His holiness, The Dalai Lama delivered a heart-warming and a characteristic spiritual speech at the India Today Conclave 2009. I was mesmerized at something he said some time back talking to Charlie Rose in an interview as well. Charlie Rose asked him about the unrest in the world owing to religion and the so called clash of civilizations. Dalai Lama put it this we, “though I am a Buddhist, I am not attached to Buddhism. If you are too attached to your religion then it props up a biased attitude in a human being. It is not the religion which is evil, rather it is the people who manipulate or kidnap religion and transform it into an evil entity. The same is true for science and for politics as well.”

Even at the recent conclave he mentioned a very important point during his speech, which I believe, is the crux of his message to the world, the message of compassion. He said that we talk about the wide spread poverty and lack of education as the root of cause of misery in the world. But, the one more important thing is the compassion in the hearts of human beings. It is the compassion which paves the way for improvement in the other domains.

Since it was an India Today conclave, Dalai Lama put the onus on us, The Indians, to lead the way towards a pervasive harmony in this world. Comparing Buddhism as the light of the India Culture (in terms of spirituality), he mentioned something very amazing, saying that wherever this light of Indian culture has not reached, that place is still dark (nothing to do with conversion). He said that he is the shishya of the Indians and we must act like the guru to show the path towards compassion and harmony.

Deus Vobiscum!