Taiwan: A large gathering consisting of Chinese and Taiwanese Buddhist practitioners joined in for virtual teaching conferred by His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the mass prayers for world peace organised in Taiwan.
The representative of the prayers committee, Geshe Thinlay explained the objective and process involved in organising the event.
Chief Guest Vivian Huang, Deputy Mayor of Taipei expressed gratitude to His Holiness for bestowing dharma teachings to the Taiwanese devotees.
Other eminent guests including Jonang Gyaltsab Rinpoche and Kyabje Kirti Rinpoche who also addressed the event.
The moment His Holiness appeared on the big screen, the devotees chanted heart sutra and began mandala offering.
Apart from teachings on Heart Sutra, His Holiness also indulged in few verses from Chandrakirti’s ‘Entering into the Middle Way’ and explained each of the verses profoundly.
Representatives of the audience in Taipei offered their gratitude to His Holiness for the rare teaching and expressed the hope that they will be able to welcome him to Taiwan next year.
In the afternoon, prayers were recited for all those across the world affected by the Wuhan-originated Coronavirus pandemic.
Chairman of the Buddhist Association of China in Taiwan, Jing Yao and Venerable Fa Zang spoke on the significance of religious harmony championed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The devotees consisting of 108 monks and nuns blessed the offering hall, and participants followed by offering ceremonial Tibetan scarves to the portrait of His Holiness as a homage to him.
More than 4500 devotees attended the prayer service. Simultaneously, various Buddhist institutions and monasteries from India, Nepal, US, Belgium, Swiss, Singapore, and Malaysia, etc also joined the prayer service from their respective countries.
The event was funded by the donation and contributions of the devotees and the remaining proceedings will be donated to Covid relief fund in India to strengthen the country’s battle against the deadly second covid wave.