His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been awarded the 15th Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance, an award given annually to honour inspirational individuals who can serve as a role model, for the University of California, Merced. The US$15,000 award was given to His Holiness for his life-long advocacy for peace, compassion and kindness.
The virtual award ceremony was held in on September 18 prior to the observance of the International Day of Peace on September 21; this year’s theme was “End racism. Build peace” as declared by the United Nations.
During the virtual ceremony, His Holiness spoke about the importance of protecting the environment, pursuing education, warm-heartedness, achieving inner peace and religious harmony, and attaining complete freedom and genuine autonomy of the Tibetan culture, identity and language.
His Holiness continued saying, “Different colour, different religious faith, different country — that is not important. What is important is that we are all human beings who have to live together on this planet.”
“In our increasingly politically-divided and highly confrontational world, the messages of kindness, peace, compassion and forgiveness of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama are helpful, not only in advancing sustainable social justice using non-violent methods but also as a path to better interpersonal relations and a more meaningful life” said Sherrie Spendlove, the founder of the Alice and Clifford Spendlove prize, in a press release.
She added, “The Dalai Lama is an internationally-acclaimed spiritual leader whose work promotes peace and is recognised as such by many other international spiritual leaders”.
The Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize was founded by Sherrie Spendlove in honour of her parents, Alice and Clifford.
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