Silicon Valley: Making his first US trip since China's crackdown on pro-independence protesters in Tibet, the Dalai Lama refrained from speaking about the turmoil in his Himalayan homeland as he opened a conference on compassion.

Education, social work, economics -- "every human action" -- could be improved through compassionate action, 72-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader told a gathering of around 6,500 people while addressing the five-day Seeds of Compassion conference in Seattle yesterday.

"Even warfare (can be conducted) out of compassion," he said, adding "destruction is much less."

He said that "problems happen because of our wrong views and wrong action and it is very, very important to develop right view and the right vision."

While the Buddhist monk did not mention the recent Chinese crackdown in Tibet, Dan Kranzler of the Kirlin Charitable Foundation alluded to the turmoil in his introduction.

"And may I say personally, the world knows the truth," Kranzler said. "The world knows." The Dalai Lama is making his first US visit since the violent anti-China protests in Tibet last month in which 20 people lost their lives. The Tibetan government-in-exile in India, however, claims that 140 died in the Chinese crackdown.
Source : PTI