The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World

by Dalai Lama XIV

EXTREME NATIONALISM “WELL, THIS week we have been talking about Us Versus Them divisions, and the dangers of this progressing to prejudice, conflict, and violence. I am just thinking that identifying with one’s country or nation seems to be one of the most powerful examples of Us. It seems that following a period of national crisis there always seems to be this resurgence of patriotism and nationalism. Of course a lot of the time this nationalism expresses itself as a kind of vocal patriotism, expressions of support for one’s country, a lot of flag-waving, and so on. But historically, the more intense this kind of nationalism, the greater the danger of falling into destructive patterns, and it is not much of a leap to go from a zealous kind of patriotism to overt hostility toward other countries. This kind of thing has acted as a fuel for a lot of conflicts in history.