Here's a brief dialogue between a Brazilian theologist, Leonardo Boff and
the Dalai Lama regarding the importance of religion in
our lives.
Leonardo
is one of the renovators of the Theology of Freedom.
In a round
table discusión about religion and freedom in which Dalai Lama and
myself were participating at recess, I maliciously, and also with
interest, asked him: “Your holiness, what is the best religion?”
I thought he
would say: “The Tibetan Buddhism” or “The oriental religions,
much older than Christianity” Dalai Lama paused, smiled and
looked me in the eyes …. which surprised me because I knew of the malice
contained in my question. He answered: “The best religion is the one
that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better
person.”
To get out of my embarassment with such a wise
answer, I asked: “What is it that makes me
better?” He responded: “Whatever makes
you more compassionate,more sensible, more detached, more loving, more
humanitarian, more responsible, more ethical.
The religion that will do that for you is the best
religion”
I was silent for a moment, marvelling and even today
thinking of his wise and irrefutable response:
“I am not interested, my friend, about your religión
or if you are religious or not. “What really is important to me is your
behaviour in front of your peers, family, work, community, and in front
of the world. Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and
our thoughts.
The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for
physics. It is also of human relations. If I act with goodness, I will
receive goodness. If I act with evil, I will get evil.
What our grandparents told us is the pure truth. You
will always have what you desire for others. Being happy is not a matter
of destiny. It is a matter of options.”
Finally he said: “Take care of your thoughts
because they become words. Take care of your words because
they will become actions. Take care of your actions
because they will become habits. Take care of your habits
because they will form your character. Take care of your
character because it will form your destiny, and your
destiny will be your life … and … “There is no religion
higher than the truth.”
By Tim Pedrosa
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want
to be happy, practice compassion.-The Dalai Lama
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