“Our own brain, our own heart is our temple and its philosophy should be peace and compassion.” – Dalai Lama
‘Students are the 21st century people and should make this a century of peace, love and compassion. The prime purpose for all of us in this life is to help others. If we can’t help, at least we should not hurt others.’ This was the message from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso’s convocation address to the graduating students of Lovely Professional University. Nobel Laureate for Peace, and the great spiritual leader of Tibet, the Dalai Lama graced the 5th Convocation of LPU as Chief Guest, which was held at Shanti Devi Mittal Auditorium on Saturday, 14th November 2015. His Holiness honoured LPU toppers of various academic programs with gold medals. Nearly 4000 LPU batch 2015 pass outs were also awarded with degrees. On the same day, LPU proudly conferred the Degree of Doctor of Divinity, Honoris Causa, upon His Holiness Dalai Lama for his courageous statesmanship, scientific temperament, and universal benevolence. Prior to this, LPU Tibetan students accorded traditional welcome to the Dalai Lama through an emotional performance of the “Tashi Shopa” (Mask) dance and the playing of folk instruments’. On this occasion, Governor Punjab & Haryana and Administrator of UT Chandigarh, Shri Kaptan Singh Solanki presided over the convocation ceremony. The Chief Editor of Ajit Group of Publications, S Barjinder Singh Hamdard presented the vote of thanks. Lovely Group Chairman Mr Ramesh Mittal, Vice Chairman Mr Naresh Mittal, LPU Chancellor Mr Ashok Mittal, Pro Chancellor Mrs Rashmi Mittal, Vice Chancellor Dr Ramesh Kanwar and MD Nissan Motors Mr Arun Malhotra shared the dais with the Chief Guest.
Dalai Lama demanded of the students, “You are the 21st century people and should make this a century of peace, love and compassion all over the globe. You should not life easy. You should work hard and be optimistic. Our prime purpose in this life is to help others as we all are human beings of one world. To make self and others feel happy; we must practice compassion. This is my simple religion. The present problems in the world are created only by the people themselves. We will have to solve out these ourselves. No God or prayers can get us out of our self created problems. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple and its philosophy should be peace and compassion.” Addressing the girl students, he said: “Being more sensitive, women should share more responsibility to bring harmony in the world”. The need for global peace, human love, and compassion remained the underlying message throughout his convocation address and interactions.
Eulogizing the esteemed Chief Guest, LPU Chancellor Mr Ashok Mittal said, “His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso is a great propagator of global peace, committed to promoting secular ethics and inter-religious harmony. We are indeed fortunate to welcome him to such a special occasion when thousands of students are on the verge of opening a new chapter in their lives. Dalai Lama’s teaching has inspired billions of people all over the world to seek peace and practice forgiveness. I have no doubt that by following Dalai Lama’s teachings you will reach amazing heights in the times to come!”
LPU’s 5th Convocation was consciously designed to be scheduled in two phases. Hon`ble Prime Minister of Lesotho Kingdom Dr Pakalitha B. Mosisili had blessed LPU students on 31st October 2015, during the first phase.
