Unity in diversity
November 2014
By Life Positive
Hh the Dalai Lama is a person guided completely by his vision and inner goodness. His compassion for fellow beings, reverence for all the religions, simplicity of character, and cool sense of humour; were on display in the two-day inter-religious meet held on September 20 and 21, at Hyatt Regency, New Delhi. Titled ‘A Meeting of Diverse Spiritual Traditions in India’, the conference welcomed around a hundred delegates belonging to nine religions. HH himself, in his characteristic style, was at the door to welcome the participants with a humble namaste on the first day.
Cutting across religious lines, spiritual leaders from across the spectrum emphasised the need to ensure communal harmony and religious tolerance. While Delhi Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung was the chief guest, the others who spoke on the occasion were Swami Avimuktesharanand Saraswati, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Prof. Manjit Singh, His Excellency Gaden Tripa Rizong Sras-Trul Thupten Nyima, Acharya Shri Mahashraman, Nazneen Rowhani, Dadi E Mistry, Rabbi Ezekiel Isaac Malekar, Mufti Mohammad Sanaul Hoda Qasmi. The welcome address was delivered by former ambassador Lalit Mansingh. Speaking at the event, HH urged the spiritual leaders to play a more proactive role in promoting tolerance. He pointed out that unwholesome actions carried out in the name of religion or extreme ideology give rise to sectarianism and strife.
“Instead of fostering love and compassion, tolerance and forgiveness, and providing each other ethical support based on instructions found in these spiritual traditions, to incite discord, conflict and violence is like turning medicine into poison,” HH said. Later in the day, a plenary session was organised with speakers from across religions who discussed various steps to promote non-violence through dialogue. The speakers also explored the idea of setting up a mechanism by religious traditions to provide mediation, advice and help in zones of conflict.
HH said, “Religious harmony and ahimsa depend on karuna. I consider myself to be a messenger of these qualities.”