New Delhi: Describing India as a "peaceful sacred land", the Tibetan spiritual leader, Dalai Lama on October 6 said that all problems needed to be solved through peaceful means.

"We are faced with two alternative courses of action. Either we find peaceful solutions to the problems and conflicts that confront us so that everyone gains and nobody loses by making active efforts to develop a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation, or we selfishly follow the law of the jungle and perish," he said at a function in New Delhi.

"From times immemorial, saints and seers have spoken of the interdependent nature of our lives. Nowadays all of us can appreciate the evident truth of this," Dalai Lama said at the 10th anniversary of consecration of statue of Buddha at Buddha Jayanti Park.

He also maintained that to get peace and happiness one would have to look beyond his personal interests.

"In our pursuit of peace and happiness, we need to concern ourselves not only with our own interests and those of our families and friends but also with other sections of society, other communities, other nations, indeed with the interests of the entire human family," he said.

Earlier Buddhist monks presented Tibetan and Vietnamese chants, which provided a glimpse of the three-day Festival of Sacred Chants and Singing beginning October 6.

The function was also attended by former President R Venkataraman and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang.

PTI