Flashes from the Vancouver Peace Summit
The first day of the Vancouver Peace Summit was filled with flashes of hope, passion, brilliance, bulbs, and recognition. Media swarmed the Dalai Lama and his entourage, though only allowed to take photos in the hall for the first five minutes of the morning and afternoon sessions. Speakers returned again and again to ancient wisdom, basic tenets of religious teachings, and moral imperatives. Still, it came down to each individual committing to personal change.
Here’s a sampling:
- Victor Chan, the founder and director of the Dalai Lama Center opened the Summit with an intention “to translate compassion into concrete action that will make a change around the world.”
- Tom Beech awarded His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu the Fetzer Prize for Love & Forgiveness. In introducing the awardees, he spoke of living with the reality of fear and violence and the promise of the power of love and forgiveness-a tension the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu have certainly navigated in their own lives.
- Cherish oneself and extend it to others. -The Dalai Lama
- People often think compassion is passive. Compassion is action.-The Dalai Lama
- Peace isn’t just absence of violence, it’s deliberate avoidance of violence through peace. -The Dalai Lama
- People are so beautiful, but they don’t know it. We underestimate our capacity for compassion. We need to bring that potential to the surface.-Matthieu Ricard
- Children have a lot to teach us. They give us the gift of being able to forget ourselves.-Rev. Mpho Tutu (who accepted the Fetzer Prize on her father, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu’s behalf)
- Love isn’t what we feel, it’s what we do.-Rev. Mpho Tutu
- Family negotiation is a model for decision making. I know peace is possible, I’ve seen my parents. -Rev. Mpho Tutu
- Cultivate compassion, all day, everyday. It takes us beyond the prism of selfishness…Now, when things are difficult, it’s time to practice.-Karen Armstrong
And then, there were flashes of recognition that rippled through the audience. A woman sitting by author and Buddhist monk, Matthieu Ricard, glanced his way and smiled when opening the afternoon session, tenor Mario Frangoulis offered a rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine and sang the line, “Imagine no possessions…” The two shared a moment of amusement.
Later as several references to the importance of parents in demonstrating and building peace were made by Nobel Prize recipient Betty Williams and Rev. Mpho Tutu, I noticed heads turned in recognition and smiles rippled through Sir Ken Robinson’s family, sitting in front of me.
It was infectious. I came back to my room, looked at a photo of my mother I had found in my suitcase from a previous trip and was glad to be able to share this with her–at least in spirit.
For a glimpse of what went on backstage at the Peace Summit yesterday, check out an article by The Vancouver Sun’s Douglas Todd.
Submitted by: Roselle Kovitz