Points of Agreement Between Bertrand Russell and the Dalai Lama
1. Happiness is possible.
The Dalai Lama goes farther than Russell on this issue. Russell promises
only that there is no fundamental reason why we can't be happy. "I wish
to persuade the reader that, whatever the arguments may be, reason lays
no embargo upon happiness." [page 24]. The Dalai Lama says that this is
our fundamental nature. "I believe that every one of us has the basis to
be happy, to access the warm and compassionate states of mind that bring
happiness. In fact it is one of my fundamental beliefs that not only do
we inherently possess the potential for compassion, but I believe that
the basic or underlying nature of human beings is gentleness." [page 52]
2. Happiness is a worthy goal. The happy life is a good life.
Russell says, "The happy life is to an extraordinary extent the same as
the good life. ... I have written this book as a hedonist, that is to say,
one who regards happiness as the good, but the acts to be recommended from
the point of view of the hedonist are on the whole the same as those to
be recommended by the sane moralist." [pages 189-190]
Cutler writes: "Isn't a life based on seeking personal happiness by
nature self-centered, even self indulgent? Not necessarily. In fact, survey
after survey has shown that it is unhappy people who tend to be
the most self-focused." [pages 16-17]
3. Change what you can change, and accept what you can't change. Don't
worry.
Russell: "The wise man, though he will not sit down under preventable misfortunes,
will not waste time and emotion upon such as are unavoidable, and even
such as are in themselves avoidable he will submit to if the time and labor
required to avoid them would interfere with the pursuit of some more important
object." [pages 181-182]
Dalai Lama: "If the situation or problem is such that it can be remedied,
then there is no need to worry about it. ... It is more sensible to spend
the energy focusing on the solution rather than worrying about the problem.
Alternatively, if there is no way out, no solution, no possibility of resolution,
then there is also no point in being worried about it, because you can't
do anything about it anyway."
4. Be open and compassionate to many people.
Russell: "Fundamental happiness depends more than anything else upon what
may be called a friendly interest in persons and things. ... To like many
people spontaneously and without effort is perhaps the greatest of all
sources of personal happiness." [pages 121-122]
Cutler: "The Dalai Lama's model of intimacy is based on a willingness
to open ourselves to many others, to family, to friends, and even strangers,
forming genuine and deep bonds based on our common humanity." [page 84]
5. Achieving happiness requires effort.
Russell: "Happiness is not, except in very rare cases, something that drops
into the mouth, like a ripe fruit, by the mere operation of fortunate circumstances.
... Happiness must be, for most men and women, an achievement rather than
a gift of the gods, and in this achievement effort, both inward and outward,
must play a great part." [pages 178-179]
Dalai Lama: "Achieving genuine happiness may require bringing about
a transformation in your outlook, your way of thinking, and this is not
a simple matter. ... There are a lot of negative mental traits, so you
need to address and counteract each one of these. That isn't easy. It requires
repeated application of various techniques and taking the time to familiarize
yourself with the practices. It is a process of learning." [pages 41-42]
6. Be honest about yourself, your abilities, and your motives.
Russell: "A certain kind of resignation is involved in willingness to face
the truth about ourselves; this kind, though it may involve pain in the
first moments, affords ultimately a protection -- indeed the only possible
protection -- against the disappointments and disillusionments to which
the self-deceiver is liable. Nothing is more fatiguing nor, in the long
run, more exasperating, than the daily effort to believe things which daily
become more incredible. To be done with this effort is an indispensable
condition of secure and lasting happiness." [page 185]
Dalai Lama: "The more honest you are, the more open, the less fear you
will have, because there's no anxiety about being exposed or revealed to
others. So, I think that the more honest you are, the more self-confident
you will be." [page 280]
7. Find value outside yourself.
Russell: "Where outward circumstances are not definitely unfortunate, a
man should be able to achieve happiness, provided that his passions and
interests are directed outward, not inward." [page 187]
For the Dalai Lama, compassion for others is the very basis of happiness.
Cutler summarizes: "Underlying all the Dalai Lama's methods there is a
set of basic beliefs that act as a substrate for all his actions: a belief
in the fundamental gentleness and goodness of all human beings, a belief
in the value of compassion, a belief in a policy of kindness, and a sense
of commonality among all living creatures." [page 8] And the Dalai Lama
said: "Let us reflect on what is truly of value in life, what gives meaning
to our lives, and set our priorities on the basis of that. The purpose
of our life needs to be positive. We weren't born with the purpose of causing
trouble, harming others. For our life to be of value, I think we must develop
basic good human qualities -- warmth, kindness, compassion. Then our life
becomes meaningful and more peaceful -- happier." [page 64]
8. To pursue happiness, train your mind in the ways of happiness.
This is an agreement that is strongly related to a difference between the
two books: What you are supposed to train your mind to do is a little different
in Art than it is in Conquest. Russell would have us train
our subconscious mind to bring its ideas into agreement with our conscious
ideas. The Dalai Lama wants to train the mind to habituate positive mental
states like compassion and tolerance, as opposed to negative mental states
like hatred and anger.
Russell: "My own belief is that a conscious thought can be planted in
the unconscious if a sufficient amount of vigor and intensity is put into
it. Most of the unconscious consists of what were once highly emotional
conscious thoughts, which have now become buried. It is possible to do
this process of burying deliberately." [page 63]"The problem here is the
same as has confronted us in earlier chapters, namely that of compelling
the unconscious to take note of the rational beliefs that govern our conscious
thought. ... Whenever [irrationality] thrusts foolish thoughts or feelings
into your consciousness, pull them up by the roots, examine them, and reject
them." [page 83]
Dalai Lama: "Through proper training we can reduce our negative emotions
and increase positive states of mind such as love, compassion, and forgiveness."
[page 234] This training consists largely of noticing when negative states
of mind arise, and calling forth the corresponding "antidote" positive
mental states.