Dalai Lama opens Buddhist congregation in Andhra Pradesh
Amravati
(Andhra Pradesh): Tibetan spiritual leader and Nobel
laureate the Dalai Lama opened "Kalchakra" (wheel of time),
the global conclave of Buddhist monks, in the Andhra Pradesh
town of Amravati on Wednesday. Monks and others, especially
Tibetans in-exile, turned out in large numbers for the ceremony.
The
70-year old Buddhist spiritual leader fled to India after
a failed uprising by Tibetans in 1959, nine years after
China's People's Liberation Army marched into Tibet to establish
communist rule. The Dalai Lama runs a government-in-exile
in the hill station of Dharamsala. Thousands of Buddhist
students from colleges across India are camping in Amravati,
which means "Deathless Realm" in the Buddhist scriptural
language, for the main functions, which begin Thursday.
Around 100,000 monks, spiritual leaders and tourists from
across the world are camping for the 10-day long ceremony.
Organisers of the Kalachakra thanked the provincial authorities
for lending support. "His holiness has the given the Kalchakra
initiation on 29, this one is 30. The Kalchakra initiation
which he is given in India, this is the most elaborated
and also most facilities government has provided for the
public," Kalsang Yeshi, chairman Kalachakra 2006. The Kalchakra
initiation is conferred by Dalai Lama to promote peace and
tolerance. The initiation is considered a blessing for all
participants. The first four days of the Kalchakra ceremony
are devoted to preliminary teachings. The initiation ceremony
starts on the fifth day.
The
Kalchakra (wheel of time) ceremony is a profound system
of teachings and practice of the Buddhist faith. The ritual
was first performed by Lord Buddha over 2,500 years ago
at the request of King Shambhala, who ruled a mythical or
historical kingdom located beyond the Himalayas. The ceremony
has three aspects, the Outer Kalchakra pertaining to the
external environment, the Inner Kalchakra pertaining to
sentient beings living in the universe and the cycles of
time, life and death. And the Alternative Kalchakra, which
is the third stage, consists of the practice of purification
undertaken by an individual. Its importance also lies in
the fact that the faithful believe that the initiation helps
in promoting world peace, harmony and brotherhood.