Dalai Lama on Our True Nature

As a child, I thought I could fly.  I studied the birds taking off and landing, wondering what made bumblebees buzz and stars shine.   

His Holiness, the 14^th Dalai Lama says, “We have to consider what we human beings really are.  We are not like machine-made objects.  If we were merely mechanical entities, then machines themselves could alleviate all of our sufferings and fulfil our needs.  However, since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone.  Instead, we should consider our origins and nature to discover what we require.”

Early in life I was the lucky recipient of much love.  My parents adored me and my maternal grandmother, whose house we lived in, regarded me as her life’s purpose.

Tenzin Gyatso, who still calls himself a simple monk, explains, “Leaving aside the complex question of the creation and evolution of our universe, we can at least agree that each of us is the product of our own parents.  In general, our conception took place not just in the context of sexual desire but from our parents’ decision to have a child.  Such decisions are founded on responsibility and altruism—the parents’ compassionate commitment to care for their child until it is able to take care of itself.  Thus, from the very moment of our conception, our parents’ love is directly involved in our creation.”

My parents definitely wanted me—and they were deeply in love when I was conceived. 

“Moreover, we are completely dependent upon our mother’s care from the earliest stages of our growth, Dalai Lama instructs. “According to some scientists, a pregnant woman’s mental state, be it calm or agitated, has a direct physical effect on her unborn child.”

My mother was fully happy awaiting the birth of her first-born child.

“The expression of love is also very important at the time of birth, His Holiness says, “Since the very first thing we do is suck milk from our mother’s breast, we naturally feel close to her, and she must feel love for us in order to feed us properly.  If she feels anger or resentment her milk may not flow freely.”

I was born into the lap of luxury in terms of love, but ours was a no-frills life.

The embodiment of Compassion noted, “Then there is the critical period of brain development from the time of birth up to at least the age of three or four, during which time loving physical contact is the single most important factor for the normal growth of the child. If the child is not held, hugged, cuddled or loved, its development will be impaired.”

Because I received the necessary nurturing, by the time tragedy struck when I was nearly three, I could withstand the absence of my parents from my life—due  to Father’s extreme illness and near death  necessitating Mother’s having to  work two jobs.

Grandmother held, hugged, and loved us through this crisis.