Who said, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"?

Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Dude Abides

Home
Progressive Christian

Last updated on: December 2, 2008 at 2:19 pm by Cathleen Falsani

2008-12-02T14:19:00-07:00 Cathleen Falsani

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

GODSTUFF

WHAT WOULD YOU ASK IF YOU HAD JUST 10 QUESTIONS?

A couple of nights ago, I was channel-surfing, trying to find something mindless to watch after a difficult day.

Something like “Liar Liar” or “Uncle Buck.”

But there was nothing on — 500 channels and nada. Or so I thought.

Then, I switched to the “On Demand” feature on our cable system and, after pausing a moment on “Don’t Mess with the Zohan” (I’d seen it, but momentarily considered giving it another go), a listing in the “Indie” section caught my eye.

“10 Questions with the Dalai Lama” was the title — a documentary by American filmmaker Rick Ray who more or less Forrest Gumped his way into a 45-minute private audience with the spiritual leader of the world’s Tibetan Buddhists in 2001 at his monastery in Dharamsala, India. (Ray e-mailed the Dalai Lama. Really. And it worked.)

The delightfully imperfect 87-minute documentary, which tells part of the Dalai Lama’s story — from impoverished obscurity to world peacemaker — with rare historic footage, got me thinking:

What would I ask His Holiness if I had 45 minutes alone with him?

By virtue of my chosen profession, I’ve had the great fortune of meeting and spending time with some of my heroes. Political and religious leaders. Rock stars and poets. Culture shapers and world changers.

After meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu a few weeks back, the long list of spiritual giants I’d love to talk to about faith before I die (or they pass on to the Great Reward) is down to three: the Rev. Billy Graham, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

I’d give just about anything to sit by Graham’s rocking chair in the mountains above Asheville, N.C., and pray with him; or to ride through the streets of Pretoria with Mandela and listen to his stories of reconciliation.

And the thought of being able to ask 10 questions of the Dalai Lama makes my mind (and heart) race.

In the documentary, Ray asks a lot of things that wouldn’t have been on my list. “How do you reconcile a commitment to nonviolence when faced with violence?” “Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future?” “Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich?”

They’re good questions, and the answers the Dalai Lama gave, always with his infectious, mischievous giggle providing a soundtrack underneath, were thoughtful and, yes, profound.

But there was something less than transcendent about the interview. Not that the Dalai Lama has to float on a cloud of incense and speak only of the spiritual. No. He’s very much a man, a point he often makes to counter the misconception he is, somehow, divine.

The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, now 73, is believed to be the reincarnation of the Buddha. But he is not a god. The Buddha, for that matter, didn’t consider himself a deity, either.

Surely, the Dalai Lama is more enlightened than most of us. And anyone who is that plugged-in spiritually, and has made a life’s work of peacemaking and the search for justice, is someone I’d very much want to ask a few of life’s more eternal questions.

And, no, I wouldn’t start with “Do you really think sex leads to suicide and murder and that we’d all be better off celibate?” — a follow-up to His Holiness’s comments this week to reporters in Lagos, Nigeria. Sex wouldn’t make my list of 10. It’s just not that interesting in the eternal scheme of things. Neither would the problem
of evil or which albums he’d put in his desert-island disc collection
(although that might be No. 11 if we went into overtime.)

For sure, if given the chance, I would ask him:

No. 1: Is it possible for any of us to know God (realizing, of course, that Buddhists don’t so much believe in God), and if it is possible, how do we know when we know?

No. 2: What is love?

No. 3: How do you know when you are acting in love?

No. 4: What does it mean to be loved, and how are you loved?

No. 5: How can we create a lasting peace, a more just world, a compassionate community?

No. 6: What inspires you?

No. 7: What is grace? When have you experienced grace?

No. 8: What do you regret?

No. 9: What is the best thing?

No. 10: What is true, and how do we know?

If you had the chance to ask the Dalai Lama (or Graham or Mandela) 10 questions, what would you ask? E-mail [email protected].

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 29, 2008

Next Post

December 3, 2008

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A little happy ARCHIVED COLUMNS BECOMING FAMILY BelieberNess BREAKING NEWS! Disquiet Time DJ JEFF'S SPINTASMS falsani FILM from OCRegister From Sojo.net God Nods GODSTUFF I Take Requests incubatespirit LURKING IN THE NARTHEX On My Nightstand ONEMOMS Polling the Room PONTIFEXCELLENT Thru My Eyes TWO CENTS Uncategorized Upcoming Events VASCO VASCO'S HEART

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 October 2003 March 2003 December 2002 October 2002 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Paul James Peter Jesus