Compassion and Technology

your holiness a warm welcome on bhai here get it in a new a caravan salon it's Amsterdam strong historical tradition of being a safe haven for religion and expressions of life and that makes your presence here even more special and that's why we get it here a lot of people Buddhists and non-buddhists people of faith and non-believers members of the Dutch royal family Princess Irina and Princess Marya and ambassadors excellencies young people students scientists entrepreneurs and sponsors artists and art lovers all have come together here to celebrate life in its many forms and today we are celebrating in particular a highly inclusive religion Buddhism and I'm always impressed by the fact that people can transcend space we gather here in this historic church to celebrate all walks of life and all expressions of life and society and I'm delighted that we are now able to include your presence your holiness to mark the festive opening of our exhibition of Buddhas life in a way we are here in a small group faithfully gathered here together and we are far from the bustling streets of Lhasa far from moved from the tranquility of Lake Marie in Ladakh and we include just a tiny part of the great global community of Buddhists around the world your holiness we cannot bring the tribe eros into the church now all the pious traversing the Ladakh Lake and David Ellis we can connect with the entire world ladies and gentlemen look around for the cameras we are joined by people all around the world in live streaming at this moment maybe we can all wave to the cameras thank you very much let's all connect with each other others with each other other by means of compassion and technology now let me turn to the exhibition we have chosen to examine Buddha's life through the eyes of contemporary artists presenting ancient Buddhist art alongside contemporary works an artist including sulfur debate goes critical Alysia famous yoko ono and AI weiwei and a tree under which we are standing right now is by IOA and the work of contemporary artists inspired us to come up with an entirely fresh ideas for this opening and for this unique exhibition and you have given our team at anemic air the space an opportunity to think differently boldly and freely Buddhism is often praised as a matter of mind and reflection with a focus on analysis and investigation and with great understanding of Science and Technology so it has been through all the ages and that's why we have assembled young people students scientists to discuss with you one of the major topics of our time compassion and technology and it's my hope that our exhibition not only represents budem Buddhism as the world religion as it always has been but also brings a new light into the modern world connecting us all with compassion technology adds something immaterial to the exhibition something that enables us better to understand Buddha's teaching and their Buddha's life and I like that we are all connected both physically and through technology today and thousands of people will follow this conversation here life to the data to the life streaming your holiness you have set new standards in the world throughout your life and you are doing so again by combining technology with your message of compassion and so I leave you now under the tree of Iowa stream and I gave the floor to Christa miners man the moderator of today and another wonderful partner of this event Diedrich ocean of the singularity University will be on stage for the closing remarks your holiness ladies and gentlemen welcome again in the new attack let's start catalina thank you so much for welcoming us in an EVA Carrick a church known in history for being a place where people of different faiths and belongings were welcome and I think today's dialogue on compassion and technology fits in that tradition of openness and unforgettable encounters your holiness today we have invited people who pioneered the use of technology to explore together with you the relation between compassion and technology the modern world is full of technology from our smartphones to computers to robots it's pervasive it's very powerful and it's here to stay on the other hand people are interested in meditation mindfulness compassion Buddhism so we'll explore these topics where the technology can be a force for good whether it can enrich human interaction in two panels each pen over last 40 minutes in the first panel we'll look at artificial intelligence and robotics in the second panel will look at sickness old age and death before inviting the panelists to the stage I would invite your holiness and the audience to watch a small video to introduce the topic our world is spinning technology is only present and powerful as a human it feels hard to keep up technology extends us connects us brings us closer together it can enrich and unite us people left by the wayside could be part of the action again technology may even become our friend offering assistance and companionship but will it spin out of control what if computers move toward general intelligence thinking and acting faster than we can will we be overwhelmed will it take over leaving us no room for irrational behavior what happens if technology is in control would we want that [Music] who decides what is ethical are we making the rules are we taking responsibility or will it be self-learning steered by values would we be able to pull the plug saying this is enough or is technology just human nature our destiny ethics and technology a balancing act it's my great pleasure now to invite to join us on stage Tilly lucky Tilly has just had a major surgery but she was adamant to be here with us today [Applause] [Laughter] Teli instead of me introducing you why don't you tell his holiness your story good morning your holiness my name is Tilly and I'm so honored to be here today thank you so much for inviting me I had a severe disease when I was 15 months old called meningitis septicemia and they they basically said that I was 100% going to die but somehow I pulled very when I'm here today and Tilly perhaps you can also tell his holiness about your Bionic arms and show a little what you can do with them and perhaps also say how having these arms how it changed your life well since losing my hands I lost them so young and I can't remember ever having hands but I just always wanted them so ever since ever since then I've been working with all kinds of tech companies trying to help develop Bionic hands for people like me these are from a company I'm working with currently called open bionics and then we're trying to stray away from trying to blend in we want to embrace the fact that were unique we don't we don't mind being different the hand I've had in the past were made to be really realistic oh can you give us holiness a hand whoa [Laughter] we're dog great so I like these hands because they look futuristic and cool and even have my name on the side so that's a plus but what Tilly was saying is that instead of trying to hide the imperfection she thought with this company that makes these arms to just show it and she's been working with this company not only to improve her own arms and her own hands but also she gives them critical feedback so that this company can work on making these arms for other children as well but that's not all Tilly perhaps you can also talk about your initiative to help other children well as I said I was so young when I lost them I don't remember having them and just I know that there's real people out there who've had hands their whole life and then all of a sudden they're just gone and then you've got a they had to learn to live without them and I just thought it was really important for them to have the support that they're needed until you what is what is the I mean each you have five pairs of hands you told me so why did you choose to wear these ones today well I only have one pair of hands but I've got loads of different cases lots different colors patterned that's what's really cool about these hands they're so customizable and you can even have lights on it so you know Tilley when we when we talked earlier you said you had all kinds of questions that you would like to ask His Holiness why don't you well I think it's a really important question and what do you think as you know I'm working with a tech company trying to make these Bionic hands what do you think of a bigger tech companies could be doing to help spread good around the world hmm yes mission very important but Mission Control not by vision but human being as a human being not only the sophistical but mind emotion ultimately constructor emotion good emotion then our physical also become constructively if I'd lose and the writers so ultimately I believe mind but now here I think the as a result of meeting or discuss with modern psychologists I notice the whole Western civilization very much which is restricting so that when they talk about consciousness only sensorial level consciousness not mental consciousness no anger attachment and loving-kindness these religious with mental consciousness not sensory so the modern technology very very helpful to the kinky to help particularly with disabilities and with body very very helpful so you see the company or consider people who made this I really very much appreciate and you know if they can can tell them how useful this and then and I think the Europe IQ comparatively better better facility but look Africa yeah many poor people and then less developed country suffering immense so please you the society in different part of the world underdeveloped whether these day or today a problem with physical item down I'd you know many so the company I think should pay more attention yeah this poorer section of the community I feel very important I agree so you can do some thank you thank you so much your holiness for that advice let me now also invite the other panelists to this panel to the stage Professor Martin Stein book from the Technical University of Eindhoven and careened Olfa CEO and founder of no isolation [Laughter] [Applause] so both of them have also brought some gadgets some friends but I'd like to invite Karen first Karen dov'è to introduce us to the little friend that you brought her to introduce the friend to his holiness okay this is a v1 it is a telepresence robot for children specifically made for children who cannot go to school because of illness so any diagnose that keeps you from going where you should go hey v1 can help and we actually have someone with us through a v1 today so in UK Jayde is sitting and she's here so you can talk to her and I think we should hear her if she says hi hey Jade and sorry Jade I think we have a really cool introduction video we do which Jade just made of herself so even though we just hear Jade we also know who is on the other end of a v1 can we have the short introduction please I'm speaking to you here from England and often I can't get out the house and I can't see wonderful things like this because I have a Lezama syndrome which affects my connective tissue and it means that a lot of the time I'm bedridden and I have seizures and dislocations it's plain awful but thanks to be I get to experience the outside world and every night I get to see for real anyway thank you to His Holiness so so normally normally Jade uses her robot to go to class to go to the supermarket to do all the things that she cannot do when she has to stay in bed and her friends can pick up her robot and bring her around right so this is Jade but in the different wrapping and Jade can actually move her heads I think so unless I moved her a bit too much and an audio goes both ways here so Jade can hear us and talk to us but we cannot see Jade and that's a very conscious decision on our end because in most cases this will be used in the classroom setting with all of your friends and the children using av1 are lying in bed and if you're wearing your pajamas if you don't have hair you're pale being on display on a screen in the classroom that's not easy so we we made it into something sleep something simple that they can dress up and make their own and yeah and your holiness it's actually Jade who is controlling let's say the head of the robot she can turn it she can look at you she can look at the audience and if you like Jade's gonna let's see maybe you could Jade maybe you could ask a question I know that you had a question for us awareness Jade had a long list of questions any female if not why not and do you think there ever will be that's quite a question Jade since many years it's just some people ask me the future in case that another institution still remain then future Dalai Lama could be female at the time the situation actual situation a female body more sort of useful then why not so I think future that's very cool thanks if the incision remain but the big question is this century-old institution very interested Dalai Lama should continue and not up to concerned people Tibetan people and also Mongolian and some other people so if the people feel now the incision is now old sources the tradition all system no longer relevant sees then no longer any question whether female thank you okay oh the state perhaps another question can you explain perhaps due to its holiness and to the audience what it means for you to have a v1 do you use it just for school I know you love math do you use it for other things what does it mean in your life it means freedom it means that if I'm I'm still able to do things so I can make fans that don't rely on my help it means that I'm able to do things such as school but also attend appointments and meetings and have fun with my friends and keep up those relationships that otherwise would be lost and a lot of the time I play Dungeons and Dragons through it so I've actually managed to kill dragging a robot which is something very people forget to say yes so normally now this is a very special setting for the robot and me and Jane but normally this would be used by Jade and there are 550 kids now using and having their own personal robot across Europe and normally they would be in class and their friends would take them for out for the breaks and on on school field trips field trips are often the thing you lose first if you get a heavy diagnose because it's difficult to bring you around but through the robot they can participate at anything and and I think your your touching in on something Jade with with the freedom but because planning becomes difficult and and we would at my company we would never try to make technology replace human contact our our whole theory and hypothesis is that if you get to participate on a day to day basis Noma no matter how poorly you're feeling then it will be easier to come back so for many of these kids they're they are sick for years and and just going back to school after having been away for years that's not easy so we want them to stay in the loop and to communicate with all their friends every day so that it's easy to come back so it's easy to to plan things on the weekends if you maybe you're feeling up for that because there's so many things happening around school and and that's social arena is so important cuz curriculum is that's data gathering and data gathering is best done with other people you need you need that that social bit of learning your holiness how do you think about this she can see you and Jade is having a tablet at home she sees everything on a video stream and when she moves that's because she is swiping the screen so she can spin 360 degrees around and I can see really well so I can see just how handsome you are [Laughter] other sophisticates the mission you just mission can you read my mind wonderful technology but I believe this limitation no matter how sophisticated emission I think cannot represent this very super student human intelligence mind I feel but of course you can eventually you can prove my thinking is wrong and then okay [Music] [Laughter] your holiness let me pick up on what you just said and move to Martin Jai's please stay with us and if you have another question well be happy to hear it but I moved to Martin now he sits on the left of Karen so maybe you can see him if you move your head to the left so your holiness I took a play robot with me just to show you what is what is possible nowadays this is a dino a dinosaur it makes actually noise maybe we can hear it quite a lot of noise here and it's really sweet in some sense you could say this technology also adds to compassion do you want to touch it people like a baby and just touch it because it has sensors and it will react to you your holiness so far we were talking about technology that no sign of a pain maybe he gave me I don't know where he likes that he likes that you can see that I will turn it off otherwise everybody is looking at the dyno and not listening to us so I will I will not put it off so my question is this is clear it can have his role for children for elderly people with dementia for instance with Alzheimer but suppose that this computer technology which is in here supposed it in 20 years from now this will be 1 million times smarter right what could it mean and what you mention about the mental consciousness what is the gap between mental consciousness of humans and computer technology and how are we going to to to look forward that we can can live together so to speak I think this machine at least with matters consciousness of course sensorial consciousness depend on organ diese be chilly but the subtle consciousness mind not based on now sensory consciousness depend on our brain then like awaken time when we fully use these sensors of organs the mental level is very causal level then dreaming the sensorial level consciousness no longer function the organs then sort of rest dreamy then further deeper without dream more deeper level of consciousness then someone faint even she shot a short period breathing muscle system then further deeper six the mind when your consciousness then the deepest at the time of death heart beating stopped then blood circulation brain stopped then brain which in short period died but now there are some number cases clinically died but body still them in very fresh including my duty after he death the clinical doctors come check and they say not died yet but body didn't refresh till thirteen days very fresh then a similar case some cases or cheese remain fresh so now some brain specialists like the rigid division a memory Wisconsin University Oh since many years a our scientific sort of meeting and research research our discussion with scientists I usually call Buddhist science and modern science mainly for fields cosmology the neurobiology then physics particularly control physics then psychology so the field of psychology then the rigid division now very much impressed these things so he already was a set up one project to examine the cases person who died who dead but physical the physical body still very fresh so some percept easy-to-carry further investigation so like that so we explain the most subtle never consciousness still in the body brain stop God very very subtle never consciousness mold is independent from our brain right so we cannot sort of reconstruct death using technology that's a level we don't understand yet so technology see there is limitation for them they I think like sensorial consciousness say they we can increase eyesight but this limitation here also but limitation the mental these the cause it's related to written matter therefore there's limitation the subtle level of consciousness not depend on physical so it can develop or infinity so you know but I think the future will answer these things and not not necessarily we decide oh it will be this way this way that way no I think our previous generation is in never thought these things but you see time passes new technology new knowledge new TV experience so that as far as the inner value mainly mind of consciousness is concerned in the in tradition over 3,000 years is it developed investigation where is observer combined with mind so in order to investigate this deeper level of consciousness the over three four thousand years the India already developed the practice of single pointed meditation that we call schemata then the analytical meditation analyze that we call Vipassana so Buddha himself product of these Indian tradition so I think among Asian civilization cheney's civilization interests very select originally Indus Valley Civilisation I think the Indian service realization I think today in many centuries is really pay much attention about deeper level of self versus self now quantum physics we can they have sort of a wonderful explanation the things I'm the external thing does not exist as appears if we investigate nothing we can find so nothing objectively exists but ultimately depend on observer then if we raise the question where is observer the quantum physicists in the West no answer India the investigate varies observer so then India you see develop the concept of Atma beside this physical there is something whether you call soul or Atma that's the basis of rebirth Atma just body and this brain and mind which depend this brain is just one life so Atma life after life no beginning like that so so therefore the and that concept Atma concept and raise a lot of debate within ancient Indian tradition I think it's clear thank you thank you Martin yep but you're a pioneer in this technology this this this not only robots that are programmed to do what we want but self learning robots yeah do you think that at some point I mean how does that work self learning robots and do you think that at some point you know a robot could for instance learn empathy or compassion well like the Dalai Lama explained that I agree with it or everything which is materialized everything which is linked to material you can actually simulate in a computer and hence you can learn so if you buy this toy robot it behaves like a baby but if you touch it if you play with it it develops over a few months so there's a learning every algorithm in this toy very simple if the computer inside the story becomes very smart you can learn more and more and more and you can learn how people look what they mean with their facial expressions and then the computer can can have a very intelligent interface that that computer in the future could could actually express much more of emotions than currently and that's that's all to do with learning but the deeper question of course is can you go beyond everything with this material and we don't know that yet and everything which is beyond material we don't we don't see yet how we can actually mimic that in technology and the question also is should we want that but that's it that's another question I think yeah wonderful I would like to thank the panelists to this panel and I would actually I wish now yeah this is technology you see make distinction this person yeah you see very dangerous and shorten their life not physical reaction then some person this is very very helpful humanity so they are life extent you see a hundred year or two hundred years yeah two hundred years okay the destructive person until shorter the better so the technology can make distinction you see this wasn't more compassion this was a lot of anger hatred can we distinction by technology yes holiness is ask would be question could be I think could be but do we want it the technology makes those decisions that's the question if technology you should make those decisions but I think technology can can learn a lot from the behavior of people it can learn how people behave and what their intentions are there someone good someone who sees really as you mentioned uses someone really subtle acid a very demoralized and very sad Silver City yeah what so you can yeah Casa insulation sublet yes I make the person happier yeah I think so yes like dog like a dog yes don't you see when we showed them sincere sort of feeling they appreciate isn't it yes not only just food in there I also see since compassionate face did we shoot yeah but robot I don't know I don't they can they're they could learn I think didn't ones what bring here then I believe okay your next robot yes your holiness we'll have to say goodbye to these three wonderful people they move on to the next panel I would like to thank you very much and ask you to thank you thank you thank you wonderful ask you to return to your seats thank you thank you thank you [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] your holiness the next panel will be about old age sickness and death technology opens almost unlimited possibilities to prevent sickness old age and perhaps in the future even death but what are we going to do if we can live a much longer and healthier life and how do we enhance not only the length but also the quality of this life these are the questions we like to explore with the next set of panelists and I would invite them to come on to the stage Chris Ferber Liz Parrish summable Moff and John teen learned Soph please join us on stage [Applause] your holiness let me briefly introduce these participants they didn't bring any robots or you know dolls or things like that but they have very interesting things to say Christopher Burke is a medical doctor a researcher a scientist and he's a writer of many many books about longevity healthy diet and things like that Liz Parrish is the CEO of bio Viva it's a tech company in Silicon Valley specialized in gene technology Selma bull muff sitting next to you is a student at the Amsterdam University of comparative religions she is also an alumni of the IMC weekend school it's a school that takes place in the weekend in Amsterdam and all across the country and that offers curious youngsters from diverse backgrounds the possibility to meet all kinds of professionals so it broadens their views about the possibilities in professional life Sean teen nownself she is an ethicist at MIT Harvard she's Dutch by origin and also in her student yes he studied Tibetan studies in Hamburg we are very happy to have all four of you with us and before we start the panel discussion we'll have a short video introducing this topic the human body we're unveiling its precious secrets what was once a death sentence is now a mere inconvenience we're digging deeper into our DNA removing what we don't like sniffing splicing refining disregarding the laws of age and decay our children will live well beyond 100 years but where will it end are we stuck to our bodies our given vessel or will we be able to switch what makes a human life valuable is it merely the number of years or is it the way you spend your time with love and compassion what about suffering has it value if so how much suffering is there a secret beauty unveiled in disease and decay is there a deeper meaning to death what if life is never-ending how do we spend our time and energy who wants to live forever let's pick up that last question your holiness who wants to live forever would you like to live for a few centuries or maybe even for a thousand years that's an unrealistic thinking I think I think two three thousand years this is many saddles many Buddhist masters you see they also as he tried to live long so including some meditation but no one misses remain I think the longest maybe I think 200 no I see no one so in the past I think Excel you see controllers you're not yet a develop so through meditation including practice of yoga breathing control these things very helpful firstly physically help longevity but this limitation I do whole world what they disappear our son also after yesterday I think billion years may disappear and whole glasses disappear then nucleus has come that's the nature so one's own expectation remain thousand years is unrealistic I feel so they have too much unrealistic sort of wish or thinking bring more disappointment it's better to accept reality Chris this holiness is looking at you and I want to turn to you because you're 32 you'd like to live up to at least 200 you told me and you also think it's possible so would you like to comment on what this holiness is just set all these holiness is absolutely right that with the current technology we have we can if we eat healthy we meditate we sleep well we are happy that we can achieve more chances of achieving 120 or 80 a healthy 80-year lifespan maximum lifespan of our species is about around 120 years and very difficult to go beyond that absolutely right but there are new technologies being developed and in the last two years we have seen spectacular experiments in lap animals first where you have old mice they have a gray fur your they have bald spots and they have all kinds of aging related diseases like osteoporosis and so on and they make the old mice young again so they reverse aging in the night and of course but of course mice are not humans but the remarkable thing about his studies is that for the first time in history in fact scientists don't just slow down aging they actually reverse the aging so you have an old animal you make it young again that has never happened before and you use all kinds of special techniques for that you can look at it as we have a mouse with a gray fur ball spots and the fur becomes shiny black again the mice become active again so it's very spectacular to see even as a medical doctor I'm quite impressed by these studies so a lot of researchers and scientists are trying to develop these technologies to actually reverse aging in humans and there is a lot of research going into that recently also a lot of investment you have a lot of companies being created around that to really enable lifespans of hundreds of years perhaps in humans and it's quite reasonable to believe that we will go to a future where people will live perhaps for centuries and still look quite young and healthy and I don't know what's your idea about a future where people will live much longer how can they lead a meaningful life and what do you think about that yes as a scientist it is very important this is AA great vision to have vision oh oh and make effort but then when I first came to India as a refugee then if you used to say six billion human being now lost a few decades nowadays we say seven billion then some sort of experts say and of this century human population will reach ten billion so I think it is nature law young children come old people go otherwise I think eventually I think they even you see ten billion right you too much global warming really now create problem so firstly I do - people here no concern about water a northern world but soften world including India I think the shortage of water and many other people in Africa so this the other day I saw on picture Venus some small legs the bigger they died or dry red dry no when we of flu Afghanistan this area the many science originally big now some cases this morning many cases have dry desert so now global warming according this sort of development I think region s a few centuries I think they do do global warming I took a tremendous sort of difficulties vehicle so see scientists saying more optimistic I'm saying more business pessimist nature hold Lexi's come go coming to go awesome also eventually disappear so then like Venus and Mars I think thousands thousand minis years ago uses some water there now dry so now they the software world northern world a lot of ice non melting rapidly so that's nature process I think technology some up to some limited something but change whole world so we are as a production of the universe evolution revolution firstly jellyfish then gradually summer anywhere then EPS away ifs so we are self this is the product of the hope of the world so once changed so we I think important is why are we alive remain harmoniously or compassionately that's possible but thinking something human being remain on this planet the permanently or thousand years if all will become desert do you still prefer we human being I mean hungry person I think you're certainly right I think if we often if people are going to live longer the people will mention that there will be overpopulation but we see perhaps on the long term if you look at 300 years or longer we will have a shrinkage of the population because people get less and less children and some scientists think it's going to be a huge problem like under population on the long term in the short term like next hundred years there will be more overpopulation you're right but perhaps in hundreds of years some simulations so the now person how to control population well we see that is control but we should take care of our planets definitely and also take care of ourselves because the nice thing if you slow down aging you reduce risk of all kinds of diseases aging related let's very good at the same time so that's what we we see the side effect of reducing all these diseases like Alzheimer's disease or cardiovascular disease the side effect will be that you also slow down aging so and as you will live longer in the end but we see that the most powerful method to reduce the risk of all these diseases is by slowing down the aging process itself and that's why it's so so much research is being done at that but you're right that we have to take care that there won't be too many people in the end and that we should better take care of our planet completely agree with that and about that there will be too many people there have also been some simulations about that and even in a few hundreds of years if people live even to 200 years or older but they have much less children there won't be that much of overpopulation that's still it's something to keep in mind of course I see your holiness we did a little survey preparing for today we did a little survey among children of ten to fifteen years old and we asked them the question do you want to become hundred and fifty years old and a little less than half of them said yes they'd like to spend more time with friends have more time to play and do nice things about one third said no because they're either more sex but sum up what do you think about that I mean you're the youngest person here on the panel you're I won't reveal your age your students think about this to be honest I wouldn't want to live forever I wouldn't even want to live up to 150 years old I think life at some point would become tiresome and for me personally I think it would take away the meaning of my choices that I make in life because there wouldn't be traces anymore they would be things that I do now but the other choice I could it's a possibility to do later for example traces like what I'm gonna study you where I'm gonna work where I'm gonna travel it has meaning now because I choose to do that because life is as its limits but if I live up for 200 years so in 50 years I can always do it later and I I feel like it takes away the meaning for me and also as as a Muslim I believe in the hereafter so I wouldn't want to be here forever in this temporary world yeah I think that's the answer to that question again according religious sort of belief then a mother's region world written two categories one theistic religion was believed creator like Judaism Christianity Islam and activist origin also may be no believe creator then ancient Indian sorrow want religion or some de philosophie one part of Sankhya philosophy so no creator but rather self creation that's about right in two thousand years then Jainism Jain tradition change edition also we say no creator then Buddhism no creator so there are sort of different Kasota perception so according to civil religion you see God creates after day I'm at reduce world firstly human being male female and then their life limitation car lifespan so the other day when I was flying causal image Afghanistan see really a desert resurface physical very very poor many sign originally some lake now just desert so I want to complain to God why see you create some world more green some world listen what research why God Allah infinity love infinite love so you see God ssro infinity love you see kind to everybody every evidence of animals animal creature every creature wonderful God for mercy but then they say I think the test is region very useful when we passing through some difficult experiences they say we still you see hope good I think that's useful to keep hope hope human life very important once you lost hope then itself shorten your life isn't it and worst case suicide Salma you had a question to his holiness about the role and usefulness of of illness yeah so my question was following I I am grateful for my health because I have experienced the flu and a fever so I know what it's be what it feels like to be healthy so I feel like in a way sicknesses like fevers and and like the flu and short term sicknesses they have a meaning in life a role cosas and I wondered is what your view is on illnesses in in life in the life of your life this physical the all disorder was the sources of illness old h-here by nature so then only because I'm logically asked to the Creator why you create that my the question is more like it's not like why do we get sick it's that's not my question like it's not unhappiness about being sick I'm asking if you feel like sickness plays a role in life and I think I think you see the unfortunate experience useful to reminds God when when we happy I didn't know what to say Allah or God some difficult that the other control then remember God so useful so in order to reminds Allah just some sickness but and for you like that's for me because I believe in the God but you don't believe in a creator so do you feel like it has an important role according to the religion we are very sinful we do not asset God so be sure to do good a friend of mine so whenever we met he always teasing me and mischievous Dalai Lama I I respond mischievous bishop so the city close friend I really so one day so uh sort of some serious in discussion about three days and one occasion he have teased me he mentioned he as a Christian believer of God so here I did go to heaven I non-believer so he mentioned the relevant cost some different place [Laughter] I think non-believer go to hell so I think the pains and difficulties he reminds God Allah okay I feel like that thank you so much let's turn to Liz all right then of course my only experience firstly I am Buddhist and I described half Buddhist monk half scientist I'd love investigation investigation and Buddhist tradition Pali tradition not much investigation sounds good addition also the whole system is investigation so Buddha himself you see Express or my follower monks scholars should not answer to my teaching out of faith but rather Tara investigation so like Nagarjuna Arya Dawa Buddha Buddha so on you see these great Buddhist master of knowledge tradition they investigate both of own teaching if you accept this Buddhist teaching it goes against the reason so we must check that it is quite unique quite unique so say we follow the nollans position always investigation so we can go very well with modern scientists yeah so over 30 years I have serious discussion with mortal scientists result visual benefit we also learn some useful sort of information or how to develop legs graces or big bang these things then also to the scientists they they found very useful information about our mind and how to training our mind like that so that's because if we knowledge this tradition is is the intelligible Kasota the system is always investigation investigation like that so my childhood love you like your age I was very lazy student I compel visited imagine quite practical Oh in ceremony or they put me on throne as a whole eat a llama but when I get in lesson they treated me like one lazy young boy so I think some of you already know my to tutor keeps one with me so that we've yellow wig so I suppose the student holy person column so the whip also should be holy so yellow week but my my my intelligence quite smart I know if the holy whip use no differences of holy pain so like so I study Oh firstly Isuzu Muslim you see you learned by heart aura so many Hindus also say but this was another traditional also you see root chest we then each would explain according commentary mainly wrote by knowledge of masters and then also is it Tibetan I think the book books is which about 100 book taught by Buddha himself then about 200 twenty-four dingy books wrote by an island master like an origin and soul then eventually the translation started so many Tibetan masters they also said wrote many commentary so I think I'd seen around a 10 volume 10,000 volumes so according nonlinear tradition we as a follower of an island tradition we very much pay attention for study study study and there are three levels knowledge first knowledge first level knowledge is hearing reading then because I contemplate think think think critical critical thinking critical reflection then you reach second level of knowledge understanding that brings conviction thorough investigation thorough investigation and then we also use extensively debate according logic digna and democraty these two great magician hold their main writing available in tibetan we study very helpful sharpen your mind very useful very useful and also you CD whenever you see we here or something always the response is why why how not yes yes yes not never say yes yes yes yes always the race question why even Buddhist teaching why that's very important this variable doesn't a little tradition so now today I think the Pure Land tradition exists among Tibetan Buddhist tradition not in bodied Dakota country like she's longer Burma Thailand mainly Bali then China Sanskrit follow of knowledge but they're not much extensive so use logic therefore they denounce test and Dharma get this other test some portion not fully translated in China Chinese language so only Tibetan so we study this I think in order to become a fairly good scholar at least 20 year study in Tibet in the past 30 years study study so so they study very important as I mention earlier understanding hearing first level then understanding to analyze analyze then second level of understanding that brings conviction then familiarize then you get experience the traditional solution conclusion so this is part of the Indian concept of knowledge acquisition initially the knowledge is really confined to words and intellectual understanding but on the basis of critical reflection that knowledge gets integrated and conviction arises and then on the conviction then that knowledge can become more part of one's experience and being so there's three levels of knowledge your holiness we have two more very investigative minds on this panel who I would like to bring in yes our wonderful discussion one is Liz Parrish liz is not a scientist but she is a practitioner and she has actually experimented with gene therapy on herself and so my question to her would be why did you do that and what did you actually do is it is it attachment to youthfulness in this life could you explain this to its holiness all right so your holiness every year hundreds of millions of people suffer from chronic disease and 40 million people die of biological aging alone so in order to reduce the suffering in the world after the diagnosis that my son had of a chronic disease I embarked on a journey of learning about medicine and technology on my journey I discovered gene therapy so in 2003 after the human genome was discovered and run and analyzed we don't fully understand it yet it'll be a long time until we do but we got our first glimpse at genes that may actually create healthier lives so when we look at the human lifespan if we look at people getting sick around 65 but maybe living to 120 we actually want to increase the health span of individuals to their maximum age so right now it's not about extending lifespans indefinitely it's about creating healthy lives and I would really like to know your feelings on this type of technology editing the human genome so that we don't suffer from things like Alzheimer's heart disease cancer and organ function wonderful but the important I feel they not crashing all day episode I wanted to break lifespan lifespan but life should be meaningful life that's important you know meaningful means if possible help Atta if not at least risk in hunting other there's a meaningful life we born on this planet whether there's creator or not it is fat now we're born here not create trouble not for create because of the create trouble no we are social animals you see born on this planet as a human being as a member of just a social animal so we should be more compassionate should have sense of responsibility to look after other members of the community community in in the engine time small you Holland because of Dutch only you were small which button behind Himalayan mountain we also you see consider although we pray entire sentient being the reality he limited Tibet people small population and scattered so when they play all sentient being is I think few thousand people so now today because of modern economy and no national boundary and then on top of that more serious thing is global warming national boundary religious boundary is secondary we have to think about six because of the seven billion human being so now we really need a sense of because the global responsibility on the basis sense of oneness of seven billion human being that's very important that's very important so people you see more of the day as a truly social element then such person you see remain healthy body and long life very good other hand people actually the Kasota the Creator problem I think we should pray we should wish shorten their life but shorten their life chanting so that's that's my my view after all we born here without our control or choice now obviously we human being helping each other showing affection love that people also returned because of that love smiling that happy this year to be a social animal even other animal is a social animal one member dying the other stead around it so that dying animal is showing some kind of sense of concern sadness we also the social animal so now these days I am Telling according miser orcid a conviction we human being on this planet now passing through some kind of crisis of emotion that's very serious according scientists the basic human nature is more compassionate in spite that lot of problem created by human being themselves on the name of religion also shared Sunni both brief Allah and as the read Quran and five times prayer but there is a small differences in the name of Shia and Sunni killing each other yeah Afghanistan in Syria in many areas and then in Burma Buddhist Muslim yeah didn't believe and then Egypt Christian it's not so religion also see the source of problem all region carry same message message of love one by personal friend he told me it is very true any Muslim if create bloodshed then actually no longer genuine Muslim then Muslim should extend love towards Anja Krrish creations or creature creatures of Allah so it's the same message that your holiness let's also see what Jan teen thinks about all these issues I think she would agree with you on many of the points that you've just made if we listen to Chris and Liz the technological sky seems to be the limit all kinds of possibilities to to extend life to to look at old age as a disease to even maybe push back death but the question I would like to ask John team she's an ethicist what ethical questions what social questions do all these developments raise I think His Holiness has already mentioned quite a few but what would you think about what is holiness said what would be the concerns that you would have the ethical questions that these developments raise thank you I think if first question I would like to ask you your holiness is why is it that we humans do wish to extend our lives to have longer lives is that what makes us human is it because we only know life and we do not know this what are your thoughts on it firstly I think even animal loves of their life even small insect when our finger go that this is da casa they avoid the cause of the dead loved their own life that's where nature mm-hmm because of that we live or evolution take place so we human being also develops all life so then jet means end of that life so and then in addition the life at least we can see we can learn we can ask some problems to other to citrusy cap the death mystery dog so literally mmm so kind of uncomfortable Oh casa learn through training eventually you have full sort of confidence see next life collar that and no problem at all see that is something mystery car mystery mystery dad yeah my assignment already mentioned like that you just mentioned before that old that also even for the teachings of the Buddha we are supposed to ask why why is it that we want this and why do we have to understand because if we then if we love life we love a good life and if life does not takes a bad turn and it's not good anymore what choices can be make then and with current technology we have more choices whether it is creator or not say we have this marvelous brain so with that intelligence I took this side of brain see hearing much stronger than human being but the mental level see yeah I think that their brain slowness is wondering what it is more connected with the amygdala so that you see we have some unity so have the sort of ability to analyze so as a human being without some investigation then wistful that bottle brain so you scientists also you see use that investigation investigation that's very important your holiness unfortunately we're coming to the end of our panel discussion on compassion and technology the scientists they talk about an artificial intelligence revolution they talk about a biotech revolution but you talk about an ethical revolution do you think we need an ethical revolution more now given all these developments quite a simple reason they are now to the 1st century look back to the century according some historian around 200 millions of people killed in previous century obviously first world war you de casa de the Holland Belgium right in German army in water to invade France through I to your your area go like that yeah I think he did first world war ii world war then few decades people in this continent is remain fear about third world war but fortunately that not happen but in asia korean war Venna war and then even civil war in China and also Russia had also venom very sad very sad the during the 20th century you see the scientists technologists you see they really develop wonderful sort of invention mainly weapon including nuclear weapon all these weapons I think who wasted the scientists because marvelous brain spend for how to kill other people so that's triggered century and then they after Second World War I think people and then become more Mitchell how much suffering as a result of war then you see thinking development of European Union I really admire one my teacher one German philosopher or scientist the one vesica late for vensica in 1990s once he told me when he was a young German as a young German every French I German is the enemy and German I Frances their enemy but that kind of mental attitude completely changed that when when we discussed when he told me that sorry 1990s so look that through centuries anime attitude then through difficult experience painful experience but then realize common goal is more important than national sovereignty wonderful wonderful so I think European Union developed I think at least last few decades no longer any fighting so you touch people also now remain peacefully if French and German use it develop some fighting then you also say have to join by the way so like that so the 21st century I think since the later part of 20th century I think much change I often see telling people they cuz are the era crisis about to happen how many millions of people come out against violence from Australia Europe then up to America so people I think is really totally against violence wonderful wonderful so still some government some country selling weapon very unfortunate in order to create peaceful world I think we should think the art with our goal is demilitarized work very important so so now this century to the first century since I think this century is just following of hundred st. later part of 20th century so there is a real possibility to create happier world peaceful world so now we need vision the peaceful world on the basis of sense of oneness of humanity not my nation their nation not not wise resists or the follower religion different nationality is secondary basically we are saying human being isn't it so two eyes one nose one mouth the seven billion we are saying creation or this nation that nation Muslim Buddhists Hindus Christians born no differences same human being we all you see survived with mother's milk same so well dad so therefore now I think the time come we should make effort as it to achieve happy world no longer they say due to small small differences in to killing each other okay that's all so I'm very happy no one Muslim sister here [Applause] promotion of religious harmony as I mentioned earlier in Syria in this area you see different due to different registration killing each other India I always tell him over 1 billion population all world marriage attrition live together yeah over 3,000 years I think firstly Indians on the road are the different lists tradition then later Zordon from ancient parts here and then Judaism Islam Christian come outside then all measurable restoration lived together in India so it is possible this is harmonious is very possible India big country with long history and over billion populated nation so India kind of trouble because a troubled area but still as far as Jesus harmony is concerned wonderful that's example India huge over building populous nation can keep this then why not the other smaller countries is very possible so I fully committed the promotion or disharmony so shake hands [Laughter] thank you thank you I would like now to ask Didrik ooza from singularity University the Netherlands to join us on stage to give his word of thanks I would also like to invite the participants of the first panel to join us for the word of thanks thank you so much for this for this dialogue on compassion and technology Thank You Krista thank you their holiness time and chance happening to so I would like to start with our setting as a closing we're in a church built 600 years ago at the end of the dark ages just try to imagine what it feels like to live in that time period do music you hear during the ceremony is composed by a Buddhist Philip Glass entitled mad rush the church was built on an orchard and now we have AI weiwei 3 to remind us or that for some refers to rapid growth and a powerless minority the deer reminds me of the beauty and fertility of nature and yes there is it here inside and in Buddhism it refers to seducing desires temptation Yoko Ono brought us earth from conflict areas to remind us of our dark side our own peace for history and today were honored by the presence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama a noble man of peace so just to set the scene this moment is rich in meaning and symbolism showing us two sides of the spectrum I recall vividly that power mustered the deputy director of the new church called us with the request to contribute to an opening for an exhibition on the life of Buddha now especially would like to thank him Kista Siva Madeleine Madeleine Dave pertain and all others involved for the wonderful results a beautiful composition singularity who is grateful to be able to contribute to conversation on compassion and technology Tek requires compassion when designed and when used singularity refers to the fact that we can't look beyond the present with great certainty progress will leave very few things the same our human nature curiosity desires will have no ending so how can we focus our attention our desires to the positive the important using tech for good and what's good the previous exhibition of the new character new church and singularity summit refer to be the change be the change you wish to see in the world we might disagree upon the use of technology its purpose its goals or how to get there perhaps as part of the beauty of our human quest even with eternal life the quest remains how do we want to spend our time and energy no one will ever have all answers we have to explore together what a good life a good society and the right application of technology entails in a complex world there are often no simple static answers so we should not concentrate wealth capital power knowledge we need to distribute the kind allowing perspectives from all angles with deep dialogue and yes there will be unintended consequences our site and nature is limited you can argue whether technology for mankind is nature second nature or call sure in any event the technological evolution will raise deep questions like what does it mean to be human his prosperity limited to the circumstances of one's birth will progress by some result in abundance for all what is progress how much do we need how much is enough where do we draw the line will we be able to extend our concern Beyond Borders we will be able to consider the impact of our actions and change our behavior I feel joyful I feel joy when I see Tilly taking a life with all her potential and imagine her playing the piano I feel joy when I see a v1 users being enthusiastic about being able to join friends and go outside for the first time and I feel joy when I hear youngsters ask Martha whether a robot will fall in love with him I certainly would feel joy if their ones could live a little longer so as technology and desires evolve the conversation on compassionate use of technology should also have no ending knowledge and values can guide us through these uncertain times but only if we're willing to challenge and update them with an open mind let's ensure that it's at least our intent to actively and consciously work towards a better future for ourselves and our children singularity you want to support and facilitate the dialogue enriching it with as many perspectives as possible today were grateful for the contribution by all panel members especially His Holiness the Dalai Lama and I would like to thank you our audience for your presence at the exhibition at the opening of an exhibition on Buddha's life pass through the presence and before we ask you to silently leave the church as His Holiness will be interviewed I would like all of us to reflect in silence together for 30 seconds what has touched you today and what can you do next week to positively impact someone's life 30 seconds just a reflection thank you thank you thank you [Applause]

Channel: Dalai Lama

Views: 921,686

Rating: 4.8407803 out of 5

Keywords: dalai, lama, discussion, dialogue, science, robot, telepresence, sick, aging, health, nieuwe, kerk, amsterdam, netherlands, 2018, technology

Id: wtgl3__oEv4

Length: 113min 1sec (6781 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 16 2018