Live Chat With Donald S. Lopez, Jr.

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: Why do you think Westerners have such a need to mythologize Tibet? shouldn't we be looking to our own traditions for answers?

: Tibet presents an almost irresistible combination of the exotic, the spiritual, and the political. Tibet has always been regarded as one of the most remote places on earth. It is also the home of a long and rich Buddhist tradition. And finally, Tibet presents a political situation about which all people of good will can agree--that is, that Tibet should be free. Especially since the 1960s, there has been a great deal of interest in Buddhism, beginning especially with Zen, and in the last decade in particular, moving toward Tibetan Buddhism, sparked in part by the person of the Dalai Lama. And we are living in a time in which people are able to study the religion, they have access to many traditions, and Tibetan Buddhism has proved meaningful to many people. The Dalai Lama has not encouraged people to convert to Tibetan Buddhism but has encouraged Westerners to look to their own religious traditions, which share many values with Tibetan Buddhism.

: Have you ever met him?

: I have had the privilege of meeting the Dalai Lama many times. I first met him in 1978 when I was in India doing research for my dissertation, which dealt with Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and he very kindly answered all of my most difficult questions. And since then, I've had a number of opportunities to meet with him during his visits to the United States. In 1984, I organized his visit to Middlebury College in Vermont, where I was teaching. In 1994, I organized his visit to the University of Michigan.

: What is required of someone in order to become the Dalai Lama? For instance, do their Buddhist teachings begin sooner, or differ in their methods?

: The Dalai Lama is considered to be the incarnation of the previous Dalai Lama. Thus, the current Dalai Lama is the 14th Dalai Lama. He was born in Tibet in 1935, several years after the death of his predecessor, the 13th Dalai Lama. After the death of a Dalai Lama, the Tibetan government undertakes an extensive search for the next Dalai Lama. They consult oracles and other signs to determine the location of the next child's birth. After that, search parties are sent out to find a number of possible candidates, and those children (who in most cases are toddlers) are given a series of tests to determine which of them is, indeed, the next Dalai Lama. This was the process that the current Dalai Lama underwent as a young child.

: Do reincarnated lamas ever decide they don't want to be lamas?

: The term "lama" has at least two important meanings in Tibetan Buddhism. The term "lama" is the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit term "guru," meaning teacher. Hence, anyone's religious teacher may be referred to as a lama. However, the term has a more technical meaning, referring to someone who has been identified as the current incarnation of a past Buddhist master. In this latter sense, one has no choice as to whether one is going to be a lama or not, because the identification is made when one is a young child. One may decide not to pursue religious education or Buddhist practice, but one nonetheless remains a lama.

: Do you think the monastic system is outdated?

: It's generally said that monasticism is at the very heart of Buddhism, and that when the monastic order disappears from the world, the disappearance of Buddhism will soon follow. However, the form of Buddhism that has become popular in Europe and America has been primarily a lay movement, with few Westerners (relatively speaking) deciding to become monks and nuns. Therefore, we may be witnessing the development of a new form of Buddhism, which we might call American Buddhism, in which lay teachers and practitioners are able to practice Buddhism without an established monastic community.

: Is the rise in interest in Buddhism in America also mirrored in Europe and other traditionally Western countries?

: Buddhism is not only grown in popularity in the United States but in Europe as well. For example, a book by a French Buddhist monk was a best-seller in France. And the Dalai Lama regularly visits England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and other European nations, where he receives response in terms of large crowds and enthusiastic audiences similar to those he finds in the U.S.

: What does "Dalai Lama" mean?

: The 3rd Dalai Lama, whose name was Sonam Gyatso, had a meeting with a Mongol Khan. The Mongol Khan asked the Dalai Lama what his name was, and when he told him his name, it was translated from Tibetan into Mongolian. The Dalai Lama's name, Sonam Gyatso, means "merit ocean." In Mongolian, the word "ocean" is "dalai." So translating from Tibetan into Mongolian, the Mongol Khan called him "Dalai Lama," that is, "ocean lama." Of course, up until that moment, the 3rd Dalai Lama had not been called Dalai Lama, but that title came to be used, and was applied retroactively, to his two previous incarnations, making them the 1st and 2nd Dalai Lamas. And all Dalai Lamas since then have carried that title, although they also have other names and titles. Among Tibetans, the term Dalai Lama is rarely used. They tend to refer to him as either "the precious conqueror" or as the "wish-granting jewel."

: How's the religious leader between the death of one lama and the active duties of the next young lama?

: After the death of the previous Dalai Lama, another lama from the Dalai Lama's own sect is appointed as regent of Tibet. He serves as acting head of state. His first responsibility is to locate the child who is the next Dalai Lama, and he oversees that search. The Dalai Lama is generally discovered at the age of 2 or 3, and must embark on a rigorous program of education and training, and during that time, which usually lasts until he is 18 or 20 years old, that same regent continues to rule.

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