His Holiness & The Cardinal
His Holiness the Dalai Lama presents Cardinal Theodore Edgar MacCarrick with a “souvenir”, a Buddha statue, in Washington DC on July 14, 2011. Cardinal MacCarrick, the former Archbishop of Washington DC, came to greet His Holiness during the second day of the Kalacakara Empowerment being held at the Verizon Center in Washington DC. (Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL)
This is so beautiful and I wanted to share with my friends here on the blog. His Holiness and Cardinal MacCarrick really exemplify true spirituality. Two spiritual men from two established world religions meeting, speeking, dialogue, sharing and mutal respect. That is the way it should be! They lead the example for people of spirituality everywhere. We should not condemn other religions. Never. We should learn, understand and show deep respect. By condemning other religions, it hurts people, creates disharmony and it distances everyone from eachother. What we want is not distance, but sharing and closeness. We want harmony, inner peace and outer peace. It is so beautiful to see these two men of the cloth greet and share. I wish them both long life and great health. It is so inspiring for me. It is so beautiful.
I thank His Holiness the Dalai Lama and I thank this great Cardinal MacCarrick. They bless us so much.
Tsem Rinpoche
His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking during his public talk entitled “A Talk for World Peace” at the West Lawn of the US Capitol in Washington DC, USA, on July 9, 2011. (Photo.Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL)
Source: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/photo.php?fbid=10150237220187616&set=a.469355522615.253896.339188887615&type=1&theater
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
An awesome moment of respect. What a great example of wisdom to share with the world when two spiritual leaders meet. Both discussed various aspects of monastic life, all religions, despite their philosophical differences, convey similar messages of love and compassion. It is a great joy for them to foster inter-religious harmony. The Dalai Lama even presents Cardinal with a wonderful souvenir of a Buddha statue.
Thank you Rinpoche for this sharing.
What a beautiful moment when two spiritual men from two established world religions meeting, seeking, dialogue, sharing and mutual respect. This is truly a world leaders who respect each other views nor matter what race , religion and faith. That is the way should be , we will live harmonious and peaceful environment.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article,
It is great to see two religion leaders where each of the religion have their own entire beliefs and traditionstraditions respecting each other and being understanding of the other party. In the picture, Dalai Lama actually gifted the Cardinal a Buddha statue. The cardinal happily accepted even though ( in my opinion ), that is not exactly a good choice of gift to be given to someone like the cardinal . This shows how much respect and understanding the cardinal has for the Dalai Lama.
The relationship between religions should be like this. Full of peace, love, respect and understanding. Rinpoche also advices us to never condemn any religion or even other Buddhist traditions to avoid any conflict. Every religion or Buddhist traditions have their own beliefs and all of them are valid. If we started to point fingers at other people beliefs, conflicts will arise and no happy ending will ever come out of tharm. So we should be firm with our own beliefs and don’t stick our noses into other people’s beliefs.
This is a wonderful picture to see. True and sincere spiritual leaders never have problems with each other. They have great qualities which exemplify universal values, supported by each person’s individual faith and tenets. I love it that the Cardinal receives a Buddha statue from His Holiness and I am sure that the Cardinal has respect for the Buddha as the Dalai Lama would have respect for Jesus Christ. It’s just different ways of expressing goodness. If we can all emulate this, we will truly have world peace.
One of the things that struck me when I first got to know Tsem Rinpoche was how Rinpoche very strongly advised his students to never criticise other religions, other lineages, other Buddhist centres, other teachers. This is also mentioned in Rinpoche’s popular book, Gurus for Hire, Enlightenment for Sale (http://vajrasecrets.com/books/english-books/gurus-for-hire-enlightenment-for-sale.html). Rinpoche has consistently emphasised this throughout the 8 years i have known Rinpoche so it is not something that he teaches publicly but privately contradicts. That i can vouch for completely. Actually this illustrates Rinpoche’s most powerful qualities of respect, consistency and honesty. Rinpoche really believes in this and it is this respect for other people’s beliefs and acceptance of people’s differences which will bring about inner peace and eventually world peace, embodied in the Kechara World Peace Centre as envisioned by Rinpoche.
Spiritual leaders should really show the way towards peace. Looking at the His Holiness in a public talk is so amazing, a Buddha like act in our modern times. More dialogue will create less wars.
The world really need such spiritual leaders, leaders that lead men by example and not by brute force or the force of their purse strings. Spirituality is best exemplified when it brings happiness, harmony and comfort to those who need it. The Dalai Lama really puts a face to the ideal of compassion and true spirituality that transcends religious dogma and delineation. There’s no higher truth to harmony and happiness. It is a blessing just to behold their kind faces.
Without differences, how do we learn acceptance, tolerance and forgiveness?
Whenever I see great minds meet, like HH the Dalai Lama and the Cardinal MacCarrick, I always feel a fushion of wisdom amd compassion energy soaring to the sky.
May HH the Dalai Lama and the Cardinal MacCarrick love long!
it is indeed a very beautiful picture of leader from 2 different religion embracing each other, we can see care, compassion and respect from both side. this is a great example to all humankind, and show that religion shares the same mission, that is bringing peace, love and harmony to all walks of life. if every one respect each other religion, world peace is not far from our reach. we may be different in continent, races, and religion, but we share one same thing, that is we live in the same world together. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing such a beautiful picture for all of us.
If there was only one religion in this world, there could be a lesser drive for shared learning in spiritual practice and harmony….maybe
Yes. Very very beautiful and auspicious indeed that both leaders of different religions greet one another out of sincerity. The smiles on their faces are genuine and are out of love, respect and compassion. It is a reminder to us to follow them as exampleto treat other religion with respect and sensitivity, as long as that particular religion is based on the same fundamental truth – love and compassion.
Dzam lhing cho lug nham chi tra shi shog
Cho lug thun dril iong ve tra shi shog
Cho chi u trid lhen ghye ku tse ten pe tra shi shog
Cho dzed sem ghyud dul ve tra shi shog
Khor va dong ne trug pe tra shi shog
Kham sum cho la ghyur ve tra shi shog
Dro kun sang ghye thob pe tra shi shog
Gea lu kha ciod drub pe tra shi shog
prayer for the unity of all religion – may it come true!