Dalai Lama visits Prague on first leg of European tour
The Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama is currently in Prague on the first leg of a European tour. After a meeting with the Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, he was reunited with an old friend: former president Václav Havel, on whose invitation he came to the Czech capital. The Dalai Lama is also due to visit Brussels and Poland, where he will meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy. This has angered China, which has pulled out of a planned EU-China summit.
“Everyone wants to have a happy life, and everyone has also the right to a happy and meaningful life. Every individual’s future depends on the rest of the world; therefore, we have to take care of the rest of the world. That’s what I usually call the sense of global responsibility on the basis of warm-heartedness.”
“Warm-heartedness and compassion are human values that don’t necessarily come from religious teachings; we are very much involved in these human values from our birth.”
A strong reaction to the Dalai Lama’s European visit came from Beijing. The Chinese government cancelled on Friday a planned EU-China summit, planned for early December, over the Dalai Lama’s address to the European Parliament in Brussels and a planned meeting in Poland with the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy. The Tibetan leader said he always thought it was much better to meet and talk despite disagreements and different views.
“The Chinese media describe me now as a demon and a wolf, so now maybe I have horns. My faith in the Chinese government is thinner and thinner, but my faith in the Chinese people has never been shaken.”
As soon as you got freedom, President Havel sent an invitation to me. I was really honoured. Then, at once, we developed a very close relationship, almost like a family. One difference is that he’s a chain smoker.”
He’s stopped.
“Now he’s stopped, yes. I’m looking forward to meeting my beloved brother this afternoon.”
