Jay Joshi
Today’s world is suffering from an emotional crisis, and we need to practice ‘emotional hygiene’ in order to overcome the situation, said His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on Wednesday while delivering an address on topic Today’s relevance of India’s ancient knowledge at the Goan Institute of Management, Poriem-Sattari, in Sankhali. The lecture was held to mark 25th anniversary of the Institute.
The Dalai Lama stated that there are six different levels of consciousness, the highest of which is ‘chitta’ i.e. consciousness of the inner mind. One must strive to come close to this consciousness, the spiritual leader said.”It is for this purpose that the ancient Indians developed meditation” he added.
Noting that modern education focuses more on external senses and material world, the Tibetan leader stated, “While the quality of modern education is enhancing, that of moral education seems to be diminishing.” Said the Dalai Lama “Religious tradition should be a source of inspiration and compassion, but unfortunately, there is killing in the name of religion.” he stated. “Today, there is need to explain emotional hygiene in a scientific manner, and only the Indian tradition can do that”. Exercises such as Vipashyana can one come closer to attaining the state of loving kindness. India has thousands of years of tradition which teaches an individual to tackle their mind. Unfortunately, it has been neglected over the past many years and needs to be revived, said the Dalai Lama, further stating that some Buddhist monasteries still offer the ancient knowledge and thus help preserve the grand tradition.
After the lecture, His Holiness answered questions from the GIM students and faculty. Commenting on how one can apply ancient knowledge in day today life, he stated that one must study how emotions work, and then tackle them effectively. Further on, he narrated the story of his escape from Tibet in 1959 when elaborating on how to face one’s worst fears.
