(TibetanReview.net, Jan04’23) – The Dalai Lama has on Jan 3 laid the foundation stone for a Dalai Lama Centre for Tibetan and Ancient Indian Wisdom at Bodh Gaya, Bihar, attended by, among others, Mr Kiren Rijiju, India’s Minister for Law and Justice; Mr Kumar Sarvjeet, MLA for Bodh Gaya and Minister of Agriculture in the Government of Bihar; Mr Sushil Modi, BJP MP from Bihar; Dr Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR); and Ambassador Kumar Tuhin, Director General of ICCR.
In his address the Dalai Lama has thanked the Government of Bihar and the Central Government for their support, “without which it would be difficult to bring this project about.”
He has said, “India is a land where, because of the fundamental and long-standing traditions of ‘karuna’ and ‘ahimsa’, many different spiritual traditions flourish. To ensure peace in the world we need to encourage the notion of non-violence or doing no harm— ‘ahimsa’. Tibetan refugees are fortunate to have been able to come to live in a land that explicitly upholds ‘ahimsa’.”
In his speech, Mr Sarvjeet, speaking on behalf of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, has said the state government was completely supportive of His Holiness’s vision, that the Government of Bihar will do whatever they can to help bring the project to fruition. He has added that the government and people of Bihar, and the local people especially, were grateful that the Centre was being established in Bodh Gaya.
Mr Rijiju has, likewise, expressed the central government’s support for the project.
“The Government of India is committed in turn to supporting this centre, which will encourage us to look within. The Centre will be a world-class institution, a gift to humanity, where it will be possible to discover the link between peace of mind and world peace,” he has said.
Others who spoke were stated to include Mr Tempa Tsering, the project’s Interim director, who has given the opening address, Prof Samdhong Rinpoché from the Office of HH the Dalai Lama, and Mr Karma Chungdak on behalf of the Dalai Lama Trust who gave the closing remarks.
Rinpoché has said that in the past, Indian schools of thought were mutually enriched when they engaged in an exchange of ideas founded on reason and logic. Tibetan tradition has kept this approach alive. With the establishment of this Centre, these traditions will be restored to India.