Dalai Lama opens US Senate session with morning prayer

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today opened the daily session of the US Senate with morning prayers.
"As long as space remains, And as long as sentient beings remain, Until then, may I too remain and help dispel the misery of the world," the Dalai Lama said delivering the morning prayers, the first by him.
"May there be joy in the world, With bountiful harvest and spiritual wealth. May every good fortune come to be, And may all our wishes be fulfilled," the Dalai Lama said.
Welcoming the Dalai Lama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said, "The Dalai Lama's teachings contain lessons for people around the world and within this chamber. His Holiness also advises us that,'The best way to resolve any problem in the human world is for all sides to sit down and talk'".

The Dalai Lama, is well known throughout the world as the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people, and for spreading the gospel of peace, compassion and love for fellow beings, he said.
"But it is tradition when the United States Senate welcomes a guest chaplain to say a few words about our honoured guest," the Senate Majority Leader said.

"His Holiness often says that he is only a simple monk, born to a farming family in northeastern Tibet. But to millions of people in Tibet and across the globe, he is much more -- he is a source of hope and inspiration in a world that can sometimes seem dark," Reid said.

"When he was only two years old, His Holiness was recognised as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. Four years later, when he was just a little boy, he began his monastic education. He studied logic, art, Tibetan culture, and Buddhist philosophy, among other things," Reid said.
"At 23, he passed his exams with honours and was awarded the equivalent of a doctorate of Buddhist philosophy. And for more than half a century, the Dalai Lama has been travelling the world, raising awareness about the concerns of his 6 million fellow Tibetans and, as he would say, making new friends," Reid said.

The Dalai Lama says he accepts China's rule in Tibet and is peacefully seeking greater autonomy for the remote Himalayan region.
But over 120 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in recent years in protest against alleged religious, political and cultural oppression by China.