By TENZIN GYATSO and THE 14TH DALAI LAMA
When
the president of the United States says "America first," he is making
his voters happy. I can understand that. But from a global perspective, this
statement isn't relevant. Everything is interconnected today.
The
new reality is that everyone is interdependent with everyone else. The United
States is a leading nation of the free world. For this reason, I call on its
president to think more about global-level issues. There are no national
boundaries for climate protection or the global economy. No religious
boundaries, either. The time has come to understand that we are the same human
beings on this planet. Whether we want to or not, we must coexist.
History
tells us that when people pursue only their own national interests, there is
strife and war. This is shortsighted and narrow-minded. It is also unrealistic
and outdated. Living together as brothers and sisters is the only way to peace,
compassion, mindfulness and more justice.
Religion
can to a certain degree help to overcome division. But religion alone will not
be enough. Global secular ethics are now more important than the classical
religions. We need a global ethic that can accept both believers and
nonbelievers, including atheists.
My
wish is that, one day, formal education will pay attention to the education of
the heart, teaching love, compassion, justice, forgiveness, mindfulness,
tolerance and peace. This education is necessary, from kindergarten to
secondary schools and universities. I mean social, emotional and ethical
learning. We need a worldwide initiative for educating heart and mind in this
modern age.
At
present our educational systems are oriented mainly toward material values and
training one's understanding. But reality teaches us that we do not come to
reason through understanding alone. We should place greater emphasis on inner
values.
Intolerance
leads to hatred and division. Our children should grow up with the idea that
dialogue, not violence, is the best and most practical way to solve conflicts.
The young generations have a great responsibility to ensure that the world
becomes a more peaceful place for all. But this can become reality only if we
educate, not just the brain, but also the heart. The educational systems of the
future should place greater emphasis on strengthening human abilities, such as
warm-heartedness, a sense of oneness, humanity and love.
I
see with ever greater clarity that our spiritual well-being depends not on
religion, but on our innate human nature — our natural affinity for goodness, compassion
and caring for others. Regardless of whether we belong to a religion, we all
have a fundamental and profoundly human wellspring of ethics within ourselves.
We need to nurture that shared ethical basis.
Ethics,
as opposed to religion, are grounded in human nature. Through ethics, we can
work on preserving creation. Empathy is the basis of human coexistence. It is
my belief that human development relies on cooperation, not competition.
Science tells us this.
We
must learn that humanity is one big family. We are all brothers and sisters:
physically, mentally and emotionally. But we are still focusing far too much on
our differences instead of our commonalities. After all, every one of us is
born the same way and dies the same way.
The
14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of
Tibet and a Nobel laureate for peace. He wrote this op-ed with Franz Alt, a
television journalist and bestselling author. This piece is adapted from their
new book, "An Appeal to the World: The Way to Peace in a Time of
Division."
Please
go here for the original: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-dalai-lama-alt-we-need-an-education-of-the-heart-20171113-story.html?fbclid=IwAR0ICtunq9CVeleksWUF9tGyjPIifX6j_FzLLxjrF8I3U3h5XNtLPsVxxdc
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