His Holiness the Dalai Lama met 30 core members of the SEE Learning team in Ladakh. They told him that since the launch of the program in Ladakh just over a year ago, they have trained 500 teachers to implement social, emotional and ethical training in local schools. Yesterday, 150 teachers from Leh and Kargil met to discuss their experience of working with the program. Their spokesman thanked His Holiness for having had the vision to encourage the development of SEE Learning.

“I’m glad to meet you,” His Holiness told them. “When we Tibetans came into exile in India, we witnessed democracy at work and we discovered that there are people for whom religion has little attraction. Of course, religious practice can be very helpful, but it is also the case that people use religion as an excuse for stoking conflict with others.

“In my own life I have received teachings belonging to the Sakya, Kagyu and Nyingma traditions, as well as the Geluk tradition, and I practise them all. But religion is not for everyone and what’s important is that we find ways to encourage people to develop positive qualities like love and compassion on a secular basis.

“Right from our birth we are nurtured by our mother’s affection. We form a natural bond with her that has nothing to do with religion. In some ways this experience of love and affection is coloured by attachment, but in others it is simply a natural response.

“Despite the huge numbers of people who died violently in the first and second world wars, there are people today who seem to be driven by an urge to fight, even if it provokes a third world war. They persist in developing powerful weapons, oblivious of the fact that if they use nuclear weapons, they will be destroyed too. If we don’t put effort into building peace, the whole of humanity will suffer.

“Whether people follow a religious practice or not, we all need love and compassion. Basic morality follows from this. Indeed, wars are fought because of a lack of love and compassion.