Helsinki: Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Saturday he was "optimistic" about the course of humanity after a "century of violence".
"I'm optimistic humanity becomes more mature," the 76-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate said while speaking at a conference on Tibetan culture in Espoo, in western Finland.
"Last century, we had lots of inventions, lots of
developments. In the meantime, we had the biggest number of
people killed of violence," the Dalai Lama said.
So much so, that the 20th century became "a century of
violence", the spiritual leader said.
But "everywhere in the world, people got disgusted", he
said noting that this was best demonstrated by the
anti-nuclear weapons movement.
"Last century, nobody talked of ecology until the later
part. In the early part (of 20th century), people thought
simply of material development," the Dalai Lama said.
Current problems, such as terrorism, "come from the
past", he added.
To avoid these traumas, the Dalai Lama said efforts must
be made towards educating the young.
The leader, whom Buddhists believe to be the
reincarnation of a past lama, also said the world needed
population control.
"The best birth control is more monks," he said before
breaking into laughter.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, August 21, 2011, 10:13