PORTLAND — The deterioration of the planet is a “very serious matter,” the Dalai Lama said Saturday morning during a forum hosted by Maitripa College.
He was the highlighted speaker during, “Universal Responsibility and the Global Environment: An Environmental Summit,” which featured noted experts Andrea Durbin, director of the Oregon Environmental Council, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and scientist David Suzuki.
The summit was held at Veterans Memorial Coliseum and drew in about 10,000 attendees.
The Dalai Lama said the earth is the only home humankind has, and people have a responsibility to start taking better care of it.
“Our behavior matters,” he said. “You have to take it seriously.”
He said issues like global warming, population increase and the growing gap between the rich and the poor are areas that deserve attention.
“We have to develop a oneness of humanity,” he said. “We are one company, one family, one individual.”
Suzuki said it’s not too late to heal the planet if people are willing to reclaim it.
“We’ve lost our sense of what home is. We have to re-inject ourselves into the world…we have to get on with protecting the natural world,” he said.
It begins, he said, by recognizing that all people are embedded in nature.
Dublin said she also has hope for the future. The challenge, she said, is passing on that sense of hope to others.
She told the crowd that by being an example and implementing change in their own lives, others may be inspired to be more sustainable. But it also takes political change, she said. For example, Dublin said, lawmakers can send a loud message by saying no to coal exports and by advocating reducing dependency on fossil fuels.
Kitzhaber said the solution to climate change lies in fundamentally rethinking the economy.
“What we consume and the rate we consume it is what really matters,” he said. “…We need to be re-taught.”
The Dalai Lama agreed that education is the key to improving the environment. He urged summit attendees to be realistic, to think critically, apply analytical skills to what they learn and to have an open mind. Those practices, he said, will lead to conviction, which can lead to change.
