The Dalai Lama - “The World Will Be Saved By the Western Woman”

About a month ago, the Dalai Lama said something about women that is just now making the rounds on Twitter. His statement, “The world will be saved by the western woman,” was delivered during the Vancouver Peace Summit 2009, which opened on the morning of Sunday, September 27th.

Although I’m still trying to track down a transcript of the speech containing the above statement, the Dalai Lama participated in more than one panel discussion that day, and the event most likely to have provoked such a strongly worded declaration was the “Nobel Laureates in Dialogue: Connecting for Peace” presentation held that afternoon. Moderated by former Irish president and peace activist Mary Robinson, the panel discussion featured four Nobel Peace Prize Laureates: the Dalai Lama (who won in 1989); Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams, founders of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement and winners of the Nobel in 1976; and American Peace prize winner anti-landmine crusader Jody Williams, an American peace prize winner in 1997.

If the “western woman” statement were made in the context of the Dalai Lama’s appearance with these extraordinary women, the words would seem less stunning than sensible. Truly, these western women have already changed the world, and have been doing so for more than three decades.  Read Article

By Linda Lowen