“The Earth’s Future Is Our Future”

Franz Alt: Your Holiness, dear friend, fifteen years ago you said to me in an interview: “The twenty-first century could become the happiest and most peaceful one in human history. I hope so for the youth.” Do you still cherish that hope?

His Holiness the Dalai Lama: I am hopeful that the twenty-first century could become the most important century in human history. The twentieth century experienced immense destruction, human suffering, and unprecedented environmental damage. The challenge before us, therefore, is to make the twenty-first century a century of dialogue and promotion of the sense of oneness of humanity.

As a Buddhist monk, I appeal to all human beings to practice compassion—the source of happiness. Our survival depends on hope. Hope means something good. I believe the purpose of life is to be happy.

The world’s seven billion human beings must learn to work together. This is no longer a time