Klagenfurt: During the lunch break yesterday, the 18th of May, a press conference was held at Klagenfurt, Austria during which His Holiness the Dalai Lamastressed on the role of the media and spoke of other issues including his retirement, role of media and Chinese censorship.
He said, "All of us want to live a happy life, which I believe depends on cultivating our natural inner values, rather than money and power. The true source of happiness and successful life is within us. And I call on the media to inform people about this."
Then he quoted India as a living example of religious harmony with many major religions living together on the basis of mutual respect and understanding. Again, the media has a role in educating people and it was up to them to bring such important things to the attention of the public. He spoke of the importance of media in democratic society. The media should be honest, unbiased and objective, in order to build a healthy society and healthy institutions whether political, religious or business.
His Holiness reminded the media that since last year, he has been in complete retirement and he has ended the 400 year old reign of the Dalai Lamas and all political decisions lay in the hands of educated scholars like Dr. Lobsang Sangay who had been elected by democratic elections.
He recounted his fondest memories of Heinrich Harrer and their close friendship. Harrer was responsible for creating a very positive image of Tibet amongst his native people and that had been his biggest contribution.
When asked about his expectations for the Europe for Tibet rally to be held on the 26th of May, His Holiness said that these events reminded people that there are issues going on. He said that the Chinese people were completely ignorant about reality because of censorship and distorted information. He said that heavy censorship by the Chinese government was immoral as the Chinese people have every right to know reality and they are capable of deciding between right and wrong. The legal system in People's Republic of China must rise up to the international standards so that millions of helpless Chinese workers and farmers can protect their own rights.
After the press conference, His Holiness went back to the teaching hall and he explained the Hear Sutra line by line. Tomorrow, the 20th of May, His Holiness will give a public talk on The Art of Happiness.
