When His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet endorsed a powerful appeal for peace by the Holy Father, Pope Leo, during Palm Sunday Mass on 31 March 2026, he drew global attention to the great spiritual traditions of all religions. “The Holy Father’s call for laying down of arms and renunciation of violence resonated profoundly with me, as it speaks to the very essence of what all major religions teach. Indeed, whether we look to Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism the message is fundamentally the same: love, compassion, tolerance, and self-discipline.

Violence finds no true home in any of these teachings. History has shown us time and again that violence only begets more violence and is never a lasting foundation for peace,” he said. To commemorate Vesākha or Buddha Purnima on 1 May 2026, teachings of compassion, love and peace of Buddha become more significant when brutalities of war, genocide are unleashing untold sufferings on millions of people. Global citizens invariably question: Why was Buddha ~ also referred to as Śakyamuni Buddha and Siddhārtha Gautama ~ so concerned about peace and harmony?

The Dalai Lama explained, “We all want happiness and do not want suffering. Even people who have no religious belief can benefit if they incorporate these human values of compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and self-discipline into their lives.” Human values are universal and eternal as is clearly evidenced in the Grand International Exposition “The Light and the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One”, inaugurated in New Delhi on 3 January 2026. The Awakened One refers to Buddha who spread the message of peace and kindness 2600 years ago from the heartland of the Indian sub-continent.

Drawn by the resilience of these human values, Heads of State, leaders of India and overseas, thousands of Buddhists and lay people are thronging the Exposition to experience, and be blessed by, the teachings of Śakyamuni Buddha in our age of violence. “Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time. Hatred ceases through non-hatred. This is an eternal law,” it is stated in Dhammapada (Yamaka Vagga, Verse 5) and finds a prominent place in the Exposition catalogue. Such verses are integral to the core doctrine of Buddha’s teachings ~ the Four Noble Truths. “This the Noble Truth of Suffering.

This the Noble Truth of the Cause of Suffering. This the Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering. This is the Noble Truth of the Path Leading towards the Cessation of Suffering,” explained Buddha when he delivered his first sermon, the Dhammacakkappavattana Sūtra, at ��ipattana near Varanasi. For the next forty-five years he taught the Dharma, demonstrating to lay people the pathways to achieve the end of suffering by following the Eight-fold Path: with the Right View, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and........

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