Tibetans have freedom in Bharat unlike
their own country where “there is a lot of control”, said Tibetan spiritual
leader the 14th Dalai Lama on Thursday.
“We Tibetans became refugees. In our own
country, there is a lot of control. But here in Bharat, we have freedom,” the
Dalai Lama said in Siliguri.
He further said, “Since the Tibetan
culture is very much related to the Nalanda tradition, so, we preserve those
thousand-year-old traditions, mainly, way of thinking and psychology.”
“We have a lot of methods to keep peace
of mind when we are angry or jealous, we deliberately try to reduce it. This I
consider Tibetan Buddhist culture, but it can be relevant to every human being,”
added the Dalai Lama.
Earlier, the Dalai Lama arrived at
Siliguri’s Sed-Gyued Monastery to deliver teachings to his devotees.
Preparations were in full swing at the
monastery ahead of the Buddhist spiritual leader’s visit after a gap of 13
years.
He visited the monastery after
completing a three-day tour of Gangtok, the State capital of Sikkim.
At the monastery, the Dalai Lama
delivered a two-hour-long teaching on Bodhicitta, the main cause of a Buddha,
and the thoughts that help bring peace to the mind.
Around 20,000 devotees gathered from
Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Dooars, and neighbouring States like Assam, Bihar, and
Sikkim, including Nepal and Bhutan, for the Dalai Lama’s teachings at the
monastery.
Earlier in Sikkim, the Tibetan spiritual
leader delivered the teaching on Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s 37 Practices of
Bodhisattva (Laklen Sodunma) and the ceremony of the generation of Bodhichitta
(Semkye).
The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva (Laklen
Sodunma) is an ancient text written in the 14th Century BCE by Tokme Sangpo, a
Buddhist monk who was born in Puljung, south-west of the Sakya Monastery in
Tibet.
The Dalai Lama shared, “By examining
always the status of one’s mind, with continuous mindfulness and alertness, to
bring about the good of others – this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
If you cultivate Bodhichitta on a daily basis, you can yield more benefits”.
The Dalai Lama also recited a prayer,
invoking Avalokiteshwara, for those who lost their lives in the recent flood
disaster in Sikkim and for the peace and happiness of the people of Sikkim and
neighbouring regions.
ANI
