Dehradun: Sikyong Penpa Tsering attended the offering of the long live prayer to 41st Sakya Trizin Kyabgon Gongma Trichen Rinpoche at the Sakya College based in Dehradun on 27 October 2022.
The ceremony was attended by lineages of the Khon family, Speaker Khenpo Sonam Tenphel of the 17th Tibetan Parliament in Exile, Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the 16th Kashag, former Kalons of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Tibetan Parliamentarians, Member of India’s Parliament Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, Secretary Chime Tseyang from the Department of Religion and Culture, and representatives from the Tibetan governmental and non-governmental organisations.
Following the welcoming of Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche to the main prayer hall, the 42nd Sakya Trizin Ratna Vajra Rinpoche recited tributes and requests. Then, the 43rd Sakya Trizin Khondung Gyana Vajra Rinpoche and other dignitaries in attendance each presented their three main shrine objects: the statue, the stupa, and the scripture, to the 41st Sakya Trizin. Similarly, Khondung Avikrita Vajra Sakya Rinpoche, Khondung Asanga Vajra Sakya Rinpoche and Khondung Ngor Luding Khenchen Rinpoche presented their offerings respectively as a part of the long-live-prayer-offering ceremony.
Addressing the followers and devotees amassed at the venue, Kyabgon Sakya Gongma Trichen Rinpoche underscored the benefits of the Buddhist personages’ lasting lifespan in preserving Buddha’s teachings. The Rinpoche further prayed overtly for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Ngor Luding Khenchen Dorjee Chang, a prominent teacher of Sakya school, along with other great lamas of Buddhism.
In the afternoon of the same day, Sikyong addressed the staff and students of the Tibetan Children’s Village (TCV) School Selakui and its affiliate vocational training centre. He apprised the concerning issue of dwindling Tibetan students at Tibetan schools that led to a merger of schools to the gathering, pointing out the decrease in Tibetans coming from Tibet, exiled Tibetans immigrating to western countries, and declining fertility rate in Tibetan community as the underlying causes. Furthermore, given China’s coercive and systematic education system that disconnects students in Tibet from their traditional educations, he urged students of TCV Selakui to pay more attention to Tibetan histories and situations inside Tibet to better understand one’s responsibility as a Tibetan. Before concluding, he also advised the attendees to convert challenges into opportunities.