H.H. Dalai Lama's Teachings

I am in Mundgod, India for H.H. Dalai Lama's Jangchup Lamrim teachings. The teachings, are held in Gaden Monastery and Drepung Monastery, located in the Doeguling Tibetan Settlement in Mundgod, in the North Kanara district of Karnataka State, South India, approximately 400km north of Bangalore (Bengaluru) and 600km south of Mumbai (Bombay). The nearest large city is Hubli, which is approximately 45km north.

The Doeguling Tibetan Settlement in Mundgod is one of the largest Tibetan refugee settlements in India, with a current population of approximately 13,400. The settlement consists of eleven camps and includes seven monasteries, twenty schools (from nursery to secondary), two homes for the elderly, several modern allopathic hospitals, a Tibetan Medical and Astro Institute, and a co-operative society engaged in various activities such as farming and handicrafts.

H.H. Dalai Lama is a person I deeply revere and admire. His Holiness first commitment is "the promotion of human values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment and self discipline. All human beings are the same. We all want happiness and do not want suffering. Even people who do not believe in religion recognize the importance of these human values in making their lives happier. His Holiness refers to these human values as secular ethics. He remains committed to talk about the importance of these human values and share them with everyone he meets.His second commitment is the promotion of religious harmony and understanding among the world’s major religious traditions. And his third commitment is the Tibetan issue."

There is an estimated 25,000 people attending the teachings, of which 17,000 are monks. I have met foreigners of diverse cultures here, from Costa Rica, Colombia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Taiwan etc. It is a very great privilege to see the Dalai Lama in person as well as listen to his teachings.

I wake up before 5 am, have breakfast at 5.30 am and head for the monastery by 7 am as there are tight security checks. Teachings start latest by 9 am but H.H. Dalai Lama is usually early. We usually finish at about 3 to 4pm with an hour lunch break. His Holiness is having a cough. I have also not been well in the past few days, with a sore throat and fever. My intake of water during the teachings is limited. As everyone is seated on the floor, which is tightly packed with people, walking through creates much inconvenience to everyone. Nevertheless, I am very grateful and thankful to be here to listen to these teachings, which are said to be rare.