Dharamsala, May 13 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that he had some responsibility to find the reincarnation of his elder brother Taktser Rinpoche who passed away in 2008 in Bloomington, Indiana. His Holiness explained the role of the 13th Dalai Lama in finding the reincarnation of the previous Taktser Rinpoche.

The Tibetan leader was speaking to a gathering of lamas and monks including Arjia Rinpoche, director of the Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Culture Center. His Holiness told the gathering that a special attention must be paid to the study of Buddhism, not necessarily as a religious faith but more as an academic subject.

He advised the Center headed by Arjia Rinpoche to start classes for the study of logic and Tibetan Buddhist dialectics and debate.

His Holiness also met with members of the International Tibet Independence Movement which his late brother Taktser Rinpoche had founded in 1995. The Tibetan leader said he is committed to the Middle Way approach for Tibet but added that as far as the history of Tibet is concerned it is a fact that it was independent.

Later in the day, His Holiness gave teachings on Heart Sutra at the auditorium of Indiana University. His Holiness said while people should have faith in one’s own religion, they should respect other religious faiths. In order to respect other religious traditions, His Holiness said one must understand the religion first.

His Holiness later attended an event to launch a book on Buddhist-Islam relations titled Common Ground between Islam & Buddhism that explores the common ground shared by Islam and Buddhism in the domains of spirituality and morality. Inspired by meetings His Holiness the Dalai Lama had with Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan and their discussions on the promotion of religious harmony, the book is authored by Reza Shah-Kazemi, Managing Editor of Encyclopaedia Islamica.

His Holiness will meet the press today and also give an audience to the Tibetan community.

based on a report sent by Bhuchung K Tsering of the International Campaign for Tibet