Posted by Helen on: 04.17.2008 /
After the prayer breakfast we drove straight to the panel discussion. This was a much bigger event than the breakfast. I wished I had the binoculars we used years ago when I sat way high up in the cheap seats at the opera.
(edited to add: high-quality video of both panel discussions is now online)
(another edit: check out Doug Pagitt’s video of his reflections on the event - very interesting)
I was pleased to be sitting with David Ruis, a great guy I first met on this trip. Especially since although the seats Jim gave a number of us were in the same section, we had other people between us. However, in this era of cell-phones we could text each other. That’s how we decided to leave after the first panel discussion and go have lunch together somewhere else. We then went on to where Jim was hosting an afternoon workshop rather than returning for the second panel discussion.
I thought the breakfast was more fun than the panel discussion. I don’t think I could have sat through two panel discussionsl even though the topic of the second one sounded interesting (”How do you encourage compassion in your spiritual communities?) Nevertheless I was glad to be there for the first one, about how we encourage compassion in young people.
There were about twenty people on stage. A few were teenagers asking the panelists questions and a few of the panelists were teenagers too. The panelists were from a number of different spiritual traditions. Rob Bell was there representing evangelical Christians (Doug Pagitt was in the second panel discussion which we didn’t see).
I was interested to hear David Rosen’s comments. At one point he got quite impassioned which is unusual for someone with a distinguished British accent. By the way, mine isn’t as distinguished as his. British people know this, whatever Americans may think. Anyway, these were his comments from this part. They gradually got more and more emphatic
If belief systems are used for violence they’re a betrayal of spirituality. People under siege tend to demonize others and then the way they practice their spirituality can become part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
I’ve seen incredible evidence of the positive effects of spirituality. This is the bane I wish I could fix: why is the positive emphasized less than the negative in the news media?
He got the biggest round of applause for the morning.
There was applause often, reminding me of the State of the Union address. Eventually the moderator asked people to hold their applause so it wouldn’t slow the event down. That didn’t really work. I wasn’t surprised - after all it was our only way to affirm the many people sharing their thoughts with us and show when we strongly agreed.
Many people said that their mother taught them compassion. There was much less mention of fathers doing that which was interesting. Rob Bell did talk about his father role-modelling compassion to him, by treating an unkind stepfather well rather than retaliating.
I was struck by the Dalai Lama sharing that a leader in his tradition would teach different disciples messages that contradicted each other. He would do this because different messages suit different people. I love this idea - I wish more Christians were more open to this possibility.
I also liked him saying he rejects Buddhist teachings on science where modern science has proved them obviously wrong. He said we need to accept reality. And asked us to please not think of him as a nihilist just because he rejects those teachings!
Next I’ll write about the afternoon workshop and evening event.
Comment by: Beth
1Helen - again, thank you for reporting your observations of the event.
Regarding
Would you give some examples of how/what messages you’d like to see this practiced in Christianity? I’m just curious.
Also, I’d like to honor my father for teaching and modeling compassion. He was a merciful man, generous in grace. I miss him so.
Comment by: benjamin ady
2Is this true? I’ve heard, for instance, that British MP’s get *rather* … impassioned–quite a bit more impassioned than American Senators and Congressmen (Congresspeople?) get.
Did you find Rob Bell’s answer about his father and his grandfather at all offputting. What I heard was “My grandfather was an abusive asshole, and my father chose to continue to be in relationship with him, right up until his death, even though my grandfather *never* changed his style”. I found it *totally* offputting. In my not so humble opinion, there is a proper time to cut off relationship with abusive people, and to not do so isn’t compassionate, it’s self-abuse. To hold up sef-abusers as paradigms of compassion isn’t kewl.
But maybe I’m bringing rather a lot of my response with me, and reading into Rob’s story =)
Comment by: Helen
3Hi Beth, what I was thinking of was, there are often a lot of ’shoulds’ in Christianity, like “You should enjoy worshiping this way/talking to God this way/reading the Bible this way/you should have these feelings” etc. And I’d like more Christians to be more open to the idea that it really might be ok if one person following Jesus looks quite different from how another person following Jesus looks. Do you see what I’m saying or have I just confused you further? :)
I’m glad you had a wonderful father.
Benjamin, yes, absolutely - that did bother me too! I think it’s because we have some of the same buttons. Without more information it’s hard to know whether Rob’s father should have drawn way more boundaries. I did wonder if he should have.
Comment by: Beth
4Nope, that clarifies for me. I agree.
Me too. (about my father)
Comment by: cipher
5Helen,
It’s a rare opportunity to be in the Dalai Lama’s presence. I’ve had the privilege a few times, although we’ve never been introduced. Last year, I ended a three-year gig as Manager of a Tibetan Buddhist center, and the lama there was an old student of His Holiness. In over thirty years of sifting through the catalogue of world religions, he’s the only teacher who has ever moved me profoundly, and for whom I’ve ever been able to cultivate anything resembling reverence (although I’m not a Buddhist).
Last year, I met Father Thomas Keating, the monk who reintroduced contemplative prayer into the Christian tradition. I told him that he was the first teacher I’d met who came close to moving me in the way that HHDL has. He thanked me and said, “You’re very kind, but His Holiness is in a category all by himself.” I quite agree.
Here is another panel discussion involving HHDL and Bishop Tutu, along with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the originator of Jewish Renewal, and a couple of other teachers. The first two links are talks by the DL; the last link is the panel discussion. It took place in Vancouver in 2004, when HH was given an honorary doctorate by UBC.
http://events.onlinebroadcasting.com/dalailama/042004/index2.php?page=launch
Comment by: Helen
6Thanks for your comment, cipher - I didn’t know you’d been manager of a Tibetan Buddhist center. Which country was the center in (if you don’t mind me asking)?
Thanks for the link.
Hearing either of the men alone would have been worthwhile - seeing them together was amazing because we also had the privilege of seeing them enjoy each other, alternately praising and teasing each other.
Comment by: cipher
7Yeah, I understand they’ve been friends for a while. They kid a bit during the Vancouver talk as well. And HH and Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi (Reb Zalman, as he’s called) have been friends since 1990, when the Dalai Lama invited a group of rabbis and scholars to Dharamsala to meet with him to discuss strategies for retaining the Tibetan people’s culture in exile. Those dialogues resulted in the book The Jew in the Lotus.
Here is a picture of them from Vancouver: http://www.sfu.ca/dialog/images/dalai_lama.jpg
The center I managed is just outside of Boston.