Lady Gaga recently sat down with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to discuss kindness, compassion, and inner peace by answering questions from young and old all over the world. You can watch the full video below. The Dalai Lama does most of the speaking, but Lady Gaga contributes her opinions here and there. You might need to turn on the subtitles if you’re having difficulty understanding.
The main points addressed were regarding self worth, caring for others, meditation, and how to cope with tragedy. The Dalai Lama talked about how mental health very much depends on how you care for others. He said that if you care for others, you will feel less self-centred, and more confident. It will give you purpose and direction in life, and you will be less likely to feel lonely and turn to negative distractions such as self harm and suicide. He said much of society’s self centred attitudes stems from our culture of materialsim, and the general “lack of compassion”.
The Dalai Lama then went on to discuss different methods of meditation. One type of meditation is when you let your mind be calm, still and empty, which he compared to a tranquilizer. Another kind of meditation is when you analyze your life and situation. He advises that you use this type more often, to help achieve inner peace. The Dalai Lama also addresses the connection between mental and physical health, and how they are very dependent on each other.
There are always problems to face, but it makes a difference if our minds are calm.
— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) June 27, 2016
One question asked how it is possible to achieve inner peace while so many horrible acts are still going on in the world. The Dalai Lama advised to not avoid the issue, but to look at problems from a wider perspective, where it can be more bearable. When you can see both the positive and negative in a situation, it is easier to find a solution and face it.
The Dalai Lama also holds out hope for future generations, saying “the future rests on the shoulders of the young”. He said that the past cannot be changed, but the future is yet to come.
There were also some lighter moments during the chat. At one point, Lady Gaga joked: “you didn’t know this, but I’m much older than you.” There was also a cute moment when the Dalai Lama was amused at a phone chime that sounded like a bird whistle.
With over 60 million Twitter followers, Lady Gaga is using her extremely large platform to spread messages of goodness to her followers. When you have a large influence as a celebrity, at some point in your career you will have to make a choice about how you will use it. You can use it to put out positive messages, negative messages or anything in between. The fact that Lady Gaga is contributing to the discussion about human compassion proves she has chosen to use her platform for something that really matters. She has also been a strong advocate for other world issues, such as gun control and LGBTQ+ rights.
Lady Gaga’s chat with the Dalai Lama is a step in the right direction. It is meant to open lines of discussion for those who watched it, to communicate about the state of humanity on both societal and individual levels. We hope it impacted those who saw it in some way. Thank you to both Lady Gaga and His Holiness the Dalai Lama for hosting this chat that has informed and opened the minds of many people around the world.
What are your opinions on the issues addressed in this discussion? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @CelebMix.