Dharamsala, HP, India, 4 June 2008 (By Phurbu Thinley, Phayul) - Tibetans spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over a
special prayer session dedicated for the victims of last month’s
devastating earthquake that rattled Southwest China’s Sichuan province
here this morning.
More than 2000 people, including Tibetan
Buddhist monks, nuns and foreign devotees, joined the prayer gathering
here today, which also marked the beginning of Buddhist holy month of Saka Dawa, the annual festival that represents the three most important events of the life of Lord Buddha - his birth, enlightenment and parinirvana.
Tibetan Buddhists believe during Saka Dawa,
the fourth month of the Tibetan Lunar calendar, the karmic results of
virtuous and non-virtuous actions are magnified. A spiritual
undertaking in this month and more particularly later on its full moon
day is believed to enable a person to accumulate maximum merits in
one’s life, hence the most auspicious time to engage in virtuous deeds.
The
prayer, which lasted more than an hour this morning, was organized by
the Tibetan Government-in-exile (TGIE) through its Department of
Religion and Culture at the Main Tibetan Temple (Tsuglagkhang).
Prime
Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan government Prof. Samdhong
Rinpoche and, other senior Government officials and staff attended the
prayer session.
Ven. Tsering Phuntsok, Minster for Religion and
Culture, said the grand prayer congregation led by the Dalai Lama was
dedicated for the “well being of all sentient beings, and particularly
for the enormous suffering caused to over 15 million people” affected
by the earthquake.
A major earthquake measuring more than 7.8 on
the Richter scale jolted Wenchuan County in Sichuan Province on May 12,
the death toll from which rose on Tuesday to 69,107, with another
18,230 missing, the Chinese state media reported. Another 373,577
people reportedly sustained injuries in the May 12 quake, China's worst
natural disaster in a generation.
Wenchuan, located some 146 km
to the northwest of Chengdu, provincial capital of Sichuan, lies in
southeast part of the Aba (Tib: Ngawa) Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous
Prefecture and has a large ethnic Tibetan population.
“Through
this grand prayer ceremony, the Kashag prays for all the quake victims,
including those who died in the recent earthquake and their families as
well as for the speedy recovery of all those injured during the
disaster,” press statement of the Kashag (Cabinet body) of the TGIE
stated. “Kashag also prays that natural calamities such as these may
never occur in any part of the world” it added.
Similar prayer sessions are also being conducted in other Tibetan settlements. | |
