The Dalai Lama Shares His Vision "Compassion Without Borders" at SDSU

by Debbie Cook, from San Diego Life in Photos Examiner

His Holiness the Dalai Lama, spoke to a hushed, over-capacity crowd Thursday morning at SDSU Viejas Arena. The crowd was mesmerized by his message of compassion and the oneness of humanity.

"We are the same family, mentally, emotionally, physically, we are all the same. Furthermore, our potential for good things, for constructive things - the same.  Also, our potential for destructive things the same."

The 76 year-old Tenzin Gyatso is the 14th Dalai Lama and the spiritual head of  Tibetan Buddhism as well as a political leader. He travels the world advocating autonomy for his country, which is controlled by China.

The 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner told a hushed audience, comprised of mostly college students  "Compassion is the most important part of life." The crowd listened intently as he told them "You have the opportunity to make a new world, a happy world. My generation, not"

The Dalia Lama reiterated the importance of  becoming involved in one's own community.  "A sense of belonging and community brings with it a need for responsibility and concern for others." His Holiness recalled a chant he had heard while he was visiting Hawaii recently, the meaning of which was "Your bone is my bone, your blood is my blood." He explained that this was very meaningful to him and that we need to have the attitude and feeling that "your life is my life, your health is my health."

His Holiness stated that affection, more importantly "maximum affection" is crucial in the development of a healthy mind at the beginning of one's life. That even animals cling to their mother, yearning for her affection. Kindness and affection must also be an integral part of the family, keeping it peaceful and together. "By developing a peaceful family we can also develop a peaceful world." Just as affection is important at the beginning of one's life, it is also important at the end of one's life. "To leave this world surrounded by the people that you love makes the journey easier."

His Holiness talked about the growing gap between the rich and the poor throughout the world. During his visits to Africa and Latin America he could see the despair. One of the issues affecting this is corruption he said, "it is the new cancer."  "These problems come about because of a lack of self-discipline and moral ethics. Since the problem is universal, we should seek a universal solution, one that is not grounded in religion. We must promote the importance of human value and a concern for others well-being, together with religious harmony."

As the Dalai Lama concluded, he stressed to the people gathered, "Strive to cultivate warm-heartedness and a sense of "global responsibility".  He told the crowd of students that they have the opportunity to "make the twenty-first century the best century." His Holiness then answered questions submitted beforehand. When asked how merely "one" individual can make a difference in this world, His Holiness reminded the audience that throughout history change has always been the culmination of individual actions. He said Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, were all  individuals that were able to make a difference.

The Dalai Lama continues his tour with a stop in Long Beach on April 20th and Los Angeles, April 21. He then travels to Chicago and Canada.

To read more about His Holiness the Dalai Lama please visit his website at www.dalailama.com