2007.10.11: October 11, 2007: Headlines: Speaking Out: Japan: Star-Gazette: Dalai Lama suggests that Japanese youths get involved with something like America's Peace Corps

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Dalai Lama suggests that Japanese youths get involved with something like America's Peace Corps

Dalai Lama suggests that Japanese youths get involved with something like America's Peace Corps

On the other hand the prosperous country of Japan has a high suicide rate among its young. When he visited that country, he suggested that the Japanese youths get involved with something like America's Peace Corps. Instead of staying home, they could shift their focus away from themselves, go outside their world and help. It would open their hearts and minds to compassion. He praised the program started by President John F. Kennedy -- both its mission and successes. After an afternoon of sunny conversation, the Dalai Lama then said firmly, "Instead of sending more soldiers, send more students in the name of peace."

Dalai Lama suggests that Japanese youths get involved with something like America's Peace Corps

Disarming Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama's approach to world peace deceptively simple.

October 11, 2007

StoryChat Post Comment

The Dalai Lama is disarming.

He is quick to smile and when you least expect it, he erupts with almost childlike laughter. During his speech "A Human Approach to World Peace" on Tuesday at Cornell University's Barton Hall, he told more than 5,000 people something else that might have surprised them.

"If you came here with expectations, that's dangerous. I have nothing to offer."

Nothing to offer? In the sense of miracle cures or healing powers, maybe. The Dalai Lama did offer a simple, powerful message for peace. Its very simplicity may have disarmed listeners who were expecting an involved philosophical discourse.

Yet, if the world would listen to his logic and embrace it, the effect on humanity could be profound.

"Everybody really loves peace," he said. "All beings have the right to survive and carry their life. Everybody wants a happy life. Nobody wants disturbance." When we see "those human brothers and sisters who have spent their lives under the sound of guns," he said, "psychologically it's much more difficult" for them to attain peace. True peace is "not just absence of violence," he said. Instead, it comes through "inner peace."

There's the tricky part -- how does one achieve inner peace?

If you are "filled with hate, suspicion and fear, then it is impossible to adhere to genuine peace," the Dalai Lama said. Such negative energy permeates our state of mind, both awake and asleep. "If your main mind remains calm and peaceful, then in a difficult atmosphere, you can keep peace of mind."

As he spoke these words, the hall darkened as if it were night. Thunderheads billowed outside. Lightning flashed, thunder cracked and grumbled, then rain pounded the roof. Inside, though, all was calm as the audience listened serenely to the Dalai Lama's every word. It was if on cue, nature provided a dramatic exclamation point to his words.

Man's basic physical structure, he continued, is more suitable for peaceful beings. Unlike tigers with claws to rip apart flesh, our hands are gentle. You have to ball up your hand into a fist to obtain the strength to fight, he said. Our teeth are gentle and suitable for smiling, not like the sharp canine teeth of the dog. Our arms "were equipped to hug. Our physical being goes well with compassion."

The Dalai Lama related how a newborn child is drawn to its mother, its source of nourishment. "Our survival is based on our mother's care." From our mothers we learn compassion. He said his own mother never showed anger. As a result, the compassion he learned from her "was a source of inner peace" during the trials of the country he has ruled in exile since 1959 -- Tibet.

With peace of mind, people have a happier future. "If humanity is fighting or killing each other, that happy future is not guaranteed." When your mind is "full of fear, hatred, you cannot judge properly or see reality." Instead, he said, "forgiveness, tolerance (especially of all religions) and taking care of others out of compassion brings contentment."

That religious tolerance is key to our survival. The Dalai Lama noted that all religions contain similar strains of belief. Strife could be stemmed if we clung to the universality among religions instead of the differences.

During a Q&A session at the end of his speech, the Dalai Lama was asked how Americans can come to terms with their prosperity while much of the world is poor. He recalled a visit to the suburbs of Washington, D.C., the capital of one of the richest countries in the world. Yet he saw poor people there in the streets. He could see that the disparity was frustrating to these people. That gives rise to jealousy, which turns to anger, which turns to violence.

He praised Cornell's program that gives education opportunities to the poor in foreign nations and said it's very important to be always mindful of the gap between rich and poor. "We cannot eliminate the gap overnight. We need a long-term strategy." That strategy should include providing the poor with education -- "real equality in mental training," skills and the equipment they need to carry out the job, he said. This provides them with full self-confidence -- one of the keys to happiness.

"In Africa, people from the poorer section have little feeling of encouragement. They have a lack of self confidence that must change. If they have opportunity, they should have confidence."

On the other hand the prosperous country of Japan has a high suicide rate among its young. When he visited that country, he suggested that the Japanese youths get involved with something like America's Peace Corps. Instead of staying home, they could shift their focus away from themselves, go outside their world and help. It would open their hearts and minds to compassion. He praised the program started by President John F. Kennedy -- both its mission and successes.

After an afternoon of sunny conversation, the Dalai Lama then said firmly, "Instead of sending more soldiers, send more students in the name of peace."

During his simple message for peace, delivered in a hall used for military officer training -- indeed, the Dalai Lama was disarming.

Mary Pat Hyland is the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin's Community Conversation editor. You can contact her at mhyland@pressconnects.com.




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Story Source: Star-Gazette

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Speaking Out; Japan

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