The Dalai Lama in Santa Barbara, CA, April 24, 2009

The Dalai Lama used personal anecdotes to critique the problems he’s observing in the world, from classroom shooting and rising suicide rates to divorcing families and warring nations. He explained that he’s never found inner peace in material things, like his favorite wristwatch, nor does he find it in his dogs and cats or human friends. He said that it comes from within, in the form of compassion and forgiveness, the only gifts that each person can truly give away.