DHARAMSHALA, October 4: A group of Taiwanese disciples today offered a long life prayer ceremony (Tib: tenshug) to the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The long life prayers were offered at the Tsug-la Khang, the main temple near the Dalai Lama’s exile residence in Dharamshala.
The tenshug was offered at the conclusion of the four-day teachings on Atisha’s Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (Jangchup Lamdron) by the Dalai Lama. The teachings were requested by a group of Taiwanese disciples.
The main long life prayers and supplications to His Holiness were offered by Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, the head of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism.
Born in 1926 in Tibet, Kyabje Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, is the throne-holder of the Dorje Drak Monastery, and the head of the lineage of the Northern Treasures, the tradition which originated from the treasures of the great tertön Rigdzin Godem. Rinpoche is renowned as a holder of all the great Kama and Terma traditions of the Nyingmapa, as well as being a great exponent of the Rime, or non-sectarian, tradition.
More than 2000 disciples from 61 countries, including 800 Taiwanese attended the teachings and the tenshug ceremony.
According to statistics provided by Taiwan’s Interior Ministry, Taiwan’s Buddhist population has over the years grown from 800,000 in 1983 to 4.9 million in 1995, and to 8 million in 2005.
Speaking to Phayul, Jung Jung Chang, a disciple from Taiwan said that after listening to the 77-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader, he “really feels peaceful within.”
“I really appreciate all the teachings and the services to humanity that His Holiness the Dalai Lama continues to tirelessly render,” Chang said. “I have learned a lot from his behavior.”
The Dalai Lama, after a hectic two-week long trip of the United States, beginning October 8, is scheduled to give three days of teachings on Chapter 24 of Nagarjuna’s Fundamental Treatise of the Middle Way (uma tsawai sherab) at the request of a group of Koreans from October 29 to 31 in Dharamshala.
