BYI4I - His Holiness

Speaking at "Pillars of Peace", His Holiness began His remarks by making the case that we were all the same as humans, mentally, emotionally and physically. He recalled that some of the students who welcomed Him on his arrival in Honolulu yesterday looked like Tibetans and so even physically there was a sameness.

He said everyone had the desire to achieve a happy life and that this was a basic right. He said the very purpose of life was to achieve happiness and joyfulness. However, happiness should not be understood merely at the level of physical happiness, he said. Physical happiness might sometimes bring about mental satisfaction, which in turn brings inner peace.

Talking about mental happiness, His Holiness said the real destroyer of inner peace were things like fear and distrust. He said distrust leads to fear, which in turn leads to frustration and to anger. These lead to violence and applied at both the national level as well as the family level. He said trying to tackle these challenges through violence was not a winnable one and that only through non-violence could we approach them.

His Holiness said that here He was sharing His views based on His experience. However, although His experience was primarily through His Buddhist education, His Holiness said that He was approaching the issue at the human level, without touch the religion.