Tibet's spiritual and political leader, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, spoke Wednesday about compassion and the benefits of positivity to 3,500 people at Florida Atlantic University's Arena in Boca Raton.
"Out of compassion brings inner peace, and out of inner peace comes world peace. Without inner peace, we cannot have world peace," His Holiness said.
His Holiness said everyone has the same capabilities for inner peace and compassion. If a person is always in constant fear and suspicion, that's "very bad," His Holiness said. Everyone has the same capacity for kindness, His Holiness added.
"To me, the audience is brothers and sisters - no difference," he said. "Emotionally, mentally and physically we are the same. Negative emotions - anger, fear suspicion [are the] same. Other hand, we have the same potential for compassion. Compassion is the seed of inner peace. We all have the same potential."
Showing compassion to an enemy helps to achieve inner peace, and "Neighbors with jealousy never get peace," His Holiness the Dalai Lama said.
Smiling often and genuinely is another key to finding compassion and inner peace, and the more positive you are, the better you feel, His Holiness pleaded.
"Scientists begin to realize - for physical health - reduce blood pressure, reduce anxiety, reduce fear .... calm is very, very important," the Dalai Lama emphasized.
An additional 2,500 students, faculty and staff viewed Tenzin Gyatso, the 74-year-old exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, by simulcast in the auditorium.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama spoke for nearly 45 minutes and took questions prepared by students, faculty and staff of the university for 15 minutes.
In helping to achieve inner peace, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said meditation works best for him. His Holiness rises at 3:30 a.m. and recites a Buddhist prayer to begin his day.
A necessary component for compassion: intelligence. Looking at situations only from only one angle brings worry and frustration. But looking at things from different angles "brings new opportunities," the exiled Tibetan leader added.
FAU's Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, said, "This is a major boost to work harder .... in the cause of peace. This is a momentous day in the history of the university. We are humbled and enriched by it."
John Pritchett, FAU's interim president, welcomed everyone to this "historical event."
Pritchett called Nobel Laureate, His Holiness the Dalai Lama "a living example of all the good that can be accomplished in this world by one person - a person with courage, a person with conviction to raise his voice for peace."
