Dalai Lama visits Shah-e-Hamdan, Masjid Sharif in Ladakh, commends religious harmony between Buddhists and Muslims
DHARAMSALA, 17 Aug: All the religious traditions “encourage their followers to be warm-hearted,” the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said.
“Basically, we are all the same in wanting to be happy and lead meaningful lives. In addition, although our various religious traditions assert different philosophical points of view, their common purpose is to encourage their followers to be warm-hearted,” the Dalai Lama has said while addressing the members of the Muslim community at Shah-e-Hamdan, Masjid Sharif in Shey, Leh, Ladakh, UT on Tuesday, reports the dalailama.com, the official website of the Office the Dalai Lama.
The Dalai Lama was in the region, hosted by the Ladakh Muslim Coordination Committee Leh, Ladakh UT, at Shah-e-Hamdan, Masjid Sharif, Shey where he was received by leaders of both the Sunni and Shia communities.
The Octogenarian Tibetan leader has also said “he is always pleased to meet with his Muslim brothers and sisters”, and that he recalled many Muslims living in the vicinity of his birthplace, Taktser, in north-east Tibet which consequently has made him familiar with the daily pattern of Muslim prayers.
“As a young and lively child, my playmates include many Muslim children”, he has said and added that “they all got along well together.”
Commending the religious harmony between the Tibetan Buddhists who form the majority of the Tibetan population and the small Muslim communities in independent Tibet, the Tibetan Nobel laureate has stated that the “Tibetans and the small Muslim community in Lhasa enjoyed good, friendly relations. They were consistently invited to attend all the festivals observed by the Tibetan government as a mark of respect. Most were merchants who imported goods from India, but they also fulfilled another important role when they brought news and information from the outside world”.
The Dalai Lama has concluded by expressing his “deep appreciation of the way Muslims and Buddhists live in close harmony with each other in Ladakh” and declared that the people of Ladakh have long been close to his heart.
