His Holiness the Dalai Lama Addresses Public Talks in Harvard and MITFriday, 1 May 2009, 9:50 a.m.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama plants a birch tree at Harvard University on 30 April 2009/Boston Globe

Boston: His
Holiness the Dalai Lama’s second day of program in the Boston area
involved two major public talks on April 30, 2009 in two of the well
known educational institutions in this region, namely Harvard
University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).In
the morning His Holiness gave a talk on ‘Educating the Heart’ in
Harvard University’s Memorial Church to nearly 900 faculty and students
who got invited to the session through a lottery system participated by
around 8000 members of Harvard.The program began with a Tibetan
cultural performance by members of the Tibetan community. His Holiness
was welcomed by Prof. William A. Graham, Dean of the Faculty of
Divinity, and introduced by Prof. Kathleen McCartney, Dean of the
Faculty of Education, whose two schools were the co-organizers of the
talk.Dean Graham said that everyone in Harvard felt not only
honored but were looking forward to hearing from you.  He said he would
like to salute His Holiness for his moral leadership in the world.
Calling His Holiness as a great Buddhist leader who has gone beyond the
Buddhist world, Dean Graham said he has turned from Dalai Lama to Tibet
to Dalai Lama to the world.  He said he would like to salute His
Holiness for his courage and patience and for his consistent call for
dialogue on Tibet.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks on ‘Ethics and Enlightened Leadership’ at MIT

Dean
McCartney, in her introduction, said that in 1981 His Holiness gave a
series of lectures on Buddhist theory and practice in Harvard. She said
that was a talk on religion given in a sanctuary of education.  Today,
she said, His Holiness was going to discuss education in a sanctuary of
religion, referring to the venue of the talk being a church.In
his address, His Holiness began by talking about the oneness of
humanity.  He said our differences were only at the secondary level in
terms of colors, race, religion, country, age, etc.  At the fundamental
level, he said, we had no differences and that mentally, physically and
emotionally we were all the same.  He said that we can communicate very
well with each other at that level.   His Holiness said his reference
to the sense of universal or global responsibility was at that level.His
Holiness then talked about Harvard’s fame saying that a friend had told
him that it was so famous that walking on the campus was considered
sacred.  His Holiness joked saying that was too much as even silly or
foolish people could walk there but would not get any benefit.His
Holiness talked about the role of religion.  He said that sometimes
different religion tend to divide people instead of helping them. He
said in worst case such actions even led to bloodshed and that this
happened not just in ancient times but was happening even in modern
times.His Holiness said that while waiting to come on the
stage, he had asked an expert on Islam what the meaning of Jihad was.
He said he was given the answer that it was to protect the faith when
it faced a risk.  He then talked about the people’s attitude towards
Islam and said that their views were exaggerated on account of the
mischief of a few Muslims.  He said that after September 2001 he had
been coming to the defense of Islam.  His Holiness said that a
comparative study of religion was a wonderful way as it promotes
religious harmony. He suggested that people could do this first by
studying the differences among religions.  They can then analyse the
purposes behind these differences and the conclusion would be that they
were all there for the promotion of love, compassion, truth, etc. He
compared this situation to the existence of several medicines all of
which were there for the same purpose of curing illness.His
Holiness talked about compassion and said that by nature we all have
the seed of compassion.  He talked about biological basis of compassion
referring to a child depending on the mother even though the child was
not in a position to recognise her.  Similarly, the care shown by the
mother to the child was compassion, treating the child  almost as a
part of her body.

Gathering of over 1000 faculty and students of MIT listen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama

His
Holiness said those who are compassionate are much more peaceful and
happy. He added that happiness was related to internal mental attitude.
His Holiness wondered whether education alone could bring about inner
peace.  He talked about smart scholars and professors who may be full
of the feeling of competition and jealousy, so much so that sometimes
they commit suicides.  He talked about a Tibetan monk scholar who lived
in south India who had come to meet him in north India.  His face
showed sadness and His Holiness had asked him what was wrong. The
response was that he was having depression after meditating on
impermanence.  His Holiness had then told him that his meditation may
have lacked a holistic approach.Similarly, the development of
brain alone may not bring about inner peace. His Holiness talked about
Bin Laden saying his collaborators must surely be smart to plan such
precise destruction.  Thus, their actions have led to the creation of
problems.His Holiness said it was not sure that material
development alone could lead to inner happiness. Similarly, was the
case with the development of intelligence.  He said, therefore, there
was the need to find an alternative.His Holiness then talked
about the importance attached to compassion in the Tibetan perspective
by giving the experience of a monk he knew well. This monk had been
imprisoned for 18 years by the Chinese and was able to come out of
Tibet to India in the 1980s.  His Holiness said that this monk was now
in his 90s and that he had been having casual  conversations with him. 
In the course of one such conversation, the monk informed him that at
one time during his imprisonment he faced a very dangerous situation. 
His Holiness wondered whether he was talking about the possibility of
being killed. However, the monk told him that he faced the danger of
losing compassion to the Chinese. He  said this monk was not a good
scholar but still had compassion to the so-called enemy.His
Holiness talked about experiments by scientists more than 20 years back
on some monks who had traumatic experience in Chinese prisons, somewhat
similar to those American soldiers Iraq who were found to be mentally
disturbed from their experience.  However, the mental state of the
monks was found to be calm.His Holiness said that education
with a compassionate mind led to knowledge being used constructively. 
He said even from the health point of view, compassion was a positive
factor.  Referring to his gallbladder surgery he said that his
concerned doctors were surprised at the speed of his recovery.
Similarly, when he contested his doctor  calling him a ‘young patient’
saying he was 73 years old, the doctor had responded that although that
may be his age his body was that of a 60 year old person. His Holiness
felt that his physical condition could be due to his practice of
compassion.His Holiness said that everyone would recall the
care their mother showed to them as a child.  Talking of his own
experience, His Holiness said that he had been spoilt as a child. He
would be carried by his mother on her shoulder and he would pull her
ears depending on the direction to which he wanted her to turn.Referring
to the people gathered for the talk, he said on the surface everyone
looked the same, emotionally there could be much difference.  Some may
be having calm minds, others not so much and that these may be due to
the level of affection they have received from their mothers.  His
Holiness recalled a dialogue on youth violence that he participated in
some years back in the United States with scientists, medical personnel
and social activists.  He said the conclusion of that meeting was that
the action of the youth seem to be on account of lack of affection.His
Holiness called for the incorporation of lessons on secular ethics in
the education system right from the kindergarten stage.  Children
should be taught to be good social members and the need to live
together.  They should be taught the need for a happy family.  He said
such education need to be imparted in a secular way.  He said that 
when he mentioned the term secular, some of his Islamic and Christian
friends had some reservations as they felt it meant the rejection of
religion.  He said that his meaning of secular was one that respects
all religion.His Holiness said that he can only appeal for such a development in the education process.His
Holiness then answered some questions.  The first one was whether he
had doubted his faith to which he answered no. He talked about the
Buddha asking his followers to investigate his teachings before
accepting them and so said that even when he had some doubts the Buddha
allowed for that he was able to overcome these.When asked how
people should cope with a personal tragedy, His Holiness recalled his
experience after the passing away of his senior Tutor, who had taught
him from the time he was seven years old and from whom he had received
the highest monk ordination. He said his tutor had been very kind to
him and had high expectations of him. His Holiness said that when the
Tutor passed away, he felt the solid rock upon which he could lean had
gone away and he felt a sense of loneliness.  However, His Holiness
said he felt that if he carried on his responsibility his tutor may be
at peace. He thought such an attitude could be adopted.Following
the talk, His Holiness participated in a planting of a birch tree along
with Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust. President Faust talked about
the uniqueness of this tree, which was a blend of the east and the west.His
Holiness was hosted a luncheon reception by Harvard University. During
the luncheon, Harvard University Marshal Jacqueline O’Neill read a
citation that they were presenting to His Holiness. The citation said,‘In
recognition of your ongoing work on behalf of peaceful solutions to
international conflicts and global environmental problems.’To celebrate your focus on educating young people about the power of social and emotional learning.’For inspiring a new generation to seek innovative solutions to old problems.’For your belief in the value of community responsibility and a concern for others.’For
your conviction that intellectual, scientific, and professional
development must go hand in hand with the development of human values.’Harvard University is please to welcome back and to honor His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet.’By
your example, you have taught us that the principles of Buddhism, in
particular those advocating peace and non-violence, serve all people.’Given
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, this thirtieth day of April in the year of
the common era two thousand and nine and of Harvard College three
hundred and seventy-three.Attest:Jacqueline O’NeillUniversity Marshal.In
his address during the luncheon, His Holiness talked about his two
commitments of promotion of human values and promotion of religious
harmony and the benefit of the Tibetan Buddhist culture.Following
lunch, His Holiness went to MIT where he first met with the Steering
Committee of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values.The
Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT is
dedicated to inquiry, to dialogue, and to the creation of programs that
affect the ethical and humane dimensions of life. This nonpartisan
center is a collaborative think tank focused on the development of
interdisciplinary research and programs in various fields of knowledge
from science and technology, to education and international relations.The
Center is founded to honor the vision of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and
his call for a holistic education that includes the development of
human and global ethics. It will emphasize responsibility as well as
examine meaningfulness and moral purpose between individuals,
organizations, and societies.After the steering committee
meeting, he gave a talk on Ethics and Enlightened Leadership to a
gathering of over 1000 faculty and students of MIT.In his
welcome address, MIT’s Chancellor Phillip L. Clay talked about the
public affection for the Dalai Lama and said that his insight and
leadership is his gift to us.His Holiness, in his talk,
referred to the problems on account of the global economic situation
and ecology.  He said some Chinese academics talked about three poles;
north pole, south pole and the third pole, which was a reference to
Tibet and its delicate environment.  He said that although change was
part of nature, sudden change within decades was a different matter.His
Holiness then referred to some problems that were manmade and that
these were not on account of lack of money or education. His Holiness
said that modern education paid attention to brain development but not
to moral ethics. He said that a majority of people are non-believers
and so a way must be found to promote ethics among nonbelievers. He
then talked about leadership qualities  like that of education, having
a vision and being realistic, He said the most important quality is
truthfulness and honesty, whether in a beggar or in a leader.  His
Holiness then referred to President Hu Jintao’s call for a harmonious
society and said that trust was needed for this.Thereafter, His
Holiness answered some questions. When asked who would be some leaders
from whom we can learn, His Holiness said that his knowledge of leaders
was limited. But he pointed out former president George W. Bush as
someone who was straightforward, Indian president Dr. Rajinder Prasad,
a great legal scholar, and Chairman Mao Zedong during his early period
although his own power spoilt him later.Asked what he felt was
the similarities in the situation of the Native Americans and Tibetans,
His Holiness talked about his sadness at the killing of many native
Americans throughout history.  He recalled one meeting in Germany where
a Native American read a long list of grievances and complaints and
wanted all the white people to be expelled.  He wondered whether this
was realistic. He referred to the presences of Muslims in Bodh Gaya who
are descendents of people who had persecuted Buddhists in the past.
However, today he said the Muslims and Buddhists are co-existing.His
Holiness said that the future is more important and that it depends on
the present. His Holiness then referred to the Chinese Government’s
attitude as being narrow minded and indulging in falsehood.  He said
that since last March he had been asking the Chinese Government and the
international community to investigate into the demonstrations in Tibet
to see if there were outsiders who were responsible.  He said they can
even come to Dharamsala to investigate and they could even investigate
his stool (he said jokingly) because there was rumour about him being a
cancer patient. He said if the situation in Tibet is good we have no
reason to complain.His Holiness talked about the
democratization process in exile and said that as early as 1969 he had
made it clear that whether the institution of the Dalai Lama continues
or not should be decided by the Tibetan people.  He also said that in
1992 he had announced that he would not hold any political position in
a future Tibet. He also said that the Tibetans in exile should not hope
for any special rights in a future Tibet.He was asked for his
views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He said he had visited
Israel a few times.  During the first visit, he had first met Israelis
who gave him their version of the issue. The next day he met with
Palestinians who told him about their grievances and complaints. He
said that there was a big gap between the two and more education was
needed. During his second visit to Israel, His Holiness said that he
saw a good initiative by a group of Israelis and Palestinians to
promote understanding.In answer to a question on what could be
done to help the Tibetan people, His Holiness talked about urging
people to visit Tibet to investigate. He also talked about his call to
the Tibetan people to reach out to the Chinese people and to set up
friendship associations. He said that once the two sides became
acquainted problems could be discussed. He suggested that the people at
MIT could also meet Chinese brothers and sisters and discuss Tibet.His
Holiness then talked about the demonstrations against him by Chinese
students during his visit to the United States last year.  He said that
he had met some of them in Rochester and basically they were ignorant
of the Tibetan issue and full of emotion.  He said on one occasion a
Chinese he met in Middlebury, VT, came to him after an event and
apologize saying that when he was in China he had wrong information and
it was only after coming to the United States that he learned the truth
about Tibet.  Similarly, he said he met another Chinese who told him
that while he was in China he was told that the Dalai Lama was old and
conservative and that after hearing him in the United States he found
this not to be true. He said many of these people who demonstrated last
year seem to have been paid money by the Chinese Government to do so.–Report filed by Bhuchung K Tsering