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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 43

the intention of what I am doing especially in relation At the moment, the centre is quite a small operation. We
to others, and the importance of having the deeper do work in partnership with other Dalai Lama Centres
awareness of my actions and ensuring that what I do is in Atlanta, Toronto, Switzerland, and Germany. We have
from a place of compassion every time. evolved gradually from funding research to focusing on
educational projects. It will be interesting to see where
His Holiness is not just a nice old man. He thinks we would be in 3-4 years’ time as the focus might move to
compassion is very revolutionary and I do agree with another area. For instance, there is a growing interest in
that. I admire his ability to not only being kind, but compassionate leadership skills in the corporate world.
he also has a lot of courage as bringing happiness and
kindness into people’s lives is about being courageous As compassion is such an important value, how do
enough to stand up doing justice and know when to be you think each and every one of us, who has read
brave. He embodies these messages, which is inspiring. this interview, can advance and promote this value
in our day-to-day lives apart from outreach and
I read that one of the centre’s key missions is to school projects?
promote compassion and related values. Why
do you think kindness and compassion are so I think spending a small amount of time every day doing
important in our society today? And how do you some contemplative exercise or meditation is really
achieve that? beneficial. There are both secular and non-secular
resources available for free. We could focus on practices
There is a lot of discussion about young people being drawn from the Buddhist tradition which is being
less compassionate, but I don’t think that’s true. I find compassionate to yourself and wishing others well,
teenagers and children are incredibly compassionate. including the very difficult persons. Creating that mindset
People have a natural capacity to compassion and when within yourself is really an important part of our every
they see adversity it just fires up. I think my generation day life. There is a lot of neuroscience evidence showing
and the generations before are the ones that fuel the that if you practise compassion, a part of your brain
ecological and societal issues that the young people grows bigger and stronger, and you become better at
are facing now. My generation was the generation of being altruistic, compassionate, and empathetic.
mass production and consumption; the generation
before mine was the generation of extreme wealth but Kindness can be very simple; we can start by bringing
failed to invest in a sustainable way. So, kindness and someone a cup of tea, listening to someone, or offering
compassion are important because we need to teach someone a smile. That’s the beginning, but to develop
those generations not to make the same mistakes the that onwards, the intention and awareness need to
older generations have made, and not just turning be deeper. We can achieve that by doing compassion
compassion to adversity but also making it a natural training. Then, compassion starts to infiltrate everything
way of engaging with the world. For me, it’s helping you do. Rather than it being an action, it becomes your
young people to learn about what is right and wrong, purpose and that is really powerful. It transforms your
when to be courageous and stand up for things and to intentions and directions. I believe that’s how people do
be wise. These things circle around compassion. If you transformative things.
are a wise and compassionate person, courageous when
you need to be, you will find happiness. You could also support compassion in your community
by recommending some of the educational programmes
There is a reason that millions of people watch TED talks I mentioned for the schools. EH
because they are seeking wisdom and life lessons, which
are not taught in the classrooms. We want to make these
lessons accessible and engaging for children.