Dalai Lama urges the public to study Buddhist texts, calls for faith based logic and reason

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who is currently on a month-long stint in Jammu and Kashmir during which he will rest and deliver lectures, on Friday visited Ngagyur Dragthok monastery and delivered a sermon, his aides said.

On the invitation of the monastery's authorities, the Dalai Lama visited the monastery, located about 40 km away from his Shiwatsel Phodrang official residence, to inaugurate its new prayer hall and address monks and local people, an aide told IANS.

In his address, he urged the public to study the Buddhist texts and called for a faith based in logic and reason.

He also spoke about inner development such as warm-heartedness and compassion, alongside material development.

The Ngagyur Dragthok monastery is a branch of the Chogkar Choekhor Namgyaling monastery of Ngagyur Nyingma lineage. The patron lama of the monastery was the late Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche who died in December last.

The monastery currently has 28 resident monks.

The main attraction of the monastery is a giant statue of Guru Padmasambhava flanked by Guru Dorje Drolo on its right and Guru Pema Gyalpo on its left, with both the latter being two of the eight manifestations assumed by Guru Padmasambhava at different points in his life.

The Dalai Lama, 81, will offer teachings from August 11 to August 21 in two sessions, the aide said.

Two-day teachings from August 11 will be held at the Thiksey Monastery, located on top of a hill in Thiksey village, 19 km east of Leh.

He will also deliver teachings at Shewatsel Teaching Ground here from August 19 to 21.

Over 10,000 followers of the Dalai Lama from aboard and India are likely to attend his teachings, the Tibetan government-in-exile in Himachal Pradesh said.

The Dalai Lama has lived in exile in India since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rulers in 1959.