Anil Kapoor talks about compassion in the presence of the Dalai Lama

There is Global Compassion shortage

Anil Kapoor talks about compassion in the presence of the Dalai Lama

    Many years back, I was with the Dalai Lama on the same flight. I was at that time reading the script of my film Armaan — in which my role required me to be compassionate. On seeing the Dalai Lama, I could not resist taking his blessings. When I got his blessings, I secretly felt that I would win a National and Filmfare award for that film.
    For the longest time, I have shown compassion towards I, me, myself. Forget my neighbours, friends and least of all, animals, I could not even remember my children’s birthdays. The person who shook me out of my self-indulgence was my wife Sunita. She showed me the mirror and asked me if what I was doing made me happy? I said NO. I am tired and miserable and that started my process of discovering compassion. My first step was reading about people who have led a compassionate life. And it is during this time, I read about Gandhiji and decided to produce Gandhi My Father. Mahatma Gandhi said, “There is always enough for every man’s need but never enough for any man’s greed. Today, there is so much talk about global food, land and water shortage, however really what we have is global compassion shortage. He also said that the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way they treat their animals. According to a United Nations report, the livestock industry is the single largest contributor to global warming larger than factories and automobiles. The amount of water that goes into the production of one hamburger is equivalent to the amount of water you use for bathing for six months. Globally, we produce enough food to feed 10 billion people against a population of 7 billion. No one would sleep hungry, forget about dying of starvation, yet tens of thousands of children do, as a large part of this grain is used to feed cows and chickens which forms a part of a non-vegetarian’s diet.
    Compassion makes us realise that our need to eat non-vegetarian is no more than the need for other human beings to get food to eat. Therefore our success is deeply valuable provided it does not come at the expense of others. I’d like to say that many years ago on that flight I had asked the Dalai Lama for his blessings but I only wanted it for myself. However today, I request him to bless all of us so that we are all able to embody compassion — in our thoughts and actions.

Anil Kapoor seeks blessings from His Holiness XIV Dalai Lama

ANIL ON THE DALAI LAMA The Dalai Lama’s body language is not like other holy men and is normal. He speaks like anyone else. He is warm, genuine, compassionate and child-like with so much heart. His energy and child-like laughter rubs off on you.