On becoming this year’s recipient of the Templeton Award and receiving the related cash award of $ 1.7 million, the Dalai Lama announced that he would be giving his prize money away and that $ 200,000 of it would go to the Mind & Life Institute for being at the “forefront of organizing dialogue between modern science and spirituality.”
In his acceptance speech in Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London on 14 May, the Dalai Lama explained that the 21st century should be a century of peace and compassion. “That will not materialize through prayer and meditation,” he said, “but through education … [we have to] educate [young people] holistically. For many decades my special friends have been scientists, brain specialists. Many scientists find warm-heartedness, really bring inner peace. This is not just words: they carry out experiments, they convince through the training of the mind, through awareness of different sorts of values. A person’s mental state changes, their blood pressure reduces, stress also reduces. We are not talking about the next life; we are not talking about heaven. We are simply talking about how to build a healthy body through a healthy mind. Scientific research is immensely helpful.”
Videos of the acceptance speech can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/user/TempletonPrize/
© 2012, Peter Malinowski. All rights reserved. You may republish this post in unaltered form – On republishing it you must provide the link to this original post.
Amazing. I cannot be happier. Congratulations! Keep up the great work.