His Holiness the Dalai Lama Speaks on Moral and Secular Ethics at Delhi University[Wednesday, 11 August 2010, 11:10 a.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at Delhi University on moral and secular ethics, 9 August 2010. Photos / Tibetonline.tv

Aug. 11, New Delhi:
On a two-day visit to Delhi University (DU), His Holiness the Dalai
Lama delivered the 2010 edition of Dr. D.S. Kothari Memorial lecture
and a dialogue – on life, its purposes, its productivity and its
meaning – with students and faculty of DU. On Aug. 9, at the
dialogue titled “What Life is About?”, His Holiness talked about the
importance of love, kindness and compassion in achieving inner peace.
He referred to mother’s love as boundless, infinite compassion for
their offsprings. Inner health it has been demonstrated now by some
scientific findings is directly related to physical well-being and vice
versa, he said. Pilot projects on mindfulness meditation have shown
major changes in one’s blood pressure and stress after meditation. He
called for a way to bring inner peace also for those with secular
dispositions and who do not follow any established faiths.
Non-believers too can benefit by “cultivating secular ethics to
increase self-confidence and it need not even be religious,” he said.
“And you feel less fear, loneliness, stress, and depression.” His
Holiness said there are a growing number of people seeking inner peace
in the world and during his trips abroad he has met and talked with
various professors and scientists some of who are now researching on
how to introduce and incorporate moral ethics in mainstream education
system beginning from kindergarten. He said India with its rich ancient
tradition of Ahimsa (non-violence) and religious harmony can contribute
much in such endeavors by looking at ways to introduce courses on moral
ethics in their own schools.  The very purpose of Buddhism he
said was “to transform destructive emotions and eventually eliminate
negativity by increasing positive emotions,” His Holiness said, and
added that Tibetan Buddhism has hundreds of texts on the science/nature
of the mind translated from the original Sanskrit copies of Nalanda
University. These texts are now available only in Tibetan. He said
Tibetans have the moral responsibility to return what they had learned
from the rich Indian tradition that they have kept for the last
centuries. “Tibetan Buddhism is the pure lineage of the Nalanda
tradition,” His Holiness said. Responding a question on
meditation, His Holiness said analytical meditation requires an open,
skeptical mind with no preferences; a mind that questions, analyzes,
and investigates to find the ultimate reality. An approach – similar to
modern science – and practiced by Nalanda masters like Nagarjuna and
Aryadeva who investigated even the Buddha’s word. On compassion, he
said genuine compassion is unbiased and can develop a sense of concern
for others, including one’s enemy. Distinguishing between three
aspects of Buddhism, he said Buddhist science and Buddhist philosophy
have universal relevance and Buddhist Religion should be left to the
Buddhists.     On Aug. 10, at the Kothari Memorial lecture,
His Holiness said Indian civilization has produced many great
philosophers whose ideas contributed to the rich Indian tradition of
Ahimsa and religious harmony and underlined the importance and
relevance of Dr. Kothari’s vision and values on education, science,
humanistic philosophy and ahimsa. He said more than listening to what
he had to say, His Holiness suggested it would be more useful if people
read the books on Dr. Kothari’s life and work referring specifically to
two books – Vision and Values and Scientific Humanism – which were
presented to him by the family members of Prof. Kothari at the event.  Dr.
D.S. Kothari was a renowned physicist and scientist who built the
physics department at DU; he was also an educationist, a great humanist
and a true Gandhian whose report on education is still being read and
discussed vigorously in India and other developing countries. His
diverse interests included understanding  the relationship between
science and ahimsa, science and religion, human values, atom, etc. He
also carried serious and sustained study of violence and non-violence.
He believed science, sarvodaya (development for all) and ahimsa made a
great triangle and had said that roots of scientific endeavors are
essentially spiritual. Both events were held at the Viceregal Lodge of DU. More pictures:

Prof Deepak Pental (front R), Vice Chairman of Delhi University and staff of Delhi University welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Delhi University, 9 August 2010. Photos / Tibetonline.tv

–Report filed by Tsering Tsomo of Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi