Lion's Roar

  • Meditation
  • Buddhist Wisdom
  • Life & Culture
  • The Magazine
  • Buddhadharma
  • Store

Lion's Roar

DONATE SUBSCRIBE
  • Meditation
  • Buddhist Wisdom
  • Life & Culture
  • The Magazine
  • Buddhadharma
  • Store

Dalai Lama: Economic Crisis of Values

by Jesse Hiltz| July 15, 2009

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

When the Dalai Lama recently spoke with Welt Online to discuss the economic crisis, he diagnosed the problem as a crisis of individual moral responsibility. What we’re experiencing is not, it seems, just an unfortunate turn of the market economy.

Photo by Neonbrand

The prognosis: this unfortunate period will lead us, hopefully, toward the treatment: the moral education of individuals from a young age. By doing this, the Lama believes, we will someday be prepared for a “responsible free market economy.”

This is much more then a mere Utopian hope. The Dalai Lama pointed out that the trace of moral irresponsibility permeates through many of our largest, most powerful institutions. And this goes for both the political and economic arenas. He compared those large companies being blamed for the crash to totalitarian socialist regimes. “Those who assert themselves often have very little morale, and those who have a good sense of morale often don’t know how to assert themselves. This problem, by the way, is much larger in socialism than in economics. Often times the incompetent were leaders [who] governed and constricted the competent. We saw what happens then. A company that behaves the same way will fail because it wastes so much potential and will never develop its own values.”

The Dalai Lama may not be on good terms with China’s communism, but his thinking seems to be in congruence with Marx on one issue; the problems at hand are due to the commodity fetishism of capitalism’s free market. Commodity fetishism is the belief that the value of an object is inherent to the object and not the result of labor value. Or, in a more Buddhist way of putting things, it assumes that object is more than our own projections onto it.

His Holiness sees this as the core of the problem. At our very centers, we need to radically readjust our moral responsibly, self-discipline, and value. For example, when an institution, be it China or dealers of sub-prime mortgages, focuses on money and “nothing but money,” it cannot recognize any destructive trajectory it might be on.

This is not religious idealism, the Dalai Lama emphasizes. In the end, the lessons here can be derived practically and pragmatically through the consideration of our own experience. “These are experiences I can share with people,” says the Dalai Lama. “But the moral principles we are talking about here give me an inner strength, and inner strength gives me inner peace.”

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Can you help us at a critical time?

COVID-19 has brought tremendous suffering, uncertainty, fear, and strain to the world.

Our sincere wish is that these Buddhist teachings, guided practices, and stories can be a balm in these difficult times. Over the past month, over 400,000 readers like you have visited our site, reading almost a million pages and streaming over 120,000 hours of video teachings. We want to provide even more Buddhist wisdom but our resources are strained. Can you help us?

No one is free from the pandemic’s impact, including Lion’s Roar. We rely significantly on advertising and newsstand sales to support our work — both of which have dropped precipitously this year. Can you lend your support to Lion’s Roar at this critical time?

SUPPORT LION’S ROAR

Avatar

About Jesse Hiltz

Topics: Breaking News, Business, Dalai Lama, Money

Related Posts...

The Dalai Lama and Greta Thunberg Unite Against the Climate Crisis
by Ross Nervig
The Dalai Lama on Surviving the Climate Crisis Together
by Franz Alt
Biden’s presidential win: Buddhists respond
by Lilly Greenblatt

Welcome to LionsRoar.com

By Lion's Roar Staff

We’re glad to have you here. But first: who are “we”? You may very well know us as the publishers of two Buddhist magazines, the Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma. Then again, you may not know us at all. Either way, please allow us to re-introduce ourselves: We’re the Shambhala Sun Foundation. We [...]

  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscriber Services
  • Privacy
  • BUDDHIST DIRECTORY
  • About Us
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
TEACHINGS
  • Chan & Zen
  • Nichiren
  • Pure Land
  • Shin
  • Theravada & Insight
  • Vajrayana & Tibetan
  • More…
LIFE
  • Death & Dying
  • Difficult Times
  • Everyday Life
  • Food & Eating
  • Love & Relationships
  • Wellness & Psychology
  • More…
EXPLORE BUDDHISM
  • By the Numbers
  • FAQs
  • For Beginners
  • Glossary
  • How to Meditate
  • The Buddha
  • More…
NEWS
  • Breaking News
  • Climate Change
  • Contemporary Art
  • Current Events
  • Politics & Society
  • Teachers & Centers
  • More…

© 2021 Lion's Roar | Email: [email protected] | Tel: 902.422.8404 | Published by Lion's Roar Foundation