Nobel Peace Prize Forum

I just got back from the Nobel Peace Prize Forum where I had the privilege to hear His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak, I am very honored to have had this once in a lifetime opportunity.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Minneapolis Convention Center

His Holiness spoke about education, compassion, diversity and love as part of the efforts to see the world in a humanistic way to achieve peace. He begins by saying that every living being on earth has ethical rights and values, even the animals and the flowers. He said every child should have access to an education and equal opportunities. He mentioned that even Hussein had access to education as a child. I believe he made this point because as cruel as we think Hussein to be, he made sure children had an education. Under his ruling, every child had access to an education regardless of socioeconomic status. His Holiness also said “mutual respect is mutual learning”. This was in the context of religion. And I totally agree with this statement. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of my atheist friends bash and go off on Christianity. I respect them as people and as my friends but I also strongly believe that they NEED to respect religion. If I respect their views there’s no reason why they shouldn’t respect mine. It should be a mutual respect to have room for learning. One never stops learning, and that’s the beauty of diversity and education. The more we learn the more we realize how little we know. He said “all religions have the same potential”, if we become respectful, collectively, we might just achieve the peace we yearn for.

Along these same lines he emphasized compassion, he urged us to have sincere compassion. He said this century should be a “century of love.” He said the less differences there is between us, the less barriers exists. With love running through our veins, we can talk and be heard. We can have meaningful dialogues and strive for social justice in non-violent actions.

Finally, one of the best moments of his speech was when he admitted that he really liked honey, and he thought that maybe he would reincarnate as a bee. That was until his doctor told him he needed to cut down on sweets in order to be healthy. He said that’s when he realized that eating honey posed a serious threat to his rebirth! He made this connection to the current state of our society. It is in serious threat of the future. The other highlight of his speech (according to me) was when someone from the audience asked him to describe this world in one word, His response: “Complicated!” He’s so right!

His Holiness radiates peace, enlightenment and a sense of respect. My sister said it’s because he is charismatic, but I say it’s more than that. I believe he has wisdom and he shares it in the most meek and kind of ways.

All in all, I am very impressed and thankful for everything this day entailed.