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THE DALAI LAMA AT CENTENNIAL OLYMPIC PARK: “Atlanta, oh, how I love your city lights and your Southern nights.”

Thousands gathered in Centennial Olympic Park on an overcast, damp Monday afternoon for a speech by Emory University’s newest big-name guest professor, the Dalai Lama. It was the culmination of a weekend of Dalai Lama-themed activities, portentously dubbed “The Visit” by the university.

After gushing introductions by, among others, U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the D.L. took the mic. The first thing he did was tell the truth. He’s going to be a pretty lousy Emory presidential distinguished professor, he explained, because he’s lazy and busy with other stuff. Points for honesty.

He then proceeded with a rambling speech in halting English about the nature of human behavior resembling the first verse of “Ebony & Ivory.” There are constructive and destructive emotions in all of us, he explained. “We have to make efforts to decrease destructive emotion and increase constructive emotions.” He also emphasized the importance of respecting religions that are not your own, even if you don’t have faith in them.

The most interesting and thought-provoking part of his speech was his assertion that war is an outdated concept. There was a time, he explained, when societies were so isolated from one another that it was indeed possible to win a war. Now, he asserted, societies are so interdependent that to wound your enemy is to wound yourself. I wish he’d spent more time on that.

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Tags: Dalai-Lama, Emory-University.