Midmorning With Aundrea - June 24, 2020 (Part 2)

(Part 2 of 2) Spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism in Exile, the Dalai Lama, gives his thoughts on living a life of compassion and wisdom in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

Is just it it's not easy to stay áoptimisticá in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.

But the dalai lama says there are still reasons to be thankful.

The spiritual leader of tibet's buddhists is doing a lot less traveling these days, because of covid- 19 concerns áandá his age.

Ramy inocencio spoke with the dalai lama .

Here's their conversation.

While adherents spin prayer wheels to accumulate good karma - using gloves for protection - high in the himalayas of northern india, the dalai lama lives and prays.

The exiled tibetan spiritual leader's message of compassion and altruism is unchanged on the eve of his 85th birthday.

His holiness stays social - from a distance.

Ramy: what is a day in the life of the dalai lama during the coronavirus pandemic?

Dalai lama: 00:07:12 there's not much-- not much differences// as a buddhist practitioner, mind is more important than physical.

Isolation is not new for the dalai lama.

He fled tibet in 1959 after china invaded and annexed his country.

He's lived in exile in dharamsala ever since but he tells me he watches the news every day.

00:15:28 how do you make sense of the suffering in the world right now?

Dalai lama: 00:15:47 now, in america, there's quite, i'll say, narrow- minded thinking.

00:16:50 black people, white people, we are same, human, brother, sisters.

So-- they-- on the basis of color and also, you see, different faith, different religion and different country.

Now, these are old thinking.

Ramy inocencio: 00:31:43 , how do we-- how do we teach people to not be racist, to not be discriminatory?

Dalai lama: 00:35:01 i think we should emphasis oneness, sameness, emphasize that.

But sometimes, you see, too much emphasis a little, little differences.

That creates problem.

Dalai lama: 00:36:01 all these, you see-- strong feeling of differences, that is a short-sighted, narrow-minded the dalai lama and tibet's three million people have been sidelined themselves - by china.

Beijing has imprisoned tibetans, diluted the tibetan language and made pictures of the dalai lama illegal - replaced with pictures of china's president xi jinping.

Ramy inocencio: 01:20:00what does washington need to do about ensuring or supporting the future of tibet and its identity?

Dalai lama: 01:20:37 well, america, when he-- become president he mentioned-- "america first.

That, i find uncomfortable.

Ramy inocencio: 01:21:34 would you be happy to meet president trump if he invited you?

Dalai lama: 01:21:46 no, now, because of my physical, long flight is-- not easy.

So now i prefer usually just to remain here.

In the vicinity-- president trump come to india, but then-- apparently speaking, sometimes-- president trump, too much sort of complicated.

That and more on the next midmorning.