His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the teachings
Photo: Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL
His Holiness the Dalai Lama spent a week in Karnataka where he delivered various discourses on the “18 Great Stages of the Path (Lam Rim) commentaries” at Sera Monastery. Gaden Shartse Monastery and His Eminence Ling Choktrul Rinpoche had personally requested that these teachings, which began on December 26, be given by His Holiness.
During one of the discourses, His Holiness said “It’s not enough to take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha only for this life, or for the good of the next life, or even to attain liberation; we need to take refuge until the attainment of complete enlightenment. The verse we recite includes the word ‘I’, when we say ‘may I attain enlightenment’. What we have to do is examine whether that I or self exists the way it appears.”
His Holiness further emphasised the importance of possessing a calm and controlled mind, saying “Taming the mind is what we need to do to fulfill our wish for happiness, not to please anyone else. The mind is clouded by a misconception that things have true existence, to overcome which we need to understand selflessness. And in order to overcome self-centredness, loving kindness is not enough; we need to develop the awakening mind of Bodhichitta. Therefore, we need to make the most of our human intelligence and develop a warm heart.”
Over 30,000 people attended the teachings.
After concluding his teachings at the Sera monastery, His Holiness visited some of Bangalore’s top schools and universities. He spoke at Bishop Cotton Boy’s School, at the gathering of the 92nd Association of Heads of Anglo-Indian Schools in India, where he gave a speech focusing upon the significance of selflessness, global thinking, inner value, and religious harmony as factors that can bring about peace.
His Holiness also visited Christ University on January 6 where he launched an international conference on “Bounds of Ethics in a Globalised World” with a speech delivered to an audience of academics and delegates from various universities and institutions across 37 countries. Seven monks from Sera monastery were also in attendance.
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