last friday, The Nelson Mandela Foundation organized a public broadcast of the digital conversation about the late Nelson Mandela. Presented by Anderson Cooper, from CNN, and broadcast online through Google Hangout, The dialogue took place between His Holiness the Dalai Lama, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Reverend Mpho Tutu, the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, y Sir Richard Brandson, businessman and friend of the Foundation.
You can see the meeting again here.
Apparently, The Dalai Lama could not be present at Mandela's funeral as the South African government denied him a visa for the third time., after the pressure received from the Chinese regime, main trading partner of the country.
Fragments of words from His Holiness remembering his friend Madiba:
“Like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela y Martin Luther King, these great human beings, They sought freedom through non-violence. For his followers, his admirers, Our responsibility now is to follow in his footsteps. We are very sad, but sadness doesn't help much. We must transform it into intention and decision”.
(On keeping Mandela's spirit alive): “When you look at history, when human beings have encountered difficulties, whether on a personal or national level, most use violence, with counterproductive results. The most lasting solution is to look at problems with compassion, conquer the mind, and end the hate. Through this vision, hate will eventually end up being love. Now is the time to think about the value of nonviolence in general and the value of forgiveness in particular.. “This way we can build a new atmosphere and counteract this negative feeling of revenge.”.
