His Holiness the Dalai Lama walked from his residence to the Tsuglagkhang. The courtyard was filled with the sound of mantras, Om ara patsa na dhi and Mig-tse-ma. Once His Holiness reached the temple, Theravadin monks chanted the Mangala Sutta in Pali, following which Vietnamese monks chanted the ‘Heart Sutra’ in their own language. Representatives of the various Buddhist groups in attendance offered a mandala and representations of the body, speech and mind of the Buddha. The ‘Heart Sutra’ was chanted once more in Tibetan while tea and bread were distributed to the congregation.

To begin with His Holiness reported an occasion during a pan-Buddhist gathering in Varanasi when he had a clear vision of the Buddha. He felt the Buddha recognised how he had studied his teachings and cultivated the awakening mind of bodhichitta and the view of emptiness in practice,

“Although almost 2600 years have passed since the Buddha was alive, his teachings continue to flourish because there are people who study, practise and share them with others.

“What’s important in terms of preserving ethics and practising the teaching is for the teaching to flourish within us. I was born near the border of Tibet and I’ve pursued the Dharma since I was a child. I’ve studied works from the Three Collections and applied the threefold approach of study, reflection and meditation. Practising the teachings entails cultivating the mind within.

“Understanding reality involves coming to understand that phenomena do not exist as they appear to us—as solid and independent. Their existence is merely designated.

“These days there are many people in traditionally Buddhist countries who are renewing their interest in what the Buddha taught because it is akin to science. In due course they may look back and see that what they initially thought was unattainable, cultivating the altruistic awakening mind and a clear view of emptiness, can be achieved after all.