His Holiness Visits New Zealand and Australia

By Palden Choeden / June 26, 2013;

His Holiness at the Young Minds Conference at the Sydney Town Hall in Sydney
Photo: Rusty Stewart DLIA

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has completed his ninth tour of Australia, visiting New Zealand on his way there and giving talks in Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland. He then travelled to Sydney, Australia for a two-day teaching on June 14-16: The Jewel Lamp, A Praise of Bodhichitta, followed the next day by Ethical Mindfulness of Everyday Life at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

His Holiness greeting old friends in the audience at the Melbourne Convention Centre in Melbourne
Photo: Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Speaking to ABC journalist Andrew West, His Holiness said “Over the last 60 years some of the time things have been good, some of the time they have been bad and some of the time, like now, they have been very serious”. Of the self-immolations, he said that they are very, very sad and that Tibetans have suffered a lot, and reiterated that the immolations are symptoms of a cause that is the Chinese authorities’ responsibility to investigate and address.

His Holiness visited Melbourne from June 18-19 and gave a public talk Ethics for the Whole World at the Sydney Peace Foundation, and met Chinese scholars and friends in a panel discussion at the forum Happiness and its Causes, as well as giving two further talks.

His Holiness is greeted by well-wishers on his arrival in Melbourne
Photo: Jeremy Russell/OHHDL

Visit to Westmead Hospital in Sydney
Photo: Rusty Stewart/DLIA

In Adelaide on June 20, he gave a public talk: The Quest for Happiness and on the final leg of his visit His Holiness travelled to Darwin and gave teachings on The Four Noble Truths and a public talk: Ethics in Our Shared World at the Darwin Convention Centre.

The organisers reported that more than 50,000 people heard His Holiness speak during his ten days in Australia, in the course of 20 events. Of these, 25,000 heard him speak about compassion, kindness and secular ethics. Almost 10,000 people attended Buddhist teachings in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin. He met 2,500 Tibetans, Mongolians and Chinese in different parts of the country and online streaming reached a further 100,000 people.