For thousands of years, religion has been used to promote different political and economic issues. Religions have often been abused and twisted to make them fit what is needed.

The Dalai Lama is speaking out now about what the world needs to counteract the increase of hatred and violence that have descended on our world. The Dalai Lama is the refugee who has been the world’s longest refugee. He has been a refugee since China invaded is home country of Tibet in the 1959. He and many of his fellow citizens fled for their lives to India. They continue to reside in India to this day.

He has been a tireless advocate for peace and non-violence. His motto is that “He has no enemies, just people he has not met yet.” He has toured the world doing speaking engagements. I met him in 1989. He is a quite fascinating individual.

He has been looking at the world and its values. The world’s morals are changing due to the Nationalism being found everywhere in the world. Does religion address these issues? The Dalai Lama does not think so.

For centuries, violence has been committed and justified in the name of religion. Religions have often been intolerent and often still are. Religion is often abused by many even by religious people. Often their purpose is to further political or economic issues. We need a new form of ethics that goes beyond religion…anyone’s religion. The Dalai Lama speaks of an ethics that goes into a new form. A secular ethics for over a billion atheists and an increasing number of agnostics. These ethics would address human spiritualality. Humans need inner values, no matter what religion we have, we believe in life, benevolence,and affection.

Human beings need inner values and ethics. Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion. We must learn that humanity is all one family. We are all brothers and sisters: physically, mentally, and emotionally. We are focusing far too much on our differences instead of our commonalities. After all, every one of us is born the same way and dies the same way. It doesn’t make much sense to take pride in our nations and religions–all the way to the graveyard. Ethics run deeper and are more natural than religion.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Life needs to be filled with beauty. Photograph by Barbara Mattio 2018