Ethics For The New Millennium (1999)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Starring His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama
Directed by Morgan Harris
Translator: Dr. Thubten Jinpa Langri

Released by: Wellspring
Region: 1
Rating: NR
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Rent it at least

One of the greatest peacemakers of our time, His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama all too rarely speaks in public to the West. This disc presents a talk given by the Dalai Lama at the Royal Albert Hall in London in 1999, regarding the upcoming millennium and how it presents an opportunity for everyone to start over with a new, dedicated ethic.

The heart of the Dalai Lama's argument here is that force is a relic of the old way, a former way of approaching international relations. Given that the new world economy is so strongly inter-dependent, destruction of our neighbors is literally destruction of ourselves. Therefore, it is to our own benefit, not to mention our human responsibility, to care for our neighbors, much less avoid war with them. He does not approach this topic naively—indeed, he suggests at one point that there may be situations when force is necessary to preserve a greater peace—but his idea of when force is necessary is much rarer than it is for the rest of us.

After an hour or so of his lecture, His Holiness answers questions from the audience. Examples of questions they ask include "How do you feel about the death penalty?" and so forth. When asked if he will lead three minutes of prayer for world peace, the Dalai Lama consents to do so at the end of the evening, but only one minute as that's "enough." He also takes the opportunity to discuss how actions are much better than prayer; this is a man of the cloth who is not removed from the world.

The film quality here is on par with a good quality television show. The colors are slightly washed out, but the focus of this show is not fancy filming, but rather the sound of the Dalai Lama's philosophy. His strong, deep voice sounds out clearly and distinctly, which is what really matters here, though he is rather adorable curled up in his chair. His Holiness speaks good English, but there is a translator on hand for the few times when his English fails him.

Over all, if you are at all interested in the Dalai Lama, Buddhist thought, world politics, personal ethics, or basically the modern world in general, then you owe it to yourself to see this disc. The Dalai Lama does not promise easy answers--instead he promises difficulties and hard choices--but he does make a good argument in favor of peace wherever possible. As always, he raises interesting questions for viewers to ponder long after the experience of watching the disc has ended: "Why are there poor people in America, a wealthy country?", "Is human nature gentleness?", "Where does anger come from, and what is our best response to it?" He leads us on a discussion of which parts of our mind are useful and which are harmful, and certainly, that's something all of us could stand to consider daily. The answer to war is compassion and caring, being daily active in making the world better, and in hearing him speak, we are encouraged and motivated to do something, everyday, to make our existence worthwhile.