A blueprint for benevolence
The Dalai Lama's latest book may not break new ground, but it does offer lucid and logical lessons on the importance of compassion
In 1954, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, travelled to Beijing to talk with Mao Zedong after China invaded Tibet. Mao told the young spiritual leader of Tibet: "Religion is poison for two reasons. The first is that it harms development of the nation. The second is that it diminishes the population."
We do not know how the young Dalai Lama, who was only 19 at the time, responded to the formidable chairman then.
However, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, would later write of the incident: "In hindsight, we can say now that more monastics are just what China needed to reduce overpopulation! Mao simply did not understand the real meaning of religion. He did not know that the essence of religion is caring and concern for others."
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About the author
- Writer: Anchalee Kongrut
- Position: News Reporter
