Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Thursday emphasised on the importance of religious harmony to co-exist in a community and cited India as the living example where different religious traditions coexist in harmony.
Interacting with the students of Woodstock School, Mussorie, he urged the rest of the world to follow India’s example for co-existence of various religions and communities.
However, he lamented on the violence and conflicts erupting in the name of religion while referring to the religious dispute between the two major denominations of Islam’s Shias and Sunnis.
“Therefore, Indian Muslims should make some effort to reduce conflict between Shias and Sunnis and then show to the world that religious harmony is possible,” he advised.
Dalai Lama was pragmatic when he suggested that Indian Muslims should organise a national level Muslim conference to address religious disputes. He said that one’s struggle is a part and parcel of one’s karma and God has no control over it and one’s action dictates the circumstances of one’s karma.
“Emphasise not on God but emphasise on one’s own way of life,” he added. He said hygiene of emotions should also be prioritised vis-a-vis physical hygiene in the education system today.
“Within the whirlpool of emotions, the counter-force tackling negative emotions exist which has to be channelised through secular education,” he said while advising the students to become the best version of 21st-century people and create a better and peaceful world to live.