The Paradox of Our Time - by Dalai Lama

 About the Author:

Dalai Lama are important monks of the Gelug School, the newest School of Tibetan Buddhism which was formerly headed by the Gandem Tripas. The Dalai Lama title was created by Altan Khan, the prince of Shunyi, granted by Ming Dynasty, in 1578. The 14^th Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyasto who is author of this poem.

Introduction:

The paradox of our time is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; we have big roadways but narrow views; we spend more money but gain less happiness; we have big houses but small families live in; we have more degrees but less sense; we have more knowledge but less judgement; we have more experts but less solutions to the problems and we have more medicine but less people are benefited.

Less or More:

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much and pray too seldom and hate too often.

Do’s and Don’t’s:

We have learned how to make a living, but not a life. We have added years to life not life to years. We have been all the way to the moon and back but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbours. We have conquered outer space but not inner space. We have done larger things, but not better things. we have cleaned the air, but polluted the soul.  We have split the atom but not our prejudice. We write more but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We are too rush, but no patience to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and do less.

Facts and Truth:

These are the times of fast foods, and slow digestion. Today, men are rich but with small characters and they try to concentrate on earning steep profits but forget to maintain good relationship. There are the days of two incomes but more divorce. The houses are fancier but these are broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies and pills that do everything from cheer, but they are meant for slow killing. There are the days which show only showy things but inside them is found nothing. When this thought is carried through technology, you may have chance of sharing this insight or deleting it.

 Conclusion:

Thus in this poem, Dalai Lama talks about how the modern man fails to love his kith and kin and spends most of his time with machines, how he fails to establish relationship with other, how he leads materialistic life, how he pollutes his soul, how he baits his life to earn nothing but money, and how he fails to understand the cosmos. He also gives the choice of choosing his resentment on modern man and his life style when it reaches him through technology.