By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, March 13: The exile Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama today said that his two day teachings were specially intended for the Tibetans from Tibet present at the Tsuglakhang, acknowledging the spirit and courage of Tibetans inside Tibet.
“Due to the travel ban during the Kalachakra period, many of you have faced tough times. However, you have now managed to come here after relaxation of the ban. So the teachings for the next two days are specially intended for you,” the spiritual leader said on the first day of the teachings attended by around 5000 devotees from 51 countries, including those from Tibet.
The Tibetan leader expressed appreciation for the 38th King of Tibet Trisong Detsen, one of the three Dharma kings of Tibet, for inviting Indian master Santaraksita (Khenchen Shiwa Tso) to Tibet saying a pure Nalanda tradition prevailed throughout Tibet.
“Among the several Buddhist countries in the world with over a Billion Buddhists, the Tibetan Buddhism is the only one that has kept the Nalanda Tradition alive for over thousand years. So amongst all Buddhist traditions, we have the purest form of the Nalanda tradition,” His Holiness said, while also expressing regret over the deteriorating situation of the major Gelug monasteries in Central Tibet.
The octogenarian Tibetan leader made an out of schedule announcement that he would be giving Avalokiteshvara Initiation tomorrow especially for those those who have ‘specifically travelled all the way from Tibet amid difficulties’.
As for today’s teachings of Kamalashila’s ‘The Middling States of Meditation’, the Tibetan leader informed that the text has a special relation with Tibet since it was the result of the Nalanda master’s interaction with Chinese scholars and King Trisong Detsen’s request. Moreover, it was King Trisong Detsen who invited Kamalashila, a pupil of Santaraksita, to Tibet, he said.
The Nobel Peace Laureate advised the devotees to have a correct motivation while listening to religious discourses, adding that the teacher should also do the same.
“The teachers should not expect any fame or offerings in return for his teachings. As for the students, you should not boast about receiving initiation from Dalai Lama and start behaving like a small spiritual guru. So doing business with Dharma is very wrong,” said the Dalai Lama.
Tomorrow’s teachings will be on Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s Thirty-Seven Practices of a Bodhisattva.
