Prof Samdhong Rinpoche’s speech at ENVISION'S GVYT 2009 Conference (Inaugural Session)

Venerable monks, distinguished people on the dais, Mr. Mathur, Alan and the director of Empowering the Vision Project. Dear young friends from various education institutions. At the outset, I would like to offer greetings from Kashag and myself to all the younger generation; you are representing the future of Tibet, at this moment, empowering yourself in various education institutions through learning and educating yourself. It is a great honour for me to be with you. And share some of my thoughts. I am grateful to Tibet Relief Fund UK for setting up this EVP trust in India and doing many very useful initiatives or empowering the younger generations of Tibetans in exile, particularly in India.
 
The last conference, I could not attend due to certain other preoccupation, although I was asked to do. This time, I was informed about this conference in well advance. So, thereby I was able to block these two days to be with you and indeed it is a great honour for me to visit this sacred place, Asia Plateau of Panchgani, institution which I heard for long time. Many of my colleagues asked me to visit this place, but I was not able to come here. It is really enjoyable and graceful for people who are looking for solitude and quietness.
 
Global Vision for Young Tibetans Conference is a very well conceived theme on which we are meeting and talking about. You must have a clear vision, without which you are not able to proceed in the journey of a life. As an individual, as a member of society and particularly as a member of a nation which is facing a grave challenge; challenge of annihilation.
 
SO therefore we should have a clear and unmistakable vision of the world, on oneself and of one’s responsibilities. So I appreciate organizers for organizing this programme in which you are meant to hear many distinguished speakers and also have your own introspections and dialogue with each other, sharing experiences with each other and having a kind of SATSANG in real sense, a sacred community in which you can have a great number of insights.
 
This afternoon and tomorrow morning, I have been given the chance to have interaction with you. But one problem with me is the medium, the language, My knowledge of English language is so limited. Sometimes I feel inconvenience to express myself fully. But there are many other participants who are not well versed with Tibetan language. There is no way out but try my broken English to communicate my ideas. So, please bear with me if there is any difficulty to understand or eligibility of my expression of language then you can interrupt me to repeat it.
 
At the very beginning I would like to ask you to study the detailed message HHDL has sent to you. This is not a formal message as His Holiness use to send on my places and many occasions but this is a message which His Holiness himself has taken interest and dictated the message, giving his very valuable insights and advice to you and through you to entire  Tibetan younger generation. You need to study it in depth over and over again. Then only you will be able to understand the essence of this message.
If you are able to understand this message then you can definitely lead a good life and you can become the ambassador of Tibet and build Tibet as a nation. In order to become ambassador of Tibet, the first and foremost requirement or qualification is to grow and become a Tibetan. You might think that, I am born and brought up as Tibetan. How should I become a Tibetan? Tibetan is not only ethnic or racial thing. You have to qualify yourself as a Tibetan and that is not a very easy task. Particularly at this juncture, we are living in exile, in a different situation and environment. To remain as a Tibetan, is a challenge and is difficult. Similarly to build Tibet as a nation, there also unless you become a true Tibetan you will not be able build the nation.
 
Non-Tibetan can help us, guide us or can assist us and educate us in our nation building. But they can not build our nation on our behalf.
 
We Tibetans alone shall have to build the nation and for that purpose tomorrow I was thinking to talk about the basic necessity for every individual to lead a happy and successful life.  And apart from that if you wish you can also lead a meaningful life.
 
Unless you are able to lead your individual life successfully, happily you can not function as ambassador of Tibet or you can not participate in the nation building. The first requirement is to mature build up, structure your own life and a happy life, successful life. And thereby you will be able to contribute in the nation building. For that there are five basic requirements to have a good happy and successful life. These five requirements are in a way easy, able to ask, if we wish to have them and it is within one’s own power and reach.
 
But sometimes it is difficult for many individual. These qualifications are difficult to attain. These qualifications are I sum up very briefly; you must have a sound body. Sound body means a body which is free from any kind of disease; that your body can cope with you in whatever you wish to do. And with that you must have a sound mind. Sound mind means a mind which is intelligent, inquisitive and rational and having power of reasoning; logic.
 
Your mind must be free from all kind of blind faiths or imitations. Blind faith spread by religious traditions or blind faith spread by so-called scientific knowledge. The modern science has created a numerous blind faith among the people and it is difficult to get rid of. Blind faith created by religious traditions can be get rid of to a rational mind but the so called scientific knowledge created blind faith is more dangerous for the people living in 21st century. You have to get rid of all kind of un-rational beliefs or un-rational thinking.
 
The third requirement is to have a right and sustainable livelihood. If you don’t have a right and sustainable livelihood, you may not be able to do anything. Apart from finding livelihood or earning bread and butter; the entire life would be spent out in that course. Therefore you must have right livelihood and that too a sustainable livelihood.
 
If these 3 is there, then you will be able to think more important things and do more important things; A sound body, sound mind and right & sustainable livelihood.
 
Then the fourth requirement is a clear vision of your goal. Your mission; the life, the important human life which you are enjoying this moment, how to use it to achieve something. The vision or the goal, the objective of your life must be very clear. At the same time you also should have a clear vision and clear understanding or insights of the means to achieve that. Without clear understanding of the goal and the means you may not be able to achieve anything. So this is indispensable requirement to get success and happiness or to use your life for a good purpose.
 
And the fifth is Right Effort; right effort means you must be able to have sustainable endurance in the pursuance of the objective. If you have these five basic requirements in your life then, you will be able to do something, which would be beneficial to all the sentient beings or entire humanity and if not for the entire nation, for the Tibetan people. Then your life becomes useful. So, tomorrow we shall elaborate a little bit on these five requirements. I am telling this in advance because ………….
 
Why and what are these requirements are and necessity, whether it is relevant or truth or whether it is something metaphysics or philosophy. Right in the beginning I would like to tell all of you I am not giving you a sermon, you need not carried away by my words or by my ideas. I am placing before you some of my own thoughts and my ideas. And it is for you to examine that, if there is something valuable, you can use that and if all is rubbish you can just leave those. The basic requirement for every sensible human being is to have your own rational mind. Buddha never said that you must obey my words or believe my words. 
 
Buddha said, “Oh bikshus and wise people, you must examine my words by all kinds of examinations and  like a goldsmith examines the gold by cutting it, putting it into the fire, rubbing it on the stones then only he accepts this is pure gold.” Taking the Buddha’s teachings into life, I am just talking which is coming to my mind and you yourself have to examine that.
 
So that is very important point, which we need to discuss right in the beginning. If you have your own rational and unbiased mind; and you are able to enquire my ideas; examine them and sometimes jointly and sometimes by yourself. We might be able to find some facts, some realities. We may not reach the truth so easily but we might find some facts and realities. With these words I once again appreciate the organizers and the establishments and managements of this place for having such a wonderful gathering. I wish you a very meaningful gathering and dialogue for the coming three days. And you will go back with a more wisdom and inspiration.
 
Thank you very much.