His Holiness Promotes Secular Ethics at University of Minnesota [Monday, 9 May 2011, 12:34 p.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his public talk “Peace Through Inner Peace” held a the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, USA, on 8 May 2011/Photo by Tashi Khongtsotsang

MINNEAPOLIS: Describing the promotion of fundamental human values like compassion as key for the development of a positive community, His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Sunday called on the educational institutions to make secular moral ethics part of their academic curricula.Delivering a public talk at the University of Minnesota, His Holiness said with the tremendous development in science and technology in the 20th century, the humanity also suffered bloodshed as catastrophic impacts. It is therefore essential to promote those ideals that will generate compassion, warm heartedness, strengthen inner values, and build trust and friendship in this century, he told a gathering of over 6,000 people. His Holiness said all the people have an inborn potential to develop universal human values such as affection and warmheartedness which they received from their mother after the birth. His Holiness said extreme self-centered attitude and narrow vision not only did not enable the development of inner peace but also could be harming people physically. He recalled a presentation by a scientist at a conference during which the scientist revealed that individuals who tend to use “I”, “Me”, and “My” were seen to be more liable for heart attack. He said although the scientist did not explain the reason he felt that this was because of self-centeredness.   He said compassion is the key factor for good physical health as well as for a positive community. He suggested that there is a need for a project to research on how to tackle these values.    His Holiness outlined three ways in which the promotion of fundamental human values could be done. These were theistic, non-theistic, and secular ethics way.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during his public talk “Peace Through Inner Peace” held a the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, USA, on 8 May 2011/Photo by Tashi Khongtsotsang

 In the theistic approach there is belief in God the creator and the total submission to God that encourages individuals to cultivate human values. He recalled an event in Jerusalem when a Jewish teacher related an experience. The teacher had asked his students, composed both of Palestinians and Jews, to view their detractors in the image of God. Subsequently, the Palestinian students had told him how they found his message useful as their discomfort disappeared while crossing Israeli check posts. His Holiness also said his Muslim friends have also said that everyone should extend their love to all creatures. He said he found these logical.   For those individuals who follow non-theistic religions, belief in the law of causality where your action determines the outcome was very helpful, His Holiness said. If you do good, you will have a good outcome is the belief that encourages people to develop positive values.   His Holiness said if these religious approaches had to be used then new questions arise as to which religion to adopt, etc. Therefore, he felt that there was the need of a third approach that did not have to touch on religion.  He said secular ethics was the way.  He said he was using secular here in the way it is promoted in India: not rejection of religion but equal respect to all religions. His Holiness commended the University of Minnesota’s effort in incorporating the study of spirituality.   His Holiness’ visit coincides with the official launch of the Tibetan Healing Initiative (THI) at the University’s Center for Spirituality & Healing.  The new THI initiatives will include research on the benefits of blending Tibetan healing with conventional health practices and integrating Tibetan practices into regional clinic and hospital settings. His Holiness mentioned that so far the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Stanford University and Emory University had programmes researching the impact of spirituality and science.     Answering to a question on his feeling about China detaining a scholar, His Holiness said scholars and intellectuals who are China’s treasure are unfortunately being detained or kept under house arrest owing to the government’s hardline thinking. He said this could not go for long because if one intellectual is detained a new one will come up. 

Mariucci Arena on the University of Minnesota Campus in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, venue for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teaching and public talk on 8 May 2011/Photo by Tenzin Waleag

Another question related to his views on the Internet’s development. His Holiness said this was wonderful as this provided more opportunity for people to get all round information from different sources.    When asked whether he felt the world was getting better or worse, His Holiness responded that it was getting better and recalled his conversation with the late British Queen Mother in 1996 during which he sought her view of the 20th century since she had lived for most of it. The Queen Mother had unhesitatingly responded that the world was getting better because in the beginning of the 20th century there was no concept of human rights and self-determination, which came under active public awareness in the latter part of the century.   His Holiness also related his own experience why he felt the world was getting better. He said unlike in the past there is awareness about the importance of ecology, including the coming up of political parties like the Green Party; scientists are seriously looking at the mind as opposed to their merely limiting themselves to matters that could be measured or calculated; religious summits like the Assisi Summit by Pope John Paul II (held in 1986) that are transforming the thinking from “one faith, one truth” to “many faiths, many truths;” politicians are talking about “compassion;” public calls on ban on nuclear weapons, etc.   His Holiness said that people needed to think deeper and not just superficially. He talked about inner beauty being more important than external beauty.   On Saturday, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton paid a courtesy call on His Holiness. Minnesota has the second largest concentration of Tibetan Americans in the United States after New York.   His Holiness will have his next programme in Dallas in Texas at the Southern Methodist University on 9 May.