DHARAMSHALA, January 1: The Tibetan spiritual leader HIs Holiness the Dalai Lama on Thursday greeted his followers for the new year after bestowing today the White Tara empowerment of longevity to some 40000 devotees at the end of the Jangchub Lamrim teachings that concluded ahead of time on Dec 28. “Those of you who’ve come from abroad, tomorrow’s the start of 2016 – a Happy New Year to you all. Now you’ll go home, but those of us who are still here will meet again when we hold the Kalachakra Empowerment in Bodhgaya in January 2017. In the meantime, the way to ensure a good rebirth is make your life meaningful now. Be happy and ‘Tashi Delek’.”
The 80 year old Tibetan leader accepted a long life prayer offering from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery, organizers of the Lamrim teachings, Sera monastery and the people of Bylakuppe today. He also separately met the devotees from foreign countries earlier and spoke to them.
The Tibetan leader yesterday started the Sixteen Drops of Kadam Empowerment which concluded today. “Transmission of the 18 Jangchub Lam Rim – Stages of the Path – texts has been successfully completed, although I think it’s something I can only do once in this life.” His Holiness remarked.
“I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to making it possible: the organizers of the teachings, the patrons, and the staff here at Tashi Lhunpo and Sera, Ganden and Drepung. Some who were with us when we began four years ago, like Geshe Namgyal Wangchen, have gone. That’s only natural. It’s what will happen to all of us in the end. Which is why we all have to practise. No matter how great or small your intelligence, you can still train your mind.
“The fact that the Buddha’s teaching has been upheld in Tibet is a wonderful thing. The existence of teachings on Bodhichitta and the profound view of emptiness is wonderful too. We have many friends from the Himalayan region, from Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, who like us follow the Nalanda tradition. Here and now in the 21st century, what we should all take to heart is the importance of study and using our reason.
“We’ve finished the Jangchub Lam Rim teaching here at Tashi Lhunpo and we’ve begun the ‘Commentary on the Compendium of Valid Cognition’ (Pramanavartikkakarika). If there’s time I hope we’ll be able to continue that.”
