The Dalai Lama delivered the commencement address at Tulane University in 2013, speaking warmly and informally about the need for compassion in the 21st century. He urged graduates — whom he called the true 'generation of the 21st century' — to think beyond national borders and cultivate a sense of global responsibility. In this passage, he connected inner compassion directly to world peace, arguing that violence becomes impossible when one genuinely respects and loves other human beings. He emphasized that creating a more peaceful century requires not just political solutions but a fundamental shift in how individuals relate to one another, regardless of religious belief. He noted that this capacity for compassion is biologically innate — seeded in us from the affection we receive from our mothers at birth.