DHARAMSHALA: His Holiness the Dalai Lama today expressed his gratitude to his devotees and friends for the extensive greetings and well wishes on his 80th birth anniversary.

His Holiness wrote on his official website dalailama.com,

“I would like to thank all my friends in the many different countries of the world for your greetings on the occasion of my 80th birthday. I am grateful for the kind words you have expressed.”

“This is the basis of hope on which I make an appeal that we all work enthusiastically to promote ethical values imbued with love and compassion and that we do our best to reduce, if not eliminate, the conflicts and violence that currently beset many parts of the world. Despite differences in their philosophical views, all the world’s major religious traditions convey the same message of love and compassion. This is why we must strive to foster inter-religious harmony for the good of all humanity. In addition, to protect our natural environment we have to work together.”