Montreal, Canada, 7 September 2011 - His Holiness the
Dalai Lama’s program for September 7, 2011 began in the morning with a
visit to the Manjushri Buddhist Centre in the city of Longueuil, on the
outskirts of Montreal. Khensur Lobsang Jamyang and several hundred
people, predominantly Tibetans and Vietnamese, received him.
At the Centre, His Holiness was greeted by the
Mayor of Longueuil, Mrs. Caroline St-Hilaire, who offered him a plaque
containing a welcome message.
Thereafter, His Holiness addressed the gathering.
His Holiness expressed his admiration to see Tibetans and Vietnamese
people, wherever they are, continuing their traditional values. His
Holiness said that his steadfast position is that it is always better
for a community to keep to its own traditional religious faith. In the
case of Judeo-Christian communities, it is more useful for them to
maintain their own tradition whereas in many Asian countries people are
Buddhist and would be useful for them to keep to it.
Therefore, His Holiness said that a Centre like the
Manjushri Buddhist Centre was not only useful in the preservation of
the Buddhist tradition but could also be used for learning from other
traditions. He added that such constant effort could contribute towards
religious harmony. Mere speech was not enough but there needs to be
effort to understand and to generate mutual respect, he said.
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Members of the Manjushri Buddhist
Centre listening to His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Longueuil, Canada,
on September 7, 2011. Photo/Tenzin Dorjee
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His Holiness said that Tibetans and Vietnamese
belong to the same Sanskrit tradition of Buddhism and recite the Heart
Sutra. He then explained the meaning of the Heart Sutra Mantra, Gate
Gate, Para Gate... saying that it is connected to the five stages in
engendering Buddhahood.
Highlighting the difference between animals (who also have the
Buddha nature) and human beings, His Holiness said that human beings
have intelligence. But that intelligence has to be seen as the first
stage in development. He asked the people therefore to not just be
contented with mere prayers but also undertake deep study of the
teachings.
His Holiness then addressed the Tibetans gathered there in Tibetan.
Encouraging the Tibetan people to appreciate their rich heritage, he
talked about the period during the religious kings being the high period
of Tibet. Subsequently, there was a period of disintegration and the
power diminished. However, at no time did the Tibetan people become
extinct. He added that the Tibetans had a language, which was distinct
from others (being the most comprehensive in Nalanda tradition
scriptures) although it is a different matter if the people can continue
to maintain it. His Holiness said that even though the Tibetan people
faced vicissitudes over a period of time, their courage and
determination have not waned.
His Holiness advised the Tibetans to really understand their
Buddhist heritage. He said there was a time when the Chinese authorities
dubbed Buddhism as superstition and that without modern education and
scientific development it would fade away. However, His Holiness said
that modern scientists are paying increasing attention to Buddhist
thoughts contrary to the Chinese assumption.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Manjushri Buddhist Centre in Longueuil, Canada, on September 7, 2011. Photo/Tenzin Dorjee
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His Holiness told the Tibetans about the
increasing support to the Tibetan cause from the Chinese people saying
he continued to meet many of such scholars and artists. He talked about
the atmosphere in China today when the government lies to the people and
the people in turn lie to the government.
His Holiness advised the older Tibetans to put their experience in
writing so that the younger generation is aware of the reality of life,
including under the Chinese authorities. He encouraged the younger
generation to pay attention to their language. His Holiness recalled his
experience in Germany when a young Tibetan boy was conversing to him in
Tibetan whereas he has heard of Tibetan families in the United States
specifically speaking English at home so that their children could
practice the language.
His Holiness also explained the recent development about his
devolution of authority saying that now the administration formerly of
lamas has transformed into an administration of people. His Holiness
said that this had fulfilled his long-held aspiration and that after
making his announcement and especially after the inauguration of the
Kalon Tripa he even had very sound sleep. His Holiness said that there
were some media reports that hinted that his action was inspired by the
developments in northern Africa and said that this was not correct since
he had an affinity for democracy since his childhood.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking at the Manjushri Buddhist Centre in Longueuil, Canada, on September 7, 2011.
Photo/Tenzin Dorjee
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His Holiness also spoke about the issue of
propitiation of Dholgyal and how the majority of the Tibetan people have
been positive on his approach. He said there were some who seem to rely
on the might of the Chinese Communists and to get their support on this
issue. His Holiness said his approach was related to the broader good
of all Tibetans who follow all the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
In conclusion, His Holiness again addressed the entire gathering by
telling them that they should be 21st century Buddhists and not be
contented with mere prayers in the old fashioned way. Rather, he
suggested that they should have fuller knowledge of Buddhism for which
study was important by using human intelligence.
Thereafter, His Holiness left for the Palais des Congres, the venue
of the Second Global Conference of World’s Religions after September
11. He first addressed a press meet. His Holiness said he had fond
memory of his previous visit to Montreal when he interacted with
teachers who were participating in a training program. He then expanded
on his commitments to promote human values and religious harmony. He
said even though the media may not be directly connected to these issues
they had a responsibility to promote the values for the greater good of
the society.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to members of the press in Montreal, Canada, on September 7, 2011. Photo/Tenzin Dorjee
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His Holiness talked about his own personal
experience of hearing only about negative issues like murder on the
radio or reading in the papers mostly about such things as well as
money. He said there was the need to draw the people’s attention on
promotion of moral ethics adding that his way was to do so through a
secular approach.
His Holiness said that in recent months he had been reiterating that
corruption seems to be some kind of a new disease inflicting human
society. He added that there was a need to make the people realize that
corruption is not part of human nature. He said that he was shocked to
hear a student mention to him at an event in the Indian city of Jodhpur
that unless one indulged in corruption there was no way to succeed.
Similarly, he talked about another person at an event in Mumbai who said
that without corruption one could not succeed in business. His Holiness
referred to the movement launched by the Indian Gandhian Anna Hazare
saying that irrespective of the rightness or the wrongness of his
method, his message was timely.
Calling Canada “My country” because of the status of honorary
citizenship granted to him, His Holiness said that there was a role for
the media to investigate the society here, including politicians and
leaders, and to inform the public so that there is a healthy and clean
society.
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Members of the press gather around His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Montreal, Canada, on September 7, 2011.
Photo/Jean-Marc (JM) Duchesne
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His Holiness recalled a recent event in New
Delhi where he met a delegation of students. They told him that they
were distancing themselves from “dirty politics.” His Holiness said that
he told the students that this was not correct. He said politics was
necessary and itself was not dirty. It was the people who indulged in it
who may be the cause. His Holiness said that instead of distancing from
politics there was the need for more effort to clean up the dirty
things.
In response to a query about climate change and Canadian mining
companies involved in Tibet, His Holiness said the ecology was a serious
issue. If there were some political errors these could be rectified,
but if there is an ecological damage then the destruction is done and
there is no rectification. His Holiness said that some Chinese
scientists had highlighted the importance of the environment on the
Tibetan plateau by calling it the Third Pole. He said while the rate of
global warming the world over was 0.1 it was 0.3 on the Tibetan
plateau. He said global warming could have a role in the unusual floods
in the world or the water scarcity in Africa and India. His Holiness
said Mrs. Danielle Mitterrand, wife of former French president, was
involved in a global movement on water.
He said the then Chinese prime minister Zhu Rongji had issued
instructions halting deforestation but that later on account of
corruption and connivance with local authorities and businessmen,
deforestation went on.
On the issue of Canadian mining companies involved in Tibet, His
Holiness said that the companies should take ecologists and scientists
to do on the spot study of the region and to minimize effect on the
ecology. If the companies do not take adequate action it would be a
disgrace to Canada, he said.
His Holiness also explained the reason for his devolution of
authority and his call for religious institutions to be separate from
political institutions.
His Holiness then met organizers of the event as well as speakers at
different panels of the conference before he began his address to the
conference on “Peace Through Ethics.”
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama
speaking at the 2nd Global Conference on World's Religions after
September 11 in Montreal, Canada, on September 7, 2011. Photo/Jean-Marc
(JM) Duchesne
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He talked about his life long commitment to
promote religious harmony. He said wherever he visited he participated
in some sort of interfaith events and said they seem to have an impact.
Some time back he was participating in an interfaith event in Australia,
which included representatives of different Christian denominations. He
said they told him that until that event they had not been interacting
with each other.
He said there was the need for closer interactions among different
religious traditions. There were conflicts that have erupted in the name
of religion, which was sad. A religion, which is the source of moral
ethics, is becoming the source of trouble. It was like the medicine
becoming the cause of illness rather than curing it, he said.
He said the conflict in the name of religion could be categorized
into two: 1) Not due to religion itself but on account of power and
politics; and 2) On account of belief in the concept of One Truth, One
Religion. He said that in today’s multi-cultural and multi religion
world such a concept was narrow-minded. He said that with more contact
people will become aware of the value of other religious traditions.
Citing the Tibetan experience, he said in the past there were some
Muslims in Lhasa but Tibetan Buddhists knew of them as good businessmen
but had no knowledge of their religion. He said that after coming to
India and after visiting Kashmir and meeting Muslim scholars he himself
had a better awareness of Islam.
He also talked about his interaction with a Catholic monk in
Barcelona in Spain who had been meditating on love for five years in the
mountain. His Holiness felt much affinity with the objective of the
monk.
His Holiness talked about the commonality of the different religious
traditions. His Holiness religious traditions share the same common
values of love, compassion, forgiveness, tolerance and self-discipline.
He said Buddhists meditate on selflessness in order to reduce
self-centered attitude. In the case of theistic traditions, tremendous
faith is placed in God that brings about intimacy leading to total
submission. He said this reduced the self-centered attitude of the
individual.
He said the concept of One Truth, One Religion may seem
contradictory with the concept of Several Truths, Several Religions.
However, in the case of individual One Truth, One Religion was relevant
whereas in terms of the community the concept of Several Truths, Several
Religions was necessary on account of the reality of the situation. He
said that it could be that followers of different religious traditions
were attending the conference.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama
answering questions from the audience at the 2nd Global Conference on
World's Religions after September 11 in Montreal, Canada, on September
7, 2011. Photo/Tenzin Dorjee
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During the Question-Answer session, His
Holiness responded positively to a question on whether religion is a
source for good. He said it was not necessary to have a faith but if one
sincerely followed it would be useful. He said there was no way for one
to be half corrupt and half praying to God. When asked whether he felt
discouraged sometimes, His Holiness responded that there were times when
he felt one individual may not be able to do much but on such occasions
he thought over the matter. Problems are created by individuals and the
moral ethics to overcome these start with an individual expanding to
one’s family to other families and the community at large. Thus looking
at it from a wider perspective, he said an individual could feel that he
can do something.
When asked the best way to promote the perception of religion after
September 11, His Holiness said that a conference like the one he was
participating in was useful. He recalled his participation in an event
in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the first
anniversary of September 11 during which he said that there was the
impression that due to activities by some Muslims the whole Islamic
tradition was being targeted, which was unfair. He said there were
mischievous individuals in every religious tradition and human beings
everywhere stumble on the same emotional obstacles — fear, anger,
jealousy, suspicion and hatred. He said that through awareness, long
term interest and wider perspective and the use of human intelligence we
could overcome destructive emotions.
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Palais des Congres, venue for the
2nd Global Conference on World's Religions after September 11 in
Montreal, Canada, on September 7, 2011. Photo/Sonam Zoksang
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His Holiness also talked about how simple
things individuals could do to highlight environmental preservation.
Talking of his own approach he said he did not bathe in a tub full of
water but only took showers so that some water could be conserved.
Similarly, he said he made it a point to switch off lights whenever he
exited a room to conserve electricity.
The conference was organized by McGill University and Universite de
Montreal with the following organizations being partners: The Dalai Lama
Foundation Canada; 2011 Youth Chess Tournament for Peace; Canadian
Centre for Ecumenisme; the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations; Brian
Bronfman Family Foundation; Radio Ville Marie; Tony Blair Faith
Foundation and Circle of Peace.
His Holiness then returned to his hotel for lunch.
In the afternoon, His Holiness went to the Uniprix Stadium the venue
of the public talk organized by the Canada Tibet Committee (CTC). On
his arrival at the open-air stadium on a somewhat cool afternoon, CTC
Executive Director Dermod Travis and other staff members received him.
In his talk, “Global Citizenship Through Universal Responsibility”
His Holiness talked about his commitments of promotion of human values
and religious harmony.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama waves
to the audience before his talk at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal, Canada,
on September 7, 2011. Photo/Tenzin Dorjee
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His Holiness recalled the then BBC journalist
Mark Tully asking about the reason for embarking on his first European
trip in 1973 and he had responded that he was a citizen of the world and
wanted to see more places. He said that at the fundamental level we
were all human beings, being same emotionally and mentally. He said too
much emphasis on the secondary levels of identity like race, religion,
etc. may have been okay during ancient time. But in today’s world when
global economy had not national boundary and ecological impact crossed
national boundaries, there was the need to understand the new reality.
His Holiness termed the 20th century as a century of bloodshed when
nuclear weapon was used and the unhealthy events in the beginning of the
21st century were a result of the negligence of the 20th century. His
Holiness said that the 21st century should be a century of dialogue and
that this was possible. He said hopefully within this century we could
build a world without armament and without military force. We have
learnt that violence would not solve problems and that there was the
need to respect the views of each other. We should be ready to share
each other’s problems and have better awareness for which education was
important, he said.
He said peace will come through action and genuine constructive
action depends on will power. Will power, in turn, depends on
self-confidence, which depends on compassion, he added. He recalled an
event in the Indian state of Bihar to inaugurate a Buddhist temple
during which the state Chief Minister had remarked that due to the
Buddha’s blessings his state would develop. His Holiness said when the
time came for him to speak he mentioned that if mere Buddha’s blessings
were sufficient, the state should have developed long time back as the
blessings were there for thousands of years. What was needed, His
Holiness had said, was that the blessings had to come through the person
of an able Chief Minister.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama
answering questions from the audience during his talk at Uniprix Stadium
in Montreal, Canada, on September 7, 2011. Photo/Jean-Marc (JM)
Duchesne
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His Holiness said that in the later part of
the 20th century people in the affluent societies began to realize that
material development did not bring inner peace. Scientists also began
paying deeper attention to emotion as they saw a connection between it
and the brain. For the past 20 to 30 years, scientists have been
conducting research in mind.
Drawing attention to the role of women in the development of the
society, His Holiness referred to the history of leadership. He said in
ancient human history, there was no concept of leadership with everyone
being equal. As population increased and farming began to be
introduced, the idea of leadership emerged. At that time there was no
concept of education and men dominated leadership by sheer strength of
power. Gradually, as education began to play an important role, the
need began to be felt for special effort to promote certain values of
compassion. His Holiness said here biologically women are better placed
as they have shown a stronger response to, and be more sensitive to
others’ pains than men. His Holiness talked about an incident he
witnessed on an overnight flight when a couple initially took care of
their two children but gradually it was the mother who fended for them
the entire flight whereas the father slept. He also talked about the
compassionate nature of his mother from whom he had received his first
experience of compassion. His Holiness also said he had mentioned to
members of the European Parliament (where there were several women) that
they needed to take a more active role in promoting compassion.
His Holiness also said the younger generation had a responsibility
in determining the direction of the future society as his generation was
becoming old. He said the younger generation needed to think more
seriously on building a better and healthier society.
Thereafter, former Canadian ice hockey player George Laraque went to
the stage to ask questions collected from the public. To a question on
changing things when being overwhelmed, His Holiness said that one had
to be optimistic no matter how difficult the situation was. He said
reasonable goals need to be set and these should be based on truth. He
called for the need to have a wider perspective. Giving the Tibetan
example, His Holiness said we lost our country, which was sad, but that
from another perspective it helped wake up the Tibetans from our narrow
thinking. It provided the Tibetans with an opportunity to learn new
ideas, he said.
To a question about the indigenous population and the Tibetan
people, His Holiness said that in general he thought that communities
like the First Nation in Canada or the Maori people in New Zealand might
be faring better than indigenous people in other countries. In Tibet,
he said before 1959 there was no issues on account of racial
discrimination but that now Tibetans and Han Chinese faced issues,
whether in the schools, offices or even in prisons.
His Holiness said he usually divided China into Four Eras. Under Mao
Zedong era, ideology was prominent, under Deng Xiaoping era, becoming
rich was stressed, under Jiang Zemin era, the Communist Party membership
was expanded to include other sectors of the Chinese society, and under
Hu Jintao era, harmonious society was stressed.
Today, he said China had undergone a big transformation with
Communism becoming Capitalist Communism. His Holiness added that this
development showed that in certain fields the Chinese leadership could
be realistic.
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His Holiness the Dalai Lama is
presented with a tennis racket by Canadian Tennis player Aleksandra
Wozniak in Montreal, Canada, on September 7, 2011. Photo/Sonam Zoksang
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Following the talk, Mr. Laraque invited
Canadian Tennis player Aleksandra Wozniak and figure skater Joannie
Rochette to the stage. They presented His Holiness with a tennis racquet
and invited the gathering to think about actions they could take as
they depart. They asked the people to “Commit to standing up for
freedom, for human rights in Tibet, in China, in Africa and wherever
there are those who are oppressed or live in fear.” They concluded by
saying, “Be the voice for one voiceless Tibetan.”
His Holiness returned to his hotel thereafter.
On September 8 morning His Holiness departs Montreal for Mexico to continue on his next leg of his tour of the Americas.
