Dalai Lama’s Speech in Literature Festival Jaipur

On the opening day of the DSC Jaipur literature Festival, The lawns at the Diggi Palace Jaipur were fully packed.

As, Tibetan Spiritual Leader His Holiness the14th Dalai Lama,  Tenzin Gyatso, made his way to the stage to address the opening day. On this occasion, the Dalai Lama began his conversation, by mentioning the influence of literature on his life.

He said “As a young boy, I was not much interested in philosophy, but stories like the Jataka were very moving”.

He said jokingly, that he did not like the stories about miracles because he did not believe in them, but he enjoyed reading stories that showed that capability of a human or an animal to help others.

 “Whenever I have time, I’m always reading the root texts of Buddhism I learned when I was 6 or 7 years old,”

The Dalai Lama said "India is our guru we are the chelas and the source of all the knowledge we have has come from Nalanda, He also called India a living example of how different religions and communities can live in coexistence and India's greatness lies in the idea of Ahimsa.

This country is a living example for the world to see how so many religions can exist together for centuries," he said.

Dalai Lama praised Indian Democratic Ideals and said “India’s constitution is based on secularism; secularism does not mean to disrespect religion but rather to respect all religions and also respect nonbelievers,”

He also said "China is world's most populous country and India is one of the world's most populous democratic country. China could learn much from India," he said. "Genuine friendship between India and China is essential.

On the basis of mutual trust the Hindi Chini, bhai bhai, relation is essential.” And called for genuine friendship between the two nations.

Regarding the increasing cases of violence against women he said, "These days I have been noticing that big cities are reporting so many incidents of violence like rapes, murders.

We must provide more security for women.” He also said, the mistakes of the twentieth century should not be repeated, calling the last century “an era of violence and bloodshed.”

He even added “If this had led to positive change it might have been justified, but instead it produced pain, fear and widespread destruction.

Now in the twenty-first century if we are not to repeat these mistakes, we need to make it instead a century in which dialogue is the way to solve our problems.”

Dalai Lama also noted that DSC Jaipur Literature festival, which is in its sixth year, is the most prestigious celebration of national and international literature to be held in India.