By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, September 7: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama began a four-day Buddhist teachings on Monday at Tsuglakhang at the request of a group from devotees from Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Slated from September 7 to 10, over 6,000 people from 70 different countries, out of which over 800 were from South-east Asia and 11 from Mainland China, are in attendance at the teaching.
His Holiness will teach on Shantideva’s A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life (Chodjug) with Chapter 10, Kamalashila’s The Middling Stages of Meditation (Gomrim Barpa), Chapter 1 of Nagarjuna’s The Precious Garland of the Middle Way (Uma Rinchen Trengwa) and Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s The Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas (Laklen Sodunma).
His Holiness thanked the disciples from the Southeast Asian region for agreeing to have a joint teaching for a longer duration instead of specific short ones.
“I urge all the people gathered here to consider this as a classroom teaching, where you come to learn and not just a place to get blessings,” His Holiness said before beginning his teachings.
Emphasizing the first of the three commitment of his life, His Holiness said that the essence of every religion is ‘Compassion’. “Different religions may have different sets of belief but ultimately speak of compassion. We all, on human level, have seeds of compassion sowed inside us from the love and nurture of our mother. Even animals respond fondly towards you if you treat them well,” said the Tibetan leader.
He said that there is immediate need to promote religious harmony in the world where many people are being killed in the name of religion. “It is our collective duty to promote secular ethics. I urge all the people gathered here to practice the same upon their return to their respective countries.”
His Holiness also urged all his dharma friends to be a 21st century Buddhist. “‘Study my teachings and try to understand the meanings, if you find it viable and justified, accept it otherwise leave it.”
The teachings in Tibetan with simultaneous translations in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian and Hindi available on here.
