By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, Sept 22: The Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama yesterday concluded his European schedule after celebrating the ‘World Peace Day’ amid religious leaders at the UNESCO world heritage site, Church of Peace in Swidnica, Poland.
Religious leaders including the Dalai Lama was invited to sign an ‘Appeal for Peace’ which the Mayor of Wroclaw, Rafal Dutkiewicz, said was necessitated by alarming incidents around the world that threatened peace such as Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and North Korea’s excessive Nuclear weapon testing, among others.
“Peace is something that must arise through inner peace. It cannot be built on the basis of destructive emotions like fear and anger,” the Tibetan leader told the gathering. He conveyed a message of transcendence in the face of various differentiating factors. “Despite philosophical differences, all our major religious traditions convey a common message of love. Sadly however, we are seeing today conflicts arising in the name of religion. Consequently, we need to make special efforts to promote harmony between our traditions based on mutual respect. Whether we are Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Hindu, if we think of ourselves as religious, we should make our faith part of our daily life. Not only should we be compassionate in our conduct, we should be happy,” the egalitarian leader said before signing the appeal for peace.
The signatories for the land mark initiative were Bishop Waldemar Pytel; Priest Eugeniusz Cybulski – representative of Orthodox Church; Archbishop Jozef Kupny; Bishop Włodzimierz Juszczak – Greek Catholic Church, Immam Ali Abi Issa, Rabbi David Bassok and Bishop of Swidnica Ignacy Dec, pastor Edward Pawłowski.
Before concluding the day, the 81 year old gave an interview to CBS Sunday Morning and Good Morning Britain (ITV) regarding the recently published ‘The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World’ based on conversations he held with his friend , Bishop Desmond Tutu and written by Douglas Carlton Abrams. The book published by Penguin Random House has already hit stands.
The book touted as a fitting remedy to the turmoil of the world has received encouraging reviews. Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson called it “A bright spot of hope and love in this world.”
