For the rest of the year, I would like to take a moment and thank the people who have had a significant impact on me as an individual.

The way they have lived their lives and their body of work has had an outsized impact on how I think about life in general and and work, in particular.

Some of these are contemporary thinkers and some of them are just a memory. Some of them are famous in their own rights and some of them are yet to be found by others. Some of them are young and some of them are old. Some of them are business leaders, some thought leaders, some sportsmen and some coaches. Some of them are artists and some spiritual leaders.

However, if we look deeply, all of them are like you and me, ordinary people who’ve had an extra-ordinary impact on me and potentially a lot of others. And once you get to know them, may be they will have a similar impact on you as well or maybe not, only time will tell.

The reason I am putting together this list and share what I have learnt from them, to thank them publicly for being a teacher and teaching me important lessons in life and in the hope that some of you might be inspired by their company and they can impact you and your life as they have impacted mine.

So, let’s get started.

8. His Holiness – The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

As I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, one of the significant influences in my life was my introduction to Swami Vivekananda. He also introduced to me some early Buddhist teachings, just to contrast and compare with the Hindu philosophy.

However, I did not truly become interested in Buddhism, its teaching or His Holiness The Dalai Lama until I watched a Brad Pitt film – Seven Years in Tibet. While I enjoyed the story telling and the art of the movie, what moved me more was the portrayal of the Dalai Lama. That movie created an interest in the Dalai Lama and his teachings that has sustained for more than a decade now.

I have read a lot of what he has written about living and death. I have listened to countless hours of interviews on podcasts and watched hours and hours of videos of his lectures and conversations where he answers questions from his fans (I don’t know what else to call them).

Though I haven’t had the opportunity to interact with him personally (hoping that someday I do get an opportunity), from what I have seen, heard and read about him, he seems to be deeply compassionate of all life, irrespective of which race, religion or colour of humans. I’ve tried to learn from him this ability to be compassionate.

Here is a recent talk he gave about compassion and love.

Another thing that I have seen in him and I try to emulate as much as possible is the child like wonder and the ability to have fun along the way. Just because he is a religious leader doesn’t necessarily mean that he needs to be serious all the time. I’ve seen him have fun on stage with people in his interactions, having fun while answering questions. His laughter is so contagious.

Here is a montage of him having fun.

Even though his is a Buddhist monk and the leader of his people, he never tries to convince anyone to adopt his world view. He is happy to let people follow their own belief’s and their world-views. This ability to hold his own worldview, while also realising and accepting all the other world-views is the foundation on which the future of the world rests. He sees everyone of us as a human being and not as a Hindu or a Muslim or a Buddhist. He also says that If he can do that, everyone else can do that as well.

Here is his lecture at Stanford on a Meaningful Life.

Another thing that I really like about him is also the fact that he doesn’t shy away from learning. He has collaborated with scientists so that they can study monks’s brains to figure out what happens to our brains because of long cycles of meditations.

There are not many religious leaders who are open and willing to work with modern scientists to explore and understand the human brain better. I believe that all of us can benefit from having such an open mind to learn new things and continuously update our own understanding of ourselves.

Here is the Dalai Lama having a conversation on Buddhism and Western Science.

He also openly talks about his own struggles and practices to stay calm and happy. He openly talks about the importance of practice in our lives. He has openly shared about his own meditation practice and the importance of reflection.

Here he shares the stages of meditation according to Buddhist philosophy, which directs his own practice.

His ability to forgive the people who oppressed him and his clan decades ago teaches us the importance of forgiveness. His ability to recognise the reality around him and not deny the same is another lesson that I try to take from his life.

Here is his thoughts on forgiveness.

All his life, he has been a leader of his people, been a political and religious leader and in a way a thought leaders about life and is a brilliant role model for leaders to emulate.

He is compassionate, humble, has a lot of fun, is serious about his own craft and takes his practice seriously, takes enough rest to recuperate, has child like wonder and is always willing to learn, communicates his vision of the future that he wants to see come alive, shows a lot of empathy to people, comes down to the level of his audience when explaining difficult to understand concepts and last but not the least, doesn’t take himself and his position too seriously.

All of these are brilliant qualities for us if we aspire to be a good leader and a better human being. In a recent talk he shares answers questions around leadership and success here.

Conclusion:

What I really like about him is his ability to take complicated Buddhist philosophy and convert them into simple, easy to understand bits of insights and information that even the uninitiated can learn from and apply in their lives. I believe that he is probably one of the most influential person in my life who has made me think about how to live by reflecting about death.

Here is Dalai Lama’s advice for living and dying.