Despite the horror of September 11 terrorist attacks and the ongoing war in Afghanistan, not all is lost for the human race which has the potential to counter violence and turbulence in the world, says the Dalai Lama, the 66-year-old spiritual leader of the Buddhists.

"This is because the present tragic and turbulent situation is man-made and logically speaking man has the potential to overcome violence," he said, while addressing students from primary to the post graduate level at the Somaiya College, Vidyavihar, in a north-eastern suburb, where he was given an elaborate and warm welcome by teachers and admirers who had come to listen to him speak.

He is on a visit to Mumbai to get a complete health check-up which he said "was 100 per cent good" though the hot weather and the long hours in the hospital exhausted him.

Urging youngsters to study well and not be a "lazy student" as he was, the Dalai Lama's lessons in spirituality and practicality was engrossing to both the young and old.

The pursuit of knowledge would be meaningless if a student was not imbibed with moral and ethical values, he told them.

"A sophisticated, brilliant mind guided by negative emotions can cause unthinkable destruction as we have recently seen," he said without referring to the September 11 attacks.

"My belief is that India has a 1000 year old tradition in the right way to educate the young, not merely in imparting knowledge but also in the complete development of a student or disciple."

Moreover, the study of other traditions and religions is important to promote genuine harmony across the world, he told the students.

In the 20th century, the world saw enormous development in science and technology but at the same time the number of human beings killed in warfare was far too high.

Human knowledge and the potential of nature were used in the wrong direction that resulted in the nuclear holocaust. Also a lot of hope was vested in the development of science and technology with the belief that material things would improve our standard of living "but even that was not true".

Even new political theories of an authoritarian system as in Tibet came about in this era, he noted. However, people are becoming more mature and the desire for peace and awareness of human rights is strong and becoming universal, he said. The plight of women and children were overlooked in the two world wars but now "the world is changing.

"At this very moment, Afghanistan is being bombed and simultaneously food packets are being air dropped." The killing of innocent people makes everyone "uncomfortable," he added.

Though he thought there was no danger of a World War III erupting, he felt that world peace could not be achieved by religious leaders coming together for a solution. But they could contribute by appealing to their own followers for religious harmony.

He said he considered himself as first, a human being, then a Tibetan and then a Buddhist monk, who was a Gandhian at heart. Despite the unrest everywhere, the concept of Ahimsa or non-violence "was spreading outside India but we have to propagate not just in a passive but in a more constructive way.

"Whenever I get an opportunity, I try to spread the message of non-violence and indeed the world is taking note of it. Even during the Tibetan struggle, I was fully committed to non-violence in spite of criticism from my own community.

"Peaceful persuasion is only the effective way since the basic message of all religious traditions is the same – love, compassion, tolerance, charity and so on," he said.