Before you begin this discussion, would His Holiness explain in a few words the meaning of interdependence in Buddhist philosophy and what you hope to take with you from this symposium?"