By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, December 16: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama said every human bring has the same potential as another and that having self confidence mattered.
Speaking at the National Law School in Bengaluru on Thursday, the Tibetan leader recalled an interaction with a black teacher during a visit to South Africa. “I congratulated them on the opportunities they now had under the new democratic constitution. One of them, who said he was a teacher, hung his head and told me, ‘But we can’t compete with these white people because our brains are not as good.’ I was shocked. I remonstrated with him. I told him that any brain specialist would tell him there are no differences between black and white people’s brains. Eventually he conceded with a sigh.”
The Tibetan leader said the Tibetans too had suffered similar prejudice from hardliners among Chinese officials who consider them uneducated and beset by blind faith. “However, experience shows that when we make the effort, we Tibetans are equal to Chinese. The key is to have self-confidence,” said the Tibetan spiritual leader.
Attended by 400 students and faculty, the Nobel Peace laureate spoke on the importance to have a peaceful mind despite all the ‘physical upsets’.
“Joy is something that takes place on a mental level. This is the same for us all, whether we take account of superficial differences of nationality, race, color, religion and so forth among us, or not,” he said.
The Tibetan leader noted that the problems arise when humans pay too much attention to the secondary differences between them. “The solution is not to be found in acquiring money or weapons, but in cultivating a sense of the oneness of humanity. I tell people this whenever I get the chance,” he said while citing the example of India being the ideal for secular ethics.
The 81-year old currently on tour of South India also said that the young generations of the 21st century have the potential to shape the future of the world and make it a ‘happier and more peaceful place’.
