By Tenzin Monlam

DHARAMSHALA, December 30: Dialogue is a not sign of weakness but wisdom, said the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the international conference on ‘Mind in Indian Philosophical Thoughts and Modern Sciences’ at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies (CIHTS) in Sarnath, Varanasi today.

“Use of force is outdated. Any differences among human brothers and sisters must be solved through talk or dialogue. In order to make the 21st century a peaceful one, we must put our efforts in making this century into a century of dialogue,” said the Tibetan spiritual leader.

His Holiness added that engaging in dialogue is not a sign of weakness but sign of wisdom, which is the more ‘realistic’ approach in resolving an issue. He also said the continuous importance given to the production of weapon in today’s world and use of weapon such as nuclear weapon would lead to ‘mutual destruction’.

“We the people who are totally committed about promotion of peace and wellbeing of humanity have some special responsibility,” the Nobel Peace Laureate said, adding that such mentality is caused by not properly utilizing the human intelligence and it becoming the dispose of anger and self-centered attitude.

“So it is our responsibility to discuss on how to introduce to the younger generation about generating more compassion mind and how to combine compassion and intelligence. These two things must go together,” said His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader has often spoken about the inadequacy of the modern education in developing inner values and at the inaugural day of the two-day conference, he said that study of human mind and emotion may be from religious contexts but that now it should be considered as academic subjects.

“More knowledge about our emotion, we will be at a better position in tackling these emotions. The ancient Indian knowledge of psychology and emotion are not only ancient knowledge but very relevant in today’s world,” the 82-year-old leader said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader also spoke one the importance of sense of oneness of seven billion human beings and the importance of cultivating hygiene of emotion.

Attended by scholars from various universities and institutions of the country and abroad, the Dalai Lama hoped that such conference would engage in serious discussion on present crisis.

“If we make certain effort with vision and systematic plan, there is a possibility to see some change,” His Holiness the Dalai Lama said.