10,000 gather to hear Dalai Lama defend power of education

The Dalai Lama defended the power of education on Sunday in front of a 10,000strong crowd in Belgium.

During his “Individual Engagement and Global Responsibility” conference, he said education was above religion in teaching values like compassion, as he did not think it was possible for all humans to have a religion, so values must be taught through other means.

He also recommended education as a way to ensure that civil society became involved in global issues and said the best way to achieve change was to combine wisdom with compassion.

The Tibetan leader, who left his political duties in 2011, highlighted his country’s culture of peace and said that if the Dalai Lama persists as an institution, it must no longer have a political role.

The conference organizers said the event was not intended to generate any profits, and any money made from it would be donated to charity.

Tenzin Gyatso, 81, is the 14th Dalai Lama and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his pacific fight for Tibetan independence.