When Khushwant Singh met the Dalai Lama

My first question to the Dalai Lama was his view of the origin of life on our planet. Did he accept the Judeo-Christian-Muslim belief of it being created by a Supreme God? Or did he accept Darwin’s Theory of Evolution: not from divine but natural causes — from amoeba to fish to land creatures, birds, mammals, monkeys down to man? There is also the intermediate theory put forward by Hinduism and its offshoots (Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism) of order emerging from chaos by the intervention of divinity in the form of a Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. "As a Buddhist as well as personally I do not accept the theory of a divine Creator of life," replied the Dalai Lama. "The real Creator is one’s own mind. The universe and all its galaxies were created or happened at a certain period of time."

He was not precise about the time or the causes which brought it about but once life evolved in its different manifestations, their forms were determined by karmas — deeds. He then added: "Buddhist scriptures maintain that certain sections of humanity are different from others. In Tibetan mythology there is a story that the Tibetan race came into being through the mating of a monkey and an ethereal being." You can see an element of Darwinism in this legend which describes the evolution of a race from an earthy and a celestial being. 

The Dalai Lama also accepted the possibility of virgin birth. "In my generation and even earlier there were instances of women who had not been near a man conceiving. Conception was preceded by strange dreams. The offspring of such virgin births were extremely powerful and mentally advanced beings." 

The Dalai Lama repeated that he did not accept the notion of a Creator God. Life came into being through a mysterious and subtle energy. Some people were more evolved than others; the greater majority evolved as Darwin spelt out in his Theory of Evolution. 

I did not fully comprehend his line of argument, as at times for loss of the right word he broke into Tibetan and had to be translated into English. I went on to my next question: "Even if you do not credit God with creation, do you believe in God as an omnipotent and compassionate reality?" 

"God in the Christian sense and as some other religions see it as someone Supreme and Almighty, we Buddhist do not accept," said the Dalai Lama categorically. "What then do you accept as God?" I asked him. He paused a long time. I prodded him further: "Do you regard Him as compassionate?" 

My question had to be translated into Tibetan before he replied. "You know the three pillars of our faith, the Buddha, the Dhamma (Dharma) and the Sangha (Community)." 

I nodded. 

"For us the Buddha is a higher being, one who has reached the highest stage (of evolvement). His mind has been completely purified of all dross. The Buddha was not there from the very beginning; he became one after he had purified his mind, rid it of negative thoughts and ignorance till they totally disappeared." 

He elucidated his views further. "He was very much like ourselves to start with. Like students in a class are equals when they start. As they learn, differences develop. Some acquire knowledge and become teachers. There is a lot of difference between a teacher and a student. We regard the Sakyamuni as a teacher not a Creator."

Reprinted with the publisher's permission.