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Long considering himself a “friend of Israel”, the Dalai Lama has deep ties with the Jewish People.
On my recent trip to India, I was able to fulfill a wish of mine to greet the spiritual leader of Tibet known as the Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (88), at his home-in-exile in Dharamsala in North India. Along with a young IDF paramedic who had just completed her mandatory service, we were able to receive his blessings for peace in Israel and for those souls who have passed away during Israel’s current war.
Long considering himself a “friend of Israel”, the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhists have deep ties with the Jewish people and land of Israel. From the snow-capped mountains of Tibet to Jerusalem, here are five of the bonds that have created a special relationship between the Dalai Lama and the Jews.
The Dalai Lama considers the Chinese government’s actions in Tibet, since 1949 until the present in which over one million Tibetans were killed and thousands of monasteries destroyed, as a “Holocaust.” Fearing for his life, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 and was followed by about 100,000 Tibetans who received sanctuary across India. The headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile, and the home of the Dalai Lama ,are located in the mountainous village of Dharamsala.
One of the first to offer assistance to the wave of Tibetan refugees entering India in 1959 was a Polish-Jew named Mauryce Friedman. Friedman assisted with his own funds and tireless efforts to settle Tibetan refugees in “cooler” areas of India, after many perished in outdoor camps in India’s sweltering heat.
Following in Friedman’s footsteps, the Dalai Lama has often joked to Jewish audiences that Israelis are the most represented of any nationality of travelers to Dharamsala where countless street signs are translated to Hebrew. Personal disciples of the Dalai Lama, in addition to volunteers and political advocates for Tibetan independence, also disproportionately come from Jewish backgrounds to this day. Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chogyam Trungpa once joked that so many of his students were Jewish that they constituted the “Oy Vey” school of Buddhists.
In spite of the strong interest of many Jews in Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama has consistently discouraged conversion - which he says “can give rise to mental conflict” - and instead to embrace the inner teachings of Judaism that also lead to inner harmony and world peace.
On three occasions the Dalai Lama visited Israel: first in 1994, he was named as an Honorable Fellow of the Hebrew University and toured the major holy sites in Jerusalem.
The Dalai Lam at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport Sunday 20 March 1994. Gideon Markowitz, The Archives Collection of the National Library of Israel
In 1999, the Dalai Lama returned to Israel where he met with Israel's Parliamentary Speaker, Avraham Burg at the Israeli Parliament or Knesset and attended an inter-denominational conference on world peace. In the same year, he can be seen on archival video praying at the Western Wall wearing a kippah.
His most recent and likely final visit to Israel (due to his age, he rarely leaves India) was in 2006 where he met with Israel’s Chief Rabbi and delivered several lectures on “law and compassion.”
In addition to his individual relationships with many Jewish study-partners, the Dalai Lama convened in Dharamsala a formal delegation of American Jewish leaders in 1990 to discuss Judaism and Buddhism and how the Jewish experience of surviving 2000 years of exile can help the Tibetan community. The unforgettable exchanges and innumerable moments of humor that occurred during this week have been immortalized in the best-selling book by Rodger Kamanetz The Jew in the Lotus that was made into a PBS film of the same name.
One of the things they told him was the importance of memory and storytelling in keeping a people's culture and identity alive.The Dalai Lama wrote the following to participants of a special Passover Seder held in Washington DC:
In our dialogue with Rabbis and Jewish scholars, the Tibetan people have learned about the secrets of Jewish spiritual survival in exile: one secret is the Passover Seder. Through it for 2000 years, even in very difficult times, Jewish people remember their liberation from slavery to freedom and this has brought you hope in times of difficulty. We are grateful to our Jewish brothers and sisters for adding to their celebration of freedom the thought of freedom for the Tibetan people.
While Judaism and Buddhism have many differences, the Dalai Lama has consistently emphasized the similarities between the two religions and advocated for the common message of peace found in all religions.
''Despite all the different philosophies and religions that exist in the world, they all carry the same message of love and compassion,'' said the Dalai Lama at the Hebrew University in 2006. ''Compassion is the essence of all religions, the foundation of human society.''
Yigal Arnon, Chairman of the University Board of Governors, compared the Dalai Lama's teachings on compassion to the summation of the Torah by Hillel: ''Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto you.''
Featured Image: The author, with the Dalai Lama
I agree. Jews should stick to Judaism which has all the beauty and answers we need.
We need only rely on G.d. We have seen many people supporting us throughout history and that’s good (mostly for them by being on the right side of history) but not essential or paramount to our survival. We can accept but not join in any way by thought speech or action. We can support somehow but we can bring a faster salvation for the entire world when we support ourselves and love our fellow Jews and bring them closer to our real Father.
Many years ago I read a newspaper article about a young Jewish man from the North Shore of Long Island, NY who embraced Buddhism. I believe he became a monk. His parents initially weren't too thrilled about this, but eventually they came around and supported him. In fact, his mother referred to him as "The Deli Lama."
And?! Jews are always gallivanting and embracing faiths of others.i thought at least the end of this story was that he experienced some terrifying drama and returned to Judaism....
ISREAL ALWAYS HELPS THOSE IN REAL DISTRESS!
While the article is certainly an interesting “feel good” piece, there are serious concerns regarding Buddhism’s status as “avodah zarah” (idol worship) which would render as prohibited positive references in the article to both Bhuddism and by inference to the Dalai Lama.
Compassion is indeed an essential plank of all morality, but the essence of Judaism is avodat haBorei, service of the one G-D. In Buddhism there is no concept of a Borei, a Creator as we understand it. Possibly Buddhism and Noachidism may have common ground; but I am surprised an article would appear on the Aish site suggesting that the cited declaration of the Dalai Lama on the essence of true religion could be in any way reconciled with authentic Judaism.
I think the article has some interesting points but lacks some depth of analysis and it does matter and it is important. I say this because the Dalai Lama, has taken some stances that do require explanation. His nation suffered the destruction of Marxist chinese tyranny attempting to erase the national character, the religious and population character of his nation and yet he himself has called himself a Marxist, though not a Leninist. He also back in 2006' or so advocated Israel and Hamas talking to each other even as it was shown that the charter of Hamas advocated the destruction of Israel and the death of Jews not merely in Israel with its erasure as a Jewish state but the death of Jews in the world. His views about Islam are also quizzical.
He has given Islam, Jihadists, as well as 'Marxists' way too much leeway for the horrors of those ideologies and these are not some mere slips of the tongue, but statements over the years.
I was just a boy when the Tibetan holocaust took place, but I can not recall the western world protesting about it. Shame on us!
It's never too late😉Looks like whoever has a personal grudge is getting it off their chest at the pro terrorist marches.Feel Free....
I have been to Jew-Bhu and HinJew weddings!
Jews have friends and allies in both Buddhists and Hindus,
We are not alone!
Jew-Bhu?,,,Wedding? Boo-hoo!
Till it comes to the crunch.
At the end of the day I think Douglas Murray said it best " only Jews defend the Jews".
Not talking about Norman Finklestein and his ilk I'm assuming.
Enlightening!
What a wonderful bit of information about a remarkable human being. May he be blessed with a long and happy life