Almost 15000 people congregated from the world over at the Kalachakra grounds in Bodh Gaya to listen to the teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on December 24 and 25. It was accompanied by an international seminar on tipitaka at the Watpa temple complex. The Dalai Lama also laid the foundation stone for a museum at the newly inaugurated Watpa temple complex.
What the Dalai Lama and Other Luminaries Spoke
The teachings of the Dalai Lama were on the 37 practices of bodhisattvas and commentary on valid cognition. The seminar also threw light on the various aspects of tipitaka. There were various keynote addresses by other speakers from different countries. Everyone gave a new perspective on the various aspects of tipitaka. The Dalai Lama also emphasized on proper learning of the bodhisattvas in his teachings.
A Historical Account of Buddhist Literature
The tipitaka contains some of the teachings of Buddhism. They were written around 500 BC. Previously, they were handed down orally, but due to constant fears of war and famine, they were documented into the written form. Tipitaka, literally speaking, means three baskets. Each one of the Buddhist sub-traditions had its own tipitaka for each of the monasteries, written by its sangha. The tipitaka literature is in the Pali language, with some being in Sanskrit, as well as in other local Asian languages.
In early Buddhism, the term bodhisattva was used primarily to refer to Gautama Buddha in his former life, specifically. The jataka tales, which are the stories of past lives of the Buddha, depict the endeavours of the bodhisattva to embrace important qualities like self-sacrifice and morality. Another term for the bodhisattva is pusa. The latter is the one who has achieved Buddhahood but nevertheless chooses to remain in merciful attachment to the world. The Sanskrit word for it is Avalokitesvara.
(Courtesy: www.dalailama.com)
