In a rare emotional moment yesterday the Dalai Lama, Tibet's visiting leader, broke down and cried during the last session of a three day discussion of Buddhism's core book of scripture, the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra.
When discussing the concept of compassion, the Dalai Lama bowed down in mid-session for nearly two minutes to wipe away his tears, before he resumed his teachings yesterday morning.
"I don't have the Bodicitta [(
The Dalai Lama said that Buddhism would not be what it is now without the selfless work of the early Indian adepts of the religion, such as Nagarjuna and Asanga.
Yesterday's talk held his followers in rapt attention, many of them moved to tears by the spiritual leader's talk.
Indeed, the Dalai Lama said yesterday that his teachings are his present for his followers in Taiwan and urged them not to reward him with monetary gifts.
"If you trust me, you don't have to give me red envelopes," he told nearly 10,000 followers which attended his teachings. "I hope you will practice Bodicitta, because it will make you happier."
Asked about the legitimacy of the Falun Gong's teachings, the Dalai Lama said that since he has not studied the teachings in detail, he is in no position to comment. But he expressed his regret over the brutal crackdown on Falun Gong practitioners by the Beijing government.
The Dalai Lama, however, urged his followers to stick to one religion to avoid confusion. He made the statement when asked about allegations by some Falun Gong members that Buddhism is "no longer capable of helping other sentient beings" and reports by some members that the head of Falun Gong, Lee Hongzhi (
At the end of the day's teachings on Buddhist philosophy, the Dalai Lama reserved an hour to answer questions from his followers on a wide range of issues.
On the destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by Afghanistan's fundamentalist Taliban regime, the Dalai Lama said that such behavior is not conducive to his efforts to promote inter-faith harmony.
Last month, the Taliban destroyed the gigantic 2nd century Buddhas carved into the mountains along the famed Silk Road after a state edict was issued which claimed the statues were against the teachings of Islam.
"Since it is a precious historical artifact, it is also not good for their tourism industry," he said.
But the Nobel Peace Laureate urged his followers not to condemn or hate the Taliban for their act.
The Dalai Lama, on the last leg of his teachings on his second trip to Taiwan, will perform a two-day initiation of Avalokiteshvara, or Kuanyin, beginning today.
The Taipei MRT is open all night tonight following New Year’s Eve festivities, and is offering free rides from nearby Green Line stations. Taipei’s 2025 New Year’s Eve celebrations kick off at Taipei City Hall Square tonight, with performances from the boy band Energy, the South Korean girl group Apink, and singers Gigi Leung (梁詠琪) and Faith Yang (楊乃文). Taipei 101’s annual New Year’s firework display follows at midnight, themed around Taiwan’s Premier12 baseball championship. Estimates say there will be about 200,000 people in attendance, which is more than usual as this year’s celebrations overlap with A-mei’s (張惠妹) concert at Taipei Dome. There are
LOOKING FOR WHEELS: The military is seeking 8x8 single-chassis vehicles to test the new missile and potentially replace the nation’s existing launch vehicles, the source said Taiwan is developing a hypersonic missile based on the Ching Tien (擎天) supersonic cruise missile, and a Czech-made truck has been tentatively selected as its launch vehicle, a source said yesterday. The Ching Tien, formerly known as Yun Feng (雲峰, “Cloud Peak”), is a domestically developed missile with a range of 1,200km to 2,000km being deployed in casemate-type positions as of last month, an official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The hypersonic missile to be derived from the Ching Tien would feature improved range and a mobile launch platform, while the latter would most likely be a 12x12 single chassis
UP AND DOWN: The route would include a 16.4km underground section from Zuoying to Fongshan and a 9.5km elevated part from Fongshan to Pingtung Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday confirmed a project to extend the high-speed rail (HSR) to Pingtung County through Kaohsiung. Cho made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the completion of a dome at Kaohsiung Main Station. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved the HSR expansion in 2019 using a route that branches off a line from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung’s Zuoying District (左營). The project was ultimately delayed due to a lack of support for the route. The Zuoying route would have trains stop at the Zuoying Station and return to a junction before traveling southward to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝).
Parts of the nation, including in the south, could experience temperatures as low as 7°C early tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. A strong continental cold air mass coupled with the effect of radiative cooling would bring cold weather to several northern cities and counties, and could even affect areas as far south as Tainan early tomorrow, the CWA said. Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, Miaoli and Yilan counties would experience temperatures below 10°C until this evening, according to cold surge advisories issued by the weather agency. The weather across the nation is forecast to remain
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