The Forthcoming Visit to Europe
Many of your disciples in Europe have been waiting more than 30 years since the last visit of the 16th Karmapa and have invited you many times to come back to Europe and visit their centres. Now on the eve of your first visit to Europe in 2010 we would like to ask what message you have for Europeans in general and the dharma centres in particular.
There are a great number of people in many European countries in the Kagyu lineage and in particular people with direct Dharma connections with the Gyalwang Karmapa. I consider the fact that they’ve been wishing me to come to Europe for 20 or 30 years to be of great significance. I’ve been keeping this in mind since I was young.
One positive development this year is that there is now a good chance of my going to Europe. This is the best possible news for all of us. Our coming together in Europe would be the long-awaited fulfillment of an aspiration I’ve had for many years. I would like to offer you all my sincere thanks for the prayers and aspirations you’ve been making for me to come to Europe. I’m hoping to be able to come not only now on this first occasion, but also again and again in the future.
Do you have any memories from the time when you visited Europe in 1974 and 1977 as the 16th Karmapa, when you founded centres, performed the Vajra Crown ceremony and consecrated land in the Dordogne? Does it feel like going back to a familiar place?
We’ve all had a limitless number of past lives. If that fact alone were sufficient for us to be able to remember them, we would all remember our past lives. But in fact we don’t. We’re reborn life after life in rapid succession, and are covered with karmic obscurations; so for numerous reasons, it’s quite difficult for us to remember our past lives. However when I was young, I did read many children’s stories about Europe. With that as a condition, in my mind there is the sense of having been to Europe and having joyfully explored the way of life and landscape of ancient Europe.
Do you have any aspirations for this trip, something you would like to accomplish?
I think one important thing is to follow in the footsteps of the 16th Gyalwang Karmapa—his enlightened activities, and the imprints of body, speech and mind that he placed in his disciples. My first hope is to be able to continue that, and to be able to leave wholesome imprints for them myself. Secondly, as a Buddhist leader of the 21st century, I hope to work to ensure that the progress that the world has made in material terms does not merely improve our lives externally, but serves as a condition for internal progress as well, bringing about inner peace and happiness.
Europe is considered to be the cradle of Western civilization and has produced many geniuses in the fields of art and science as well as infamous dictators and major wars. Is there a particular aspect of European culture that interests you the most, such as art, people, education or science?
Not only do I like Western culture, but I also would say I have a good deal of appreciation for it, and in particular the arts and literature of the past. There are also many events in European history that had a strong impact on me. Because of my interest in this history, I am continuing to learn more about it.
Do you foresee a need for a global network to facilitate communication between you and the global sangha and support your activities all over the world, for example, like the Kagyu Monlam?
In today’s world, relations between East and West have become much closer. Information comes at us very quickly, and we are able to see further and hear more. I think it is becoming increasingly clear that we are united as one single world. I believe it is extremely important that we recognize that we are sharing this single world, and that we engage in work that benefits all of us. I do as much as I am able in this regard, and similarly it is the duty of my students to strive in that direction, in accord with our times.
Your Holiness, do you have a vision for spreading the Dharma in Europe?
I have no particular aim to spread or propagate the Dharma. But since I have both the opportunity and the responsibility to serve those who have faith in the Dharma, I am willing to do so. If people truly have faith in the Dharma and are inspired by it, I am always ready and waiting to introduce them to the Dharma, or serve and support them in any other way.
However, whether we call it Dharma or not, the point is that good people, good motivations and good actions are needed by everyone in the world – not just human beings but all beings. In one sense, it might be better not to give it the name ‘Dharma,’ because this defines it too narrowly, as if it applied only to one particular sect or group. But whether we use the term Dharma or not, this world is a huge family of billions of members. We rely on each other for our survival. With mutual respect, with appreciation one for the other, and with each of us clearly recognizing the other’s great value, we can all work together to make this a new world with greater equality and more love than ever before. I hope to make whatever efforts I can toward this end.
translated by Ringu Tulku and Ani Damchoe (Diana Finnegan)
