By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, August 14: His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Thursday expressed his heartfelt appreciation to all his friends and well-wishers throughout the globe for greeting him on his 80th birthday. “I would like to thank all my friends in the many different countries of the world for your greetings on the occasion of my 80th birthday. I am grateful for the kind words you have expressed,” said the Tibetan leader on his official website.
“What unites all sentient beings is that we all naturally seek happiness and try to avoid suffering. Therefore, we have a collective responsibility to try to bring about the well-being and happiness of all living beings and help them overcome their suffering,” he said.
He ended his message by saying, “Despite differences in their philosophical views, all the world’s major religious traditions convey the same message of love and compassion. This is why we must strive to foster inter-religious harmony for the good of all humanity. In addition, to protect our natural environment we have to work together.”
The 80th birthday celebration was a well celebrated occasion in the Tibetan Diaspora and also in Tibet.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa who is among the few individuals with whom the Tibetan leader gets “mischievous” publicly and shares an intimate friendship, celebrated the day with thousands of students at the upper TCV on April 23.
The celebrations continued with a Tenshug (long life prayer) on his lunar calendar birthday jointly offered by the Central Tibetan Administration, Geluk Association and the Domey Association.
