The Dalai Lama: Why I’m hopeful about the world’s future

His Holiness The Dalai Lama: It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the 21st century does not repeat the pain and bloodshed of the past.

His Holiness The Dalai Lama: It is our collective responsibility to ensure that the 21st century does not repeat the pain and bloodshed of the past.

The Dalai Lama: Why I’m hopeful about the world’s future

The Washington Post, Opinions, 13 June 2016

By The Dalai Lama
(The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of Tibet. Since 1959, he has lived in exile in Dharamsala in northern India.)
Almost six decades have passed since I left my homeland, Tibet, and became a refugee. Thanks to the kindness of the government and people of India, we Tibetans found a second home where we could live in dignity and freedom, able to keep our language, culture and Buddhist traditions alive. Continue reading »

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace.

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: Anwar Sadat Lecture for Peace.
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA, May 2013. Lightly edited by Alexander Berzin.

Introduction

When I give public talks, there is no need for formality. Actually, we are the same human beings. As human beings, the way we are born and die is, by their nature, without any formality. We come and go, just like that. Therefore, when I start my talks, I prefer to mention to you, my respected elder brothers and sisters and respected younger brothers and sisters, that we are the same human beings. We are part of a seven billion strong human family, and each of us wants a happy life, which is very much related with a peaceful life. Continue reading »

H.H. Dalai Lama: Universal Responsibility

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Universal Responsibility in the Modern World

Transcript of His Holiness’s Public Talk on Universal Responsibility in the Modern World. Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom, May 22, 2008.

Riki Hyde-Chambers (Chairman of Tibet Society): Ladies and gentlemen, it is my very great privilege to introduce you to His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.



Someone in audience: We love you.



His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Thank you.

Firstly, let me sit more comfortably. Don’t worry, I am not going to meditate in silence. Continue reading »

H.H. Dalai Lama: A Human Approach to World Peace

A Human Approach to World Peace

By His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Introduction

When we rise in the morning and listen to the radio or read the newspaper, we are confronted with the same sad news: violence, crime, wars, and disasters. I cannot recall a single day without a report of something terrible happening somewhere. Even in these modern times it is clear that one’s precious life is not safe. No former generation has had to experience so much bad news as we face today; this constant awareness of fear Continue reading »

H. H. Dalai Lama: Finding Inner Peace

His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama: Finding Inner Peace and Fulfillment. Nottingham, England, 24 May 2008.
Transcribed, translated in parts, and lightly edited by Alexander Berzin.

The Importance of Investigating the Reality of a Situation

Inner peace is related to mental calmness. Physical experience doesn’t necessarily determine our mental peace. If we have mental peace, then the physical level is not so important.

Now, do we develop inner peace through prayer? No, not really. Through physical training? No. Just through gaining knowledge? No. Through deadening our feeling? No. But when facing any difficult situation, if, on the basis of full awareness of the benefits and harms of any possible action and its consequences, we face that situation, then our mind is not disturbed and that’s real inner peace. Continue reading »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Importance of Education

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Importance of Education

From his speech in Dharamsala to a large gathering of followers from Tibet on Mar 27, 2006, the Dalai Lama warns of extreme dangers facing the survival of the Tibetan identity while emphasizing that modern education is indispensable for sustaining the Tibetan Buddhist culture and ethnicity in these most difficult circumstances in Tibet’s history.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama

I always keep saying that the broad masses of the Tibetans in Tibet are the real masters of the Tibetan destiny, Continue reading »

H.H. The Dalai Lama on Sept. 11, 2001

Relevant Comments by HH The Dalai Lama Subsequent to the Sept. 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on the US

Non-Violence, the Appropriate and Effective Response to Human Conflicts

The 11th September attack on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon were deeply shocking and very sad. I regard such terrible destructive actions as acts of hatred, for violence is the result of destructive emotions. Continue reading »

H.H. Dalai Lama: The Global Community and The Need for Universal Responsibility

The Global Community and The Need for Universal Responsibility

By His Holiness the Dalai Lama

The global community

As the twentieth century draws to a close, we find that the world has grown smaller and the world’s people have become almost one community. Political and military alliances have created large multinational groups, industry and international trade have produced a global economy, and worldwide communications are eliminating ancient barriers of distance, language and race. We are also being drawn together by the grave problems we face: overpopulation, dwindling natural resources, and an environmental crisis that threatens our air, water, and trees, along with the vast number of beautiful life forms that are the very foundation of existence on this small planet we share.

I believe that to meet the challenge of our times, human beings will have to develop a greater sense of universal responsibility. Continue reading »

H. H. Dalai Lama: Message for the New Millenium

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Message for the New Millenium

Many people seem to be excited about the new millennium, but the new millennium in itself will be nothing special. As we enter into the new millennium things will be the same; there will be nothing unusual. However, if we really want the next millennium to be happier, more peaceful and more harmonious for humankind we will have to make the effort to make it so. Continue reading »

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Buddhism and Democracy

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: Buddhism and Democracy

Washington, D.C., April 1993


1. For thousands of years people have been led to believe that only an authoritarian organization employing rigid disciplinary methods could govern human society. However, because people have an innate desire for freedom, the forces of liberty and oppression have been in continuous conflict throughout history. Continue reading »