China's political situation unstable but interest in Buddhism growing: Dalai Lama
The 90-year-old spiritual leader, while speaking at Shewatsel Phodrang, said that he has also received invitations to visit China but he felt it would be difficult to teach Buddhism there. 'In China, the political situation is not stable, but interest in Buddhism is growing. I have received many messages inviting me to visit China, but I feel it would be difficult to teach about Buddhism in a country where there is no freedom—I feel it's more effective to teach about Buddhism in India,' he told the gathering on Saturday.
The 14th Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile for over 66 years now, began his month-long spiritual visit to Ladakh on Saturday. He travels to Ladakh from his exile home in Dharamshala during the monsoon season, seeking the region's drier and more temperate climate.
The Dalai Lama also alluded to the destruction the Chinese authorities have wrought upon the traditions of studying the great treatises in Tibet. He stressed the importance of scholars from the Himalayan region working to keep these traditions of study alive.
The spiritual leader recalled how the chaos in Tibet in 1959 meant he could not stay and had to flee. Since then, he said, the Government of India has been immensely supportive and has extended tremendous assistance to Tibetans. He reiterated how great learning traditions that could not continue in Tibet have been re-established in centres of learning in India.
He said, 'The precious traditions that we can learn and implement in daily life, have declined in Tibet. Those who fled to India have had the responsibility of preserving these traditions. In Tibet, many experienced harsh Chinese treatment, so here in the freedom of India we must do whatever we can to preserve these precious traditions.'
Recalling the time when he was forced to flee into exile, the 14th Dalai Lama said, 'The night I left Norbulingka in 1959 I did a lot of investigation, including consulting the Nechung Oracle, and doing divinations. I decided to go. We crossed the river running through Lhasa and climbed the pass. From there I looked back at the city where the Chinese authorities had imposed such tight controls that citizens were under great pressure and stress. I felt sad that whereas in the past Lhasa had been a great place to study and learn from the great treatises, it was no more.'
'But it's useless to stay sad. Instead we have to do something. When I reached the Tibetan border with India, I decided I would have to put all my effort into building institutions that would preserve what we used to have. We have done quite well,' he said.
The Tibetan spiritual leader became the 14th reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1940. In 1959, the Dalai Lama, then 23-year-old Tenzin Gyatso, fled to India with thousands of Tibetans following a failed uprising against Mao Zedong's Communist rule, which gained control of Tibet in 1950. He later arrived in Dharamshala in 1960.
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