DHARAMSHALA, October 9: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is currently on fortnight visit to the United States of America made a call to make this century a century of compassion. The Nobel Peace laureate was speaking on ‘Pillars of Responsible Citizenship in the 21st Century Global Village’ to some 10,000 people at the Gwinnet Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Historians say 200 million people died violently during the twentieth century, despite many wonderful developments, it was a period of bloodshed and violence. I believe that if we think of others as our human brothers and sisters there will be no room to cheat, deceive and fight them,” said the Dalai Lama.
His Holiness then reiterated the need to solve the problems and conflicts through dialogue instead of using force.
“We need to think less of ‘them’ and ‘us’ and take others into account. There will always be sources of conflict between us, but when they arise we need to talk them through not fight about them.”
The Tibetan leader further urged everyone to apply secular ethics based on common sense, common experience and scientific findings to overcome the problems.
“Society will not be changed by UN intervention or by rulings from Capitol Hill. Society is made up of individuals, so change must start with individuals. Change will come not from giving or spending money, but from changing our minds.”
Later in the day, His Holiness took part in a panel discussion on ‘Secular Ethics and Education’. He noted that many of the problems faced by human being is his own creation and that its source is not something physical.
“Destructive emotions like anger and fear destroy our peace of mind and when our peace of mind is gone, our physical well-being is gone too. Through education and awareness we can learn to reduce our negative emotions.”
His Holiness also met with key members of the Emory-Tibet Medical Science Initiative and Tibetan Medicinal Research and learned about some of the scientific researches they are conducting on Tibetan medicine.
From October 12 to 14, His Holiness will give a three-day teaching on Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (chodjug) at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico.
