(TibetanReview.net, Mar19’22) – In his first public appearance over the past two years of Covid-19 restrictions, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, assured his devotees at the Tsuglakhang, Dharamsala, on Mar 18 that he was in great health and did not even feel the need to go to Delhi for his routine checkup.
The Dalai Lama last appeared in a public teaching event at Bodhgaya in Jan 2020. And the only time he stepped out of his residential compound after that was to the local hospital for his first Covid-19 inoculation in Mar 2021.
“I had thought to go to Delhi around now to have a medical check-up. However, I don’t feel unwell, in fact I feel fit for anything, so I decided not to go. Usually, during the winter, I go to Bodhgaya, but again, this year I decided to relax and take things easy here in Dharamsala. I also threw a ‘mo’ [a form of divination] that indicated that this would be the better thing to do,” the DalaiLama.com Mar 18 quoted the 1989 Noble Peace laureate as saying.
He admitted that he was getting older but declared that he will be here for another decade or more, able to lead and encourage. He observed that his knees hurt, but he could still offer leadership even when relying on a walking stick.
The purpose of the Tsuglakhang appearance was to give a brief teaching on the Jataka Tales, which is something the Dalai Lama has been doing every year on this full moon day of the Tibetan New Year month which is celebrated as the Day of Miracles (Chotrul Monlam, also called the Great Prayer Festival).