Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • (applause)

  • Good afternoon

  • My name is Christina Paxson,

  • I'm the president of Brown University

  • and it is my very great plesaure

  • to welcome you

  • to the Stephen A. Ogden Jr.

  • Memorial lecture on international affairs.

  • For almost half a century

  • the Ogden lecture series

  • has brought presidents,

  • prime ministers, ambassadors, senators,

  • and at least one king

  • to Providence for presentations

  • that have been among the most distinguished

  • guest lectures Brown has offered,

  • all of them open to the public.

  • Stephen Ogden was a member

  • of the Brown Class of 1960,

  • a student of foreign affairs

  • who dreamed of promoting international peace

  • through a career in international relations,

  • a dream that is shared today

  • by so many college and university students.

  • Stephen did not live to realize his dreams.

  • Sadly, he died in 1963

  • of injuries sustained in an auto accident

  • during his junior year.

  • The Ogden family established this lecture series

  • as a memorial to Stephen

  • and as an encouragement

  • to everyone who shares his dream

  • of international peace.

  • The university is deeply grateful

  • to the Ogden family for its creative vision

  • and generosity,

  • and we are pleased that Stephen's sister Peggy

  • has joined us for this afternoon's presentation.

  • I can't see you, but thank you, Peg.

  • I know you're there.

  • (applause)]]>

  • Today, we have a rare opportunity.

  • We have with us a world leader

  • who commands neither an army or a navy,

  • who does not seek to tip the balance of trade

  • or gain an economic advantage,

  • who works to resolve, not to exploit,

  • the ideological, cultural, religious, and political

  • differences that keep people and nations apart.

  • He has described himself

  • as a simple Buddhist monk,

  • yet his message of peace

  • is the product of a profound

  • and continuing life's work.

  • Born to a farming family

  • in a small village in north-eastern Tibet

  • and recognized as the reincarnation

  • of the thirteenth Dalai Lama

  • when he was only two years old,

  • His Holiness followed a different path:

  • of study, reflection,

  • of compassion, and of learning.

  • He began a rigorous monastic

  • education when he was six years old,

  • emerging seventeen years later

  • at the highest level of achievement

  • in Buddhist philosophy.

  • He studied art, culture,

  • music, poetry, history, logic,

  • and Buddhist philosohpy.

  • His interests, however are much more extensive,

  • including his sustained dialogue

  • with scientists and theorists

  • in astrophysics, behavioral science,

  • neurobiology, and quantum mechanics.

  • In his 2005 book,

  • The Universe in a Single Atom: The Convergence of Science and Spirituality]]>

  • he wrote,

  • "The great benefit of science

  • is that it can contribute tremendously

  • to the alleviation of suffering at the physical level,

  • but it is only through the cultivation

  • of the qualities of the human heart

  • and the transformation of our attitudes

  • that we can begin to address

  • and overcome our mental suffering.

  • We need both

  • since the alleviation of suffering

  • must take place at both the physical

  • and psychological levels.

  • Although his training was monastic,

  • His Holiness was called to public life

  • in the spiritual leadership of the Tibetan people

  • in 1950, when he was in his mid teens.

  • He has carried his message

  • of nonviolence to more than sixty nations

  • on six continents.

  • He's addressed United Nations,

  • Parliament, members of the U.S. Congress,

  • and the governments of many nations.

  • He has reached out to

  • worldwide religious leaders,

  • always advocating for nonviolent solutions

  • even in the face

  • of unspeakable aggression and oppression.

  • The world,

  • not always attentive and sometimes dismissive

  • of peacemakers, has hurt him.

  • He's the 1989 Nobel Laureate for Peace,

  • and in March of this year,

  • he was awarded the Templeton prize,

  • perhaps the highest honor for a religious leader.

  • His tireless travels,

  • his seventy-two books,

  • and his presentations have invited the public to stop,

  • to listen,

  • and to consider the vast potential of a peaceful approach.

  • And so he comes to us today,

  • here in Providence, Rhode Island,

  • and it is my great delight to welcome to Providence

  • and to present to you

  • His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama.

  • (applause)]]>

  • (laughter, applause)]]>

  • Brothers

  • and sisters,

  • and certainly

  • respected

  • president

  • of the famous university,

  • so indeed I am very

  • happy, and it's a great honor

  • to speak

  • to such a big gathering,

  • and also I think most of you

  • seem, I think,

  • younger generation. Students, a younger generation.

  • Firstly,

  • I want to show you

  • my real face, like that.

  • (laughter)]]>

  • With this hat,

  • you cannot see this baldness.

  • (laughter)]]>

  • And actually,

  • from here,

  • two sides,

  • more white hair,

  • see, growing.

  • This hair, on this side,

  • hair itself, less and less and less.

  • So, sometimes,

  • something like competition. This side say,

  • (audience laughs)]]>

  • "Oh, no longer need hair."

  • And these two sides say,

  • "Oh, need hair,

  • but white."

  • (laughter, applause)]]>

  • So now,

  • in order to see

  • the audience face

  • more clearly,

  • this kind of hat is very helpful.

  • Very helpful, thank you.

  • Although this visit

  • seems like the first time,

  • but,

  • whenever I meet people,

  • I always feel

  • we know each other

  • because

  • we are same human being.

  • Mentally,

  • emotionally,

  • physically,

  • we are the same.

  • So from my own experience,

  • from my own sort of feeling,

  • I easily understand