His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit to Switzerland

April 13-14, 2013
Photo Report

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s visit to Switzerland

We came to Fribourg the day before the Teachings and immediately decided to go to Forum for registration. We met Oliver, one of the organizers of the event, who told us that we had come just in time because His Holiness was expected to come within an hour for meeting with the Sangha and the Tibetan community in Switzerland.

 

Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay (Prime Minister of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile) was the first who came and it was very pleasure to watch how he greeted almost everyone present at the ceremony. Everything was ready for His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s arrival; the air was full of joyful anticipation. Soon the Dalai Lama arrived and the official part commenced. The ceremony included the traditional Tibetan songs and dances; the participants of the show were dressed in national costumes. The performance was colorful, vivid and touching. The Dalai Lama came up to everybody present giving His attention to each of them. It was wonderful and unforgettable.

 

 

The next day we arrived an hour before the Teachings starting. A great number of students from all over Europe have already gathered at the entrance and atmosphere was cheerful and relaxed.

 

Entering the room we felt significance of the event. Everything was ready for His Holiness’s arrival; the podium was decorated with Thangkas, big Buddhist tissue icons, to the left and the right of which the monks and members of the Sangha were. And even the youngest of them were in good spirit.

 

The first part of the Teachings was introductive one. The Dalai Lama spoke about his past, about situation of the Tibetan refugees and plans for future.

 

During the break between the Teachings one can have lunch in comfortable place tasting the Tibetan national dishes, communicate with the participants of the event and, if desired, buy books and souvenirs.

 

For the first day afternoon they planned the Teachings on the book “Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment” by Atisha Dipankar, the Buddhist Master of the Xth century. However His Holiness decided to pay more attention to explanation of the main features of Buddhism and methods of Bodhicitta (love and compassion) in the modern world.

 

The second day morning was started with Goddess White Tara Blessing which seemed to be the most natural and expected for the Sangha and observing lay people. His Holiness explained in detail the meaning of Blessings and in particular the principle of Goddess White Tara’s impact as well as further instructions for practice. It was incredibly inspiring to hear how eight thousand people sang “Om Tare Tuttare” all together. Then there was the Teaching on the text from the book “Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment.” Due to the Dalai Lama’s detailed explanations, we realized very clearly urgency of this text both nowadays and ten centuries ago.

 

The second day afternoon there was a public lecture “Beyond Religion” in which the Dalai Lama pointed out necessity to develop love and compassion in secular society regardless of religious views and He paid special attention to proper way of upbringing and education of children in the world nowadays. This lecture was opened with a small concert performed by the Tibetan vocal-instrumental ensemble. The Teachings ended with the direct communication of the Dalai Lama with the participants in the form of questions and replies which gave more warmth to the event and reflected the Dalai Lama’s sparkling sense of humor.