Darmstadt, Germany: As profound and powerful, His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s long-envisioned dream of a non-violent, disarmed world and a world union akin to the European Union was echoed today among a panel of Nobel laureates in Darmstadt, Germany.
“I always expressed that continents such as Africa and Asia should imbibe the spirit of the European Union. Eventually, our goal is to form a union of the whole world. It is very possible”.
His Holiness was joined by Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Lech Walesa, Rebecca Johnson (ICAN) and Vice-President of the German Parliament Claudia Roth in a discussion on nonviolence and peace.
“The Chinese word, gongheguo (republic), shows some kind of union is there.” He also described India as a shining example of a union of multiple religion, languages, scripts and backgrounds.
Advocating the spirit of European Union, His Holiness offered his deep admiration for its emphasis on greater collective interest and welfare of the whole Europe.
“The co-operative spirit could be an inspiration for similar unions in Africa, Latin America and Asia in times to come, contributing to the greater peace and prosperity of the world.”
His Holiness said the European countries, since the second world war, have been pioneering in pushing forward the idea of non-violence, peaceful co-existence and understanding.
“People in the European continent saw a lot of suffering through war and violence. The desire for peace is now year by year increasing.”
Proposing dialogue and common interests as solutions to the violent conflicts confronting the 21st century, His Holiness appealed that the world should adopt external disarmament at a global level and inner disarmament at an individual level.
He said it is our collective responsibility to ensure that the 21st century does not repeat the pain and bloodshed of the past. “Because human nature is basically compassionate, I believe it is possible that decades from now we will see an era of peace but we must work together as human brothers and sisters.”
Vice-President of the German Parliament Claudia Roth said, “We should think seriously what is our responsibility when there is a conflict somewhere. We do have our shared responsibility. Syria and Yemen situation is so bad, violence is worsening. and now there’s an alliance of Saudi Arabia. We should question why we do export weapons to these countries.
A group of representatives and advocates of nonviolence spoke about nonviolent struggles led by various communities. Secretary Tenzin Dhardon Sharling, Department of Information and International Relations, Central Tibetan Administration gave an in-depth and impactful presentation on the Nonviolent struggle of the Tibetan people.