His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu honoured with Fetzer Prize Monday, 28 September 2009, 2:53 p.m.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (4th L) interacts with fellow Nobel Laureates –  Maried Maguire, Betty Williams, Jody Williams – and Mary Robinson, former  Irish President and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human  Rights, at the Vancouver Peace Summit on 27 September 2009

Vancouver, Canada:
India’s Consul General Ashok Das and his wife called on His Holiness
the Dalai Lama on Sunday morning (27 September).  Thereafter, His
Holiness left for the Chan Center at the University of British Columbia
(UBC) to participate in the Vancouver Peace Summit: Nobel Laureates in
Dialogue hosted by the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education. 
There were a horde of media people waiting to cover his arrival at UBC.Center’s
Victor Chan welcomed the gathering and introduced a video message by
Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada. The Governor General
described the gathering of global spiritual leaders in Vancouver as “a
dazzling constellation of global change agents.” “You have a unique
opportunity to dream big,” she said. “Please be inspired. The world is
counting on you. Peace is within our grasp.”Thereafter, Tom
Beech, president and CEO of the Fetzer Institute announced the awarding
of the Institute’s Prize for Lover and Forgiveness to His Holiness and
Archbishop Desmond Tutu.  The Institute said the Prize honors the
courage and persistence with which His Holiness and Archbishop Emeritus
Tutu have both worked to bring love, compassion and forgiveness to all
that they do, as well as their ability to inspire these same impulses
in others around the world. Archbishop Tutu was indisposed and could
not be present.Mr. Beech introduced a short video tribute from
fellow Nobel Laureates, including Rigoberta Menchu Tum,  Alfonso García
Robles, Betty Williams, and Shirin Ebadi, who highlighted the
contribution of His Holiness and Archbishop Tutu.Mr. Beech then
announced that Archbishop Tutu was watching the ceremony through the
live webcast. He then addressed the two winners saying, “In the face of
disruption you have brought calm; in places of violence you bring
peace; in times of fear, you offered love; into an atmosphere of
bitterness and hostility, you bring forgiveness; you can do this day by
day, from year to year, with steadfastness and grace.”  “Love,
compassion and forgiveness have the power to change, the power to heal
and the power to transform any situation—no matter how violent or
troubled—into something that is generative and life-giving,” Tom Beech
had said in a statement.  “The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu are
renowned, revered, respected and loved the world over. In giving this
award, the Fetzer Institute celebrates their humanity and the
consistency with which their lives stand for compassion in the face of
isolation, love in the face of fear and forgiveness in the face of
violence.”Archbishop Tutu appeared via video to accept the
Prize. His daughter, the Reverend Mpho Tutu, accepted the prize in
person on his behalf.In his video message, Archbishop tutu
said, “I have seen in the world a great deal awfulness . . . but it is
goodness, it is love, it is caring, it is compassion for which we are
made.”“The Dalai Lama is one of the holiest peoples I have ever come across,” he said.”We
know in our hearts that many of our problems stem from our disregard of
these virtues — the capacity to forgive, the capacity to reconcile, the
capacity for caring for our fellow human beings,” he added.Archbishop Tutu also announced a global gathering in 2012 that he would be co-hosting with His Holiness.In
his remarks accepting the prize, His Holiness praised Archbishop Tutu
saying, “I very much miss Archbishop.” His Holiness said as soon as the
Archbishop entered a place the whole atmosphere changes.  He wished the
Archbishop speedy recovery so that he can resume his normal meaningful
life.

His
Holiness said real change must start from the individual, expanding to
the family and the community at large. His Holiness supported the idea
of the Global gathering that the Archbishop announced and said it would
be an effort to impact a change in the mindset of the leaders who
“sometimes seemed concerned only about immediate problems” and failed
to take a holistic view.The Fetzer Institute is a private
foundation based that engages with people and projects around the world
to help bring the power of love, forgiveness and compassion to the
center of individual and community life. Founded by broadcast pioneer
John E. Fetzer, the Institute carries out its mission by sharing
compelling stories of love and forgiveness at work in the world; by
convening conversations to help community leaders explore the practical
application of love and compassion in their work; and by supporting
scientific research to understand how to increase the human capacity
for love, compassion and forgiveness.Thereafter, His Holiness
participated in two sessions. In the session on  “World Peace through
Personal Peace”  His Holiness was joined by four other speakers who
included  spiritual writer Eckhart Tolle; Episcopalian priest and
daughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mpho Tutu; Ven. Matthieu Ricard;
and eBay founder and philanthropist Pierre Omidyan.  This session dwelt
on the meaning of compassion and how individuals could cultivate the
same.In the afternoon, His Holiness participated in another
session, participated by fellow Noble Laureates Mairead Maguire, Betty
Williams, Jody Williams, and Rev. Mpho Tutu. This session touched on
how the action of each of the individuals related to compassion and
what their views were about global action on compassion. Prior to this
session, there was a special event with Karen Armstrong who presented a
gist of her project on the Charter for Compassion.Before the
afternoon session, His Holiness gave an interview to Craig Kielburger,
a Canadian activist for the rights of children who founded Free the
Children. In the interview His Holiness responded to questions about
compassion and the role of youth as well as his message to children.
This interview will be aired in a documentary.His Holiness’
last program for the day was meeting with a group of NGO representative
in a session entitled, “Connecting for Change.” His Holiness talked
about the special role of NGOs in promotion of basic human values. 
This session saw moving reactions from some of the NGO representatives
about the impact of His Holiness’ messages to them.The
Vancouver Peace Summit continues on Tuesday.  On Monday, His Holiness
will address a gathering of Chinese writers and scholars as well as
give an audience to the Tibetan community.–Report prepared by Mr. Bhuchung K. Tsering of ICT