His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been on tour, visiting the United States where he attended the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington DC along with prominent spiritual leaders, the US President Barack Obama and other US congressmen and women. His Holiness followed his visit to America with a trip to Switzerland, Norway and Denmark.
While in Washington, the Dalai Lama joined a panel discussion organised by the Development Organisation for Societies in Transition on the theme “Service in Action,” aimed at creating a dialogue with American Muslims on preventing radicalisation and countering violent extremism.
He traveled to Besel in Switzerland on February 6, where he was welcomed by many Tibetans and Tibet friends at Zurich airport. His Holiness was invited by the Tibetan Community of Switzerland and Liechtenstein to give a teaching and public talk on “Ethics for Today’s World”. He gave a teaching on Nagarjuna’s “A Commentary on Awakening Mind”’ the following day.
His Holiness gave the Avalokiteshvara Empowerment and spoke on Secular Ethics. During the talk, he spoke of the need for inner peace in order to be a happier person, “All seven billion human beings alive today face problems. No one is without problems, but when faced with them our mental attitude makes a big difference to how we respond. Of course, physical facilities and comfort are important and have their place. But I have met people who have all the facilities and comfort they could want who are still unhappy. [….] What we need is inner peace, the kind of peace that remains undisturbed in the midst of trouble.”
Arriving in Norway, the Dalai Lama attended the International Student Festival in Trondheim, a meeting place for discussion and debate.
Traveling to Copenhagen, His Holiness told Tibetans he me there, “Things are changing in China. There will be an opportunity for us to return to our homeland. We have all worked hard and that day will dawn. Do not lose heart.” He also met Danish religious representatives and a group of Danish parliamentarians. His Holiness concluded the trip with a teaching on “Eight Verses for Training the Mind” at the Bella Conference Centre in Copenhagen.
Read more about His Holiness making headlines in America here: https://contactmagazine.net/articles/holiness-hits-worlds-headlines/