Finding Hope in the Darkest of Days, and Focus in the Brightest: The Dalai Lama’s Approach to Promoting Human Values

Keywords: Hope, human values, compassion, ethics, humanity, COVID-19, climate change

In 1984, when I was three years old, our family’s home was the only household in the entire Tibetan community in the mountainous region of Ladakh to own a color TV, newly introduced in northern India. I remember seeing the media coverage of the bombings at the U.S. embassy in Beirut. A frightened young child, I asked my father if the bombs could reach us here in the foothills of the Himalayas. He assured me it was happening somewhere in a distant part of the world, which I would not even see in my lifetime. Then, when I was 10 years old, attending primary school in Bylakuppe in southern India, the United States was bombing Iraq. My best friend in fifth grade heard about it and asked me if our school would be affected. I convinced her of the same response my dad had given me, that we were far removed from the conflict. Fast-forward to early 2020: I had just begun preparing for the spring semester at the University of Massachusetts when news of a life-threatening virus in Wuhan, China led my 12-year-old niece to ask me if the virus could come to the United States. I assured her it would not, that it was only affecting life in a distant part of the world, in the Far East. But this time I was wrong. In a matter of a few weeks, the United States became the new epicenter of the virus outbreak.

While the world was still reeling from a spate of crises in 2020—raging bushfires across Australia from late 2019 to early 2020 (Gunia, 2020), devastating wildfires in California in late 2019 through 2020 (CalFire, n.d.-a, 2020 n.d.-b), the possibility of a war between the United States and Iran (Mazzetti, Bergman, & Fassihi, 2020), the wave of communal violence in northern India (Slater & Masih, 2020), to mention but a few—unlike these other tragedies and disasters whether national or regional, COVID-19, with its porous boundaries, permeated the entire world, making it a global pandemic. Today, humanity is facing one of its worst crises ever with nearly 200 million people infected and over 4 million dying in isolation (Worldometer, n.d.). Lockdowns are becoming a norm, with people self-isolating, quarantining, or at least masking and practicing social distancing. As was predicted, a mental health crisis is the next pandemic for humanity to deal with (Barthelemy, 2020). As people are grappling in numerous ways to reconcile with the unprecedented havoc the pandemic has wreaked on individual and collective lives, the Dalai Lama took to digital media to send messages of hope. Instead of blaming the people of Wuhan, where the virus originated, or exacerbating the seriousness of the pandemic and blaming the karma of humanity, the Dalai Lama instead advised humanity to embrace adversity, as it offers the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others. One of the prominent pieces of advice I grew up hearing from the Dalai Lama is to “hope for the best but prepare for the worst.” The Dalai Lama believes human beings are inclined to use their intelligence or, in his words, their “wonderful human brain” (Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 2020b, para. 8), their “marvellous, brilliant minds” (Dalai Lama, 2020b, para. 3), to face challenges and predicaments instead of blaming external factors or the universe. He implores individuals to apply a positive mindset to find solutions to adversity and to not focus on the problems alone.

The Dalai Lama has always advocated that humans are hardwired to feel empathy and compassion, partly because without a strong mechanism for these traits, the human species would not last long (Dalai Lama, 2011a). The Dalai Lama’s compassionate approach, especially his capacity for caring about the welfare of the Chinese people and thinking of them as his brothers and sisters, has surprised many people. Compassion, according to the Dalai Lama, is the antidote for anger and the practice of compassion is a remedy for “ruinous overemphasis on your self” (Dalai Lama, 2011b, p. 10). The Dalai Lama’s message of hope and compassion is reflected strongly in these principal commitments: promotion of human values, promotion of religious harmony, preservation of the Tibetan language and culture, protection of Tibet’s natural environment, and revival of ancient Indian knowledge and wisdom (Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, n.d.). In this article, I will examine ways in which the Dalai Lama encourages humanity to “find hope in the darkest days and focus in the brightest” (Adams, 2012, p. 131) and to this end, I will explore the Dalai Lama’s principal commitment to the promotion of human values characterized by his message of compassion, ethics based on compassion, and oneness of humanity, to arrive at a deeper understanding of the Dalai Lama’s message of hope.

Embodying and manifesting compassion provides a good avenue for acquiring a sense of purpose and feeling of connectedness, which, according to the Dalai Lama, are important human values to cultivate for finding genuine happiness. Through his teachings and actions, the Dalai Lama calls for a “revolution of compassion” (Dalai Lama & Stril-Rever, 2018). This call, which essentially advocates compassion as a fundamental attribute of a human being and of a “good, global society” (p. 32), and that encourages commitment to peace and good of all humankind in order to build a global citizenry, arises from the belief that every compassion-driven human act is integral to resolving the current issues afflicting society, from global warming to the rise of divisive geopolitics.

Given that selfishness, violence, greed, and opposing politics are threatening the very future of life on earth, the Dalai Lama is convinced that such a revolution will build a force of good for a better future. Instead of relying on organized religion, the Dalai Lama draws on his deep interest in science and the French Revolution (Dalai Lama & Stril-Rever, 2018) to curate a compassion based on ethics as the cure for the current state of the world marked by violence, extreme nationalism, and disregard for health of the planet.

Twenty years ago, the Dalai Lama first proposed an approach to ethics based on universal principles rather than religious doctrine (Dalai Lama, 1999). Twelve years later, he elaborated and deepened his vision for the non-religious way and proposed a secular ethics, to show the possibility of an ethics without a commitment to any specific religion or to a religious worldview (Dalai Lama, 2011a). Acknowledging the shortcomings of religious approaches and the problems caused by the inherent conflicts between religions, the Dalai Lama turned to humanist principles within secular humanism and called for a secular approach to ethics, also known as the “third way” (Dalai Lama, 2011a) or a “third religion” (Dunne & Goleman, 2018), one without scriptures, and one that is based simply on “common sense, common human experience, inner experience, warmheartedness, a sense of concern for others’ well-being, and respect for the rights of others” (Dunne & Goleman, 2018, p. 134). An ethical way of life, according to the Dalai Lama, leads humanity on a path to authentic happiness, and to a global human community based on understanding and mutual respect.

Tying individual happiness to the growth and success of social justice, the Dalai Lama has built an ethics based on compassion, and continues to champion the practice of compassion, which he believes leads to qualities such as understanding, forgiveness, and justice. He finds that secular ethics has much to teach for both individual human relationships and in the larger sphere of political and international questions (Dalai Lama 1999, 2005a, 2011a, 2011b). The Dalai Lama describes compassion as the foundation of secular ethics (Dalai Lama, 2011a), and advocates for a universal morality and ethics, free from faith-based or doctrinal foundations, but built on the foundations of two fundamental principles— compassion and shared humanity (Dalai Lama 1999, 2011a).

The Dalai Lama stresses the importance of relating to each other based on shared humanity rather than on differences in belief (Dalai Lama, 2010). Cutler (in Dalai Lama & Cutler, 2009) described the Dalai Lama’s tendency to create a feeling among his audience, not only of connection to him, but of connection to one another, a fundamental human bond, as a remarkable phenomenon. The concept of “shared humanity” or “oneness of humanity,” according to the Dalai Lama, is the understanding that all human beings have the same wants and fundamental needs (happiness), and to this end, he proposes the adoption of an ethics assisted by science that identifies and builds on the factors shared by our common humanity (Dalai Lama 1999, 2005a, 2005b, 2011a, 2011b).

The Dalai Lama has repeatedly warned about the deteriorating state of the world marked by warfare, fanaticism, and disregard for the health of the planet, which he believes could lead to the destruction of humanity, but at the same time offers hope to the current generation who he believes can change the course of history (Dalai Lama, 2011b; Dalai Lama & Stril-Rever, 2018). He encourages the youth of today to begin with inner compassion, see the connectedness of all humanity, and then move outward to love and serve others. His proposal for an ethics-based approach to improving the condition of humanity begins by first improving oneself (Dalai Lama 2011a). In his view, if one learns to see oneself impartially and to analyze one’s work in light of how many people it touches, one will begin to see that the highest purpose of work and indeed, of life itself, is helping others. At a time of the inevitability of an escalating clash of civilizations marked by great technological innovation, environmental degradation, economic changes, the threat of nuclear war, juxtaposed with the technological mediation of human values, which have all created unprecedented familiarity among the world’s many cultures, the Dalai Lama understands that the essential task of humanity in the 21st century is to cultivate “peaceful coexistence” (Dalai Lama, 2011c, p. x). Claiming that climate change can no longer be denied and that it threatens human existence on earth, the Dalai Lama has called on political decision-makers to finally fight against policy deadlocks and public ignorance on this issue, and to stand up for a truly progressive, more climate-friendly world, and for the younger generation to assert their right to regain its future (Dalai Lama & Alt, 2020).

On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020, the Dalai Lama said that “as we face this crisis together, it is imperative that we act in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation in order to provide for the pressing needs, particularly of our less fortunate brothers and sisters around the world,” and concluded with a message of hope: “I hope and pray that in the days ahead, each of us will do all we can to create a happier and healthier world” (Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, 2020a). Humanity itself, according to the Dalai Lama, embodies a call for action, for self, and for others (Dalai Lama, 1996, 2005a, 2005b, 2011a). Likewise, he calls on every individual, including world leaders, to learn to transcend differences of race, culture, and ideology in order to regard each other with an appreciation for sharing a common human experience and operate from a sense of the oneness of humanity. The Dalai Lama’s reference to the present world as the “troubled world” (Dalai Lama & Cutler, 2009) marked by chaos and confusion that characterizes modern existence, including prejudice, nationalism, warfare, and genocide, strongly reinforces his message of the importance of cultivating a greater awareness of the oneness of humanity. According to the Dalai Lama, the meaning and purpose of humanity is less of a religious, moral, or an academic issue, but has more to do with stirring the conscience of individuals to their inherent power of remaining hopeful and letting hope steer humankind through the troubled waters of the world.    

In an interview conducted by ABC News in May 2020, during the peak of the pandemic, the Dalai Lama affirmed his belief that the virus (COVID-19) “will change basic human nature” (Effron, 2020). He encouraged people to not lose hope, but instead practice compassion toward one another and to “decay their own selfish interests.” He mentioned his own experience of “praying for one billion Chinese people” who he believes “should enjoy more freedom and more religious freedom.” Such a “friendly sort of feeling,” he said, gave him “more inner peace.” In the same interview, the Dalai Lama expressed discomfort over U.S. President Trump’s “America first” approach to dealing with the pandemic, and instead explained that the United States has the privilege of being the “leading nation of the free world” with “an opportunity to be a leader in reaching out and being kinder.” While lamenting President Trump’s tendency to isolate and think only of his own country, the Dalai Lama said that “distrust [or] fear” will make one “feel… lonely” and one will “never be happy” (Effron, 2020).

COVID-19, according to the Dalai Lama, has given humanity a valuable lesson. He believes that this moment of crisis and the insurmountable pain it has wrought on humanity could be an existential moment for self-reflection, and should make us wiser by realizing that it is hope over fear, light over darkness, and compassion over profit-driven capitalism that will give us inner strength and resilience to overcome this crisis and reveal our true humanity toward one another. Given that the Dalai Lama’s notion of human values finds culmination in the human ability to affect change, there will never be a better moment for humanity than the COVID-19 pandemic, and the looming climate crisis, to restore hope, and to develop and practice a compassionate, ethical, and discerning mind to act, to spin the wheel of change, and use the full potential of innate human values to care for our lives and that of the blue planet, “our only home” (Dalai Lama & Alt, 2020). The Dalai Lama’s message of compassion empowered by ethics is the fundamental requirement for human survival and for humanity to achieve oneness (Dalai Lama & Cutler, 2009; Goleman, 2015). The human capacity for being hopeful and resilient enables us to uphold human values such as compassion, ethics based on compassion, and the oneness possible for humanity.

Over the years, the Dalai Lama has helped reshape attitudes for a better society by promoting the importance of kindness and compassion as well as the understanding of our common humanity as a basis for dialogue in resolving personal and political conflicts. He has stressed the need for coordinated efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which in his view can only come from a sense of shared humanity, which in turn, can be achieved only when individuals do the internal work on freeing the mind of biases and prejudices. The Dalai Lama has expressed his hope that the 21st century will be a “century of peace, a century of dialogue” (Dalai Lama, 2011a, p. 188) when a more caring, responsible, and compassionate humanity will emerge.

We always like to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, or a silver lining behind every dark cloud, and that the harsh winter will lead to a rejuvenating spring. But the question that begs our attention is, do we always need a tunnel to see the light, a dark cloud to see the silver lining, or a harsh winter to cherish the spring? It is said that during the most difficult periods in one’s life, one learns its most important lessons. Therefore, it is time we realize that there cannot be a magical solution to the challenges that humanity faces such as the COVID pandemic and the climate crisis, but that adversity and even suffering offer us an opportunity to see hope even in the direst of situations, and to practice a compassionate mind, one that emboldens us with the courage to be kind and to care for the planet. One beautiful piece of advice, by the Dalai Lama, that I grew up hearing is: “Be kind whenever possible… it is always possible” (Dalai Lama, 2016, p. 33). Today, in light of a global pandemic and in the face of the climate crisis, I have come to realize that being kind is no longer a choice but is rather a responsibility, for both the personal and the political. It is only with such valuable lessons learned that, like the Dalai Lama, humanity shall see hope in the darkest days, light in the brightest days, and not judge the universe.