By Tenzin Dharpo

DHARAMSHALA, Dec. 26: The exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama who is in Bengaluru on Monday told a gathering consisting mainly of Tibetan students that the Tibetan people living in exile are the prime source of courage and hope for their fellow countrymen who continue to remain inside Tibet under China’s oppression.

“Tibetans in Tibet have an undaunted spirit and an unswerving devotion to our religion and culture. The 150,000 Tibetans who live freely in exile are a source of hope to their brothers and sisters in Tibet. We have been successful in keeping our heritage alive,” the Tibetan leader said at the King’s Court section of the Palace Ground in Bengaluru city.

A congregation of over 2500 people consisting of Tibetans as well as Himalayan region people from Ladakh and 300 people from Bhutan had come to meet the octogenarian Tibetan leader.

A Tibetan himself, the Dalai Lama said that his countrymen should carry on with the onus of representing oneself as a Tibetan and never forget the same even when living in a foreign land. He said, “Tibetans faced great hardship in their own land. However much we tried to accommodate ourselves to the problems that arose, we were ultimately unable to reconcile the conflicts we encountered and fled instead into exile. Wherever we’ve ended up in the world, whether it’s in India, Europe, the USA, Canada, or Australia, we haven’t forgotten that we are Tibetans. It’s in our blood.”

The 82-year-old remarked that study of Buddhism has gained positive momentum after coming into exile not just for the Tibetans but others as well. The Nobel laureate said, “Since we came into exile, many people who weren’t acquainted with them before have taken interest in our religion and culture. Scientists in particular are taking a growing interest in what we know about the mind.”

“In the past, study of philosophy and logic, as well as learning about the mind, were largely the preserve of monks in the centres of learning. It wasn’t something people in the ritual monasteries or nunneries paid attention to. However, in exile monks in those monasteries and nuns in their nunneries have taken up the study of logic and philosophy. Throughout the Himalayan Region from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh lay people too are becoming 21st century Buddhists by studying what Buddhism is about,” he further said.

This morning, the Tibetan leader gave a talk on ‘Relevance of Universal Ethics for Modern Age’ at Tumkur University, 70 kms from Bengaluru at an event organised in collaboration between the Tumkur University and Sera Jey Monastic University.