The Dalai Lama deeply regrets that religions have often become sources of major conflict. Originally, all the great religious traditions were intended to improve man, not to harm him. We find in all spiritualities the notion of love of neighbor, even if this ideal has been contradicted many times by the facts. According to the Dalai Lama, such a perversion occurs when one brandishes religion like a flag, turns it into a diktat, without understanding or practicing its deeper meaning. He suggests four approaches that can help eliminate these dissensions:
1-Meet scholars belonging to different denominations in order to learn more about the philosophical foundations of other religions.
2-Meet contemplatives to share spiritual experiences.
3-Organize interreligious encounters, such as the one held in Assisi in 1986, allowing religious leaders to develop mutual respect and together find solutions to tensions between different communities.
“The notion of “universal responsibility” is one of the most important notions developed by the Dalai Lama. It is based on the concept of interdependence which is at the heart of Buddhist reality and philosophy. »
4-Organize pilgrimages in which the faithful of different denominations would participate, because by going to these exceptional places, each pilgrim expresses what is most noble in himself, thus facilitating a climate of openness and understanding. This is how the Dalai Lama went, in the company of representatives of other religions, to Jerusalem, Lourdes, Fatima, Benares, the Kumba Mela in Allahabad (where 70 million Hindus found in 2002).
Universal Responsibility
The notion of “universal responsibility” is one of the most important notions developed by the Dalai Lama. It is based on the concept of interdependence which is at the heart of Buddhist reality and philosophy. Our entire life is intimately linked to a very large number of beings and our happiness necessarily depends on that of others. Wanting to build our happiness on the suffering of others is not only amoral, but unrealistic. Indeed, any significant change that occurs somewhere in the world has an impact on each of us. We must therefore be concerned in our thoughts and actions with the welfare of all beings. Hence the essential importance of the notion of non-violence between men, non-violence towards animals and non-violence towards the environment.
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