By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, January 21: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama yesterday spoke on “Compassion and Ethics” to hundreds of doctors and staff of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, formerly known as Willingdon Hospital, one of the oldest hospitals in Delhi.
The 79-year-old Tibetan Nobel laureate outlined the importance of cultivating a good heart and positive motivation while treating patients. “The key is to smile and be warm in your interactions. The stern faced doctor treats his patients as little more than machines to be fixed, whereas the doctor who smiles understands the importance of putting the patient at ease. Doctors and nurses are truly admirable in their efforts to help others. I readily speak about compassion, but you people put it into effect. Wonderful,” the Tibetan leader told doctors and nurses.
Describing himself as a “great admirer of the thought of the ancient India,” the Tibetan leader said that Ahimsa or non-violence gave rise to widespread tolerance and a strong sense of secularism.
His Holiness said that India is a country where the world’s major religions have long lived together in harmony except for some occasional unfortunate incidents. “Since all religious traditions talk about love, compassion and forgiveness, they should all be able to live together in respect and harmony. Such an understanding will be of great help to humanity,” he said.
He said all human beings are the same physically, mentally and emotionally and that every living being wants happiness. Unlike animals, he said, humans have intelligence to make others happy. “Our intelligence and our more powerful brains give us the potential to make others happy besides ourselves. And yet, when we use our intelligence in negative or destructive ways, we create problems such as the organized or mechanized violence that is war. This is why we need to use our intelligence more positively and see ourselves as just as one among seven billion other human beings.”
His Holiness is scheduled to give a public talk and a one-day teaching based on the Dhammapada, organized by the Youth Buddhist Society (YBS) of India in Sankisa, Uttar Pradesh, from January 31- February 1.
