Dalai inaugurates international Buddhist Conference in Bihar, says he is ‘son of India’

Rajgir (Bihar): The three-day “International Buddhist Conference” organized by Ministry of Culture and Nava Nalanda Mahaviahra, Deemed University, was today inaugurated by Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Addressing the conference, Dalai Lama said India is a land of social harmony and unity in which he considers himself the “son of India”.

He said all religious traditions should sit in harmony to know the truth which is always unchanged “so that we should not only gather information about Buddha and his teachings but we should also experience and experiment it in our lives.”

Describing compassion as the basic makeup of human being, Dalai Lama also emphasized on the refinement of our emotions.

“The negative emotions that generate within us keep us plagued and diseased. Therefore, we must purify our mind especially through Vipasssana Meditation which is of explanatory kind,” said Dalai Lama, also lauding India’s rich religious and philosophical traditions.

Union minister of state for culture band tourism Dr Mahesh Sharma in his address said he was overjoyed to come to Nalanda, the holy land of wisdom. He welcomed the delegates coming from all parts of the world and hoped the conference will prove seminal in the sense that it will pass on to posterity some message.

The key objective of the conference is to deliberate on Buddhist perspective towards addressing or approaching issues such as ecological sustainability, social and economic justice, ethics and values, a holistic approach to education, inter-religious harmony and cooperation, gender equality etc.