His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to members of the Do Ngak Kunphen Ling Tibetan Buddhist Center for Universal Peace in Danbury CT
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has spoken to thousands of people and received two honorary doctorates during a speaking tour of the United States. His October visit included speaking engagements at nine universities, and the office of His Holiness estimates about 73,000 people attended his talks.
As part of his tour, he was the guest of Western Connecticut State University, which awarded him an honorary doctorate for his work in spreading peace and compassion in the world. His Holiness the Dalai Lama also addressed about 700 Tibetans before speaking about the Art of Compassion to 3,500 people at the university.
In New York City, His Holiness visited Hunter College and took part in a panel discussion, which was attended by about 600 Chinese students, artists, and academics. He also received an honorary doctorate from Hunter College.
Other speaking engagements included a discussion about the essence of Buddhism to the Mongolian and Tibetan communities of New Jersey and New York. He also participated in the Common Ground for Peace Forum in Syracuse, New York, where he stated, “Peace is not the mere absence of violence; peace must come from inner peace. And inner peace comes from taking others’ interests into account.”
In Williamsburg, Virginia, at the College of William and Mary, he spoke to approximately 8,000 students about human compassion. He stated, “I really feel that some people neglect and overlook compassion because they associate it with religion. Of course, everyone is free to choose whether they pay religion any regard, but to neglect compassion is a mistake because it is the source of our own well-being.”
At Middlebury College, in Vermont, His Holiness addressed 2,800 students and spoke about education and what young people could do to contribute to world peace. “Study. Become experts in different fields. Think more about society. And while you’re studying think more holistically, take the bigger picture into account.” He also spoke about the practice of moral ethics, which he said should be entirely voluntary and implemented on a personal level.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his talk at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA
“I often tell Buddhists, when I’m teaching, unless you practice with sincerity, there is a risk of religion becoming a cover for hypocrisy. There are people who pay lip service to religion, but seem to be praying, ‘Please bless me in my mischief.’”
His Holiness then travelled to London, in the United Kingdom, where he took part in a Symposium on Ethics for a More Prosperous World on 23 October, as the guest of the Legatum Institute. His Holiness told the audience that education is the most important tool to creating change. He said there is a need to promote fundamental human values, which, together with human intelligence, can be the basis for creating a better world.
“Our education systems at present are intended to provide benefit, so it’s logical that if we introduce ethics into education we can improve popular well-being,” he said. His Holiness stated that his generation had created “enough problems in the last century” and he hoped the twenty-first century would be more sensible and peaceful.
He returned to India in late October, where he is scheduled to give three days of teachings in Dharamsala.
Print
Email