Tibetan spiritual leader, the 14th Dalai Lama, while conferring teaching at the Tsuglagkhang, the Main Tibetan Temple, at McLeodganj, in Dharamshala, on Saturday, said that growing number of Chinese people are taking interest in Buddhism and it may yet be re-established in China.
The 90-year-old spiritual leader, while addressing the congregation during his teaching, said that although the Chinese communists continue to rule in Tibet, a growing number of Chinese people are taking an interest in Buddhism and the Nalanda Tradition. “Historically, China was a Buddhist land, and it seems that Buddhism may yet be re-established there. I’ve done what I could to encourage this possibility and will continue to do so for the rest of my life,” he told the gathering on Saturday.
The 14th Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile for over 66 years now, said, “Today, people from the west who have no historical connection to the Dharma are taking an interest in our tradition. There are even scientists among them who are particularly keen to know more about the mind and emotions. All of us here today are followers of the Buddha and the 84,000 heaps of his teaching, which I consider to be like treasure.”
Recalling the time when he was forced to flee into exile, the 14th Dalai Lama said, “When I was living under Chinese communist control, there were frequent situations that could have made me angry, but then in 1959, I fled Tibet. I have wholehearted appreciation and faith in the Buddhist tradition that enables us to restrain our emotions and transform our minds,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Recalling the time when he was forced to flee into exile, the 14th Dalai Lama said, “When I was living under Chinese communist control, there were frequent situations that could have made me angry, but then in 1959, I fled Tibet. I have wholehearted appreciation and faith in the Buddhist tradition that enables us to restrain our emotions and transform our minds,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“When I was in Beijing, I met Mao Zedong several times, and on one occasion, he told me in all seriousness that religion is poison. I said nothing, but I felt sorry for him because he had no idea how beneficial spiritual practice can be,” the spiritual leader told the gathering.
He said, “Sincere practice of religion involves disciplining the mind and taming your emotions. As followers of Shakyamuni Buddha, we should respect all religious traditions because they all have the potential to subdue their followers’ minds. This is why it’s important to admire them.”
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.