‘Calm mind is key to
happiness’[Hindustan Times,
Friday,
19 November 2010, 3:27 p.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama answering questions from the audience at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit at New Delhi, on Friday, 19 November 2010/Photo by Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

New Delhi: Speaking at the Hindustan
Times Leadership Summit on the art of happiness in troubled times, His
Holiness the Dalai Lama on Friday said that there are two kinds of
suffering in this world – the physical pain and the mental pain.The
physical pain has gone down in the modern times due to economic
progress and development of science and technology. However, the same
can’t be said about mental pain which leads to unhappiness.   These
days mental level pain or stress is more due to competition and is more
intense in cities like in Kolkata and Delhi whereas in rural areas
physical difficulty is more while mental stress is less.The core
of the message the Nobel peace prize winner delivered to the packed
Darbar Hall of the Taj Palace Hotel in New Delhi was about finding inner
happiness and compassion to promote peace and happiness. Quoting the
8th century Buddhist scholar from Nalanda, Shantideva, the Dalai Lama
said, “You cannot cover the whole world’s thorns with leather. But it’s
enough to cover only your feet. Similarly, by controlling your own anger
you can overcome your enemies.”Giving the example of a Tibetan
monk who spent 19 years in a “Chinese gulag”, he said, “When he could
come over to India and I met him again, he said he was afraid in the
prison. Was it for his life? No, he said he was afraid that he would
lose compassion towards the Chinese people. That’s the Tibetan way.”

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the Hindustan Times leadership summit in New Delhi on Friday, 19 November 2010/Photo: Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

Prayers
help believers to stay on the path of compassion. For non-believers,
which he reckoned made up the majority of the world’s population today,
“the secular way to warm-heartedness” must come through introspection
and lived experiences, he said.The leader of the Tibetan people
also said that prayers alone don’t help when it comes to improving the
lot of whole communities – for that, concerted action is needed.”I
was in Bihar recently to unveil a Buddha statue… The state’s chief
minister said Bihar was more prosperous with the Buddha’s blessing. When
it was my turn I said had it been because of the Buddha then the state
would have prospered long ago,” said His Holiness the Dalai Lama.”The
relationship between India and Tibet is one of guru and chela,” he said
while talking on India-Tibet relation.”We learnt a lot from
Indian scholars. And I always introduce myself to western audiences as a
scholar of Indian thought… So we are chelas. But you must agree that we
have been reliable chelas,” he added with a chuckle.The
questions at the end of the session brought in fresh energy to the
interaction.Hindustan Times editor Sanjoy Narayan, who moderated
the morning session, asked the Dalai Lama for a way to address the
issue of the disenchantment that seems to be rife among today’s youth.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama greets an old friend at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit in New Delhi, on Friday, 19 November 2010/Photo by Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

Seventy-five
year old His Holiness the Dalai Lama replied, “Our generation belongs
to the 20th century, a century of violence during which more than 200
million people were killed. This century is new yet… But whether it will
be as violent will depend on the young people of today. If they can
shun the hypocrisy and artificial things of the previous generation and
enrich their inner wealth, it’s possible.”Suhel Seth, co-founder
of Equus advertising agency, asked the Dalai Lama on his “succession
planning”.To this the Tibetan leader said with a laugh, “It
isn’t a serious question to me. But the Communist government is looking
at it very seriously… It’s for the Tibetan people to decide… If I die in
the next few days, they may want to continue with the institution of
the Dalai Lama. But if it’s 20, 30 years later, who knows?”