c. 1996 Religion News Service
(RNS)-In boldface below is caption information for six photographs by Phil Borges. Following each, in quotes, are comments by the Dalai Lama on the nature of compassion that accompany Borges’ portraits, in”Tibetan Portrait: The Power of Compassion,”a new book they co-authored, published by Rizzoli Press.
1. Tenzin Gyatso, 59
At the age of two, Tenzin Gyatso was declared the reincarnation of the Buddha of Infinite Compassion. As the Dalai Lama, he is the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, now living in exile in Dharmsala, India.
“Many times I am asked if I am angry at the Chinese for what has happened. Sometimes I lose my temper, but afterwards, I get more concern, more compassion toward them. In my daily prayer, I take in their suffering, their anger, and ignorance and give back compassion. This kind of practice I continue.”
2. Ahida, 10 months and Sonam, 21 months
These toddlers are Tibetan Muslim children who live near the mosque in the capital city of Lhasa. Muslims and Buddhists have lived peacefully together for centuries. Under Chinese rule, Muslim religious practices are controlled by the Chinese Bureau of Religious Affairs.
“Since at the beginning and end of our lives we are completely dependent on the kindness of others, how can it be that in the middle we would neglect kindness toward others?”
3. Botok, 76 and Tsangpa, 78
They were classified as wealthy by Communist authorities because they owned 1,000 sheep and goats. Threatened with imprisonment, they fled Tibet.
“Compassion and love are precious things in life. They are not complicated, but difficult to practice.”
4. Dawa, 15
The son of a barley farmer in Tibet’s Drigung Valley, he tends goats and loves to read.
“Cultivating a warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease and helps remove whatever fears and insecurities we may have.”
5. Sisi, 8 and Norsum, 8
Daughters of a farming family, it is their job to tend this rapeseed field.
“It does not matter whether we use religious or nonreligious practices to develop feelings of love and kindness. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take seriously our responsibility for each other and the natural environment.”
6. Yama, 8
Yama traveled six weeks on foot with her family to make a pilgrimage to the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa. She carried her infant sister along the way.”She was born with the true spirit of helping others,”her mother says.
“We are at the dawn of an age in which extreme political concepts and dogmas may cease to dominate human affairs. We must use this historic opportunity to replace them with universal human and spiritual values and ensure that these values become the fiber of the global family which is emerging.”
MJP END
