 His
Holiness the Dalai Lama arriving at Upper TCV School auditorium in the
morning of June 3 for the introductory teachings on Buddhism.(Phayul
Photo/Norbu Wangyal) Dharamshala, June 3 - “Buddhism
is an academic subject and Nalanda was an academic centre. The
principles and tenets of Buddhism should not be just left in the
scriptures”, said His Holiness the Dalai Lama to a packed auditorium of
young Tibetans at Upper Tibetan Children’s Village School, Dharamshala,
today.
The Tibetan spiritual leader was giving the annual
introductory teachings on Buddhism to young Tibetans at the request of
the Buddhism Introductory Committee of Dharamshala, the fifth since the
teachings were first requested in 2007.
Over 3000 Tibetans,
studying in 78 different schools and colleges from all over India and
abroad filled the Hermann Gmeiner auditorium, named after the war
veteran philanthropist and founder of the SOS Children’s Villages, while
many more listened to the teachings over the local radio station, Tashi
Delek FM and the internet.
“No one is requesting you to please
follow Buddhism or ordering you to listen to the teachings”, told His
Holiness the young audience. “It is the choice of the individual and
once you understand and realise the principle and tenets of Buddhism
then you should follow it sincerely and imbibe it in your daily
routine.”
 Over
3000 Tibetan students from 78 different academic institutions are
participating in the two-day introductory teachings on Buddhism by His
Holiness the Dalai Lama. (Phayul Photo/Norbu Wangyal)
Making his first public appearance since signing into law the amendments
to the Charter affecting his formal devolution of political authority,
the Dalai Lama appreciated the recent surge of interest in Tibetan
language and culture in Tibet saying that ‘Tibetans enjoying freedom in
exile should also emulate their farsightedness’.
Cautioning the
youths against the negative impacts of attachment to religion without
its proper realisation, His Holiness said that religion being closely
related to human emotions, people hungry for power and money, in the
name of religion can thus easily manipulate such feelings of attachment.
Teaching
from Nagarjuna’s text, ‘Hymn to the Buddha, The world Transcendent’
(jig rten las 'das par bstod pa), His Holiness spoke for over three
hours, sharing personal experiences and jokes and at the close, took
questions from the students.
“See you again, tomorrow”, said His
Holiness in anticipation of the last day of teachings on June 4 before
leaving the auditorium. |