Tibetans and Japanese Conduct Prayer Gathering for the People in Tibet.

Tokyo: Tibetans and Japanese gathered at the Tibet House Japan and prayed for the people in Tibet who lost their lives in the recent earthquake and for the quick recovery of the situation. The Tibet House Japan and the Tibetan Community in Japan (TCJ) organised the prayer gathering. A brief moment of silence was observed to mourn and pay respect to the people who lost their lives in the devastating earthquake.

Kunchok Sithar, a Tibetan Buddhist lecturer at Potala College, led the prayers and recitations of the mantra. Recitations included Bardo thodrol, liberation through hearing in the intermediate state, and Chodjug, the Bodhisattva’s conduct. Mantras of Avaloketeshvara and Bodhisattva Tara were recited. Ven. Kobayashi led the prayers in Japanese, reciting Hangyashingyo, the Heart Sutra.

Representative Dr Tsewang Gyalpo Arya of the Liaison Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama thanked the participants for demonstrating solidarity with the Tibetans suffering in the earthquake-affected regions. He updated the situation based on the information available in the news. He informed the gathering that although the media reported that the earthquake was due to friction between the Indian and Eurasian plates, one of the main reasons was China’s dam-building frenzy in the region. He also informed them of how H.H. the Dalai Lama had advised to take this disaster to practice the path of Bodhisattava.

A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the area around Dingri county of Shigatse prefecture in Tibet on 7 January. Chinese officials reported 126 dead and claimed efficient conduct of the rescue missions.

H.H. the Dalai Lama and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) have expressed solidarity with the people in Tibet and offered prayers.

Japanese participants expressed relief for being able to join in prayers and lamented the disaster. Japanese lawmaker Yamatani Eriko, Chairperson of the Japan Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet and Nagao Takeshi, a former lawmaker earlier visited the Tibet House Japan to express their solidarity and support.

-Report filed by the Office of Tibet, Japan