LEH: After 32 years, the 14th Dalai Lama on Sunday returned to the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) in Leh, blessing the very campus he had inaugurated in 1994 and renewing his association with an institution that has grown into a major centre of spirituality, education and humanitarian service.
After 32 years, the 14th Dalai Lama on Sunday returned to the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre (MIMC) in Leh, blessing the very campus he had inaugurated in 1994 and renewing his association with an institution that has grown into a major centre of spirituality, education and humanitarian service.
His return to the Devachan Campus was marked by traditional offerings, addresses, a song presentation by students, the laying of a foundation stone and the blessing of a sapling, with MIMC reaffirming its commitment to compassion, environmental responsibility, education, meditation and world peace.
The Dalai Lama also visited the MIMC Buddha Park for World Peace, where he circumambulated the 1,000 Buddha statues (Stongsku).
The 1,000 Buddhas project is a major MIMC initiative dedicated to world peace and the creation of a Global Family, reflecting the Dalai Lama’s enduring message that all human beings are members of one human family. The 1,000 Buddha statues stand as symbols of compassion, wisdom, peace, and humanity’s shared aspiration for a better world.
The programme began with a reverential welcome to His Holiness by Ven. Bhikkhu Sanghasena, Founder and Spiritual Director of MIMC, along with monks, nuns, students, staff, volunteers and members of the Mahabodhi family.
Ven. Bhikkhu Sanghasena also shared some of MIMC’s future aspirations with the Dalai Lama, including the proposed Mahakaruna University, envisioned as a centre dedicated to the study, practice and propagation of universal compassion.
MIMC also expressed its profound gratitude for the Dalai Lama’s gracious message for the forthcoming International Black-Necked Crane Festival, an initiative being undertaken in collaboration with the UT Administration and international organisations to promote awareness, compassion and responsibility towards the conservation and protection of the Black-Necked Crane and its fragile Himalayan habitat.
The Centre is also preparing to host the International Conference on AI, Spirituality, Education and Compassion next month. With compassion as a central guiding principle, the conference will explore how wisdom, ethics, spirituality, education and human values can help guide humanity through the rapidly changing age of artificial intelligence.
The Devachan Campus today attracts thousands of participants from India and across the world for MIMC’s educational, spiritual, humanitarian, environmental, meditation and international programmes. The campus continues to evolve as a platform for dialogue, interfaith harmony, inner transformation, service and the promotion of global peace.
For the Mahabodhi family, the return of the Dalai Lama after 32 years represented the completion of a profound and meaningful circle. - The Statesman/ANN
