Letter to the editor

I think it would be fair to say that no living man of our time better represents all that is good and caring of our species than His Holiness, Tenzin Gyato, the 14th Dali Lama of Tibet. Even from his exile in India, the Dali Lama shows no animosity or hatred to-wards the Chinese government that invaded his land and forced him to leave his beloved country. No man since Jesus and Mahatma Ghandi has held so fast to a philosophy predicated on respect for all life and promotes love and peace among all mankind. Considering the present state of the world we live in, that is no small task for any man. Certainly there are men and women of many faiths that aspire to the same ideals, but the Dali Lama of Tibet is a spiritual leader who makes no grandiose claims of saint-hood or special powers: He simply generates an aura of kindness and an outpouring of love for our planet and everything that lives on it. That, to me, is the epitome of what passes for goodness in an otherwise disgruntled and callous world. I am far from being a religious man and I make no intent to impose my beliefs or lack of same, on others, but when someone like the Dali Lama comes along, especially in such a troubled time, I have to admit to a longing for a different path to follow, led by men and women who walk the walk everyday and seek to up-lift, not degrade and subjugate our lives.

George Morin
Auburn, Ga.