Phayul
Tenzin Monlam
September 17, 2015
His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaking to Chinese students at St Anne’s College in Oxford, UK on September 15, 2015. Photo/Jeremy Russell/OHHDL
DHARAMSHALA, September 17: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has reiterated his call for friendship between Han Chinese and Tibetan people.
Addressing a gathering of around 50 Chinese students at the St Anne’s College in Oxford on Tuesday, the 80 year old Tibetan leader said, “China is traditionally a Buddhist country, I saw many Buddhist temples and sacred places there when I visited in 1954-55. Today, there are said to be 400 million Chinese Buddhists, many of whom share an interest in the preservation of Tibetan Buddhism. I often say that historically the Han and Tibetan peoples can and should be friends.”
During his discourse, he spoke of his three commitments – the promotion human values and happiness for all-beings, the promotion of religious harmony and preservation of Tibet’s Buddhist culture of peace and non-violence.
He also stressed on the profound understanding of mind and the emotions contained in the Nalanda tradition. “Buddha’s teaching has flourished for two and a half thousand years without any reincarnation of the Buddha. Similarly, Nagarjuna’s teachings still have a widespread following despite his having no reincarnation either,” the Tibetan leader responded to a question by a Chinese student about how Tibetan Buddhism will survive without the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. He added that Buddhism reached Tibet in the 7th century and had taken firm root without the presence of a Dalai Lama.
Admiring the determination and hard work of the Han people to preserve their language and culture, he said that since Tibetan is presently the language that is most fitting for explaining Buddhist ideas, it reflects narrow mindedness on the part of the Beijing government to regard its preservation as “splittist”.
He encouraged his audience to become 21st century Buddhists. He said, “Take the Buddha’s advice to heart. Don’t accept his teaching simply because he taught it. Investigate and examine it. Test it in a scientific spirit.”
His Holiness arrived in UK on September 13 on a nine-day visit and the main event of His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s UK tour will be a public talk on ‘Compassion: the Foundation of Well-Being,’ Trust at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.
