Then I think one important thing is in regard to non-believers, in some cases people don’t believe in any religion and they also can be very anti-religious. That person has the right to remain as an anti-religious person. But at the same time they also need some kind of spirituality, because that enriches their life. Through that they eventually can find some meaningful life, while they still can remain quite anti-religious. If someone thinks only about money, nothing else, then his or her life will not be very meaningful. Eventually that life will become a slave of money. I think those thoughts are only to try and bring happiness for this life. So Buddhism certainly can help these people. Without accepting any religious faith they can learn to become more warm-hearted people by utilising Buddhist spiritual methods. So these I wanted to share with my Buddhist brothers and sisters.

Now the question is “how do we preserve Buddhadharma?” Firstly, I believe that, as a follower of the Buddha, each of us should practice the Buddhadharma sincerely. In my own case, my Buddhist faith does not remain on the outside, but in my heart. I think this is very important. We must sincerely implement the Buddha’s teachings in our own personal lives day and night; we must look at the Buddha’s teaching seriously. We should relate to the teachings as if they were medicine. Medicine means it has a curative value; it can help us cure our ailments. When we get ill we need some medicine that can cure us. Medicine is not a decorative art nor is it simply for exhibition. Similarly, Buddha’s teachings are the medicine for our negative emotions. To benefit from this medicine we have to utilise it. We must recognize its curative value and relate to it with seriousness.

This is true not only for Buddhists but true also for the followers of all religious traditions. I always share this thought with my colleagues in the other traditions as well. I often remark that whether one accepts a religious faith or not is really a matter of individual choice. However, once we have accepted to be a follower of a particular tradition it is most important to commit ourselves sincerely and seriously to the teachings of the faith tradition. If religion is used for our own financial benefit, if Buddhadharma is being sold for money, for dollars, that’s totally a mistake. Nowadays even some Tibetans are doing that as well. In the name of religion they set up a centre and use this to raise money. This is selling the Buddhadharma. That’s a mistake; this is not a sharing of true Buddhadharma. These kinds of activities can cause the degeneration of Buddhadharma. They can also become a cause for the loss of people’s respect for the tradition. I think this was one of the factors that may have lead to the demise of Buddhism in India. We know that Buddhism eventually disappeared from India, its very birthplace. Some of the monks and the monasteries probably became more concerned with wealth than with the actual teaching and practice of Buddhadharma. This may have been a factor in the loss of faith and respect towards Buddhism on the part of the wider public.

Another factor possibly may have been the abuse of Vajrayana practice. Although Vajrayana or Buddhist Tantrayana was one of the established traditions of Nalanda monastery, if the teaching and practice of this tradition is not undertaken with proper care this can be very dangerous. One problem was that Tantra became more public and possibly the behaviour of some of the monks may have become corrupted and degenerated. This too may have gradually led to the loss of faith and respect towards Buddhism on the part of the general public. It is important that we recognize this important fact and learn from history so that we can avert similar threats in future.

So, on our part, once we have accepted the Buddha as our teacher we should be a sincere and an exemplary student of Buddha. If, on the other hand, we become a stupid student of the Buddha, this will be a disgrace not only for ourself but also to the Buddhadharma as well. Isn’t it? Of course the Buddha is always compassionate, he never displays anger, but out of faith and out of respect for Buddha, we ourselves must implement his teachings into practice.

Then in order to practice we need understanding. As I mentioned earlier, Buddhism’s unique way of approach is using human intelligence to the maximum. Therefore we need knowledge of the teachings and the Buddha’s philosophical insights. So without proper study and without sufficient knowledge we cannot practice the Buddha’s teachings in a deep way. Therefore the past Buddhist masters, such as the Nalanda teachers, wrote thousands of different treatises and commentaries on the Buddha’s teachings. All of these were written to assist us in our understanding of Buddhadharma. All these great texts written by the great pandits like Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Arya Asanga, Vasubhandu, Dignaga, Dharmakirti, Chandrakirti, and Buddhapalita, all these works were composed not for their final examination or something. Rather, they were written in the service of Buddhadharma.

Therefore, I think it is important for us to study, to read these great works. This is true especially for the Buddhist youth, the majority of the audience here who have gathered from all around the world for this Buddhist Youth Forum. A well-known Tibetan lama once said that even for a person who is likely to die tomorrow it is worthwhile to study. As for myself, I am now almost sixty-seven year old. Still, whenever I have the opportunity, I always read Tibetan scriptures. So especially in the case of you, the youth, I would like to ask, “Please spend more time engaged in serious study.” This, I think, is an effective and proper way to ensure the preservation of Buddhadharma. Constructing huge temples and, in some cases, constructing giant statues and monuments like stupas, of course may be important. If you have time and money this may be okay; but this is not so important. The important thing is to build temples, statues, and monuments like stupas within ourselves. In the meantime since the Buddha himself accepted the diversity of mental dispositions among his own followers and accordingly taught different teachings, I think it is crucial for us as Buddhists to extend this understanding to other faiths and traditions. We must genuinely respect the validity of other faiths and traditions and recognize them as representing different spiritual approaches that are suited to people of diverse spiritual inclinations and mental dispositions. This is all.
Thank you very much.

Copyright Dalai Lama Trust New Zealand 2002 & Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications.