NE NEWS SERVICE
GAYA, DEC 25
“We have the power of truth. Communists in China have the power of gun. In the long run, power of truth is much stronger than power of gun,” was the Christmas message to China by the spiritual leader Dalai Lama here on Wednesday.
The Tibetan spiritual leader made this remarks in Gaya in Bihar, where he will stay for a fortnight.
He said “China has one of the highest population of Buddhists in the world. And slowly, the Buddhists there have started realising that the kind of Buddhism we practice is true,” he added.
The spiritual leader is in one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites – Gaya.
According to sources, the Dalai Lama will deliver teaching on ‘A Guide to Bodhisatva’s Way of Life’, a revered Buddhist scripture. The book was composed in the eighth century by an Indian monk Santideva.
He will also deliver a lecture on Buddhism on January 6 in the presence of 50,000 people.
China and the Tibetan Buddhists are locked horn over Dalai Lama’s successor. While China has been insisting that the tradition of reincarnation of the Dalai Lama should continue, many Tibetans are opposed to Beijing’s apparent attempt to “impose” a successor.
The Dalai Lama has himself downplayed the issue, saying it was too early to discuss it. “All of you discussed a lot about my reincarnation. I am 84 or 85 years old and I am quite well. So why are you in a hurry about my reincarnation?” the Nobel Peace Prize winner recently said.
China accuses the Dalai Lama as separatist working for Tibetan independence, sources said.
