The Buddhist monk, speaking during a weeklong religious seminar in the Indian holy city of Varanasi, told followers that “rampant corruption in the world” is due to a decline in culture and spirituality.
“People have become selfish and materialistic, which has led to the economic slowdown,” the 73-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said in an address at the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies yesterday, Indian state-run broadcaster Doordarshan reported.
The U.S. housing slump that began in 2007 has developed into a worldwide crisis that forced central bankers to cut interest rates to near zero to unlock credit markets, pushed governments to bail out their biggest banks amid $1 trillion of writedowns, and sent titans like General Motors Corp. and American International Group Inc. begging for bailouts.
hurrah for him, he hit the mark. linda
I think the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, is being melodramatic when he blames the lack of spirituality among people today for the global financial crisis. Was there a lack of spirituality some 75 years ago when the world experienced the Great Depression? Of course not. I believe that the current economic slump was caused by too many people trying to live beyond their means — as indicated by thousands of people losing their homes — but that does not necessarily mean that these people lack spirituality.