“Many of you will be commemorating the Buddha and his enlightenment in many different places today,” His Holiness said, in his introductory teachings. “I thought it would be good for us to cultivate the awakening mind of bodhichitta together on this auspicious day commemorating the Buddha’s enlightenment.”
The Tibetan spiritual leader who turns 85 next month re-assured his followers that he would live to be around for more than 20 years and advised that the ceremony for generating bodhichitta be made into an annual event in the Tibetan monasteries. “I expect to be here to take part for the next twenty years or so, I’d like to request those of you in the monasteries in South India to make this an annual event,” he said.
Stressing the importance of the particular ceremony, His Holiness pointed out that compassionate attitude born out of sound understanding of the Buddha’s teachings of emptiness is the answer to fulfilling one own’s interest as well as of others. And that the right attitude for taking care of oneself is in taking care of others.
