Legal Commentary

The Dalai Lama in Aspen (After McCain Left)

By Jeralyn

The Dalai Lama gave a keynote speech yesterday in Aspen, a day after John McCain visited him there.

In Saturday's speech, he didn't mention McCain. Anita Thompson was there, and writing in HuffPo today, recaps the Dalai Lama's talk.

She begins:

My late husband, Hunter S. Thompson, said that he was a teenage girl trapped in the body of an elderly dope fiend. I realized something as I watched the highest ranking monk of Tibetan Buddhism: His Holiness is a teenage girl trapped in the body of a Dalai Lama! It was all very familiar, indeed spectacular, as I observed his demeanor during the keynote address he gave at the Aspen Institute Saturday. I have studied the Dalai Lama's teachings, practiced another form of Buddhism, and am even more curious now because Hunter was so often compared to him.

Here's what the Dalai Lama had to say on war in the 21st century: [More...]

The concept of war is outdated. Why? In the past, in some cases, it worked. In some cases the interest of one group and the interest of the other group were different, so the destruction of one group helped the other. But now, with the new global reality, the destruction of your neighbor means the destruction of yourself.

Hence, using force to destroy your "enemy" is now outdated. Therefore, out of respect and a genuine sense of their well-being, we have to find ways of reducing conflict. What is the best? Dialogue.

The 20th century was a century of bloodshed. The 21st century will have to be a century of dialogue.

The military establishment is very connected to the last century. It was necessary then. One day we will not need a foreign ministry or a defense ministry, because we will realize we are connected.

He acknowledged it won't happen overnight:

Of course we can't create this demilitarized world overnight. But if people and governments keep this vision in their minds, it will happen one day.

Don't think one election at a time, but think long-term.

World peace begins with each of us:

First one must find peace with oneself, then with our family, then our neighbor, and finally, with our "enemy."

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 27, 2008 (boomark / email).