(TibetanReview.net, Nov07, 2018) – Although having all but ended any possible visit to distant lands, citing his age, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, has made it clear that he is still able and willing to travel to Taiwan should the government there grant him a visa. The purpose, he has said Nov 5, would be to take part in a conference with scientists.
The Dalai Lama was stated to have made the remark on the sidelines of a three-day dialogue with mainly Taiwanese scientists and scholars at his home in Dharamshala, India. He has spoken of being willing to travel to the self-ruled island to inaugurate a new symposium on science and Buddhism “when the time is ripe”.
And he has hoped the event would attract many scientists from China and Taiwan.
The Dalai Lama was reported to have discussed holding the event with Lee Yuan-tseh, the first Taiwanese Nobel laureate and a renowned chemist, who led a group of Taiwanese scientists to Dharamshala for a discussion on ‘quantum mechanics and quantum effects’. The discussion was on the connection between these scientific knowledge and Buddhism, as well as on ways to expand the scope of scientific studies to include the exploration of the inner mind.
The menafn.com Nov 5 cited the Dalai Lama as telling a packed auditorium that a professor from the prestigious Tsinghua University in Beijing had pledged he would explore ways to invite him to attend scientific conferences in China as a “scientist” and not as a religious leader.
Taiwan is, however, seen as being disinclined to grant a visa for the Dalai Lama, given the fragile state of its current relations with Beijing, especially over President Tsai Ing-wen’s refusal to endorse Beijing’s so-called One China policy.
