"We need global, secular ethics" is the important message offered by the Dalai Lama in his op-ed piece published today in the LA Times. The Dalai Lama beautifully calls our attention to the historical reality "...that when people pursue their own national interests, there is strife and war." He outlines how President Trump's motto "America first" is not particularly helpful in our interdependent world; and, he wisely urges against parochialism, nationalist myopia and religious exclusivity, in favor of "global secular ethics.".
While it's true that religion can have its place in furthering love, compassion, and peace, religion alone is not sufficient. The Dalai Lama's ethical ethos embraces and honors all life, irrespective of beliefs. By cultivating the heart to naturally bring forth its innate properties of acceptance, compassion, coexistence and interconnection, global secular ethics may be more fully realized. His approach to this end: "My wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to the education of the heart, teaching love, compassion, justice, forgiveness, mindfulness, tolerance and peace...I mean social, emotional and ethical learning...At present our educational systems are oriented mainly toward material values and training."
Certainly, we find that some schools and institutions embed some forms of these "inner values," but our world can be a far more gentle place with the systematic cultivation of these inner values through practices, deep attention to the language we use to describe ourselves, nations and others, and a felt-sense of our interconnect!ion to life. As positive psychology demonstrates, the cultivation of virtues and the character strengths that support them result in individuals and communities of well-being.
While it's true that religion can have its place in furthering love, compassion, and peace, religion alone is not sufficient. The Dalai Lama's ethical ethos embraces and honors all life, irrespective of beliefs. By cultivating the heart to naturally bring forth its innate properties of acceptance, compassion, coexistence and interconnection, global secular ethics may be more fully realized. His approach to this end: "My wish is that one day, formal education will pay attention to the education of the heart, teaching love, compassion, justice, forgiveness, mindfulness, tolerance and peace...I mean social, emotional and ethical learning...At present our educational systems are oriented mainly toward material values and training."
Certainly, we find that some schools and institutions embed some forms of these "inner values," but our world can be a far more gentle place with the systematic cultivation of these inner values through practices, deep attention to the language we use to describe ourselves, nations and others, and a felt-sense of our interconnect!ion to life. As positive psychology demonstrates, the cultivation of virtues and the character strengths that support them result in individuals and communities of well-being.
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