By Tenzin Monlam
DHARAMSHALA, November 22: The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama said that Buddhists should not just limit to performing rituals and try to retrieve the knowledge. The Tibetan leader was speaking at the International Conference on Buddhism and Science in Ulaanbaatar on Monday.
“Many people tend to think of monasteries only as places of worship. But if you introduce extensive study of Buddhist science and philosophy, and don’t limit yourselves to performing rituals, people will come to view these institutions as centers of learning where people of any faith or none can acquire knowledge,” said the Dalai Lama.
Describing himself as half-Buddhist and half-scientist, the spiritual leader added that his association of over 30 years with scientists from various fields and discussions has been ‘immensely beneficial’.
“Buddhist scholars and practitioners have benefited from learning about physics while modern scientists have shown a keen interest in learning more about what Buddhism has to say about the workings of the mind and emotions,” he said.
He also discoursed on how the west initially looked at Tibetan Buddhism as ‘Lamaism’ due to ‘prominent role accorded to Lamas’. However, the 81-year old spiritual leader sees an improvement with more people recognizing Tibetan Buddhism as ‘complete form of Buddhism.’
“Many Chinese Buddhists are coming to appreciate the emphasis the Tibetan tradition places on study and that Tibetan Buddhist scholars are accomplished teachers with more to impart than just prayers and rituals,” he said.
Mongolia received the Tibetan leader despite pressure from China which demanded the landlocked nation not to allow the visit to maintain the ‘sound and steady development of bilateral ties’ between the two nations.
