Alan Wallace : An American Author and Expert on Tibetan Buddhism

[Music] in terms of successes I know that the success has given me an enormous amount of gratification and deeply enriched my life and do something Ison succeeded because I tried hard was from the rather early age for my early 20s I became quite fluent in spoken and written Tibetan learning how to speak Tibetan and understand Tibetan then opened up many many doorways for receiving the wisdom the guidance the learning and so forth from a great number of truly marvelous Tibetan Lamas and be able to speak in their own language not have to go through interpreter incredibly helpful so I've kept that up make sure I don't lose my Tibetan skills so that's been a very very helpful that just having that Avenue to a whole civilization and this richness of Buddhism which goes back to India very very helpful so that was a success challenges I still find it challenging to encounter people especially in people in influences positions of influence who really need to be should be in the role of serving the public whether they're heads of corporations or companies or governments and so forth we need them to be wise to be of service to be compassionate and when I see individuals in positions of great influence a great power who use it primarily for their own sake just for their own power their own satisfaction their own gratification and using other people when they could be of such great service and out of their shortsightedness their self-centeredness they don't suffer other people they just make sure everybody serves them I find that difficult I find that difficult it's difficult not to be judgemental not to feel superior not to look down on them but even if they're so confused that they're taking their wealth some are very wealthy and very greedy some people in positions of great influence political and so forth and so self-centered so absorbed in their own some people very famous could use their fame in very very helpful ways instead they just use it for just luxury upon luxury upon luxury than to recognize you I really feel their behavior is very inappropriate sometimes they added to the Express or inappropriate but when all is said and done they're people just like me and to so much challenging but I want not to look down on anybody anywhere I'm a Buddhist I follow the teachings of the Buddha and in the Buddhist discourse on loving kindness of Metta he said let no one despise anyone anywhere so no matter what people have done I never want to look down on them because then I'm not a follower of the Buddha but to view each one fundamentally you're like me and view them as compassion as my brothers and sisters and never look with contempt it's challenging but that's a challenge I must embrace because I don't want to be a contemptuous person no matter how other people behave for a number of years now I've been spending a lot of time traveling III only respond to invitations so I don't promote myself I don't market myself I don't even know how but especially when I left the university I was a lecturer at the university of california in santa barbara until 2001 i left that position and since then I started the Santa Barbara Institute for consciousness studies so I'm totally in charge of that but have given many lectures and workshops in universities I have taught with Christians Christian Benedictine monk I mentioned Tana Vedanta Center taught in Zen and tera vaada centers all schools of Tibetan Buddhism as well as many secular context as well because I feel in a way my life has been tremendously enriched by the many Buddhist teachers I've studied with both Tibetans as well as Indian Burmese Thai Sri Lankan and so my life has been tremendously enriched by them but also I feel very very deep gratitude because my finishing off my undergraduate education was at Amherst College very expensive it's a very expensive College it's a superb college and I Keightley gave me a full scholarship and then I went for PhD work I got a full scholarship at Stanford for my PhD where I could not have afforded it so I just feel kind of gratitude to the East gratitude to the West and feel that so many people over these many decades have enriched my life with her understanding the wisdom and so forth so as the Dalai Lama told me the first time I met him he said the greater your understanding the greater responsibility so I've taken that on for roughly the less especially the last 20 years I've been teaching since 1976 but during those 1970s 1980s into the 1990s I was also primarily a student and a translator from many many lamas translating many books and so forth but for the last 20 years or so not so much translating but more teaching teaching teaching and simply trying to offer my best but as I'm also getting older I'm returning more to spending more time really seeking to tap deeper into my own mind purifying cultivating and also wishing to creating environment which I'm working with many friends to create an environment in Tuscany Italy to create a Center for content of research and we have a lot of momentum or very close to really succeeding and realizing the dream and this would be a facility where I together with other teachers could give very sustained and quite deep contemplative training to relatively small group of people but give them five years ten years of training to really go deep in their Contenta to practice and so rather than doing many many teachings all over the world for a week or a weekend and so forth moving more towards spending more time in one place than trying to give very deeper training so that people can go much deeper in their own practice and happen to the very deep wisdom of Buddhism and other traditions so moving more to the contempt of life and away from the very active life and I get older and older and move more and more that rich that's clearly the Dalai Lama his holiness Dalai Lama I first met him in 71 at first and I met him one-on-one in the late 1971 I just met him we had a conversation this I think it is probably the most memorable conversation I've had in my life I posed a question to him about my own practice and he gave me the wisest answer that I could even imagine an estate with me ever since and so I found I've translated for him on many occasions starting in 1979 many meetings and so forth I have a privilege to serve as interpreter he's guided me personally in my practice since 1971 so that's about 47 years and I just find him to be an utterly extraordinary human being in terms of his complete simplicity and humility but such tremendous wisdom and airy addition he's incredibly knowledgeable but also his kindness is the compassion is everywhere he goes it's just kind of like an ongoing flow of compassion so he's earned my deepest admiration my reference he is my Lama my guru and he inspires me as he inspires many many other people but I have had a very very good fortune to know him personally to serve him at a VC of his personal guidance I've been inspired by many people Tibetans other Buddhists and also by Western teachers and people I've met in the West but if there's one person more than anybody else he is really my guiding light [Music] there is a phrase it's become a bumper sticker but he really means it and that he sees a Buddhist for no question but he has this other sense of empathy and brotherhood sisterhood with Christians and Muslims and people have no religion and so what is the common ground where he said well my religion is yes I'm a Buddhist but deeper than that my religion is having a good heart my religion is kindness he really he means it any embodies it I've seen this so many occasions that wherever he goes he brings his ongoing spontaneous and effortless kindness so I find that tremendously inspiring and then moving more to the academic side because I've also been tremendously enriched by my Western education boot which I'm deeply grateful and here's a short phrase and it's from the man I quoted a number of times today William James very wise and deeply deeply philosophical thinker a fine scientist a psychologist but such an empathy for a religious experience really deep and so embracing not just Christian or just Buddhist really appreciating the varieties of religious experience very deep and so he relating to exactly my talk this afternoon there's one phrase I probably quoted more than any other phrase than many of the Western thinkers he said for the moment what we attend to is reality for the moment we attend to is reality and so I've just found that to be so true psychologically that attention is always selective can't help it if I'm focusing on you I'm not focusing on you or focusing on you or anybody else you're the center of my attention which means everything else fades of the background right and so for the moment when I tend for me right now you're very real not that you're any more real or less real than you were an hour ago but for me right now you're looming in the center of my vision and so what my challenge would not challenge my privilege is to give you my whole attention because that's what you request I'm happily happily offered and so and then this Benedictine monk saying the greatest gift we can give to another person is our attention these are complimentary statements I really take those to heart and I try to practice this when I go into a store and I'm buying something and they're up across the counter is the person who is giving and get the cashier I make a point of this is person is right in front of me this is a person is not a thing he's a person who happens to be working in this world right now but wasn't born this way won't remain this way and I try to make a point of giving people my full attention wherever they are whether they give me they change when I'm buying grocery or it's the flight attendant coming down the aisle and she's attending to me I tend right back you know I'm attending to her while she attends to me and so I try to pay attention offer my attention because I think that's the first gift we can give to anyone like not many things do because whether my energy is drained or not is not up to other people it's not how much work I have it's not many how many interviews I have that doesn't create my attention if I'm praying and my attention I'm draining in my attention nobody my energy nobody can get a vacuum and suck my energy out so if I'm drained it's because I allowed myself to get rained so I generally don't feel drained at the end of the day I feel sleepy that's nice and I need about five hours of sleep every night and so I go to bed before I'm really sleepy I go to bed and meditate in bed and then after a while feel drowsy then I get a good night's sleep this morning I woke up at 2:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed ready to face the day so I started meditating for two hours so I don't often feel drained and maybe it's because I don't have a whole lot of attachment I have some of course but attachment means expectation if I had a lot of expectation and attachment about this interview I might thinking now what's in it for me and will I perform will I be to your satisfaction and so I could be thinking oh it will be good will you like the will you like the interview will you not like will be that's draining that's really draining and I don't do that when I'm speaking here before 300 people it's about the same as I'm thinking one person I'm just offering my best that's all I can do so there's no anxiety about it and just offer my best and if it's helpful is helpful if they're not helpful then that's okay you know do something else so internally not so much wear and tear because I don't go out really thinking what can I get what like it I'm taking care of my economic needs I'm covered I'm okay I can live on very little I have no financial worries that aren't very grateful for that but if I get an invitation I never ask and never need to ask oh how much do I get ever never do if they give something they do many thing for free other ones they give donation banna banna should be offering fine that makes it very relaxed so then I love that I'm so very grateful that I don't have to really think about money and I don't think about Fame and I don't think about influence what happens happens but I don't need that [Music] I would see what the Buddha said to everyone else and and Joseph Campbell the great you know the great flight writer about myth Joseph Campbell the Buddha said this Joseph Campbell very very wise man who wrote about the power of myth is really quite quite deep thinker and what they said was follow your bliss follow that which truly makes you happy that's what the Buddha said find out what truly makes you happy and follow that wealth doesn't make anybody truly happy it comes and it goes and many people wealthy are not happy at all and that goes for fame and that goes for power influence they don't they like themselves don't make anybody truly happy but there are things that really truly make one happy and so I kind of made that decision when I was twenty what I did was in a way very reckless because I left Western civilization I discontinued my undergraduate education I sold everything I had or gave it away and bought a one-way ticket to India I didn't have enough money for a return ticket and I wish because I just felt I think Tibetan culture Tibetan Buddhism the lamas I think they have wisdom I think they have a path that I really resonate with I think that's really what I'd love to vote my life too so basically when I got on that airplane to fly from Germany to Bombay and then up to Dharamsala I was leaving all security behind sacrificing wife and family no hope sacrificing job sacrificing education sacrificing family security sacrificing the approval of my father because he was not keen on what I was doing I was just doing it because I felt this is where I really feel I could find fulfilment and that turned out to be the best decision of my life and it turned out my father and I've had a harmonious relationship for not years now and after 14 years as a monk at now had 29 years and a very happy marriage had been very fulfilling so if one really finds what truly makes you happy I would tell the fifteen-year-old don't settle for less and consider your ideals what is the greatest good that you can imagine and go for that that's what I'm doing now I'm working in two large projects and one could say boy that's the first one I won't give the details but boy that's a long shot that's really a long shot what do you think the chances of success are as I don't know but it's the best thing I can imagine as I'm gonna go for it and keep on striving to realize that dream because I think it'd be very beneficial and if I strive and thrive in stride and that just turns into nothing said then well I gave up my best shot but I really tried to do the finest thing I could there's another project very challenging very I've taken a lot of patience I've been striving for for years and years and years only in the near future does it seem like wow we're really making some progress but it's the best thing I can imagine best thing I can imagine so I would rather fail its striving for the best thing I can imagine then succeed by striving for something that I know is clearly inferior so I say go for your highest ideal strive for your highest find what that would really makes you happy and then everything sets I decide and I found with that kind of prioritization I found again and again and again ever since I made that decision when I was 20 20 or 21 years old that I've just found again and again countless times over the last forty eight years that reality is risen to meet me and the way keeps on opening and opening so I say trust that trust reality trust reality and follow your vision that's what happens to go right to the point a great breakthrough an earth-shattering kind of breakthrough in quantum mechanics is that what physicists are studying in this field of quantum mechanics in its variations quantum that quantum field theory quantum cosmology cubism and other interpretation of quantum mechanics is what they are studying and what their understanding of the universe is not the universe as it exists in and of itself out there independent but the universe rising relative to the questions we ask the type of measurement systems we use the type of observations we make the type of conceptual framework that we use to make sense of our observations but it's all relational it's not just independent world independent human beings bumping into each other that was a classical view the universe is totally out there objective independent out there and that's not true in quantum mechanics what you have out there before you make a measurement is a field of possibilities they feel of probabilities you make a measurement and now you actuality this is a theme that is scientifically written with experiment very sophisticated theory and Buddhism we find the same thing and it's not a trivial similarity in Buddhism says States you are not an independent entity existing all by yourself I'm not an independent agent all by myself we are not to utterly independent autonomous entities coming and bumping into each other and then like billiard balls going off in different directions right now the alan wallace that is manifesting to you is rat manifesting relative to you not the real one it's relative to you you are manifesting there are so many aspects of your being that I'm not seeing your rising relative to me and then I'm rising relative relative and so we're all from moment to moment in our many relationships rising relative to the people around us as their rising rather to us and the world that I see around me perceptually arising relative to my physical senses conceptually as I think of atoms and fields and particles and waves the world that I envision it when we're not looking arising relative to my concepts my conceptual understanding so it's a theme of the interdependence the interrelationship between subject and object the world and the sentient beings inhabiting the world all interrelated and this is a central theme this is not New Age physics this is very straight quantum mechanics but when we apply this to our lives then we see my very existence in my pursuit of happiness my pursuit of freedom from suffering is not independent you wish for happiness wish to be free of suffering not independent I'm influencing you right now you just by sitting there quietly are influencing me and so this is our whole world our whole existence is one of interdependence and therefore empathy for all those around us compassion for all those around us who are suffering loving kindness for all those around us seeking happiness is simply reality based response so it's taking the theme of interdependence we find in quantum mechanics and applying that in our daily lives and so then we see wisdom underlying compassion and that's the essence of all of Buddhism wisdom support international all right my wife and I make the best pizza in Santa Barbara that's what we did we make the best pizza we've had other people's pizza restaurants and so forth we make the best and we she and I agree our pizza is better than any other piece that we tasted in town I say that a bit tongue-in-cheek but it's also true but it's also not many people if they like our pizza and we have we have guests over we serve here is a good key good pizza but I think we're probably the only two people on the planet who think our pizzas the tastiest and it is the tastiest for us so I'm pointing here something that's kind of silly in a bit goofy but it's also to show that truths has many many layers and there are things that are true for me or my wife and me that are not true for anybody else but they're still true it's just a very local truth it's a very local truth and then there are broader truths that they're people Christians Christians have many truths that they share in common and they really say this is really true and they might say it's true for everybody and that's fine but as a Buddhist might say well we understand that's true for you and I'm very valuable but our view is different right our view is different and we can respect that as Dalai Lama says we should respect all religions but that doesn't mean that we try to follow all religions follow your own religion but with respect and appreciation for all the others so there are some truths that are local relative to only two on one group and then there are other truths that are more Universal with mornig Universal so now to ask the opposite question from the one you asked I've been teaching a long time 42 years teaching Buddhist meditation theory and so forth and the aspects of Buddhism that I most enjoy teaching how to eat anything that people ask that I can I can teach capably but what I really love to focus on are very central themes of the buddhadharma Buddhism very central very core which were also universal and so the emphasis and Buddhism on compassion it's absolutely central the compassion is universal developing kinetic intelligence very core very universal that our aspirations be really noble they be benevolent ethical and so forth the lecture I gave today on attention this is really horse Samadhi Samadhi Samadhi that's really central to Buddhism oh but everybody could benefit tomorrow we'll look into ways of apprehending reality getting a clearer vision of reality cultivation of mindfulness very discerning intelligent mindfulness very core very core all Universal relevance the cultivation of emotional balance of equilibrium are very healthy emotional resilience very strong a vision board ism oh it's East Universal so there are elements the visa ones I really cherish because I know wherever I go whether it's a university or a classroom with children whether I'm speaking to Christians or Muslims or business people or scientists that there are some things that are true for many many people and they're also very central to the spiritual path I've chosen so if I'm given a chance I'll focus on the central so when I was invited to teach her they didn't tell me what to teach they didn't tell allons beasts they speak about this but I chose well what be really central to the path I followed really every element here is really core but anybody who whether they're religious non-religious I think anybody who is interested in these topics can give benefit because the truths here are universal so the the truths that only I believe I think have to be very very superficial tools like pizza [Music] I thought I had it a few seconds to think about that earlier I would love to read that the heads of state especially of all of the very highly developed industrialized countries of the world the United States of course heads of state from the European Union and Brazil and Russia and China and all other countries with large populations and a big industrial base they all got together and they said you know we just woke up and we recognized the way we're treating earth right now with global climate change depletion of Natural Resources wiping out very large areas of biosphere decimating populations having the cutting in half the wildlife on the planet over the last 50 years we've just suddenly we just had something like divine grace we've suddenly realized we can't do this anymore and we have to shift our vision away from more and more drawing from resources for our short-term benefits we have to fundamentally rethink this we have to start cherishing this planet so that we leave it in better shape for our children grandchildren ten generations ahead we will now make the sacrifices needed in the short term to make sure that human civilization is not being detrimental to all other species the whole eco sphere that we will cherish this environment for the sake of all of us and we will make the short-term sacrifices to make sure that the planet we're leaving to our children and future generations is even better than the one we received we are now being responsible we will cherish this earth for the sake of all the century beings on it and not follow our present policies of short-sighted stupidity and greed we're going to stop that now and we'll all work together to make that we were out the best headline they can imagine again whether one is religious or not or following one religion versus another religion there's a lot of different views about what its ethical and what is not and that's not going to go away people have always had very different views Christians somewhat different from Muslim Muslim from Buddhist and so forth and then there are about a billion people on the planet right now who are not affiliated with any religion for secular that's reality but as my primary teacher the Dalai Lama has pointed out strongly in for a very long time we need to envision ethics a vision of ethics of treating each other as human beings treating other sentient beings animals and so on and treating the whole eco sphere we need to envision a type of ethics that we can all embrace regardless of very very different world views and so when I think of ethics Buddhist ethics is very elaborate very complex karma reincarnation very deeply embedded in a worldview that is different from Hinduism let alone different from Taoism Christianity let alone different from materialism but there is a common ground and there's a common ground that I think all people all people of real conscience who wish to live good lives and to be responsible in this world that we can all share and that is two simple principles of ethics can we agree that we take is a highest priority non-violence that we have differences and will always have differences but can't we settle them without violence because everybody suffers when there's violence there's no war where one side simply won because the winner suffered so much and there call the winners but that means maybe they just suffered a little bit less so that we can agree upon non-violence as a principle that here we agree let us keep the violence to each other and all of the century' beings and to the ecosphere total minimum so that we can all survive and flourish so that's one half and the other half as I mentioned in one of the talks today benevolence it's a nice word benevolence it doesn't necessarily entail religion or any particular belief system but if we can engage with each other in a spirit of friendliness of respect courtesy and benevolence when we see we can do something they could be helpful let's do it and if all the peoples of the world seven point six billion people if we engage with each other as human beings other species and the whole eco sphere the biosphere with non-violence and benevolence we as a human specie could really survive and flourish in harmony with the other species we really could we don't have to believe anything first we don't have to believe in God or calm or anything else that would be the message why don't we focus on this where we can all agree all people of good heart no violent non-violence is better than violence and benevolence is better than malevolence that doesn't need any argument that is self-evident so why don't we agree on that which is self-evident a self-evident moral truth non-violence is better than violence benevolence is better than malevolence and now let's work together that would be the message [Music]

Channel: Phuketindex.com

Views: 2,871

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Alan Wallace, interview, people, Phuket, Thailand, American Author, Tibetan Buddhism, knowledge, Alan, Buddhism, Tibetan, Dr. Alan Wallace

Id: SJtNXlRbgL8

Length: 31min 25sec (1885 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 28 2018