Dalai Lama: Lack of Spirituality Caused Recession
Monday January 12, 2009
The Times of India reports that His Holiness the Dalai Lama said the current global economic meltdown comes from a lack of spirituality among people.
"Lack of spirituality and culture is the main cause behind the rampant corruption in the world. People have become selfish and materialistic, which has led to the economic slowdown," The Dalai Lama said.
His Holiness was speaking at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) in Sarnath, India, where he is engaged in a week-long teaching.
Comments
I’d have to disagree with him, at least basing it off just this small snippet of him speaking. Frankly, people have pretty much always been selfish and materialistic, at least here in the US. The government actually encourages us to go out and spend money on things. They want to give us a stimulus package just so we’ll go out and buy things we really don’t need. How messed up is that?
The corruption he speaks of, is in the US officials, who are the real source of the recession. Ordinary people don’t have the power to create this kind of problem, we simply suffer the consequences. Though, I’ll admit that our officials could use some more spirituality, or at least some more ethics training. I actually have ethics training due in the next couple weeks here at work now that I think about it.
I’m not sure what he means by lack of culture, but he could be right on that depending on his meaning. I don’t personally feel I have much culture, but this is America, we’re mostly immigrants.
I respect the Dalai Lama very much, but I don’t always agree with him on his views. Though I believe part of it at times is something missing in translation between cultures.
His holiness does not say that this is a particularly different or exceptional circumstance.
This is a variation on the traditional teaching that the cause of prosperity is generosity.
A good reminder.
I actually agree with the Dalai Lama on this one, but I think he will be misunderstood by most of the people who read his statement.
The current economic crisis has too many causes to name, but the root cause, in my opinion, is greed. Not just the greed of one person, group, company, or government, but greed it self. When we want more than we have, and are enable to get it when we otherwise couldn’t based on government intervention (which, in turn, was caused by the government’s desire to have more for themselves and others), the “boom and bust” business cycle emerges.
Spirituality, as the Dalai Lama sees it, works to decrease the amount of greed, aversion, and delusion that leads to these kinds of events. In that way, a lack of spirituality is part of the cause (if not the underlying cause) of the problem… in my opinion, at least.
Spirituality??? Do we even have a fraction of knowlege of what this is. We operate on fear: globally we eradicate what is not familar; we always want more ‘things’ for safety and security; and we are always looking behind us when we should be looking up.
I only hope and pray the Dalai Lama hopes and prays. In a way, perhaps the economic breakdown may lead us to a simpler, more compassionate life and that is spiritual.
only the materialistic are concerned with their own suffering at this time. look to the suffering of others. like lilies of the field, like sparrows we are.