Peace is sign of compassion

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Mumbai, Jan 31 (UNI) Spiritual leader Dalai Lama today said peace is not just absence of violence but readiness to fight violence through awareness and in a non-violent manner.

Calling upon people to shun destructive motivation and negative emotions, Dalai Lama said human beings with such emotions did not enjoy peace of mind. ''It is difficult to communicate with animals through physical actions, but if the actions are genuine and sincere, even the animals respond accordingly,'' he said in his one-hour discourse at the MMRDA grounds here on the subject 'Peace through Inner Peace.' According to the spiritual leader, ''genuine peace comes through inner peace and that inner disarmament must be realised through efforts to identify and reduce emotions that cause conflict and unrest.'' He stressed the need for spiritual development alongside material development so that inner peace and social harmony could be experienced.

''Human compassion is a key to physical well being'' he added.

Dalai Lama said inner values had the potential to bring inner peace. ''When you speak to a compassionate person about your feelings and problems, you feel better and happy,'' he added.

On several questions from the gathering, the recipient of the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize said the education system in India needed to undergo drastic changes. ''Education needs to stress on secular ethics and inner values,'' he added.

Giving the example of the 9/11 attacks in the US, he said modern technology, sophisticated minds guided by hatred was at work. ''This is because there is a lack of spiritual education and moral ethics,'' he opined.

To a question on whether he considered the Chinese train to Lhasa as another invasion of China on Tibet, Dalai Lama said ''Such a judgment cannot be made on the basis of construction of the railway link. '' ''According to reports, 5000-6000 Chinese travel to Lhasa on the train regularly out of which 2000 to 3000 stay back. They are mostly unemployed Chinese looking for work. Besides, uneducated, innocent girls from the Chinese countryside are being lured to Lhasa and made to work as prostitutes raising the fear of AIDS. There are also environmental concerns because the Tibetan plateau is on high altitude with dry climate. If there is an environmental imbalance, it would take several years to IMPROVE it,'' he said.