Tibetans and Japanese Offer Tenshug Prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama[Saturday, 23 January 2010]

Tokyo: Around forty Tibetans and Japanese gathered at Gokukuji, a popular Buddhist temple in Tokyo to offer Tenshug
[Long life prayer] for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the supreme
spiritual and temporal leader of Tibetan people. Tibetan community in
Japan organised the prayer ceremony to compliment the grand ceremony on
the same day in the exile Diaspora, Dharamsala, India and abroad.Mr.
Lhakpa Tshoko, Representative of Liaison Office of His Holiness the
Dalai Lama welcomed the participants and dwelt on the importance of the
ceremony, and essential nature of His Holiness’ teaching for world
peace and harmony. He lamented the disaster unleashed by earthquake in
Haiti, and said, “May our prayer also help the victims in finding
relief and their return back to normal life at the earliest.”

The
two-hour long prayer ceremony begun with the Representative Lhakpa
Tshoko performing prostration and presenting traditional Tibetan scarf
to the picture of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the altar, followed by
offerings of Buddha statue, scripture and stupa – representation of
body, speech and mind [Ku, sung, thuk] of the Buddha. Prayer session was done with supplication and praise of Tara [Jetsun Dolma] and her mantra as the main recitations.Gokokuji Temple’s Ven. Izawa and the monks offered tea and mochi
[Japanese rice cake] to the participants at the end of the prayer. Mr.
Kalsang Dhondup, Representative of the Tibetan community in his closing
remark, thanked the participants and Gokokuji Temple for their
whole-hearted support in organising the long life prayer
ceremony, and requested for their continued support in His Holiness the
Dalai Lama’s effort in propagating peace and harmony around the world.–Report filed by Tsewang Gyalpo Arya, Office of Tibet, Japan