Zanskar, Ladakh, India - In bright sunshine under blue skies this morning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama left Karsha Phodrang to drive down to the Duzin Phodrang, which refers to the ground where he gave the Kalachakra Empowerment in July 1988. He was seen off by drummers at the gate and greeted by groups of people along the road with silk scarves, flowers and even plates of fresh apricots in their hands. Many of them bowed in reverence as he passed.
Lamas playing horns, drums and cymbals welcomed him as his car turned into the Kalachakra ground. First of all, he drove to the site of the proposed Zanskar Mönlam Chörten, where he viewed a model that revealed a hemispherical stupa in the Indian style. An explanatory poster showed that the structure will include a library, museum and gallery, administrative offices, auditorium, handicraft centre and so forth. His Holiness unveiled a brass plaque describing the project, and laid the foundation stone with a mason’s trowel. Standing in the shade of a golden umbrella, he recited words of blessing and tossed grain into the air praying for the success of the project.
He then drove to the Kalachakra temple. As he was doing so, two groups were engaged in spirited debate. On one side was a collection of schoolchildren, while on the other was a group of Zanskari women in full local costume.
His Holiness took his seat before the throne. To his right sat the Sharpa Chöjé Rinpoché, Thamthog Rinpoché, Abbot of Namgyal Monastery, the Abbot of Ganden Jangtsé Monastery and the young reincarnations of Lhagyal Rinpoché.
Then began prayers for His Holiness’s long life offered by the people of Zanskar, organized by the Zanskar Buddhist Association, the Zanskar Gompa Association and the organizers of the Great Summer Debate. The ritual started with verses for taking refuge in the Three Jewels. Requests were made to the Enlightened Ones to grant the master long life. A mandala was offered. The Chant-master commenced the Invocation of the 16 Arhats, which formed the basis of today’s ritual. It included the refrain, “Grant your blessings that the life of our teacher may be secure.”
The 16 Arhats or Elders are beings who have pledged to protect the teachings of the Buddha. The first to be invoked was Angala who is said to reside on Mount Kailash.
As verses declared, “In order that our master live long and continue to teach we make this offering,” His Holiness was offered an elaborate mandala, traditional gifts of monastic robes, a monk’s staff, fruit and so forth, as well as the eight auspicious symbols the seven emblems of royalty and the eight auspicious substances.
Local dignitaries and donors stepped up to pay their respects to His Holiness and receive his blessings. A procession of local people bearing a variety of offerings filed before and round the temple, the last in the line being an elderly man bearing a Tibetan flag aloft.
Requests continued to be made. “Great helmsman of peace in the world, may you live a hundred aeons. You, emanation of Avalokiteshvara, embodiment of great compassion, please live long for the benefit of all beings in the six realms of existence. Lamp of peace in world, may you live long. The devout pray to you from the depth of their hearts. May the life of our teacher be secure and may the teachings flourish and spread.”
The Sixteen Arhats and the Four Directional Protectors were invoked once more. In addition to Angala, they are Pindolabharadvaja, Kanakavatsa, Kanaka, Subinda, Bakula, Bhadra, Kalika, Vajraputra, Shvapaka, Panthaka, Rahula, Nagasena, Vanavaasi, Ajita, and Culapanthaka.
Requests were made to the Elder, Ajita, who dwells in the crystal forest in front of Sage Mountain surrounded by 100 Arhats. He is requested: “May the life of our teacher be secure and may the teachings flourish and spread.” The Elders Kalika and Vanavaasi were invoked: “Grant your blessings that our teacher may live long and that the teachings may flourish and spread. May there be the auspiciousness of the great Elders.”
Dedication prayers were chanted, followed by the Prayer of the Words of Truth.
Next His Holiness addressed the gathering. “Today, in this auspicious land you have made an extensive long-life offering to me. I will live long for the benefit of beings and the teachings of the Buddha. So far, when I was in Tibet or when I visited China, Mongolia and the Trans-Himalayan Region and many other places, people refered to me as the Victorious Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama out of their firm faith and unwavering devotion. Many of these people have prayed for my long life.
“In this life I’ve been born a Tibetan. I grew up in Tibet. Although I’ve not been able to do things that would satisfy me, in this Trans-Himalayan Region everyone, men and women, monastics and laity, young and old, has placed their trust in me from the depths of their hearts. They have also made prayers for the flourishing of the teachings of the Buddha.
“Here too you have conducted a ritual for my long life. People of the Trans-Himalayan Regions who abide on the borders of Tibet have unwavering faith in me. But not only here, in the West too, where people are not traditionally Buddhist, there are people who have faith in the teaching of the Buddha based on a sound understanding of what he taught. Many of these progressive intellectuals admire me, the Dalai Lama. This is something special; it’s unusual.
“In the Tibetan tradition Lamas sit on a high throne and people pay homage to them. In the West, however, people are scientific minded. Their admiration is not based just on faith but on understanding the teaching of the Buddha. They don’t say, this is my Lama, this is what he says, and follow it merely out of faith.
“As far as I am concerned, I have tried to be sincere, working for the benefit of the teaching of the Buddha in general and our various spiritual traditions, as well as sentient beings. Consequently, there are people who sincerely appreciate what I say and have faith in it.
“So, in this very auspicious place, many devout people have gathered and made prayers for me to live long. As a result of your sincere devotion, may this prayer for my long life be fulfilled.
“You people of Zanskar and I have had strong connections for many years now. I hold the title of Dalai Lama but I have studied logic and reasoning, epistemology, (pramana) since I was a child. I’ve also studied the Perfection of Wisdom, as well as Madhyamaka and other sciences. Finally, I sat for my Geshé Lharam degree in Lhasa during the Great Prayer Festival (Mönlam Chenmo). Since then, I have worked wholeheartedly to serve the teaching of the Buddha in addition to sentient beings.
“When I visited China in 1954, I became quite close to Mao Zedong. Once he told me that religion is poison and in my mind I felt it was a foolish thing to say. Within religion, the Buddhist tradition that we follow, which is a combination of Sutra and Tantra, takes a quite scientific approach. This is why scientists come to me and we hold discussions about emotions, mind and emotions. Buddhism has an intellectual aspect to it which we can demonstrate through reason and logic.
“Since I was a child, I have studied in this tradition and I feel a sense of gratitude to my teachers when I recall their qualities of body, speech and mind.
“This Buddhist tradition we uphold is based on reason. A number of devotees have gathered here and with single-pointed faith and commitment have prayed for my long life. From my side I feel I will live for many more years yet. There have been prophecies about how long I will live, as well as indications in my dreams.
“So far, I have done my best to serve the Buddhadharma and beings. I have also worked for peace and non-violence in the world. This has been my single-pointed practice for the good of humanity. And it seems that local spirits and deities appreciate what I’ve been doing.
“You have made prayers from the depths of your hearts for me to live for several decades more. I have made quite a good contribution to the teaching of the Buddha and to the world at large. I have shared the teachings of the Buddha with modern scientists through my own scientific outlook. They admire what I have had to tell them.
“The Buddha has been very kind to us. His teaching has been explained by masters such as Nagarjuna, Asanga and so forth, as well as by incomparable masters of the various traditions we have had in Tibet. We pray that this complete teaching of the Buddha, comprising Sutra and Tantra traditions, may long endure so that it can be of help to the beings of this world. Thank you, everyone.”
His Holiness walked to the Padum People’s Palace (Padum Mimang Phodrang) nearby, where he had lunch and afterwards drove back to the Karsha Phodrang.
