His Holiness the Dalai Lama is believed to be the manifestation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of compassion. Since his arrival into exile, His Holiness has resolutely dedicated and worked upon the promotion of human values and inter-faith harmony wherever he goes around the world.
It is in connection with his first commitment that His Holiness met with a group of 51 students and 6 staff members from the Department of Hebrew College at his official residence in Dharamshala on Monday this week.
Speaking to the group of students from USA and Israel, His Holiness said, “All of us seven billion human beings are mentally, emotionally and physically same.”
His Holiness remarked that irrespective of different religious backgrounds, we are raised by the mother’s affection and we are born and die same.
Further, he emphasized the cultivation of human values by conducting ourselves as human brothers and sisters and adopting a humane approach towards the resolution of all crises in the world.
His Holiness reaffirmed his commitment to promoting basic human values in order to create a peaceful world. His Holiness also emphasized his commitment to the promotion of religious harmony. Despite differences in their philosophical views, all major religious traditions convey a similar message of love and compassion, patience and tolerance and so forth, His Holiness added.
His Holiness expressed his sadness to see the conflict in the name of religion. Citing India as an example of religious harmony, His Holiness said, “Religion is supposed to bring people closer together, so it’s unthinkable that it should be used to create conflict. It is particularly sad when members of different denominations of the same religion, such as Sunni and Shia Muslims, quarrel with each other, however, this doesn’t seem to be a problem in India.”
The meeting between His Holiness and the students from USA and Israel was streamed live on the official Facebook page and website of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and this meeting trended the most this week.