Over
Thousand Russian Buddhists attend teachings in Dharamsala
[Wednesday, 1 December 2010, 3:19 p.m.]

His Holiness the Dalai Lama during preparation for the Guhyasamaja empowerment at the request of a Buddhist group from Russia in Dharamsala, India, on 30 November 2010/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

DHARAMSHALA: Thousands of
Buddhist devotees from the Russian Federation have descended on
Dharamsala, the exile abode of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to attend
his teachings for three days. His Holiness the Dalai Lama
preaches Gyalsey Thokme Sangpo’s 37 Practices of A Boddhisattva
(laklen sodunma) and confer a Guhyasamaja Initiation at the request of
a group of Russian Buddhists from 30 November – 2 December.
In his introductory address, His Holiness said the teaching is being
given as those interested in studying Buddhism in Russia had expressed
their wish to come to Dharamsala some years ago. “This
teaching is basically requested by Russian Buddhists, for many years,
we have been trying to bring the Dalai Lama to Russia. Due to reasons,
we haven’t been able to bring him to Russia. So, therefore, we have
arranged these teachings here in Dharamsala,” Telo Rinpoche, the
spiritual head of the Republic of Kalmykia, told reporters.
“… We are very fortunate to be here in the holy land of India, a
wonderful country where all the major religions of the world coexist in
peace and harmony,” Telo Rinpoche said in a statement.

“I
truly believe we can balance external factors but in order to do it we
must first balance our mental state and learn to think in a positive
way. I believe His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings will lead us away
from the darkness of ignorance and negative karma and will bring
immense benefit to humanity in the 21st century. I also wish that the
positiveness will be passed down to generations yet to come,” he said.
Around 1,035 Buddhists from Kalmykia, Tuva and Buriyat in
addition to about 4,000 people from 54 countries are attending the
discourse. Dignitaries including four members of Russian
Parliament, finance minister of Kazakhstan and the former prime
minister of Kalmykia were present. “Last year we had over
800 pilgrims attending the teachings from Russia alone. And it was
well beyond our expectations. But I am glad to say that all went well
and I want to take this opportunity to thank Elo Rinpoche for his
support and precious guidance, Office of Tibet Moscow, Save Tibet
Foundation as well as all the volunteers who worked so hard to make
the teachings run so smoothly,” Telo Rinpoche said.