((PKG)) FAITH / BUDDHISM
((Banner: Buddhism))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Map: Woodstock, New York))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
Buddhism is a way of educating yourself to actually find
happiness and terminate suffering. And it's 2,600 years old
and it has all kinds of educational methodologies including
meditation and scientific investigation of reality. It’s based
on the discovery of Buddha that reality enables human
beings to become truly free of suffering.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
The Buddhist approach is best articulated in the world today
by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. And that is, first of all,
violence is out and war is out and conflict and disagreement
is settled by dialogue.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
This is a graphic novel that I did with several friends. It's
about the Dalai Lama and this is a painting of the Dalai
Lama and behind him, the seat of government in Tibet, the
Potala. And here in '71, I met him. I was on a fellowship
from Harvard and then he says, "Oh, here comes my monk.
Oh, whoops. What happened to his robes?"
World leaders, who have used nonviolence, have been
extraordinarily successful, although the way we are taught
history because of the high level of militarization of our
society, we kind of ignore those examples. But Gandhi was
a nonviolent leader. Martin Luther King was a nonviolent
leader, in modern period. Many in ancient period. Jesus,
you know, was a nonviolent leader.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
So, the main way of learning to do nonviolence for the
individual is to learn to control their own violent reactions,
which doesn't mean become a doormat. It just means learn
to deal with injury directed toward them in a more practical
way. We learned to develop patience by restraining our
reactivity in anger. So, if we learn to do that internally, then
we can learn not to respond to violence. This is the kind of
training, for example, in America today that the police need
to be trained in. How to respond when someone says, "Hey,
pig," or something, not to then hammer them with a stick and
break their head or kill them even.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
The best way to overcome anger, it's a long, hard job, I can
say. I had quite a hot temper, kind of still do, but, so it is, I
know how hard it is. But one of the things that helps you
overcome it with experience is you notice that it always
causes more trouble than it solves. Because when I want to
lose my temper, when I want to get all obsessed with
something, I kind of say, "Well, I can do it next life. Well, I
don't want to really do something harmful because it'll come
after me in the future. There'll be no escaping of the
consequences of that doing.” And so, I want to become
enlightened, to be really happy and to help others be happy.
That's what I want and I'm going to do it and that has
changed my life.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
The actions we should take is free speech, use speech
freely. And that's a great thing about our democracy.
There's freedom of assembly. There's freedom of speech.
A policeman is supposed to be the servant of the people.
The word for policemen in Sanskrit is Rajapurusha, meaning
the king's man and a king is supposed to be serving the
subjects, not dominating them. This is, we know, there are
different styles of kingship and a good theories of kingship
like ancient Chinese one about the emperor, ancient Indian
one, and actually somewhere in even the idea of a good
Christian king, there's the idea not of divine right but an idea
of the king's job is to work for them. And the president is not
the boss of everybody. He's the servant of everybody.
That's the whole point of being a ruler, is you are the
servant. "Heavy lies the head that wears the crown," said
Henry IV in Shakespeare's play.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
That’s the Buddha's teaching, "What goes around, comes
around." That's what karma means. And it's a biological
teaching. And so, Mother Nature is showing us how we
must stop being violent against her and against each other
and then we'll all be happy. Buddhism wants everyone to be
happy. If you are violent and harm others or yourself or
nature, you will not be happy. Therefore, be nonviolent.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
At this moment, when we are rising up in the United States
of America about the violence committed against the Black
people, it's very important that those who are rising up in
protest remember that violence is what they are against.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
I'm extremely hopeful because in the overall view of history,
nonviolence has always been more powerful than violence.
It's very important not to lose hope and realize that it is your
right as a human to be happy, have a good time, sing some
songs and no one has a right to prevent you from doing that.
And if you keep doing that, sooner or later, other people will
join you in the choir. And that happiness is infectious and
that's the way to win. Joyful protest, joyful resistance, that's
what it is.
((NATS))
((Banner: Buddhism))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Map: Woodstock, New York))
((Main character: 1 male))
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
Buddhism is a way of educating yourself to actually find
happiness and terminate suffering. And it's 2,600 years old
and it has all kinds of educational methodologies including
meditation and scientific investigation of reality. It’s based
on the discovery of Buddha that reality enables human
beings to become truly free of suffering.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
The Buddhist approach is best articulated in the world today
by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. And that is, first of all,
violence is out and war is out and conflict and disagreement
is settled by dialogue.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
This is a graphic novel that I did with several friends. It's
about the Dalai Lama and this is a painting of the Dalai
Lama and behind him, the seat of government in Tibet, the
Potala. And here in '71, I met him. I was on a fellowship
from Harvard and then he says, "Oh, here comes my monk.
Oh, whoops. What happened to his robes?"
World leaders, who have used nonviolence, have been
extraordinarily successful, although the way we are taught
history because of the high level of militarization of our
society, we kind of ignore those examples. But Gandhi was
a nonviolent leader. Martin Luther King was a nonviolent
leader, in modern period. Many in ancient period. Jesus,
you know, was a nonviolent leader.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
So, the main way of learning to do nonviolence for the
individual is to learn to control their own violent reactions,
which doesn't mean become a doormat. It just means learn
to deal with injury directed toward them in a more practical
way. We learned to develop patience by restraining our
reactivity in anger. So, if we learn to do that internally, then
we can learn not to respond to violence. This is the kind of
training, for example, in America today that the police need
to be trained in. How to respond when someone says, "Hey,
pig," or something, not to then hammer them with a stick and
break their head or kill them even.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
The best way to overcome anger, it's a long, hard job, I can
say. I had quite a hot temper, kind of still do, but, so it is, I
know how hard it is. But one of the things that helps you
overcome it with experience is you notice that it always
causes more trouble than it solves. Because when I want to
lose my temper, when I want to get all obsessed with
something, I kind of say, "Well, I can do it next life. Well, I
don't want to really do something harmful because it'll come
after me in the future. There'll be no escaping of the
consequences of that doing.” And so, I want to become
enlightened, to be really happy and to help others be happy.
That's what I want and I'm going to do it and that has
changed my life.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
The actions we should take is free speech, use speech
freely. And that's a great thing about our democracy.
There's freedom of assembly. There's freedom of speech.
A policeman is supposed to be the servant of the people.
The word for policemen in Sanskrit is Rajapurusha, meaning
the king's man and a king is supposed to be serving the
subjects, not dominating them. This is, we know, there are
different styles of kingship and a good theories of kingship
like ancient Chinese one about the emperor, ancient Indian
one, and actually somewhere in even the idea of a good
Christian king, there's the idea not of divine right but an idea
of the king's job is to work for them. And the president is not
the boss of everybody. He's the servant of everybody.
That's the whole point of being a ruler, is you are the
servant. "Heavy lies the head that wears the crown," said
Henry IV in Shakespeare's play.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
That’s the Buddha's teaching, "What goes around, comes
around." That's what karma means. And it's a biological
teaching. And so, Mother Nature is showing us how we
must stop being violent against her and against each other
and then we'll all be happy. Buddhism wants everyone to be
happy. If you are violent and harm others or yourself or
nature, you will not be happy. Therefore, be nonviolent.
((NATS))
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
At this moment, when we are rising up in the United States
of America about the violence committed against the Black
people, it's very important that those who are rising up in
protest remember that violence is what they are against.
((Robert A.F. Thurman, Professor Emeritus, Columbia
University))
I'm extremely hopeful because in the overall view of history,
nonviolence has always been more powerful than violence.
It's very important not to lose hope and realize that it is your
right as a human to be happy, have a good time, sing some
songs and no one has a right to prevent you from doing that.
And if you keep doing that, sooner or later, other people will
join you in the choir. And that happiness is infectious and
that's the way to win. Joyful protest, joyful resistance, that's
what it is.
((NATS))