
NEW DELHI - Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has exhorted students to practice genuine compassion and a sense of respect for others in order to create a peaceful world which shuns war and violence. "The 21st century belongs to the young. You have the opportunity to create a peaceful world by developing compassion for others. People should develop inner peace which will lead to a peaceful community,
a peaceful nation and, finally, a peaceful humanity," said the Dalai Lama. His Holiness was addressing over 250 students from 13 prominent schools, including GD Goenka, Bluebells, The Sriram School, Springdales and Salwan from across Delhi and the national capital region. The special talk on 'Ethics and Compassion for Young Minds' at the Taj Mahal hotel here was part of his annual teaching sessions here, which is in its third year. Several institutions across the world, including MIT and Stanford, have now included training credit courses in Compassion based on the Dalai Lama's teachings.
During his interaction, which lasted for over an hour, the spiritual leader spoke about religious values, equality amongst humans and various cultural philosophies. Dressed in his signature maroon-and-yellow monk's robes, the Dalai Lama seemed to enjoy interacting with his young audience which queried him on a variety of issues ranging from his spiritual practice to the role of technology and even one on whether he ever wanted to be somebody else.
The Tibetan spiritual leader dipped into the wealth of his experiences in interacting with various personalities and institutions during his travels across the world. The Dalai Lama, who has officially retired from politics to lead the life of a simple monk, often used himself as the subject of his jokes during the talk. "I never felt lonely. Loneliness is entirely a mental creation. I never think that I am special, I am some kind of great person because I am the Dalai Lama. I make it a point to meet everybody because I am also one out of the 7 billion people in the world and have the same emotions," he said in response to a question. (PTI)
During his interaction, which lasted for over an hour, the spiritual leader spoke about religious values, equality amongst humans and various cultural philosophies. Dressed in his signature maroon-and-yellow monk's robes, the Dalai Lama seemed to enjoy interacting with his young audience which queried him on a variety of issues ranging from his spiritual practice to the role of technology and even one on whether he ever wanted to be somebody else.
The Tibetan spiritual leader dipped into the wealth of his experiences in interacting with various personalities and institutions during his travels across the world. The Dalai Lama, who has officially retired from politics to lead the life of a simple monk, often used himself as the subject of his jokes during the talk. "I never felt lonely. Loneliness is entirely a mental creation. I never think that I am special, I am some kind of great person because I am the Dalai Lama. I make it a point to meet everybody because I am also one out of the 7 billion people in the world and have the same emotions," he said in response to a question. (PTI)