His Holiness the Dalai Lama Meets with Himalayan BuddhistsTuesday, 13 January 2009, 10:41 a.m.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama addressing Buddhist devotees from the Himalayan regions at a separate audience for them during the fourth day of his teachings in Sarnath, India, on 11 January 2009/Photo:OHHDL

Dharamshala: Around 6000 Buddhist devotees from the Himalayan regions received audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama during the fourth day of his teachings on Sunday in Sarnath, India.

His Holiness emphasised the importance of their role in preserving their traditional Buddhist culture and spirituality, while at the same time focusing on the need to receive a modern education.His Holiness also briefly talked about the need to protect our environment as well as taking care of one’s health.More than 20,000 devotees from around the world are attending the week-long religious discourse on Acharya Shantidev’s Bodhicharyavatar and Acharya Kamalashila’s Bhawanakram, both translated from the original Sanskrit into the Tibetan language in the eighth century. Earlier on Friday, His Holiness consecrated a 2.5 meter-high stone statue of Buddha, made from the same materials used to build the 9th century Borobudur Temple in Central Java in Indonesia. The statue will be permanently installed at Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama (R) consecrates a Buddha statue presented to him by an Indonesia-based spiritualist and author, Anand Krishna (L).

Indonesia-based Interfaith spiritualist and author, Anand Krishna, presented the statue to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as a token of spiritual and cultural ties between the peoples of Indonesia and Tibet.“Representing the peace loving people of Indonesia, I salute His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama for his untiring and relentless efforts in finding peaceful solutions to protect the historical and cultural heritage of Tibet based on tolerance and respect,” said Anand Krishna.(Source: Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and TOI online)