His Holiness Speaks on ‘Facing Challenges with Compassion and Wisdom’ in Indianapolis[Saturday, 15 May 2010, 9:09 a.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, left, listens as cellist Michael Fitzpatrick plays as he enters the stage to speak in Indianapolis, Friday, 14 May 2010/The Associated Press

Indianapolis:
On his last day in Indiana, His Holiness left Bloomington in the
morning for Indianapolis, the capital of the state, to give a public
talk on Facing Challenges with Compassion and Wisdom.As His
Holiness entered the Conseco Fieldhouse and stepped on the stage,
concert-cellist Michael Fitzpatrick was playing “Invocation for World
Peace.”  His Holiness stood beside Mr. Fitzpatrick until he finished
his piece and then offered a greeting to him. Thereafter, Rev. Kent
Millard of The Interfaith Hunger Initiative offered some words of
welcome.  Then, Elaine Mellencamp of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist
Culture Center gave a brief introduction of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
and recognised her husband John Mellencamp, who is a rock singer and
song writer.In his more than 50 minutes of remarks to the crowd
which numbered over 9000 people, His Holiness first offered his
appreciation of the involvement of the Interfaith Hunger Initiative. He
said its work was commendable as individuals who did not have a full
stomach would not be interested in anything else like his talk today. 
His Holiness also talked about millions of children who remain
malnourished saying that did not enable them to develop full thinking
power. He said even though the United States was very rich with a
luxurious lifestyle, yet there still were many poor people.  He
therefore said initiatives like the Interfaith Hunger Initiative were
acts of compassion and wonderful.   His Holiness then talked
about the role of the different religions in society.  He said that all
religions had the same message; that of compassion, love, forgiveness,
tolerance, etc.  He said the different religious traditions had the
same objective of reducing the self-centered attitude of individuals. 
He felt that all religions had a role in the human society as
individuals had different mental dispositions, which would not be
satisfied by any one religion.  He gave the example of a restaurant
serving just one dish (which might tire the customers and reduce their
numbers as the days go by) to a restaurant with a variety of dishes
that would suit the culinary dispositions of different individuals.His
Holiness explained that one of his life-long commitments was the
promotion of religious harmony and said that he is proud to be able to
make some contribution towards this.  He cited the case of a Christian
Minister in Australia once introducing him at a public event as a “good
Christian.” His Holiness said that the Minister was only indicating His
Holiness’ role in inter-religious harmony.  His Holiness said he had
then responded saying the Minister was a “good Buddhist.”His
Holiness said his other life-long commitment was the promotion of human
values and explained that the topic of today’s talk was related to
this.  His Holiness prefaced this by saying that he did not have any
magical or healing power (he cited his gall bladder surgery in October
2008 as scientific proof that he did not have any healing power) and
that people should not have any great expectations from him as he was
just like any other human being.His Holiness said all human
beings are the same in that they have the same desire, whether it is
the President, a beggar, a queen or a prisoner. Everybody desires a
happy life, he said. He said whether an individual is a religious
believer or not they all had the same desire of inner peace.His
Holiness then explained the importance of developing secular ethics to
promote inner peace saying his definition of secularism is not
rejection of religion but something that India promotes namely equal
respect to all religions.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks to an audience in Indianapolis, Friday, 14 May 2010.

His
Holiness explained three main reasons for developing inner peace.  He
said first is Common Experience. He said when a child is born the
mother provides the maximum affection to it despite not having
recovered from her labor. Similarly, he said that the child at that age
is not aware what its relation is with the mother but nevertheless
relies on her.  His Holiness said even animals have this common
experience saying he knew of some just born kittens that were blind but
nevertheless was able to find its way to the mother’s nipple and be
comforted by sucking it. His Holiness also recalled the kindness of his
mother that has taught him the value of a compassionate attitude. His
Holiness said the second reason for developing inner peace is Common
Sense. His Holiness said whether it is human beings or animals when
they are quarrelsome they certainly have more unhappiness, stress and
tension. Whereas, individuals who are more compassionate are much
happier.His Holiness also said that it is common sense that
money brings about only temporary or superficial happiness. Material
values, he said, cannot bring about inner peace, which can only be
attained through warm heartedness.His Holiness said the third
reason for the need to promote inner peace is scientific.  He said
scientific research has shown that individuals with more compassion
have fewer issues with blood pressure and stress, whereas constant
anger and hatred are seen to be negatively affecting our immune system.
His Holiness also talked about two different compassions,
biased and unbiased. He said biased compassion is biological and change
on account of the change in their cause whereas unbiased compassion is
not affected by the attitude of others. His Holiness said the biased
compassion could be the seed upon which we should use human
intelligence to develop further into an unbiased compassion. His Holiness asked everyone to comprehend the importance of compassion in facing our day to day challenges.Thereafter,
His Holiness first responded to some pre-collected (through the
internet) questions that related to maintaining faith in the face of
atrocities.  He then invited some members of the audience to ask
questions. One asked about his views on the role of technology,
particularly the social networks, to which His Holiness said technology
itself was positive but that in its usage sometimes there were
challenges.  He said although he loved technology he did not understand
the modern developments but that he loved “old fashion mechanics.”Another
questioner asked about ways to deal with those who had caused you harm
and explained that in her case she was talking about her ex-husband. 
His Holiness said although he did not know her particular case, it is
generally beneficial to take a holistic perspective and if one’s basic
mental attitude is firm, then it would not be affected by some
temporary disturbances.  He also said it is good to keep in mind an
advice by a Buddhist master about not having to worry if there was a
solution (one had strive to achieve it) to an issue and there being no
use of worrying if there was no solution at all.  His Holiness said
that this would be a realistic approach.He further said that it
might help if the lady tried to look at the positive sides of her
ex-husband as he may not be hundred per cent negative.  Citing the
experience of the Tibetans who had last their country but also found
new opportunity on account of this tragedy, His Holiness said the lady
should not destroy any possibility for positive change.The
audience gave a standing ovation as His Holiness completed his
remarks.  Prof. Lawrence H. Gerstein of the Indiana Buddhist Center
made some remarks of appreciation before His Holiness left the venue
for the airport.This is His Holiness’ sixth visit to Indiana
and the second visit to Indianapolis.  The event in Indianapolis was
the collaboration of the three Indiana based organizations, Tibetan
Mongolian Buddhist Culture Center, Interfaith Hunger Initiative and the
Indiana Buddhist Center, to meet the needs of persons experiencing
poverty and hunger in Central Indiana and Kenya.  Their partnership has
brought together members of the Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist,
Hindu and Sikh communities.His Holiness departed Indianapolis
for Rochester in Minnesota where he will have his routine annual
medical checkup.  He will be leaving for Madison in Wisconsin on May
15, 2010.In Rochester, around 100 Tibetans from Minneapolis
area had gathered to welcome His Holiness.  His Holiness gave brief
advice to them to maintain peace of mind and also took some group
photos with them.–Report filed by Bhuchung K Tsering of ICT