Students Impressed with Dalai Lama’s Talk
Published: Thursday, 21 September, 2006
Buffalo, USA 21 Sept 06 (Lauren Newkirk Maynard / Univ
at Buffalo Reporter) Finding hope and a happy life—and using education to do it—was the message His
Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama delivered to UB students during his Distinguished
Speakers Series address on Tuesday.
During his lecture in UB Stadium, as well as throughout his three-day visit,
His Holiness focused on how society can be humanely served by the next
generation of doctors, lawyers, politicians and scientists. The possibility of
creating a world filled with peace and human compassion, or
"warm-heartedness" as he described it, is in their hands, he told
students.
For many of them, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Nobel
Peace Prize winner and spiritual leader.
Anna Falicov and Rebecca Town, both first-year law students, appreciated the
Dalai Lama's thoughts on how governments can bring about social change through
more compassionate policies.
"I was most impressed with his message to the university about being
more socially conscious concerning the curriculum," said Falicov. She said
she hoped the Dalai Lama would touch on how to use law as a tool for social
change during the "Law, Buddhism and Social Change" conference, which
was held yesterday at the UB Law School. "I'd like to hear how he would
suggest that law help poor or otherwise disenfranchised people," she said.
Town agreed, adding "I think it's great that UB worked so hard to bring
him here. I was also excited to hear him say that students who are going into
medicine, politics and law should be focusing on what we'll be doing for the
world once we get out of here."
Nicole Tomasello, a second-year doctoral student in the School of Social
Work, said she took away a rather simple, yet profound lesson from the Dalai
Lama: "That happiness and peace come from within, and that we should share
it with others."
His Holiness told those attending his address that one of the reasons he
chose to visit UB was because the university enrolls a large and diverse
community of international students. That community was well represented on the
main stage platform by elected representatives of several student groups,
including several Tibetan students who have received scholarships from UB under
the auspices of the Tibet Fund and the Fulbright Program.
International students Ilija Aleksic and Peter Zhang were visibly impressed
by the scope of the event and said they were inspired by the insights of the
Tibetan leader-in-exile, who answered several pre-selected questions from
students after his lecture. The students, both freshmen, had been greatly
anticipating the Dalai Lama's visit since they first heard about it.
A pharmacy major originally from Fu Zhou, a city in the mainland China province
of Fu Jian, Zhang said he especially wanted to learn more about improving
relations between Tibet and his native country. "I felt I needed to know
more about his views on China, since that's where I'm from." He also
wanted to hear what the Dalai Lama would say about nonviolence, a topic Zhang
is studying in English class.
Aleksic, a biochemistry major and native of Macedonia, said he enjoyed
reading the Dalai Lama's autobiography, "Freedom in Exile," which was
required reading of all freshmen taking UB 101. "You always hear about the
Dalai Lama, but you never really know who he is. It was really amazing to hear
somebody of this magnitude speak in person," Aleksic said.
To encourage attendance at the DSS lecture, the Office of Special Events
offered 13,000 free student tickets and gave away limited-edition posters to
the first 4,000 students who picked up their tickets.
Student response was strong. The UB Graduate Student Association reported
that all 300 of the tickets it received to distribute were gone before the
event, and it had another 5,100 tickets available at kiosks around campus.
Mark Sorel, administrative director of the undergraduate Student
Association, reported that 8,000 tickets had been distributed to
undergraduates.
"It (ticket distribution) started off slow, but it's been a great
response overall," Sorel said. "As of Tuesday morning, they were
still calling about tickets."
By the time the audience was seated around 3 p.m., nearly all of the general
admission seats—most of which were given to students—were filled with a
cross-section of UB's diverse student population.
