 Broadcast
live from Sarnath, India - January 1,
2001. (Sarnath is also the same place
that the Buddha gave his first sermon
after his enlightenment over 2,500 years
ago)......
Many
people seem to be excited about the new
millennium, but the new millennium in
itself will be nothing special. As we
enter into the new millennium things will
be the same; there will be nothing unusual.
However, if we really want the next millennium
to be happier, more peaceful and more
harmonious for humankind we will have
to make the effort to make it so. This
is in our hands, but especially in the
hands of the younger generation. We have
had many experiences during this century
- constructive as well as extremely destructive
ones. We must learn from these experiences.
We need to approach the next millennium
more holistically, with more openness
and farsightedness. If we are going to
make the right kind of efforts to make
the future of the world better, I believe
the following matters are of great importance.
- While
engaging in material progress and taking
care of physical well-being, we need to
pay equal attention to developing peace
of mind and thus taking care of the internal
aspect of our being.
- Along
with education, which generally deals
only with academic accomplishments, we
need to develop more altruism and a sense
of caring and responsibility for others
in the minds of the younger generation
studying in various educational institutions.
This can be done without necessarily involving
religion. One could therefore call this
'secular ethics,' as it in fact consists
of basic human qualities such as kindness,
compassion, sincerity and honesty.
- This
past century in some ways has been a century
of war and bloodshed. It has seen a year-by-year
increase in defense spending by most countries
in the world. If we are to change this
trend we must seriously consider the concept
of nonviolence, which is a physical expression
of compassion. In order to make nonviolence
a reality we must first work on internal
disarmament and then proceed to work on
external disarmament. By internal disarmament
I mean ridding ourselves of all the negative
emotions that result in violence. External
disarmament will also have to be done
gradually, step by step. We must first
work on the total abolishment of nuclear
weapons and gradually work up to total
demilitarization throughout the world.
In the process of doing this we also need
to work towards stopping the arms trade,
which is still very widely practiced because
it is so lucrative. When we do all these
things, we can then hope to see in the
next millennium a year-by-year decrease
in the military expenditure of the various
nations and a gradual working towards
demilitarization.
Human problems will, of course, always
remain, but the way to resolve them should
be through dialogue and discussion. The
next century should be a century of dialogue
and discussion rather than one of war
and bloodshed.
- We
need to address the issue of the gap between
the rich and the poor, both globally and
nationally. This inequality, with some
sections of the human community having
abundance and others on the same planet
going hungry or even dying of starvation,
is not only morally wrong but practically
also a source of problems. Equally important
is the issue of freedom. As long as there
is no freedom in many parts of the world
there can be no real peace and in a sense
no real freedom for the rest of the world.
- For
the sake of our future generations, we
need to take care of our earth and of
our environment. Environmental damage
is often gradual and not easily apparent,
and by the time we become aware of it,
it is generally too late. Since most of
the major rivers flowing into many parts
of southeast Asia originate from the Tibetan
plateau, it will not be out of place to
mention here the crucial importance of
taking care of the environment in that
area.
- Lastly,
one of the greatest challenges today is
the population explosion. Unless we are
able to tackle this issue effectively
we will be confronted with the problem
of the natural resources being inadequate
for all the human beings on this earth.
We need to seriously look into these matters
that concern us all if we are to look
forward to the future with some hope.
~
His Holiness the Dalai Lama |
