The fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, has made a new vision of "universal responsibility" a cornerstone of his social teaching. In this article, this concept of universal responsibility will be introduced and examined from a Buddhist/Taoist perspective.
What is Universal Responsibility?
In his book Ethics for the New Millennium, the Dalai Lama describes universal responsibility thusly:
"...I am convinced that it is essential that we cultivate a sense of what I call Universal Responsibility. This may not be an exact translation of the Tibetan term I have in mind, chi sem, which means, literally, universal (chi) consciousness (sem). Although the notion of responsibility is implied rather than explicit in the Tibetan, it is definitely there...
...To develop a sense of universal responsibility of the universal dimension of our every act and of the equal right of all others to happiness and not to suffer is to develop an attitude of mind whereby, when we see an opportunity to benefit others, we will take it in preference to merely looking after our own narrow interests. Of course we care about what is beyond our scope - we accept it as part of nature and concern ourselves with doing what we can."
For the Dalai Lama, a lifelong Buddhist, human beings are fundamentally interconnected at the deepest level, and throughout the realm of experience. Universal responsibility could easily be said to be synonomous with compassion - the core value which underlies all Buddhist ethical teaching.
In this vein, the Dalai Lama says, "An important benefit of developing such a sense of universal responsibility is that it helps us become sensitive to all others--not just those closest to us. We come to see the need to care especially for those members of the human family who suffer most."
Universal Responsibility in World Affairs
The Dalai Lama has never been an isolated, cloistered monk. Rather, the immediacy of his own political struggles in Tibet and his subsequent exile have made him acutely conscious of world affairs. In regard to the impact of a doctrine of universal responsibility in political matters, he argues persuasively for numerous reforms.
"I believe that the culture of perpetual economic growth needs to be questioned. In my view, it fosters discontent, and with this comes a great number of problems, both social and environmental. There is also the fact that in devoting ourselves so wholeheartedly to material development we neglect the implications this has for the wider community. This is less a matter of the gap between First and Third World, North and South, between developed and underdeveloped, between rich and poor, being immoral and wrong. It is both of these. But in some ways more significant is the fact, that such inequality is itself the source of trouble for everyone."
In his written works and talks, the Dalai Lama goes on to address many such critical problems facing human civilization, while always calling for greater awareness and compassion. Such awareness and compassion, taken together, form the core of the Dalai Lama's doctrine of universal responsibility.
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