Women Can Promote World Peace: His Holiness the Dalai Lama

His Holiness the Dalai lama said women should take a more active role in world affairs, "Education alone or brains are not sufficient, we must promote the education of warm heartedness, in that respect, females should take more active role."

The Tibetan Spiritual leader spoke at length about the relevance of women in a new century of world affairs,"The previous century, whether we like or not, became a century of bloodshed with a lot of violence; the transition of the previous century to beginning of this century also failed - [there was] a lot of violence. Therefore, we must make every effort to change that, and to make this century a peaceful century.

"Peace does not mean there are no longer problems. As long as there are human beings, there will always be problems. How we solve and deal with these the problems is the question. Traditionally, when we face some problems, we think how to solve them by force, that I think is the main sort of response.

"Now, as soon as there are problems, we must think of how to solve it through dialogue. In order to carry dialogue you need will and self-confidence. A dialogue [that comes] out of fears, out of distrust, is impossible. Meaningful dialogue must be carried out with an open mind and respect for other's interests; [it must be] truthful, honest, and transparent; through this way, we can carry out meaningful dialogue."

"With regards to creating this century as century of peace, non-violence, and dialogue, we will need efforts to stand of human compassion. Women have an important role in promoting this."

The Tibetan spiritual leader also praised the work of the Lions Club, saying, "your work of empowerment for women is very important. I fully support it. [It is] another reason that the 21st century should be century of dialogue."