His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New York City[Monday, 23 May 2010, 12:39 p.m.]

His Holiness speaks during an interfaith dialogue at the Church of St. John the Divine on May 23, 2010 in New York City. Photo/Getty Images

In
his remarks His Holiness gave a broad overview of the Tibetan-Chinese
relationship:  the issues that have prevented a resolution of the
problem so far, his impression of Chinese leaders during his visit to
China in 1954-55, his appreciation of the Communist ideal, and the need
for education of the Chinese people regarding the Tibetan issue.  His
Holiness also stressed the general importance of having a calm mind
while undertaking any field of study. He added that such an attitude
will enable the individual to adopt a spirit of openness to the field
of study. His Holiness then responded to some of the issues
raised by Prof. Joseph Lee of Pace University and Prof. Ming Xia of the
Graduate Center and the College of Staten Island, the City University
of New York. He talked about the importance placed by the Central
Tibetan Administration to the education of the Tibetan children by
making it a priority in the initial years in exile.  He also stressed
on the need to incorporate moral ethics in our day to day lives.Following
this event, His Holiness spoke to a group of supporters of Hunter
College. His Holiness commended them for their assistance to the
college as this indicated the value they placed on education.
Responding to a question on what could be done in relation to the
Tibetan issue, His Holiness talked about the significance of the
Tibetan ecology not just to the Tibetan people, but also to all the
people in China and the rest of the world. He recalled a Chinese
scientist terming the Tibetan plateau as the Third Pole to indicate its
significance to the global environment. His Holiness therefore
suggested that maybe Hunter College could think of collaborating with
some Chinese scientists to study the ecology on the Tibetan plateau and
to provide recommendation for its protection.During the
reception, His Holiness clarified that the watch that he had received
from President Roosevelt was a Patek Philippe and not a Rolex.Hunter
College is the largest college in the City University of New York
(CUNY) system and also one of the oldest public colleges in the United
States.His Holiness next went to Hunter College’s auditorium to
give the keynote speech to The Bridge Conference. The conference is a
dialogue project initiated by Chinese and Tibetan youths to promote
better mutual understanding. His Holiness was introduced by
Mr. Lingxi Kong from China, one of the organizers, who is studying in
Columbia University. In his remarks, Mr. Kong mentioned that there were
230 student participants (around half of them being Chinese, 40 per
cent being Tibetans) and that some of the speakers to the conference
have come directly from China. Mr. Kong said, “…this is an
event about minorities, about indigenous people facing a super power
that does not understand very well the minorities’ spiritual beliefs
and their way of life.” Explaining the reason for some Chinese and
Tibetans to come together to organize the conference, Mr. Kong said it
is “because we are soul-searching individuals seeking our own destiny,
because we feel the best way to resolve tension, bias or
misunderstanding is through the free exchange of ideas among people
with different perspectives from all walks of life.”As a way to
highlight the need for continued awareness building among the Chinese
people regarding the Tibetan issue, Mr. Kong related his conversation
with his mother when she learnt about his involvement in the initiative
on Tibet. He recalled his mother telling him, “You are not a Tibetan.
And the Chinese Government is so powerful. Why don’t you just stay away
from this?” He said, “And I told her, if you really think Tibet is a
part of China, then how could you ignore the plight of six million
Tibetans? They are our brothers and sisters.”Mr. Kong also
talked about his discussions with officials of the Chinese Government
while planning the conference. He said, “During our conference
planning, we had constructive dialogues with a few consuls from China’s
Consulate-General in New York. In our free-flow conversations, they
seem very confident about China’s Peaceful Rising to Modernity. And one
of the points I have made very clear to them is that our country will
never come to grips with modernity until it re-explores, critically
re-evaluates and re-appropriates her own classical culture.” He said
that “…it must be a China that asks new questions of its classical
heritage through cross-cultural perspectives, a China enriched by deep
encounter with other cultures, including that in the Tibetan plateau.”In
his address to the conference, His Holiness first talked about his
commitment to promote human values. He said basically nobody wants
problems and added that having an emotional reaction, without knowing
the reality, when faced with a problem was an unrealistic approach. He
said it was critical for the Chinese to realize that providing mere
material benefit was not enough to satisfy individuals.His
Holiness said that China is the most populated nation and needs to gain
the trust of its neighbors. He then talked about the need to understand
the reality of the situation and referred to Chinese leader Hu Yaobang
who had secretly sent trusted officials to Tibet to survey the
situation and to report to him before he himself undertook an official
tour. His Holiness referred to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s
highlighting this work culture of Hu Yaobang of wanting to really
investigate in a recent article. His Holiness suggested that there was
a need for a comprehensive survey to objectively look at the situation
in Tibet. He said if that survey revealed that what he had been saying
is wrong, he said he would apologize. On the other hand if the survey
corroborated the existence of a problem in Tibet then steps need to be
taken to address it, he added.His Holiness recalled a
conversation with a Tibetan who came to meet him in India during which
he was informed about how Chinese officials were trying to undermine
Tibetan culture. His Holiness said this Tibetan did not want to meet
him in Dharamsala (the town in India where His Holiness resides) but in
a different place as he was told that there were Chinese Government
spies in Dharamsala. His Holiness then said he welcomed any spies from
Chinas as we have nothing to hide.Talking about the lack of
progress in the Tibetan-Chinese dialogue process, His Holiness said the
Chinese refuse to acknowledge the Tibetan problem and simply wanted to
restrict it to the issue of the Dalai Lama. His Holiness talked about
the five points that the Chinese Government had presented to his
representatives in the 1980s, which dealt with the issue of his return.
His Holiness said he did not accept it as the issue is about the rights
of the Tibetan people. Media reports of the conference talked
about the reaction of some of the participants. One report quoted a
participant in the following way.”When he walked in, I was in
awe,” said Hunter student Annie Su, 22, who lives in Elmhurst, Queens.
“Maybe it sounds corny, but I had tears in my eyes. He’s adorable.”Another
quoted Mr. Tenzin Gelek, a Tibetan student who is the co-host of the
Bridge Conference as saying it was “to foster understanding between
Chinese and Tibetan students in the United States.””The Western
education system is all about objectivity. It’s easier for us to
understand each other’s position here in the melting pot of America,”
Mr. Gelek was quoted as saying.His Holiness then went to Radio
City Music Hall, the venue of his public talk in the afternoon on
Awakening the Heart of Selflessness, organized by Healing the Divide
& The Tibet Center.His Holiness was introduced by Mr. Richard Gere of Healing the Divide.His
Holiness began the talk by talking about the significance of the
affection provided by mothers in the proper upbringing of children. He
referred to animal mothers who are ready to sacrifice their own life
for the sake of their children. He said the animals have not learnt
such instincts from religion and said that affection and compassion
makes a great difference.  While talking about the need for education
for individuals His Holiness said that alone was not enough for a
holistic development. He stressed on the need for inculcating warm
heartedness.His Holiness then highlighted the role of women in
promoting a more compassionate society. He recalled sharing this
similar thought in Vancouver last year at a conference, which was also
attended by Mrs. Mary Robinson (former president of Ireland). His
Holiness recalled Mrs. Robinson calling him then as the feminist Dalai
Lama.His Holiness also talked about the importance of promoting
secular ethics and thoughts that schools in New York City could
incorporate it in the curriculum.His Holiness also talked about
his great fascination with the United States right from his childhood.
He said he has admiration for the principles of democracy,
transparency, rule of law, etc. that the country upholds. His Holiness
also referred to an incident in India to demonstrate the positive
message that America sent to the world in electing a black American as
a president. His Holiness said he was attending a conference of
Gandhian scholars in Pune when one of the participants broke the news
about the election of President Barack Obama. His Holiness said
immediately all the participants began to clap.  He said he then felt
that an event that took place in the United States was having such an
impact in India.At the end of the talk, His Holiness said his
experience was that the American people in general tend to react
quickly to developments, being very joyous when something good happened
or feeling depressed when something bad took place. He suggested that
they needed to take time to think over the development.Following
his talk, His Holiness saw former Congressman Benjamin Gilman in the
audience and had a brief meeting with him before departing for his next
program.His Holiness then left for Cathedral Church of St. John
the Divine to participate in an interfaith dialogue on “Kinship and its
meaning in our world today.” The Very Rev. Dr. James A. Kowalski, Dean
of the Cathedral, gave an explanation of the dialogue and introduced
His Holiness as the “most beloved and respected global citizen.” The
Dean referred to the latest book by His Holiness the Dalai Lama,
“Toward a True Kinship of Faiths: How the World’s Religions Can Come
Together” as yet another step by His Holiness to promote religious
harmony.His Holiness first spoke from the lectern and began by
saying he was particularly pleased to be participating in an event in
the Cathedral because he had visited it the first time when he visited
the United States in 1979. Secondly, His Holiness said the event very
much related to his basic commitment of promotion of religious harmony.
Thirdly, he said he was happy that a serious discussion was the last
public engagement that he was having before he returned to India on May
24, 2010.His Holiness then shared his thoughts on the need for
different religions to satisfy the different mental dispositions of
people throughout the world. His Holiness said while the difference in
philosophy among religions is a reality, yet he said there was
sufficient reason to develop admiration for different religious
traditions. He talked about the oneness of the entire six billion human
beings.His Holiness said all religions had the same potential
to benefit humanity. He said one should have faith in one’s religion
while having respect for all religious traditions. His Holiness talked
about going on pilgrimages sacred sites of different religions, to a
church, mosques or synagogues.His Holiness recalled visiting a
shrine for Mary in the sacred town of Fatima in Portugal one time. He
said as he was leaving the shrine he happened to turn back to the
statue of Mary and felt that she was smiling at him. He also talked
about reports of a 14th century Tibetan Buddhist master smiling at
people.His Holiness said at the philosophical level there could
be debates as to whether there is god or not, whether there is life
after death or not. But he said what was important was that in this
life human beings should be compassionate and for that all religions
have the same potential.His Holiness then went to the stage and
was joined by Mr. Eboo Patel, the founder of Interfaith Youth Core, and
Prof. Sakena Yacoobi, founder of the Afghan Institute of Learning, to
begin a panel discussion that was moderated by Dean Kowalski.During
the discussion, His Holiness talked about three methods to promote
religious harmony and understanding. Firstly, he said there could be
meetings with scholars of different traditions and referred to his
discussions with the Trappist monk Thomas Merton in this regard. He
also talked about visiting a Benedictine monastery in Europe and
meeting a monk who had been meditating for five years. His Holiness
said he asked the monk what he was meditating on and the monk replied,
“I meditated on love.” His Holiness joked that this Christian monk was
a modern Milarepa.Secondly, His Holiness said there could be
meetings of leading religious personalities like Pope John Paul II’s
1986 summit of religious leaders in Assisi. Thirdly, religious leaders
could go on group pilgrimages, His Holiness said.To a question
whether His Holiness feels there is another approach, other than war,
that could be adopted in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq, he said he
did not think there was anything now. He, however, said in the initial
period there could have been eminent persons like Nobel laureates
visiting Baghdad to talk with Saddam Hussein. His Holiness felt that
would have been one possibility as Saddam Hussein would have understood
the consequences.Talking about his position on the future of
Tibet, His Holiness gave a background to the Chinese presence in Tibet
and to the dialogue process. He said since 1974 he has not been asking
for Tibetan independence but had adopted a Middle Way Approach.To
another question on the forces of division gaining grounds His Holiness
said the negative developments in the world in the beginning of the
21st century is the outcome of the negligence of humanity in the 20th
century. His Holiness said today’s youth had the responsibility to make
the 21st century better than the previous one.Mr. Patel in his
comments talked about the role that younger generation of religious
leaders had in promoting better understanding and to make religions a
bridge of cooperation. He looked to His Holiness as a role model and
requested him to continue his work.Prof.Yacoobi shared the
experience of her organization in empowering Afghan women, to support
education for boys and girls, and to provide health education to women
and children. She emphasized the importance of education in changing
the situation and highlighted the challenges in altering mindsets
relating to the Afghan society.This interfaith dialogue was
attended by over 2,000 people and the Cathedral was assisted by The
Tibet Fund in developing the program.On his return to the
hotel, His Holiness gave an audience to Bardok Chusang Rinpoche and
around 50 disciples, who are originally from the Himalayan communities
in Nepal.His Holiness the Dalai Lama departs from New York City on May 24 afternoon for India.–Report filed by Bhuchung K. Tsering of ICT