Tawang : Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today addressed devotees speaking to them about the pratices of Boddhisattavas at the Yid GaChosin monastery here.
A large number of devotees gathered at the monsatery were from Bhutan, besides eminent Rimpoches, monks and nuns from near and far off places and guests.
Welcoming the Dalai Lama to West Kameng district, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who hails from it, called him the world’s “apostle of peace”.
The Dalai Lama has always been an ambassador of non-violence and it is therefore right to say that he is to the 21st century what Gandhiji was to the 20th century.
The world today requires the divine presence of Your Holiness more so in the present day when it is being torn apart by hatred and violence in many parts, Khandu said.
He said the emphasis on rational thinking and scientific analysis by the Dalai Lama has added a new dimension to the practice of Buddhism in modern times.
The rational approach, he said, would go a great way in ushering in a renewed era of peace, prosperity and spirituality.
Khandu said better infrastructure would be built at Yid-GaChoszin monastery and it would be converted to a centre for Buddhist Learning.
He also said that it was the people demand that a Kalachakra Initiation by the Dalai Lama is at Tawang in coming years.
Recounting the first sermon in exile delivered by the Dalai Lama at the Tawang monastery in 1959, he said the one this time will add to the understanding of Dharma and to follow the righteous way of living together with human values, love, peace and compassion.
He hoped that the Dalai Lama would pay more visits to Arunachal Pradesh. His last visit was in 2009.
He thanked the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Tibetan Administration for facilitating the visit.
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama laid the foundation stone for a government degree college here.
—PTI