Dalai Lama Speaks on Moral and Secular Ethics at Delhi University

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Tibet.net
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at Delhi University on moral and secular ethics, 9 August 2010. Photos / Tibetonline.tv

Aug. 11, New Delhi: On a two-day visit to Delhi University (DU), His Holiness the Dalai Lama delivered the 2010 edition of Dr. D.S. Kothari Memorial lecture and a dialogue - on life, its purposes, its productivity and its meaning - with students and faculty of DU.
 
On Aug. 9, at the dialogue titled “What Life is About?”, His Holiness talked about the importance of love, kindness and compassion in achieving inner peace. He referred to mother’s love as boundless, infinite compassion for their offsprings. Inner health it has been demonstrated now by some scientific findings is directly related to physical well-being and vice versa, he said. Pilot projects on mindfulness meditation have shown major changes in one’s blood pressure and stress after meditation. He called for a way to bring inner peace also for those with secular dispositions and who do not follow any established faiths. Non-believers too can benefit by “cultivating secular ethics to increase self-confidence and it need not even be religious,” he said. “And you feel less fear, loneliness, stress, and depression.”
 
His Holiness said there are a growing number of people seeking inner peace in the world and during his trips abroad he has met and talked with various professors and scientists some of who are now researching on how to introduce and incorporate moral ethics in mainstream education system beginning from kindergarten. He said India with its rich ancient tradition of Ahimsa (non-violence) and religious harmony can contribute much in such endeavors by looking at ways to introduce courses on moral ethics in their own schools.

Prof Deepak Pental (front R), Vice Chairman of Delhi University and staff of Delhi University welcome His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Delhi University, 9 August 2010. Photos / Tibetonline.tv

The very purpose of Buddhism he said was “to transform destructive emotions and eventually eliminate negativity by increasing positive emotions,” His Holiness said, and added that Tibetan Buddhism has hundreds of texts on the science/nature of the mind translated from the original Sanskrit copies of Nalanda University . These texts are now available only in Tibetan. He said Tibetans have the moral responsibility to return what they had learned from the rich Indian tradition that they have kept for the last centuries. “Tibetan Buddhism is the pure lineage of the Nalanda tradition,” His Holiness said.
 
Responding a question on meditation, His Holiness said analytical meditation requires an open, skeptical mind with no preferences; a mind that questions, analyzes, and investigates to find the ultimate reality. An approach - similar to modern science – and practiced by Nalanda masters like Nagarjuna and Aryadeva who investigated even the Buddha’s word. On compassion, he said genuine compassion is unbiased and can develop a sense of concern for others, including one’s enemy.
 
Distinguishing between three aspects of Buddhism, he said Buddhist science and Buddhist philosophy have universal relevance and Buddhist Religion should be left to the Buddhists.   
 
On Aug. 10, at the Kothari Memorial lecture, His Holiness said Indian civilization has produced many great philosophers whose ideas contributed to the rich Indian tradition of Ahimsa and religious harmony and underlined the importance and relevance of Dr. Kothari’s vision and values on education, science, humanistic philosophy and ahimsa. He said more than listening to what he had to say, His Holiness suggested it would be more useful if people read the books on Dr. Kothari’s life and work referring specifically to two books – Vision and Values and Scientific Humanism – which were presented to him by the family members of Prof. Kothari at the event.
 
Dr. D.S. Kothari was a renowned physicist and scientist who built the physics department at DU; he was also an educationist, a great humanist and a true Gandhian whose report on education is still being read and discussed vigorously in India and other developing countries. His diverse interests included understanding  the relationship between science and ahimsa, science and religion, human values, atom, etc. He also carried serious and sustained study of violence and non-violence. He believed science, sarvodaya (development for all) and ahimsa made a great triangle and had said that roots of scientific endeavors are essentially spiritual.
 
Both events were held at the Viceregal Lodge of DU.