Riga, Latvia — "The use of force only serves to create more terrorists," His Holiness the Dalai Lama said during an interview to a Latvian Television in Riga, Latvia on September 25, 2017.
Before leaving for the teaching venue at the Skonto Hall Monday morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave an interview to Gundars Reders of Latvian Television for broadcast in their prime slot,'One to One'. Reders began by asking what His Holiness means about the world being in crisis.
On being asked what he meant by 'the world being in crisis,' "There is a lot of fear and anger, unfulfilled desire and exploitation, a huge gap between rich and poor—and starving children. Many of the problems humanity faces are of our own making."
Responding to the question on possibility of tackling terrorism with compassion. His Holiness said that using force will only breed more terrorists. "The problem of terrorism can only be solved if we can reach out to them, keeping in mind that they too are human beings", he said.
The use of force, he said "It's an out of date approach that reflects an education system that tends to set materialistic goals, but has little time for inner values. He mentioned ongoing efforts to create a curriculum to introduce secular ethics into contemporary education."
Acknowledging the relations that exists between Russia and China, His Holiness mentioned that he is unable to visit Russia and its Buddhist republics of Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva, taking into account the negative effect it might have on the existing relations between the two countries. The only Buddhist country that he was able to visit at present is Japan.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was conciliatory about being unable to visit Russia and its Buddhist republics of Kalmykia, Buryatia and Tuva, acknowledging the relations that exist between Russia and China. He compared this to the fact that he is currently unable to visit any Buddhist country except Japan. Reders also observed that he will not be meeting the Latvian President.
"That's ok," His Holiness replied, "my visit is entirely non-political. I'm not disappointed. The world belongs to its 7 billion people and each country belongs to its population, so I consider the general public to be more important."
Nearing the final moments of the interview, Reders asked His Holiness that he had received via social media, Reders asked him if he owned a mobile phone and if he had ever wished to be married. To both he responded with a blunt "No". However, asked how to find lasting happiness, he replied that as a student of the Indian Nalanda tradition, he employs reason and analysis. This leads him to conclude that what disrupts our peace of mind is giving in to disturbing emotions like anger and fear. So the solution is to find and apply antidotes to them.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama teachings for the Baltic States and Russia have been held in Riga since 2014 and are open to everyone, both Buddhists and those who are simply interested in the Buddhist philosophy that harmoniously combines profound wisdom and limitless compassion.
The spiritual leader of Tibet had a packed schedule in Riga, including meetings with parliamentarians from the Baltic States and Tibet Support groups from the Baltic States, Latvian celebrities and several members of the media.
His Holiness after the interview traveled to Skonto Hall to impart his third and final day of teachings. 23th to 25thof September this year saw the seventh visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Latvia (the previous two being in 1991 and 2001). This time the three day visit was organized by Save Tibet Latvia and Save Tibet Foundation, Russia with a help from many other NGO's and individual supporters.
