Dalai Lama to launch monk exchange programme in Bodh Gaya

GAYA: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama will launch a five-year “Pali and Sanskrit international Bhikkhu (monk) exchange programme” at Wat-Pa Thai temple in Bodh Gaya on Monday. Around 150 monks from across the country and abroad will participate in the event.
Elaborating the objectives of the programme, South East Asian Dalai Lama Coordinator Jinpa Gyatso said, “It aims to fulfil the great vision of the Dalai Lama, such as his four principal commitments and universal ethics, by organizing dialogues, teachings, conferences, and exchange programme for the South-East Asian region, to promote the active dialogues between the various traditions and schools of Buddhism.”
He added, “It also aims to establish a normalised channel for mutual understanding and communications between the two traditions of Pali and Sanskrit and to remove the traditional barriers among Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist communities and understand each other, strengthen the cooperation between the traditions and jointly promote world peace.”
General secretary of Wat-Pa temple, Venerable Ratneshwar Chakma, said, “This is a five-year exchange programme meant for different traditional school scholars to visit India and stay in the host monasteries/colleges/universities and to have the first direct experience, such as the daily routine of conducting practical debating and learning.”
“The Tibetan Buddhist scholars would travel to colleges and universities of different countries to have exchanges with the other sangha members of other schools of Buddhism,” he added.