Words of Wisdom 5
May 2021
Rinpoche on Identity
Now, more than ever, dharma is more potent, more necessary. I say this because a lot of scientists and thinkers are saying that the biggest cause of suffering in the 21st century is the suffering of identity.
We continue our Words of Wisdom series with some of Rinpoche’s thoughts on identity and self, two concepts that are frequently discussed in Buddhism. With the accelerating evolution of artificial intelligence and virtual connection, Rinpoche reflects on how we will define ourselves in the future, and tells us that now, more than ever, Buddha’s wisdom is what is needed.
Suddenly a lot of people, and I think this is a good thing, are realizing how fragile we are. Along with that, one inevitable challenge that we are going to face is the identity crisis.
I think from the worldly point of view, the sense of irrelevance is becoming stronger. Once upon a time you could be a doctor, or a nurse, or a painter, or a Buddhist teacher, but now, slowly, the machines are going to do this better, and much more precisely. So then, who are we? This is where the wisdom and the method of buddhadharma will prevail.
Rinpoche reminds us that our “stories” about ourselves, the ones we feel define us and that our identities rely on—concepts such as Chinese, American, European, shop keeper, poet, or hedge fund manager—may be different in the future. Our children will face a new kind of anxiety, and what it means to be human may take on a whole new definition. Future generations may ask questions like, what is my relevance to this world?
Soon we will be forced to really think about identity and the self, and who we are, and our purpose. I don’t know if purpose is the right word, but the meaning of life, and so on—we need to prepare for that. We need to make people understand and appreciate and get attracted to the dharma, to the teachings of the Buddha. And for that, we have a lot of work to do. We need to learn how to package. We need to learn how to communicate with future generations about the dharma.
We hope that you will continue to contemplate Rinpoche’s words and share your ideas with us and with others.
I am concerned when people are saying this is all a hologram or simulated reality. I understand the dream-like appearances, but as Rinpoche said, if this is a dream, it can be a sacred dream. The Goddess-Buddha sparks life to anything seeming artificial. when reality seems too artificial and people lose touch with nature (Nature, Buddha nature, mind, earth, sky, cosmos) they lose sense of meaning. Human beings have always created things that mimic nature, even before they realize it, as we are a part of nature. I think problems of separation started to be exaggerated with the concept of ownership of the earth, in parcels, and ownership of people, and animals, dividing everything up into this and that, and false power structures. As one wise person said, that is not true power, but authority. True power is in your heartbeat. Human beings made holograms and now they have the Holographic Universe theory, which is being proven out, yet, it is a metaphor still, and people jump to thinking artificiality, to these crude holograms human beings have created. This rainbow like display of appearances, it is alive with consciousness, sparked by the enlightened intention of Dharmakaya, however this is expressed, it can be very terrifying to see everything through an artificial view. I don’t know what it is, or anything really, but I think if it is a holographic universe, it is all natural. Buddha nature too is all natural. If it is a great dream, it is a sacred dream, and all natural. They say the universe is made up of information, this expressed through the language of mathematics. But what of Shunyata, and all that can not be said? I think even if it is dream like, maybe people sometimes need to be reminded how alive everything is, not as a greed for life, but as this precious life, and to help with fears about artificiality. also any artificial intelligence human beings could create would be very crude compared to the cosmos. Even if it is a dream, when one is feeling everything is very artificial, it helps to think of Goddess Buddha Tara or somebody like this, who sparks aliveness to everything. BTW thank you to Western Door for the practice they have done for my Mother. Peace and Love, Nancy
I have been thinking about this and am currently reading Klara and the Sun, a novel by Kazuo Ishiguro that explores just these questions.
Hi Rinpoche,
Thank you very much for sharing your reflections with us, please continue to do so
Your reflection got me thinking the following…
What if in the future, thanks to the courage and relentless efforts of Boddhisattvas, we come to a time when the methods and techniques of the Buddhadharma remain as we know them today (this also includes the View) but the whole external, seemingly ritualistic, traditional and religious ways we practice Dharma today disappear, or are no longer preserved as such, or included in the practices, in the so called modern society.
In other words, what if Buddhadharma transitions into a completely secular, scientific method to realise human purpose and freedom from suffering? Would that still be called Buddhism? And will Buddha still be seen and respected/remembered as the One who taught the path?
Thank you Rinpoche I hope
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