Le Monde des religions, July-August 2006 —
One of the main reasons for Buddhism's appeal in the West lies in the Dalai Lama's charismatic personality and his discourse, which focuses on fundamental values such as tolerance, non-violence, and compassion. This discourse is captivating because of its lack of proselytism, a characteristic rarely found in monotheistic religions: "Do not convert, remain in your religion," says the Tibetan master. Is this a superficial message, ultimately intended to seduce Westerners? I have often been asked this question. I will answer it by recounting an experience I had that deeply moved me.
It was a few years ago in Dharamsala, India. The Dalai Lama had arranged to meet me for a book. An hour-long meeting. The night before, at the hotel, I met an English Buddhist, Peter, and his 11-year-old son, Jack. Peter's wife had died a few months earlier, after a long illness and great suffering. Jack had expressed a desire to meet the Dalai Lama. So Peter had written to him and obtained a five-minute audience, just long enough for a blessing. Father and son were delighted.
The next day, I met the Dalai Lama; Peter and Jack were received right after me. I expected them to return to the hotel very quickly: they didn't arrive until the end of the day, completely distraught. Their meeting lasted two hours. Here's what Peter told me about it: "I first told the Dalai Lama about my wife's death, and I burst into tears. He took me in his arms, stayed with me for a long time as I wept, and also spoke to my son. Then he asked me about my religion: I told him about my Jewish heritage and the deportation of my family to Auschwitz, which I had repressed. A deep wound was reopened within me, emotion overwhelmed me, and I wept again. The Dalai Lama took me in his arms once more. I felt his tears of compassion: he was crying with me, as much as I was. I stayed in his arms for a long time." I then told him about my spiritual journey: my lack of interest in Judaism, my discovery of Jesus through reading the Gospels, my conversion to Christianity which, twenty years ago, was the great light of my life. Then my disappointment at not finding the same strength in Jesus' message within the Anglican Church, my gradual drifting away, my deep need for a spirituality that helps me live, and my discovery of Buddhism, which I have been practicing for several years now in its Tibetan form. When I finished, the Dalai Lama remained silent. Then he turned to his secretary and spoke to him in Tibetan. The secretary left and returned with an icon of Jesus. I was stunned. The Dalai Lama gave it to me, saying, “Buddha is my way, Jesus is your way.” I burst into tears for the third time. I suddenly rediscovered all the love I had felt for Jesus at the time of my conversion twenty years earlier. I realized that I had remained a Christian. I had sought in Buddhism a support for meditation, but deep down, nothing moved me more than the person of Jesus. In less than two hours, the Dalai Lama reconciled me with myself and healed deep wounds. As he left, he promised Jack that he would see him every time he came to England
I will never forget this encounter and the transformed face of this father and his son which revealed to me how the Dalai Lama's compassion is not an empty word and that it has nothing to envy in that of the Christian saints.
Le Monde des religions, July-August 2006.