28 Oct Dalai Lama Cultivates Happiness at Purdue
Dalai Lama Cultivates Happiness at Purdue
Oct 27, 2007 08:50 AM
“Cultivating Happiness” was the Dalai Lama’s theme. He kept his audience rapt as he spoke off-the-cuff for about an hour. Before his speech, Purdue president France Cordova presented the Dalai Lama with “The Order of the Griffin,” one of the highest honors of the university. He, in turn, presented Cordova, and others, with silk scarves.
The Dalai Lama said happiness is a birth-right of human beings. “I have the ability to show compassion…even to insects or birds. I have that from birth, and so do we all. We all come from a mother.”
Much of the Dalai Lama’s speech centered on the development of compassion and the importance of affection in a person’s life. “A person who receives more affection from others and from self–physical well-being is better,” the Dalai Lama said.
The Dalai Lama touched on terrorism. He said it was a man-made creation. But an audience
member’s question about the war in Iraq seemed to catch the audience off-guard. “What should happen next in the Iraq War? I don’t know. Next question.”
In parting, the Dalai Lama praised the younger generation for its role in shaping the future. And, he exorted members of the generation to look inside themselves. “You will shape the planet. Please think more about our inner value,” the Dalai Lama said.