The Dalai Lama - "The World Will Be Saved By the Western Woman"
About a month ago, the Dalai Lama said something about women that is just now making the rounds on Twitter. His statement, "The world will be saved by the western woman," was delivered during the Vancouver Peace Summit 2009, which opened on the morning of Sunday, September 27th.
Although I'm still trying to track down a transcript of the speech containing the above statement, the Dalai Lama participated in more than one panel discussion that day, and the event most likely to have provoked such a strongly worded declaration was the "Nobel Laureates in Dialogue: Connecting for Peace" presentation held that afternoon. Moderated by former Irish president and peace activist Mary Robinson, the panel discussion featured four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates: the Dalai Lama (who won in 1989); Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, founders of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement and winners of the Nobel in 1976; and anti-landmine crusader Jody Williams, an American peace prize winner in 1997.
If the "western woman" statement were made in the context of the Dalai Lama's appearance with these extraordinary women, the words would seem less stunning than sensible. Truly, these western women have already changed the world, and have been doing so for more than three decades.
Writing for the Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC) blog, executive director Marianne Hughes ponders the idea of the aging women as hag (originally a representation of feminine power) and how it relates to the Dalai Lama's statement:
I'm not entirely sure what he meant...but I am wondering if when he travels across the globe and sees so many of our sisters impoverished and repressed he sees western women of all ages in a position to speak out for justice and to take on the responsibilities of the hag... to take loving care of the planet and its people.
The Dalai Lama's comment about western women was not the only notable pro-female statement he made during the summit. In the Vancouver Sun, Amy O'Brian quotes others including a call for "increased emphasis on the promotion of women to positions of influence."
In response to a moderator's question about what he sees as priorities in the quest for world peace, here's what the Dalai Lama said:
Some people may call me a feminist....But we need more effort to promote basic human values -- human compassion, human affection. And in that respect, females have more sensitivity for others' pain and suffering.
World-saving aside, women do what they do because it's work that needs to be done. None of them do it with an eye toward winning a Nobel Peace Prize, but the acknowledgment is valuable in that it draws attention to these efforts and eases the ever-present fund-raising struggle...and recruits more followers, like those who are retweeting the Dalai Lama's statement. Hopefully every woman who forwards those words will dig down deep enough to find the source of his inspiration and understand that he honors real women whose work continues day in, day out...regardless of whether they're in the limelight or not.
Comments
Women disregard their biggest power. Imagine the impact if all women fed their families healthy meals. Would we be having health care discussions? Would there be an obesity problem? Would depression or illness or ADD be a problem?
Or how about if women were to spend less time in front of the TV and more time with their kids?
I hear the screaming – why is it up to women?
Because we have the strength. We can change a lot of what is wrong with the world. And we can still have a career.
I think a lot of women are starting to wake up and realize that the manly approach is not working. Not for them, or the world.
Instead of feeling like a victim, we need to celebrate our strength. We have a lot of power that the world needs right now.
Just my 2 cents…
Thank you for this excellent report – you have summed it all up nicely – women do what they were created to do – we chose our sex – let us not forget the power we have for bringing about change – it is linked to our ability to sustain life – i especially like your comments on the hag or chrone – the first time I was addressed as such by a beautiful young goddess who runs our Moon circle I was hurt and shocked until I read about the crone – we crones still use our feminine ability and power to nurture and create, it does not stop at menopause – only for those of us unlightened enough to believe that our life’s work is finished and that we are no longer “attractive”
sexual that is – of course we are – we nurture the planet and we are given all of humanity to work with after our own children lent to us have grown – we should search within ourselves because we are wise beyond the many years under our belts and showing on our faces.
Bishop Tutu should try and get the ANC in South Africa to practice equality and try uplift people that are not so called “black”.Non black women have very little chance of growth in South Africa.
I think the reason why the Dalai Lama mentioned western women rather than eastern women is because only Western women have the political power to get things done.
In many eastern countries women are not allowed to obtain any political power and so are very limited in what they can do. It is not a lot better for western women but at least western women are getting more and more involve in the political system.
The truth of the matter is that while men continue to rule our world we will always have conflict, wars and injustice. We need far more women in positions of power throughout the world, if we are going to live in a more caring and compassionate world.