Buddha of Compassion blesses Ladakh
17/09/07 07:26 Filed in:Ladakh news
By The Magpie
Leh, Wednesday, August 29, 2007
For five days, tens and thousands of devotees, assembled every day at the lush green meadow of Zhiwe-tsal (the garden of peace), at Choglamsar to attend the sermon on stages of path to enlightenment (Lamrim) by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This preaching was mainly introductory in nature especially for understanding by the people of Ladakh the essence of Buddhism.
He also gave instructions on the precepts of Gyenyens (Upasaks and Upasikas) followed by the pledge taking ceremony. These precepts include abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, taking intoxicants and lying, which are necessary to be followed by a common Buddhist practitioner preached His Holiness.
Followed by these instructions the last day, His Holiness also gave the empowerment of the lord of great compassion (the eleven-headed Avalokitesvara) amidst intense spiritual energy in the air.
A large number of followers including foreigners participated in the empowerment ceremony. While the rituals were on, many looked up in the sky to catch a glimpse of Halo around the sun - a good omen in Buddhism. The day was marked by another auspicious event., when the bone relics of the Buddha Shakyamuni arrived in Zhiwetsal and the His Holiness, considered to be the living Buddha, left his throne to receive it with incense. The large number of blessed audience witnessed His Holiness holding the sacred relict briefly.
A large number of Muslims, Hindus and Christians were also seen attending the concluding day of the five day preaching. There were lot cultural troups from different part of Ladakh celebrating this day, and there was a festive mood amongst the blessed devotees, and thoroughly enjoyed the colourful cultural shows in honour of His Holiness. Immensely delighted, His Holiness promised the people of Ladakh that he will visit Ladakh next year, when he will also travel to Kargil and Zangskar.
On this day, His Holiness emphasized especially on the need to follow the Dharma not only by the monks but also by the laymen. He also mentioned about the lack coordination between various organisation in Ladakh. He said that such lack of coordination leads to duplication of work by various organisation, which needs to be curbed for the general welfare of the people of Ladakh.
On the previous day, the Sten-juk ceremony for the long life of His Holiness was held. The ongoing Pig year, according to the Tibetan calendar, coincides with the year His Holiness was born and such coincidence is considered inauspicious in Tibetan astrology. In Sten juk ceremony, apart from prayers, offerings in cash and kind were made by devotees from all religious communities for the long life of His Holiness. Prayers were also performed by other religious communities in their mosques, temples, gurudwaras, church for the same purpose, said Dr. Dawa, President, LBA.