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TENZIN WANGYAL RINPOCHE
T.W.: Yes, they will be reborn somewhere else. It is not like they are disappearing completely; they will be reborn.
L.M.: Although they think they will no longer exist, and that accounts for much of their fear?
T.W.: No, not as a Tibetan. They don't think that way; Westerners, they might. We Tibetans think, we pray for a better rebirth. It is a little different. If you die as a human, you can be born back as a human. Or you can be born in a hell. Or, you can be born in a heaven. It always depends on what you have done in your past. It shows, it determines, your future.
L.M.: Could you be reborn as an animal, or in a nonhuman form?
T.W.: Yes, you can be born as an animal too.
L.M.: But for someone who joyfully does the practice, and who tries to lead a good life, their going down into an animal birth usually wouldn't be necessary?
T.W.: Yes, that's right.
L.M.: Today we are living in a very fluid environment, and there is a lot of interaction among the religions. Just forty years ago, you might have thought there was only Protestant, Catholic, and Jew in America. Now we have had since the sixties a wide array of Eastern teachings being made available. What kind of opportunities do you see now for dialogue among the world religions—East and West?
T.W.: I think sometimes that for different religious leaders it might not be so easy to have interreligious dialogue, because of certain beliefs and differences. Still, I think that for many people who do enter into this dialogue, that it is a healing experience. And that the initial discomfort disappears. Having tolerance for differences—for unity and diversity as they call it--seems to be important. You believe in that, I believe in this; yet we respect each other. I am not afraid of you, you are not afraid of me. There might be some things you do, they might be really good to do. So I learn from that. People can have exchanges, that is a very natural thing. And all those changes will benefit human beings.
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