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Tibetan
spiritual leader the Dalai Lama greets people in Huy, Belgium on May
29, 2006. (Geert Vanden Wijngaert / Associated Press)
When
the president of the United States says "America first," he is making
his voters happy. I can understand that. But from a global perspective,
this statement isn't relevant. Everything is interconnected today.
The
new reality is that everyone is interdependent with everyone else. The
United States is a leading nation of the free world. For this reason, I
call on its president to think more about global-level issues. There are
no national boundaries for climate protection or the global economy. No
religious boundaries, either. The time has come to understand that we
are the same human beings on this planet. Whether we want to or not, we
must coexist.
History
tells us that when people pursue only their own national interests,
there is strife and war. This is shortsighted and narrow-minded. It is
also unrealistic and outdated. Living together as brothers and sisters
is the only way to peace, compassion, mindfulness and more justice.
The time has come to understand that we are the same human beings on this planet. Whether we want to or not, we must coexist.
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Religion
can to a certain degree help to overcome division. But religion alone
will not be enough. Global secular ethics are now more important than
the classical religions. We need a global ethic that can accept both
believers and nonbelievers, including atheists.
My
wish is that, one day, formal education will pay attention to the
education of the heart, teaching love, compassion, justice, forgiveness,
mindfulness, tolerance and peace. This education is necessary, from
kindergarten to secondary schools and universities. I mean social,
emotional and ethical learning. We need a worldwide initiative for
educating heart and mind in this modern age.
At
present our educational systems are oriented mainly toward material
values and training one's understanding. But reality teaches us that we
do not come to reason through understanding alone. We should place
greater emphasis on inner values.
Intolerance
leads to hatred and division. Our children should grow up with the idea
that dialogue, not violence, is the best and most practical way to
solve conflicts. The young generations have a great responsibility to
ensure that the world becomes a more peaceful place for all. But this
can become reality only if we educate, not just the brain, but also the
heart. The educational systems of the future should place greater
emphasis on strengthening human abilities, such as warm-heartedness, a
sense of oneness, humanity and love.
I
see with ever greater clarity that our spiritual well-being depends not
on religion, but on our innate human nature — our natural affinity for
goodness, compassion and caring for others. Regardless of whether we
belong to a religion, we all have a fundamental and profoundly human
wellspring of ethics within ourselves. We need to nurture that shared
ethical basis.
Ethics,
as opposed to religion, are grounded in human nature. Through ethics,
we can work on preserving creation. Empathy is the basis of human
coexistence. It is my belief that human development relies on
cooperation, not competition. Science tells us this.
We
must learn that humanity is one big family. We are all brothers and
sisters: physically, mentally and emotionally. But we are still focusing
far too much on our differences instead of our commonalities. After
all, every one of us is born the same way and dies the same way.
The 14th
Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of Tibet and a Nobel
laureate for peace. He wrote this op-ed with Franz Alt, a television
journalist and bestselling author. This piece is adapted from their new
book, "An Appeal to the World: The Way to Peace in a Time of Division."
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