FPMT News Around the World
From dalailama.com photo gallery: His Holiness the Dalai Lama with the Bishop of Manchester in Manchester, England, June 17, 2012. Visit dalailama.com for more news and photos.
His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama returned to England on Friday, June 15, arriving in Manchester where he gave a series of teachings and public talks. On June 17-18, His Holiness taught on Eight Verses for Training the Mind and Nagarjuna’s In Praise of Dharmadhatu. On Tuesday, June 19, His Holiness spoke in London at Royal Albert Hall on “Real Change Happens in the Heart.”
Jamyang Buddhist Centre had a stall at the Manchester teachings, staffed by many volunteers. They gave out Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive books and leaflets for UK FPMT groups.
His Holiness focused on speaking to young people in Manchester on Saturday, June 16. According to dalailama.com, he told a gathering of leaders from youth organizations, “I belong to the twentieth century, an era that has now passed. It was a time when many people thought that violence was the way to solve our problems. Although the motivation to solve problems was often positive and good, the method, the use of force, was wrong, because invariably violence creates more problems than it solves. What have we learned? that we need to employ non-violence and dialogue to solve our problems.”
Later in the day, the Dalai Lama spoke at the youth-center event “Stand Up and Be the Change.” British comedian Russell Brand introduced and joked with His Holiness and moderated the question and answer period after the talk. More than 10,000 attended the event; tickets were offered free to those 25 and under.
Also while in England, His Holiness traveled to Leeds to speak to the Yorkshire International Business Convention on ethics and business and lectured at the University of Westminster on “Values of Democracy and Tibet.” In addition, he met with the press, a group of Gurkha soldiers based in Manchester and his old friend Laurence Freeman, a Benedictine monk, who has been active in promoting Christian meditation. On June 22-23, His Holiness will be in Scotland, speaking in Edinburgh, Dundee and Inverness. Next week, His Holiness travels to Milan before returning to India. For more, visit His Holiness’ website dalailama.com.
With 158 centers, projects and services around the globe, there is always news on FPMT activities, teachers and events. Mandala hopes to share as many of these timely stories as possible. If you have news you would like to share, please let us know.