New Delhi, India: - In a ceremony held in New Delhi on December 3rd, the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama received the Dayawati Modi Award for Art, Culture and Education for his contribution towards universal peace, tolerance and social justice.
Presenting a silver shield, a scroll of honour and a cash prize of Rs. 2.51 lakhs, Satish Kumar Modi, President of the Dayawati Modi foundation, said "It is our honour to confer this award upon His Holiness."
He stressed on the need for an education system that promotes inner values like affection and warm-heartedness. "The modern education system is materialistic oriented, one-sided, and concerned only about brain development and neglect warm-heartedness and the sense of responsibility," stated the spiritual leader of Tibet.
"It begins from the family level as lack of affection causes competition, which brings suspicion, distrust, and loneliness. We hence need more effort in the promotion of warm-heartedness from the society to the global level," he added.
"Women have more inborn potential to build a society on the foundation of love and compassion, as they are more loving and compassionate," said the Dalai Lama on receiving the award.
Speaking of women's power in building a peaceful and compassionate world, he said, "Those who receive maximum affection and love in their childhood tend to be much happier with more self-confidence. On the contrary, those who lack affection and love, have deep inside some sense of insecurity. So in order to build a happier generation, mothers have an immensely important role to play."
Describing mothers as a source of affection and foundation of a happier family, the Dalai Lama stated that females in general have more potential for kindness and are more sensitive towards others' pain.
The spiritual leader then accredited his mother to have sown the original seeds of compassion and said, "Although illiterate, my mother never showed an angry face to us. My Buddhist training immensely helped in strengthening my altruism but, my mother's warm-heartedness started it all."
Advocating the power of women's leadership, the Dalai Lama said, "Under a more matured female leadership, there is less danger of violence."
"Time has come to make real effort in the promotion of compassion for which women should take a more active role," he concluded.
Later that afternoon, His Holiness spoke on the Art of Happiness as a part of the Penguin Annual Lecture Series at the India Habitat Center.
This award was instituted by the Dayawati Modi Foundation for Art, Culture and Education in memory of late Mrs. Dayawati Modi who was a philanthropist, an educationist and wife of Bahadur Gurjar Modi, Founder of the Modi Group.
Over the years, the foundation has established schools, colleges, libraries and hostels for students apart from its endeavours to promote Indian art and culture.
Other recipients of this award are eminent personalities like philanthropist Mother Teresa, actor Amitabh Bachchan, singers Jagjit Singh and Asha Bhosale.
