Read Online Gods and Godmen of India by Khushwant Singh - Free Book Online

yield to pressures of world opinion. So there was no point my making the Dalai Lama talk of the offer of compromise settlement he had made recently and its outright rejection by the Chinese. I was more intrigued by his claim that Buddhism is a more sophisticated religion than others as it strongly stresses rationality and is very modern in its sensitivity. He had gone on to say, “For those types who want to follow a path of sceptical inquiry and reason, rather than a path of faith, Buddhism may prove useful.” Buddha himself said, “Do not believe in anything merely because I said it. Be like an analyst buying gold, cutting and burning the substance to test it in every way. Accept it only when it meets the full criteria of reason, and when it proves to be of benefit to you.” That kind of attitude is compatible with modern scientific outlook.
    I arrived in Dharamsala where the Dalai Lama is in residence since his exile from Tibet. The upper part of the mountain range known as McLeodganj has become a little Tibet in India: Tibetan schools, libraries, a medical institute, a separate township for 1,500 children, temples, and over 50 restaurants serving Tibetan food. You hear more Tibetan spoken than the local Pahari dialect of Kangra.
    Before I tell you of my question and answer session, let me tell you of the Dalai Lama’s background. He was one of 16 children of a peasant family of eastern Tibet of which only seven survived their infancy. At the age of two he was picked up by the national committee charged with the duty of finding the incarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama who had died in 1933. Two years later he was brought to Lhasa, proclaimed His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama. However odd this system of locating successors may sound to sceptical ears, it has an enormous advantage over other political or social systems: from childhood a boy is trained to take over the responsibilities of a spiritual and secular leader of his people. He does not have to be the eldest son of a king to become the Prince of Wales nor the son of a President or a Prime Minister to be the heir presumptive. By the time he takes over his responsibilities, he is fully acquainted with his job. Tibetan Buddhism does not separate politics from religion. The 14th Dalai Lama is Tibet’s Secular and Spiritual monarch.
    I waited my turn to be received. A group of monks came out with a boy of five with his head shaved. He had been discovered as a reincarnation of another Lama and initiated by His Holiness. A German couple waiting before us in the queue were ushered in. Fifteen minutes later we were asked to go in. The Dalai Lama stood outside his reception room – a tall, powerfully built man wreathed in smiles of welcome. We presented the traditional silk scarfs, shook hands and were escorted to our seats.
    “Your Holiness, I am not going to ask you about politics. My questions will be on matters of religion. I am an agnostic and they may sound impertinent. I ask to be forgiven before I begin.”
    He laughed uproariously and took my hand. “In that case I can relax. I have to be very careful about politics: you may ask what you like.”
    I had my list of questions ready: How did life originate? Is there a God? If so, why is there so much injustice and wickedness in the world? Are there rewards and punishments for good or evil deeds done in life? What is death – the destruction of body and mind or only the body? Is there a life hereafter or a rebirth after death?
    My first question to the Dalai Lama was his view of the origin of life on our planet. Did he accept the Judeo-Christian-Muslim belief of it being created by a Supreme God? Or did he accept Darwin’s Theory of Evolution not from divine but natural causes – from amoeba to fish to land creatures, birds, mammals, monkeys down to man? There is also the intermediate theory put forward by Hinduism and its off-shoots (Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism) of roder ( rta ) emerging from chaos