Losang Samten: Be Mindful. Be Kind. Be Patient. | Big Think

Be Mindful. Be Kind. Be Patient.

Watch the newest video from Big Think

Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Venerable Losang Samten, a renowned Tibetan scholar and a former Buddhist monk, stresses the virtues of being mindful, kind, and patient.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LOSANG SAMTEN:

The Venerable Losang Samten, a renowned Tibetan scholar and a former Buddhist monk, was born in Chung Ribuce, of central Tibet. In 1959, he and his family fled to Nepal and later moved to Dharamsala, India. His education includes studies at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and the Namgyal Monastery which is the monastery of the 14th Dalai Lama. In 1985, he earned a Master's Degree in Buddhist Philosophy, Sutra, and Tantra, from the Namgyal Monastery, which is equivalent to a Ph.D. In 1994, Losang received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. He was granted an Honorary Doctorate of Art from the Maine College of Art in 1995. He taught Tibetan Language at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia from 1994 – 1997 and was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. In 2004, he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRANSCRIPT:

Losang Samten: When we are more mindful we get a joy. In a way, the seed of the mindfulness, we all have that. We don’t have to buy that from somewhere else. Not necessarily finding for the enlightenment or [a] spiritual reason, in a sense, but whether we [are] a believer or non-believer, we all need a peace of mind. So the peace of mind comes from the mindfulness. Through that, we understand how important kindness and compassion [are]. One mental good quality leads into the next and the next and the next. The fundamental [one that] we’re talking [about] here is mindfulness.

All the Holy Beings, each religious leader, the first thing definitely they will say to us – be kind, be kind. Be kind to yourself. Be kind, be kind. And be kind to the other. To be kind is the Jesus, [to] be kind is the God, [to] be kind is the Buddha.

Another thing [that] is very important to us to practice is be patient, be patient, be patient. Working with somebody or [on] the relationship – husband and wife, girlfriend and boyfriend, any relationship – life’s not perfect. Life [will] never be perfect. [No matter] how much we put into effort to be perfect, there’s no perfect everything. We are human. Patience is wonderful to have. So if that day somebody in your life, if he or she is so stressful and at that time – sometimes not necessarily, there’s not much room for communica[tion] – just be patient. Just be [breathes in deeply].

Truly these are not religious training[s], but more as a human being we all need that kind of quality. But yet, again, the seeds – we all have them. We all have patience. How much we call an impatient person, he or she has the seeds of patience and the kindness and the compassion. All of these seeds we don’t have to buy anywhere – we have them. We all have room to grow, but we all have the seeds of beautiful kindness and patience.

Directed / Produced by Jonathan Fowler and Elizabeth Rodd

The Venerable Losang Samten, a renowned Tibetan scholar and a former Buddhist monk, stresses the virtues of being mindful, kind, and patient.