COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY RECORD  May 6, 1994  Vol. 19 No. 27

          DALAI LAMA GIVEN HONORARY DEGREE AT CONVOCATION

      Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet and winner of the 1989 
      Nobel Peace Prize, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters 
      degree from Columbia at a special University Convocation in Low 
      Rotunda on Apr. 26.

      The degree was conferred by President Rupp, who was joined on the 
      dais by Provost Jonathan Cole and Robert Thurman, the Jey Tsong 
      Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies.

      Speaking in English, and occasionally in Tibetan through an 
      interpreter, the exiled Tibetan leader delivered a 25-minute 
      speech to a capacity crowd of 500 faculty, students and members of 
      the Tibetan community in New York. His subject was the importance 
      of teaching human affection and compassion.

      "One constructive criticism I have of the modern education system 
      is that not enough care is placed on the human heart side, as 
      compared to the intellectual and human knowledge side," he said.

      "Perhaps the main reason is that in the past the development of 
      the human heart was placed [upon] religion, but as interest in 
      religion diminished, I feel the interest to [encouraging] values 
      has also diminished."

   A GOOD BRAIN AND A GOOD HEART

      He said training the intellect in a university is only part of a 
      complete education, and that "a good brain and a good heart must 
      be put to use together. So in an institution like this it is 
      important to pay more attention to affection, not only working to 
      foster academics, but to create a better world for all humans," he 
      said. "I believe an affectionate mental attitude is the 
      fundamental basis of human life.

      "Any human beings who receive affection--even animals--get from 
      this a deep satisfaction; it makes us very happy," he said. 
      "According to medical scientists, the mother's physical touch to 
      the baby in the first few weeks after birth is crucial to the 
      development of the mind. At that moment the baby has less feelings 
      of fear, more self-confidence. A person who has a compassionate 
      mind finds it much easier to communicate with other people. This 
      produces happiness.

      "Happiness produces health ... Money of course is important. But 
      the real key to happiness is human affection. This is my main 
      belief, and so, whenever I get the opportunity, I express this," 
      he said.

      In his introductory remarks, Rupp read from the Tibetan leader's 
      "Freedom in Exile," and said: "A remarkable and beautiful part of 
      Buddhism is the union of the ordinary and extraordinary."

      During his two-day visit to New York, the Dalai Lama participated 
      in a conference on religion, philosophy and science sponsored by 
      the Center for Buddhist Studies of Columbia's department of 
      religion and Tibet House of New York.

      This was his third visit to the University. In 1989, he spoke 
      during the formal establishment of the Center for Buddhist 
      Studies, headed by Thurman, and in 1984, he was an invited speaker 
      at the University. During his two-week trip to the U.S., he spoke 
      at Stanford, U.C.-Berkeley and the University of Michigan.

      Tenzin Gyatso serves as the spiritual leader of six million 
      Tibetans and is head of state of a government in exile comprising 
      approximately 130,000 Tibetans in South Asia, Europe and North 
      America. Born to a peasant family in northeastern Tibet, he was 
      recognized at the age of 2 in 1938, in accordance with Tibetan 
      tradition, as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. In 1950, 
      he was called to political leadership at the age of 15. In 1951 
      Tibet was occupied by the Chinese Communists. In 1959, after a 
      failed uprising against Chinese forces, he fled with about 100,000 
      Tibetans to India, where he currently resides in the northern city 
      of Dharamsala.