Dharamshala: Around 3000 Tibetan youths this morning attended a special teaching in Buddhist Philosophy by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at Upper TCV School.
Today's teaching was the first of a two-day basic introductory course in Tibetan Buddhism gave students a broad overview of Buddhist Principles and was aimed at encouraging students to pursue a deeper understanding of Tibetan Buddhism.
Prior to the teaching, the exiled Tibetan leader took time to inaugurate TCV's Tashi Delek Radio FM station; the first licensed community radio station in the Indian Himalayan Region, and also gave a short talk on the importance of Tibetan Buddhist dialectics and the debating system.
During the two and a half hour long teaching, His Holiness emphasised the importance of education to the mostly student audience.
Speaking once more on the importance of the preservation of the Tibetan language, the Tibetan leader pointed out the lack of progress.
"Over the past few decades we placed importance on the Tibetan Language being taught in schools but today we must admit that we haven't made satisfactory progress in this area."
His Holiness also advised fellow Tibetans to study Buddhism instead of praying.
"Those interested in Tibetan must study it instead of simply praying. We achieve happiness through studying Buddhism, ridding ourselves of our afflictions and transforming the mind. Prayer alone cannot achieve this (...) In our community, some Tibetans just blindly worship Buddhism without ever understanding it. We can call that superstitious," His Holiness said.
An open question forum was held later in the afternoon to give students the chance to raise any questions or concerns with the teaching or with Tibetan Buddhism in general.
The teaching sessions were requested by the Buddhism Introductory Committee of Dharamsala (BICD), a voluntary committee aimed at associating Tibetan youths with Buddhism. These are the fourth such teachings since the Committee's formation of the practice in 2007.
According to BICD, the teachings were conceived to keep Tibetan youths in touch with Buddhism and Tibetan culture.
