After a long gap of thirty-eight years, more than a hundred thousand devotees of Buddhist faith in Ladakh and other places around the world assembled at Choglamsar near Leh to glorify the 33rd Kalachakra initiation. The great attraction of the function is the presence of Buddhist spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Many more distinguished leaders and spiritualists also are attending the ceremony. The event has been jointly organized by Ladakh Buddhist Association and Ladakh Gompa Association. Buddhism has been acknowledged all over the world as the religion of peace and tolerance. That was the essence of the message brought by Buddha thousands of years ago. The message of non-violence and peaceful coexistence among the human beings of all hues was so popular in its days that it spread far and wide in Central Asia, Mongolia, China, Japan and the countries in South East Asia. Kashmir played conspicuous role in the dissemination of Buddhist teachings in present day Afghanistan, Central Asia and Tibet. History records a number of Kashmiri Buddhist learned monks travelling across the Hindu Kush, the Pamirs and the Karakorum to carry the message of peace to turbulent regions of Central Asia. Even today after more than three thousand years when Buddhist missionaries carried the message of their master, we have functional Buddhist monasteries in Mongolia and Kazakhstan, not to speak of eastern regions. Great deal of research has been done in the phenomenon of expansion of Buddhism in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore and other South Eastern countries in the Asian continent.
Speaking on the opening ceremony of 33rd Kalachakra initiation, His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that the main objective of his visit was to give introduction of Buddhism to the people along with Kalachakra initiations. He advised the devotees to generate Bodhichita–a feeling to help all sentient beings and feeling of non violence in thought, speech and action. Buddhists firmly believe that all human beings irrespective of different faiths and beliefs want happiness and no sufferings. Therefore, generating love and compassion for fellow beings is the main message that all religions of the world teach. The relevance of message of peace and non-violence is what the contemporary society is in dire need of today. As we see, the world is torn asunder by contradictions, conflicts and conflicting interests. There is fierce competition among nations for economic superiority and power and this generates animosity and hatred. Buddha has taught of a life of austerity and simplicity. In particular, he had emphasized on considering others before oneself. We find that in today’s surcharged emotions and brutal competitions, the message of Buddha carried around by the dedicated missionaries is a source of satisfaction that good shall prevail over the evil. His Holiness rightly put the great teachings of the Buddha in simple words when he said that compassion is the core and essence of Buddhist teaching without which even Kalachakra is meaningless. In order to gain happiness and be free from suffering it is important to remove the cause which lies within us in the form of “I”.
His Holiness delivered the speech in Tibetan language. But the organizers had arranged to provide FM channel that translated the speech into 13 languages like English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongalian, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Hindi and Ladakhi. Objectively speaking, Buddhists do not propagate their faith in the same manner in which the missionaries of other faiths have been doing. Their emphasis is not on conversion to Buddhist faith with the purpose of increasing the numbers of believers in the message of Buddha. They essentially aim at developing thinking faculty in human beings that draws them into a fraternity believing in peace, non-violence and compassion. Buddham sharanam gachhame and Sangham sharanam ghachhame (I seek protection in Buddha and I seek protection in Sangha) sums up the dedicational aspect of the devotees.
It is significant that His Holiness chose Ladakh as the venue for the 33rd Kalachakra initiation. It immensely increases the cultural importance of Ladakh which is also a prominent seat of Buddhist followers. His Holiness the Dalai Lama enjoys great respect and honour with the people of Ladakh as with the Buddhist at any other place in the world. The message of peace originating from Buddha and disseminated through the instrumentality of His Holiness has great appeal all over the world.
India has been the home of Buddhism and it is from our country that the message of Buddha spread all over the world. In fact, Gandhiji, the father of the nation, borrowed the philosophy of non-violence from the Buddha. One can imagine the impact of this great philosophy. It is interesting that Buddhism is perhaps the only religion that did not wage a war against any other nation or country with the purpose of expanding the faith to the occupied territories. It conquered the hearts of people and not their bodies.
Entire people in our State are happy that Ladakh is celebrating a religious function in which devotees from far and wide have come to participate. There are many among the participants coming from foreign countries. We expect them to carry the message of peace and tolerance to their people and around. The purpose is to create an atmosphere that would help individuals live in a state of equilibrium in this century of turmoil and detraction. Humanity owes a debt of gratitude to Buddha and his followers like His Holiness the Dalai Lama whose life and work are a model for any community desirous of living a life of peace, compassion and tolerance.
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