On Saturday, October 3, 2008, Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally gave a public lecture at Grace St. Paul Episcopal Church, in Tucson, Arizona in their ongoing series called "Spiritual Partners".? Geshe-la strayed from the main topic and spoke at length about the current economic crisis.
His comments began as an appeal to help the Asian Classics Input Project (ACIP), but it turned into clear instructions on how we must be more generous than ever now that times are tough.
Note that this is not our attempt to raise money for ACIP (Geshe-la says himself that you can direct your generosity to any person or group you consider worthy)?we would simply like to share Geshe-la's invaluable advice.
We're going to hand out some index cards... maybe you can split up...
Then I'm going to sell you a Brooklyn Bridge.? When I started studying in the monastery it was 1973, in India?25, 35 years ago.? And I asked this teacher, Geshe Ngawang Dargye, to teach me and I went to his room, and he opened a book?you know these big, long Tibetan books.? I was watching him but the book was upside down from me, and he would read the book and point to the words and he would say that.? I remember the day that I first understood the first word.? It was gyalpo, it was "king".? He said "gyalpo" and he pointed to "rgyalpo", and he pointed to the word and I saw the word and registered what it meant.? I got real excited.
So I asked him, "Geshe-la, some of the refugees are selling books.? Can I buy the book?? Because it's a little hard?I always have to read it upside down on the table."
And he said, "This book was burned.? All the copies of this book were burned, in Tibet."? There were five thousand libraries in the country of Tibet.? Every one was burned.? All the books were burned in Tibet.? You see?? It's hard to imagine.? If someone came to America and they undertook to burn all the libraries in America, can you try to imagine that?? All the books are gone.
You say, "I would like to read some Shakespeare," or "I would like to read some science fiction."? Or "I need to read the Bible right now."? And they say, "I'm sorry, it's been burned."?
That's how it was when I started studying.? He had written the book out from memory, and that's all there was.? They didn't have money; they mixed cow urine with charcoal and they wrote it with that.? They didn't have money for ink.? So that was how we started.
I came home and I was still going to college, and I went around to all the dormitories and got people to give clothing, and we sent clothing to the refugees.? And there was this really cute note that came back that said, "Those shoes that your friends sent... they're really good for going up mountains, but they're really bad for going down mountains."? And they were high-heeled shoes. [Laughter.]? This was from a monk.? That was how it was.
Then my teacher and myself, we started to support monks.? We started with five monks in Varanasi.? We started to send them money every month, and we supported them.? Then we made a business, and the business was very successful, and we ended up supporting thousands and thousands of people.? But what we found out... I remember one day we went to the monastery in India and someone had just given a $10,000 check?they'd sold their stocks and given us the money.? So we made an announcement at the monastery: "Anyone who has a medical problem, who has had an operation or medication or doctors' bills: if you can bring the bill to the monastery offices upstairs in the temple, if you can bring the bill here tomorrow, we'll give you the money."
The next day there was a line.? It was about a mile long.? There were thousands of monks in line.? It was a weird day.? They came in one by one, and they showed us their bills, and we just gave them the money.? By evening we had given away the $10,000.? We were exhausted.? And we found out you had to keep the receipt or sometimes it comes back again, stuff like that.
We started talking, and we said "It doesn't work so well, just to give away money to people."? Because also we would give to poor people, refugees, and they would lose the money or they would invest the money and it would get stolen.? They couldn't do accounting very well.? And there was always this?what do you call it??welfare mentality in the back of their mind.? "Oh, if I run out of money I'll just call Geshe-la and he'll get more money for us."? They didn't want to do anything.? We got a grant to teach them soy farming and to make tofu?we got a nice grant?and they just weren't interested because it was too much work, because they could just get free money.
Then we changed.? I remember, one day we changed.? We had an idea.? We said, "We'll put computers in the monastery."? First, I went to Bangkok, and I found these people, Buddhists, who were typing in Thai Buddhist texts.? The King was sponsoring it.? I saw how they typed in the text.? Then I went to Korea and I saw the same thing.? Then I came to the monastery and invited the board of directors to Bangalore, to a hotel.? I got them out of the monastery and in a hotel, and I paid for everybody's rooms.? The abbot slept in my room?it was really weird.? Because at five in the morning he stood up on his bed and started doing prostrations, on the bed.?
"Khen Rinpoche, what are you doing?"
He said, "I'm doing my morning prostrations."
"But why on the bed?"
And he said, "It's more comfortable!" [Laughter.]
But then the next morning we had this big meeting and I said, "You're going to type in your holy books.? We're going to put computers in the monastery and we're going to train the monks and you're going to save all the ancient books. A few copies got out of Tibet, we could get some from Russia, we could get copies from Japan, we could get copies from Beijing.? We could get copies that weren't burned and you're going to type them in.? I'll pay you to do the work, and we'll stop the welfare.? We'll pay you to do the work."
Then I had this ace in the hole: "By the way, I was just in Thailand and Korea, and if you don't do it, they're going to do it.? And they'll get all the money, because I'm not spending money here anymore."? And boom! it was approved the same day.
And we started.? This was twenty-one years ago.
Now that has spread through all the refugee community.? And the way that has worked out is that once the Tibetan women started to type in the refugee camps, they out-typed the monks three to one.? They're three times faster and more accurate than the monks.? So gradually we moved all the work out of the monastery, now it's all in the refugee camps and it's almost all women.? We have a lot of women working in the refugee camps.? They've typed, I think, about a million pages so far, and it all goes up free on the web, we give it away free on the web.? So they get paid, and they support their families for twenty years from this typing.
We are two percent finished.? We are two percent finished with Tibetan literature.? It will take another 150 years, to finish the books that we know that we have.?
That's the good news, and it's going really well.
We went to the grocery store near John Brady's house.? Upper East Side of New York, very wealthy area.? We went to the grocery store late at night, we wanted some oranges.? We put the oranges on the counter.? There was this oriental-looking lady behind the counter.? She'd wave us up, she'd go [motions very quick typing], and then she looks at her her friend and goes [says something in Tibetan].?
I said, "Oh, are you Tibetan?", and she said yeah.
I said, "Where are you from?"
She said, "Oh, you don't know, you wouldn't understand, you wouldn't know."
I said, "How did you get to the United States?? Because Tibetans can't get in."
She said, "I have a special visa.? It's a visa because I have special skills."
I said, "What skills?"
She said, "I'm really good at computers.? I can do anything on a computer, so I got a special visa."
So I said, "Wow, how did you learn that?"
She said, "I'm from this little town called Hunsur, India."
I said, "What's special?"
"We have this special building, and all the women in the town, Tibetan women, they go there and type in ancient text all day.? That's where I learned.? And there's this beautiful American man who's been funding it for years..."
And we're both like "Wow!"... this is a true story.? It goes like that, it's changed the world.? That's the good news.
The bad news is... we used to have grants from Hewlett-Packard, to start the place.? Then we moved to government grants.? When those dried up we moved to... Wall Street.? [Laughter.]? Almost all our funding has come from Wall Street in recent years, and then it just collapsed.? There's 150,000 people in Wall Street without work, just without work, they have nothing.? Suddenly it's just gone.
And we haven't paid the Tibetans now for a month, more than a month.? We can't pay them anything.? They're still working, they're still going, but they're not getting any money.? I go to bed and I have bad dreams, I'm worried about the Tibetans, I'm worried about what will happen to their books and things like this, things that could help many people, I worry about that. [cries]
So I can't sleep.? What are we going to do after Wall Street?? There's nothing left in America.? [laughs]?
Then I had this idea.? It's like the Morocco thing.? You can give $300 for a van in Morocco and you're not going to be in a problem when you get home.? You're not going to starve when you get back to Tucson.? You'll be OK.? We'll all be OK.? Nobody in this room is going to starve.? Those women can't feed their families right now.
So we came up with this idea that we're going to ask people to adopt one of the women.? Somebody gave me some cards, different cards.? Jigme gave me the cards, she said, "Let's ask everyone for $50 or $60."? I said no, let's talk bigger, let's talk serious.
We're going to ask you to adopt women there.? So your family adopts one of the women, forever.? You don't give the donation, we don't want the donation.? We don't want a $50, $60 donation.? We're not asking that at all.
She still wants to give it away.? Hot diggety!? No.? You said, you do this circle thing, you do dakshen nyamje, you exchange yourself with them.?
They are very poor, they cannot feed their families.? We are very... in the worst economy, we're still overweight.? So adopt one, get people to adopt one, we adopt one of the women for as long as she works there.? And I warn you, some of them have been working there for twenty years.? They don't quit easily.? For as long as they work there, they are part of my family.? I will pay for her wages until she stops working.? Either she gets too old or she leaves or whatever.? But I will support her wages and her family, and I will adopt them as part of my family.?
That's our shtick tonight.? That's the card you kept, it's $100 a month.? If you adopt a family it's $100 a month. ? Then we talked it over and we said "Nobody's going to give $100 a month in Tucson.? So instead of being head of the family, let's tell them you can be a member of the family and you give $25 a month."? So four people give $25 a month to support one woman and her family, and you adopt her.? You're not giving a donation?you're adopting her.
You are deciding that they are your family.? You're deciding that they are you.? So it's a different thing.? You are not giving money to somebody else.? It's money they already deserve because they are part of your family.? Got it?? You're not making a donation.? They belong to your family.? And they will until the day you die.? Are you willing to try something like that?
Are you willing to take another person into your family?? Much cheaper than the people in your family now!? [Laughter.]? Much cheaper than a kid?people who have kids, you know.? Twenty-five dollars a month or something.?
I'm doing something radical, we're doing something radical.? Will you accept them into your family?? Will you take their children as your children?? And that means you can't stop.?
[Lama Christie whispers.]? She has a disclaimer.? You have an out.? If you go into a three-year retreat or something, and you can't get $25 a month, then it's your responsibility to give away that person to another family.? You have to get someone to adopt them from you.? You have to get someone else to adopt them before you go into your retreat.? Like that.
But you can't stop, OK?? As long as the person is working, you can't stop.? That's all.? You commit because they are part of your family.
Then I just want to make a general point about the economy.? I spent my life in corporate economics, right?? And I'll tell you something.? The whole American system has always been flaky.? This whole idea "Just keep borrowing money and keep the company going" and selling things cheaper than it costs to make them, it's crazy.? It had to collapse.? It was bound to collapse.? It couldn't do anything else than collapse.? It's crazy.? The whole thing about borrowing money and just keeping debt going... our company kept alive by continually borrowing money that we could never pay back, and everybody knew it.? The banks knew it and we knew it.? But they want to keep the company going so you could give them dividends.? So you keep borrowing.? It has to collapse.
So what do you do now?? What I wanted to say is don't be afraid.? Don't get all worried.? This thing in America... we were in New York on Black Wednesday.? Oh my god.? You couldn't go into a grocery store, everyone's like "I don't know if I should buy an apple, you know?? My 401K just collapsed!"? Don't think like that!
Money comes from giving money away.? Money comes from giving money away.? Americans have gotten lazy at what?? Giving money away.? They used to be really good at it.? Foreign aid, it used to be major major bucks.? Churches used to give away lots of money.? And now America's just got selfish.? So of course their economy collapsed.
In Buddhist terms, the minute you stop giving, then no more money will flow in your country, you see?? And the Chinese, who fifty years ago made a policy that there will not be a poor person in China, everyone will be fed, everyone will have a job.? Of course they're enjoying unprecedented prosperity!? Because they took responsibility for everybody else.
In times like this, people like us, people who came to this church who have some kind of brain on their shoulders, they have to open up and they have to be fearless.? Everyone else is like, "I don't know if I can do this adopt thing.? Can I do 50 cents a month?"? And you're like... [Lama Christie: "They can though!"]? By the way, you can.? [Laughter.]
By the way, we have a ring dinger in Ann Curry and Lama Ora, raise your hand, stand up.? They're like ringleaders.? They're going to say?we just gave this talk in Mexico, so all these Mexican people said, "I have ten pesos, can I give ten pesos a month, can I give a dollar a month?"? So they can make it... like a hundred of them will support one lady.? So if you want to do a shtick like that, if you're wimpy and want to do a shtick like that, that's fine.? You can put one dollar a month on your card.? Ten pesos, if want to do ten pesos, that's OK too.
But in times like this, intelligent people, spiritual people, they have to open up.? And they have to be brave.? And they have to be examples for other people.? And they have to put their money where their mouth is.? They have to say, "I believe that giving is where money comes from.? I'm so sure that I will commit, I will give."? And then all other people around you are afraid.? They're all talking?after the [local football] game there's a cocktail party somewhere?and they're all talking about how they can invest their money, how much money they lost, how much they have to cut back, and how they're going to have to watch their expenses now.? They're having that kind of cocktail party.
And we're in the church.? The people who understand how things work, they're in the church.? And they're having the opposite conversation: "How can I give away money?? If I keep the money for myself?" what did the verse say?? "If I keep it for myself, what will I give to other people?"? That's their problem.? That's angel dharma.? What's the devil dharma?? "If I give it away, what am I going to have?"? And then the angel dharma is "God, if I keep it, what am I going to give away?!"
These times, be brave and be an example for the people.? We have to anchor the society.? People who understand where things come from, now in our times they are the anchor for the rest of our country.? So just do it.
And I don't care.? Adopt one of these ladies, or just go through some other charitable thing.? It really doesn't matter.? But just be more giving than you were before the stock market thing, OK?
That's the real way to help your country.? That's the real way to help this country.? Be brave, and give.? And it doesn't have to be these Tibetan people.? If you want to give to Mexican people or Moroccan people or... it can't be yourself, OK?? But give.? And we'll turn this economy around.? Got it?
We'll take a break.? Write something down, come it and offer it on the the altar.? Say, "I can do one dollar a month, here's my e-mail."? And then they'll take it from there.? Or "I can do five."? Or "I'm going to adopt the whole family for $100 a month.? But I commit to do it for the rest of my life."
I'm not interested in someone who comes up with $100.? Not interested.? Or like that.? Don't do that.? If you can commit to something for as long as the woman works... by the way, we also have a pension plan for them.? Yeah, we are helping them for their retirement, something like that.? And all the accounting is being done by a man here who doesn't even know he's doing it yet... which is Guy.? [Laughter and applause.]? And I figure since Anna is attached there, she might be into the fundraising for women thing.? But Guy is just finishing a degree in accounting, right?? Close.? I think it's a good time for him to get this experience.
So, anyone who'd like to talk to us about your special partner problem, come up, and we'll tell you about ours, and we'll help each other.? So we'll take a break...