Knowledge is universal: Dalai Lama

It was a rather calm morning in Delhi as Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzing Gyatso visited the Capital to talk about knowledge, inner peace and Buddhism. The 70-year-old spiritual leader spoke about the co- existence of knowledge and religion, and said that the two are different entities.

“Religion cannot be universal, it’s different in different places — the only thing that can be universal is knowledge,” he said, further adding, “And knowledge for inner peace is important. Take a very rich man for example, he will have everything in his life, but if he does not have inner peace, he will never be at peace with himself.”

The Dalai Lama visited the city to inaugurate the Nalanda Tradition of Buddhism — an exhibition put up by Benoy Behl. He said that the natives of Tibet have been carriers of Indian tradition and knowledge through the years.

“When I meet Indians, I always tell them that they are traditionally our gurus and we are their chelas. And we are quite reliable chelas as well. We kept your knowledge intact through centuries, so we are not just chelas, but reliable chelas.”