“Spiritual leaders pray for peace” is not a headline to set the pulses racing. It is news only when they pray for war. Even that, unfortunately, is common enough to raise little attention these days. But something happened last week, almost entirely neglected by the media, which was remarkable and sinister. The Dalai Lama did not pray for peace at the great interfaith meeting in Assisi, where world spiritual leaders, invited by the pope, do gather to pray and witness for peace. There were representatives of almost every other faith whose followers are engaged in violence: Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Japanese Buddhists, Orthodox Christians – even the archbishop of Canterbury; but the Dalai Lama was not invited. He had to content himself with a small meeting in an obscure Polish town at which all present pledged themselves to peace.[Source]
