His Holiness the Dalai Lama has three main commitments, which guide his actions in the world. The first commitment is to exemplifying and encouraging humanistic, secular ethics—simply being a good human being. The second commitment is to interfaith dialogue and religious harmony. The third commitment is to the preservation and celebration of Tibetan culture. A considerable portion of the Dalai Lama’s work in the world is related to the second commitment. The Dalai Lama has forged alliances with other high profile religious leaders like the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and regularly participates in interfaith forums, conferences, and events around the world. Before His Holiness was a household word, he had already been demonstrating his commitment to interfaith dialogue. As early as 1968, the Dalai Lama met with prominent Christian philosopher and Trappist monk Thomas Merton. The Dalai Lama and Merton share in common their personal commitments to their own faiths and traditions, while also developing interest in and caring for the different worldviews and beliefs of other cultures and religions. Merton was in fact criticized for his interfaith philosophy (Martin 1). Although a considerable portion of interfaith dialogue is about finding similarities and common grounds, the Dalai Lama does not strive at all for a unified, blended faith, and nor did Merton. On the contrary, the Dalai Lama’s third commitment shows that he instead seeks for an interfaith dialogue that never dilutes the central tenets of any tradition. The Dalai Lama refers to the “value of difference,” and the importance of honoring points of departure as much as intersections of unified thought (The Good Heart 16). Ultimately, the goal of the second commitment is to foster harmony amid diversity and to showcase the universal—and secular—ethical tenets of respect and compassion.

During the 1994 John Main Seminar in London, which comprises the text The Good Heart, the Dalai Lama made clear his commitment to religious plurality. The Dalai Lama had first met John Main in 1980, also at an interfaith event. As readers learn in The Good Heart, John Main was as extraordinary a Christian monk as Merton. Moreover, Main, Merton, and the Dalai Lama all practiced meditation—something that is typically not associated with Christianity. Yet when the Dalai Lama and John Main met, they practiced together, sitting in silence to embody the ineffable understanding of harmony,...

No one was trying to convert another, or even to persuade. The dialogue was both spoken and unspoken in meditation, revealing common grounds and the importance for building bridges between disparate people, cultures, and societies.
The Dalai Lama’s approach to interfaith dialogue reveals a profound and admirable sense of humility, which reflects his first commitment to ethical comportment, compassion, and secular ethics. When the Dalai Lama meets with Christian leaders the likes of Merton, Main, and Tutu, he does so not to teach Buddhism but to listen. As a result, the Dalai Lama offered profound insight into the Christian gospels that not only help non-Christians better understand one of the world’s most powerful religious institutions, but also help Christians to better understand and contextualize their own faith. In a similar display of humble and deep respect, the Archbishop Desmond Tutu—like Merton—had visited the Dalai Lama in the Tibetan residence in exile in Dharamsala. The unity between these important political and spiritual leaders led to decades of partnership. The Dalai Lama’s work with Archbishop Desmond Tutu also exemplifies the authenticity of the Dalai Lama’s commitments because of the deep and visible friendship that has sprouted between the two leaders. As it is described in The Book of Joy, the friendship between the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop is genuine and meaningful, going far beyond a working relationship or a diplomatic link undertaken for political expediency.

It would seem that the Dalai Lama’s second and third commitments could conflict with the first, but in his teachings, the Tibetan leaders shows how secular ethics coincide with a respect for faith and tradition. In a time when both Western Europe and North America are shifting away from religious faith and more toward a secular ethic, the message of the Dalai Lama becomes increasingly important within the context of global peace and harmony. Interfaith dialogue is not about promoting religion at all, but about education, awareness, and critical thinking—all of which the Dalai Lama feels strongly about and discusses in his teachings. In Beyond Religion, the Dalai Lama discusses his first commitment while simultaneously demonstrating the significance of the other two. In Beyond Religion, the Dalai Lama argues that neither science nor religion ensures ethical behavior. Organized religion is not…