Total recall

We're paying for our earlier wrongs'My appointment was for the next afternoon. I got to his residence half an hour earlier to take in the...

We8217;re paying for our earlier wrongs8217;
My appointment was for the next afternoon. I got to his residence half an hour earlier to take in the surroundings. There was a large temple facing his well-guarded mansion. There were not many people in the temple, and only one European monk sitting in deep meditation facing the statue of the Buddha. We were led into the residence and asked to wait in the sitting room as some German visitors were still with His Holiness. A few minutes later the party of Germans left through the sitting room and we were asked to go in. The Dalai Lama had come out in the verandah to receive us.

He apologised for keeping us waiting. He turned out to be much bigger-sized than his photographs made him out to be, almost six feet in height. And muscular. His grip as we shook hands was like that of an all-in wrestler. We presented him with the customary scarves; he gave us two in return. We were escorted into his drawing room. I switched on my tape recorder and began as abruptly as Icould 8220;Your Holiness I am not going to ask you anything about politics, but ..8221;

He interrupted me with a loud guffaw of laughter: 8220;Then we can relax I have to be very cautious answering political questions to journalists. What are you going to ask me?8221;

8220;I am an agnostic. I don8217;t believe in God. What basis have you for saying God is the creator of the universe?8221;

Another guffaw of hearty laughter , 8220;I don8217;t say God created the world. The Buddha did not say God created the world. On the contrary, he said, don8217;t believe in anything that your reason does not accept.8221;

That floored me I grappled him with a second question. 8220;In that case, what is re-incarnation about?8221;

8220;We believe that people are reborn after death. If we did not, I would not be Dalai Lama8221;. Yet another explosion of laughter.

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I held my ground. 8220;There is no scientific basis for believing in birth after death.8221;

He began to give me instances of children recalling their lives in earlier births. Most of his examples came fromIndia. I could sense that he was on uneasy ground. 8220;Those are all childish fantasies encouraged by parents.

They disappear after a few months. I do not accept them as proofs,8221; I said.8220;No one asks you to do so,8221; he replied calmly. He again quoted the Buddha about the supremacy of reason. 8220;If you can convince me that there is nothing in the theory of re-incarnation I will also reject it.8221;

8220;Since you still believe in it, can you explain what you did in your previous birth to deserve being punished by being exiled?8221;

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The Dalai Lama8217;s English is not as good as that of many of his followers. He had his secretary repeat it in Tibetan and replied in a mixture of Tibetan and English. 8220;Yes, I am sure I and my fellow Tibetans are paying for wrongs committed by us in our previous births. Otherwise it does not make sense.8221;

He realised that the answer did make sense to me. We went on to other questions, like why wickedness so often triumphs over goodness, why innocent people suffer while evil peopleprosper. Instead of the half-hour allotted to make, the interview went on to one hour and a half. The tape ran out. As did his secretary8217;s patience. There were over visitors waiting to see the Dalai Lama.

We took our leave, I was exhilarated by being with him. He extended that aura of goodwill, cheerfulness and crystal-clear honesty that envelops you long after you have left his presence. The Nobel Prize committee has done well in awarding him the peace prize because he is a man of peace8230;.

Excerpted from A Man For All Reason8217;, The Indian Express dated December 10, 1989