Modern civilisation root cause of challenges today, says Buddhist scholar

Samdong Rinpoche was speaking on ‘The Buddha, the Mahatma and Ethics in a Material World’.

N.Ravi,Vice Chairman, Bhavan's Chennai Kendra with Buddhist scholar Samdhong Rinpoche at the 3rd S.V.Narasimham Memorial Oration in Chennai. M.K.Narayannan (second from right) and S.N.Srikanth are in the picture.

The 3rd S.V. Narasimhan Memorial Oration organised by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in memory of former Chairman of the Chennai Kendra of the Bhavan, a renowned philanthropist, patron of the arts and industrialist, was held here on Monday.

Eminent Buddhist scholar Samdong Rinpoche in his speech on ‘The Buddha, the Mahatma and Ethics in a Material World’, said the Buddha and the Mahatma were alike in the sense that both looked at the root cause of challenges, rather than just the symptoms.

Talking about ethics, he said humans should have the courage and determination to follow them. Modern civilisation was the root cause of many challenges human beings face today, including destruction of natural resources and global warming. Chennai witnessed floods and a cyclone recently.

These were very clear signals but we are not ready to accept them, he added.

Former West Bengal Governor M.K. Narayanan recalled that he was among the earliest persons to welcome the Dalai Lama, the world’s Buddhist leader into the country and that Rinpoche was part of the group that accompanied the Dalai Lama when he fled from Tibet.

Pillar of strength

N. Ravi, Director, Kasturi and Sons and Vice-Chairman Bhavan’s Chennai Kendra, recalled that S.V. Narasimhan, as chairman, was a pillar of strength to the Bhavan. One could turn to him for any good cause. After moving to Chennai from Kolkata in 1971, he emerged as a patron of social, cultural and religious causes and was conferred the title of ‘Kanikarya Shiromani’ by the Paramacharya of Kanchi.

K. N. Ramaswamy, Director, Bhavan’s Chennai Kendra and S.N. Srikanth, son of S.V. Narasimhan, spoke.