Dalai Lama calls for closer ties among Christian churches

The Dalai Lama recently visited Ireland for the first time in 20 years, speaking at sold-out venues in Kildare on April 13 and Limerick on April 14, 2011. As reported in Citizen's Free Press Ireland: News Line:

[Kildare, April 13]--In his first visit to Ireland in 20 years, the exiled Nobel peace laureate spoke to a sold-out conference of 2,000 people on the first leg of a two-day trip.

In a country reeling from its worst recession and facing the costliest banking crisis in history, the 76-year-old said money would not make people happy.

"The ultimate source of happiness, peace of mind, cannot be produced by money," he said. "Billionaires, they are, I notice, very unhappy people. Very powerful, but deep inside, too much anxiety, too much stress.

"So where I go, I always say … the ultimate source of happiness and successful life is within ourselves."...

...The Tibetan religious leader, the Dalai Lama, has called for closer ties between Christian churches in Ireland.

On a visit to Kildare town this afternoon, the exiled Buddhist leader said it would be wrong to generalise about Catholic clergy following recent sex abuse scandals.

In Kildare, he was presented with a St Brigid’s Cross and a St Brigid’s Flame – the symbols of Kildare’s spiritual heritage and of justice and peace.

Well-known uilleann piper Liam O’Flynn performed ‘Tabhair Dom do Lámh’ as the Dalai Lama walked the short distance to St Brigid’s Cathedral where is saying private prayers...

...[Limerick, April 14]--During his address the Dalai Lama (75), who insisted on standing "so he could see more faces", spoke about the power of compassion, love and forgiveness, and described religious harmony as his life-long commitment...

...During his 90-minute address the Dalai Lama said the ultimate source of happiness was inner peace. Describing religious harmony as one of his life-long commitments, he said all religions were dedicated to the same principles of love, contentment and compassion.

"I’m a Buddhist but I shouldn’t develop too much of an attachment to Buddhism because if you have too much attachment to your own faith then your mind becomes biased. You should be faithful to your own tradition but you must have an open mind to others," he said.

"The ultimate source of a peaceful mind is not money, power or status," he warned.

"One of my friends may be a millionaire but as a person he is a very unhappy person. Money fails to bring inner peace . . . Stress will not bring real inner joyfulness or peace. The heart really brings inner strength. Trust brings friendship. We are a social animal," he continued.

He received several rounds of applause and a standing ovation from the audience after he urged them never to give up hope. He described mental experiences as "far superior" to physical ones and said society placed too much emphasis on sensory experiences.