‘Inner values are the source of happiness’

[Wednesday, 8 September 2010, 7:01 p.m.]

Dharamshala:
His Holiness the Dalai Lama this morning began a three-day discourse at
the request of Buddhist devotees from the Southeast Asian countries. In
his introductory address, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said his efforts
are directed towards the welfare of the entire 7 billion people in this
world. As a practitioner of Buddhism, I always pray for the happiness and well-being of the entire sentient beings, he said.All
the people living in this world are interrelated and the future
well-being of one individual is linked with that of the world’s entire
7 billion people, he said.If the over all situation in this
world is peaceful, happy and without conflicts, an individual person
will get great benefit from it.His Holiness said: I always
consider myself as one of the 7 billion people and that we are all made
up of the same physical body. Our feelings are also same as that of
human beings. More importantly, we all want to lead a happy life and do
not want suffering. As nobody likes conflicts, all have the same right
to lead a happy life. We try to seek happiness in our lives
from material things. Even though the material values are important
part of our needs, but it alone can not develop the inner peace. I hope
you all have experienced this. When there is success and lots of money
in one’s life, the feeling of greed, hatred and suspicion increases.
Therefore, depending only on material things will sometimes bring extra
problem and panic in one’s life, he said.The root source of our happiness – His Holiness the Dalai Lama said – is the value of our way of thinking.More
than 5,000 people, including 300 Buddhist followers from Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia and Hong Kong are attending the teachings.