India should take active role in promoting ahimsa: Dalai Lama

Bangalore, Jan 30 (PTI) Tibetan spiritual leader the DalaiLama today said world today was in need of the values ofahimsa and religious harmony and India should take active rolein promoting these age-old values.

"Ahimsa and reglious harmony are India''s treasure and nowthe world needs these two", he said at a public meeting whiledelivering a talk on ''Finding Happiness in Trouble Times''.

He said these two values were relevant in today''s times andIndia had kept these alive through the ages.

He described Tibetans as "chelas" (disciples) of the Guru(India). He said he himself had been advocating the principlesof ahimsa and religious harmony, but was keen that the "Gurushould take more active role in promoting ahimsa and religiousharmony".

It was important to bring these values to public and makethem relevant in day to day life. Religious leaders, scholarsneed to tell the people about these values, he said.

While 20th century was a period of bloodshed, 21st centuryshould be a century of peace and dialogue. Differences shouldbe solved through dialogue, he said.

"Dialogue means not one side winning and the the otherlosing but both sides winning. The ultimate aim should be ademilitarised world", he said.

The Tibetan leader lauded the work of the Christianmissionaries who contributed a lot in the field of educationand said Buddhist monks could follow suit in terms ofcontribution to the society.

He said attention should also be focussed on eliminatingthose elements that were part of tradition but were outdatedin today''s modern times, including dowry and caste system.

Coming down on today''s focus on material values, he saidthat more youth were getting attracted to "symbols ofdevelopment", but warned that such material happiness wasshortlived and only limited to the sensorial sphere.