Times of India – 3 January 2017
GAYA: Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Monday performed the pre-Kalchakra rituals at the designated site to the northwest of Mahabodhi Temple, the seat of Buddha’s enlightenment. The rituals included purification of earth at the main venue. The Kalchakra rituals aim at inculcating Buddha-like features in ordinary mortals through a combination of meditation, prayers, renunciation and pious conduct. The proper Kalchakra prayers begin on Tuesday.
Accompanied by senior priests of the Buddhist faith, the Dalai Lama visited the place designated for the prayers which lasted for nearly three hours.
As per the belief of the Tibetan Buddhists, the Buddha-like traits, like compassion and detachment, can be attained through disciplined conduct under the personal supervision of a teacher/guide. The same can be attained step by step. The ultimate success in imbibing the Buddha-like qualities depends on the sincerity and genuineness of the efforts. For this, honesty of purpose and straightforward behaviour, renunciation of baser feelings like deception, street smartness and cleverness, has to be given up and childlike innocence has to be developed through rigorous training and self discipline.
The DM said uninterrupted power supply was being made while the Bodh Gaya Nagar Panchayat and Gaya Municipal Corporation employees have been deputed to maintain cleanliness in Bodh Gaya, said the DM.
Directives have been issued to maintain the shrine’s security protocol to the last details. ATS IG Sunil Jha is personally monitoring the situation as Bodh Gaya figures on the hit list of different terrorist outfits, including, IM, the group that engineered low-intensity serial blasts on July 7, 2013 in and outside the Buddha shrine.
