Sir, - The Dalai Lama was not invited to the four-day Millennium World Peace Summit which began on August 28th in New York. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, had to admit that the Tibetan leader had been left off the invitation list to avoid upsetting China.
Beijing insists that Tibet is part of China and portrays the Dalai Lama as a troublemaker. The rationale for his exclusion was to satisfy the attendance of a Chinese religious delegation. It would seem that appeasement, Munich style, still rules.
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetan people. In 1950, when he was only 16, he had to assume full political power when China invaded Tibet. In 1959, during the national uprising of the Tibetan people against the Chinese military occupation, he went into exile in India. He has led a life of action, responsibility and sacrifice for the sake of all beings. He travels extensively, eloquently speaking in favour of ecumenical understanding, kindness and compassion, respect for the environment, and world peace.
In his 1989 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, the Dalai Lama expressed his concern "to all sentient beings who suffer". He said he believed all suffering is caused by ignorance, and that people inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. "Yet true happiness comes from a sense of inner peace and contentment which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and the elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed."
This is the man who was not invited to the Millennium World Peace Summit. One had hoped that Ireland would have gone on record formally to dissociate itself from such an unconscionable and politically-motivated decision. We are all diminished. Shame on us! - Yours, etc.,
Myles Crowe, Old Brewery Lane, Clonakilty, Co Cork.