Dalai Lama on Secular Ethics

In a recent interview "Ocean of wit and wisdoms", the Dalai Lama re-iterated his position about secular ethics, which are human values and positive emotions such as loving kindness and compassion, which "have got nothing to do with religious faith. I usually call these 'secular ethics.' Irrespective of whether you accept religion or not, this is according to our common sense, our common experience, and also scientific findings."

In an earlier interview, he said much the same thing:
"I call these secular ethics, secular beliefs. There’s no relationship with any particular religion. Even without religion, even as nonbelievers, we have the capacity to promote these things.......
No, these are not necessarily Buddhist teachings. These are old teachings based on human values. The way of presentation is different according to each religion."

Secular ethics are universal and independent from religions. They are probably related to the biological and social conditions of humans.

A New York Times article Is ‘Do Unto Others’ Written Into Our Genes?
discusses Jonathan Haidt book “The Happiness Hypothesis,” which is about the evolutionary view of morality.

Similarly, research on game-theoretic emergence of fairness and altruism, see e.g. "Games People Play and How Nice Guys Finish First" seems to support a non-religious foundation of morality.

Finally, research in neuroscience, see e.g. "Mirror Neurons Open New Vistas"
provides a biological basis for compassion and loving kindness through mirror neurons which are sometimes called Dalai Lama neurons.

I don't know if this is why the Dalai Lama is so interested in neuroscience, and in science in general. What is certain is that the scientific evidence of an evolutionary view of morality is growing

Other interesting topics in the interview is his statement, that the Dalai Lama institution need not necessarily be preserved, it could be replaced by a democratic process of election.

At the end, he expressed his views on theistic-religions:
"I'm Buddhist, I'm a Buddhist practitioner. So actually I think that according to nontheistic Buddhist belief, things are due to causes and conditions. No creator. So I have faith in our actions, not prayer. Action is important. Action is karma. Karma means action. That's an ancient Indian thought. In nontheistic religions, including Buddhism, the emphasis is on our actions rather than god or Buddha. So some people say that Buddhism is a kind of atheism. Some scholars say that Buddhism is not a religion — it's a science of the mind."