His Holiness the Dalai Lama sat before thousands on February 25th, marking the final day of Losar with prayers and a teaching on the Jataka Tales, the stories of the Buddha’s past lives. Before he began, he reminded his followers to keep their minds sharply tuned against ignorance, in order to alleviate suffering in the world.
Traditionally, on the 15th day of the Tibetan year, HH the Dalai Lama and high lamas hold a ceremony for Offering Day. The prayers, led by around 100 monks and nuns, began in the upper temple at the Tsuglagkhang at 5am.
At 8am, His Holiness sat before the crowd and led his introductory prayer before the teaching. In the introduction to Jataka’s Tales, his emphasis was the practice of sangyay, or the cutting away of ignorance. Human beings create suffering out of ignorance, he told the crowd, and we improve by training our minds, appealing to inner wisdom.
He went on to encourage Tibetans to become profficient in their own language. In English, he contested, it is difficult to understand the complexity of the teachings, and as Sanskrit is gone, it is very important to learn Tibetan in order to carry on the dharama, or the way of Buddhist life. Around 10am, followers bid him goodbye and left in a huge throng through the sunny streets of McLeod Ganj.
The day usually includes sacred dances, but following an appeal from Sikyong Lobsang Sangay not to celebrate with revelry this year in wake of the self-immolations, no dances were performed. However, those arriving early for the teaching could see monks and nuns engaging in Tibetan dialectics, or philosophical debate, before the ceremony began.
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