We are waiting for His Holiness to come back: Chinese Buddhists
Tuesday, 7 November 2006, 10:00 a.m.
![]() |
Miyajima: Buddhist devotees from China said Monday that many Chinese want His Holiness the Dalai Lama to come back to Tibet “We love the Dalai Lama! From our heart! Very much! And we hope he comes back soon, ” the group from China cried in unison when asked about their sentiments towards His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
“Tibet is his home and he should be where he rightfully belongs”, a 54-year-old Chinese man from Beijing said requesting anonymity. He is among a group of Chinese devotees attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings at Daishoin Temple in Miyajima Island.
“We are waiting for him to come back. It is not only the Tibetans but also millions of Chinese Buddhists who want to get his blessings and hear his teachings,” the man’s 35-yr-old wife said in an interview with the exile Tibetan journalists at Daishoin. She is attending His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s teachings for the first time but her husband has attended twice in the past.
The complete ban on religious books authored by His Holiness the Dalai Lama has compelled many Buddhists in China to engage in underground activities so that they can have access to his teachings. “Everything is done surreptitiously. We buy his books during overseas tour; print them clandestinely and distribute among Chinese Buddhists who really want to see the Dalai Lama,” a 34-year-old woman said showing an old photograph of the Dalai Lama, which she says she carries daily in her purse. She said ‘Awakening the Mind, Lightening the Heart,’ a book by the Dalai Lama on core teachings of Tibetan Buddhism is very popular among Chinese Buddhists.
Many in the group have visited Tibet to learn more about Buddhism from Tibetan lamas. A couple said they visit Tibet every year to meet their Tibetan teacher. Recalling false news that spread in the middle of this year about His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s arrival in China and Tibet for pilgrimage, they said they were very disappointed when it turned out to be a rumour. “We prayed and wished for it to be true but sadly it was not to be!”