(TibetanReview.net, Sep24’22) – Interacting with young peace activists from conflict-affected regions around the world, the Dalai Lama has on Sep 22 emphasized the fundamental sameness and equality of all human beings. He therefore felt that everyone should encourage a strong sense of brotherhood and sisterhood across this world.
“Each of us has two eyes, one nose, one mouth. If one of us were to have three eyes, that would be a surprise. If we examine our brains, they are equally complex. Therefore, we have to encourage a strong sense of brotherhood and sisterhood, He said.
And he continued:
“As I said we’re all born the same way, and in the end we all die the same way. When that happens, it’s not ceremony that’s important, but whether we have the warm affection of relatives and friends around us.
“As I told former (Indian) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, I expect to live another 15 or 20 years; but when I die, I’d prefer to be free and surrounded by friends in India, not hard-hearted Chinese Communist officials.
“Freedom is important in our lives. We need to be free to be able to exercise our brains, to be able always to ask, ‘Why?’ From this point of view totalitarian systems are wholly unfavourable. It’s freedom that fosters warm-heartedness and compassion, which in turn lead to inner peace. When you’re warm-hearted there’s no basis to be afraid. Fear is bad for the mind and too easily leads to anger. And anger is the real foe of peace of mind.”
He cited the European Union as an exemplar for us to think more about common interest by people of different nations and called for a Union of Humanity.
The occasion was his annual two-day interaction with young leaders and peace-builders from the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) which began at his exile residence in Dharamsaala on Sep 22. Participating in it were 26 young leaders from 12 conflict-affected regions that included South Sudan, Syria, Colombia, Somalia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Venezuela, Tunisia, Iraq, Libya, etc.
The theme on the first day’s interaction was how children of war can become leaders for peace based on belonging and compassion while the second day’s was inner peace and a commitment to equality and justice.
The annual event, organized by the USIP, had to be held online in the last two years due to the Coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
David Yang, Vice President for Applied Conflict Transformation at USIP, moderated this year’s interaction, which was the seventh. He called peace-building a spiritual effort.
Asked whether there would be a 15th Dalai Lama, the exile Tibetan spiritual leader has replied: “I’m now 87 and I think I can live for another 15 or 20 years, so whether or not there will be a fifteenth Dalai Lama is not my main concern right now. Probably I’ll be born on this planet because I have a connection to this world. The first Dalai Lama said he wanted to be born in Tibet so he could continue to serve the Tibetan people and the Buddhadharma.
“My determination is to serve sentient beings, but I’m especially familiar with this planet and its people. But where I’ll be born, I don’t know. I have a connection to the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. I’m something like his representative, so it may be a matter of his wish.”
(Source: dalaialma.com)