Dalai Lama expresses dismay at riots and attacks obsession with 'money, money, money'.
The Dalai Lama has told of his dismay at last summer's riots, saying he thought the English were "sensible, law-abiding" people.
Speaking just before he met David Cameron and Nick Clegg at St Paul's Cathedral, he said it was vital to find the reasons for the frustration and anger behind the outburst of violence.
He accused governments and the media alike of brainwashing children with 'money, money, money' ideas.
But he warned people struggling amid economic hardship to put their faith in "optimism and hard work" rather than blaming others.
The exiled Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader was in London to receive this year's Templeton Prize, which promotes religious understanding, in a ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral. He donated most of the pounds 1.1?million award - the world's biggest prize in monetary terms - to Save The Children, for work preventing malnutrition among children in India, where he has lived in exile for 50 years.
The award was conferred during a spectacular interfaith service which mixed Buddhist chanting with gospel singing and traditional choral music under Sir Christopher Wren's dome. Among those in the congregation were the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, the Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, and the actress Joanna Lumley, whose support for Nepalese Gurkhas has brought her into contact with the Tibetan community.
Speaking beforehand, he also expressed sympathy for the anti-capitalist protesters who camped below St Paul's steps and said he might have joined them.
He said: "All the time, in the newspapers we hear 'money, money, money'. The Government always says 'money, money, money', so from childhood [we] are in some way brainwashed [to think] we should see money as the ultimate source of happiness. That, I think, is wrong."
There was laughter as he leaned across to the Canon pastor of St Paul's, the Rt Revd Michael Colclough, and said: "You must keep your optimism and work hard and not rely on praying."
He said: "Recently you had some problems in London and also some other cities. I always had the view that Englishmen were mature people, sensible people, law-abiding people. If such things happen in developing countries it is understandable but in England that happened, I really felt 'Oh'.
"I sent a letter to the Prime Minister. I expressed my sadness and condolences and [then] I expressed: 'When the time comes make a more serious investigation or research [into] what caused this.
"I felt that young people … their life is just beginning, life is not easy … [there are] no opportunities. Individual optimism and determination is the key factor, if you take it for granted that your life will be easy something will happen, frustration and anger [will follow]."
At a press conference, he refused to discuss the recent wave of Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire in Tibet in protest at Chinese rule, saying that he had handed over his political role. But he said China was suffering from an "immense moral crisis".
When asked the secret of his own serenity, instead of delving into Buddhist philosophy he said that his doctors had ordered him to lose weight. "What suffered was my lunch and breakfast," he said. "Usually I have a very heavy lunch and breakfast … of course, as a monk, no dinner."
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