Dalai Lama circumambulates 1,000 Buddhas at Leh’s Mahabodhi Centre, blesses world peace initiative
The message of compassion, universal responsibility and world peace resonated strongly in Leh today as the 14th Dalai Lama visited the Mahabodhi International Meditation Centre after 32 years and blessed its ongoing humanitarian and spiritual mission.
During his visit to the Devachan Campus, the Dalai Lama also visited the MIMC Buddha Park for World Peace and circumambulated its 1,000 Buddha statues, symbols of compassion, wisdom, peace and humanity’s shared aspiration for a better world.
His return to the Devachan Campus was marked by traditional offerings, addresses, a song presentation by students, the laying of a foundation stone and the blessing of a sapling, with MIMC reaffirming its commitment to compassion, environmental responsibility, education, meditation and world peace.
The 1,000 Buddhas project is a major MIMC initiative dedicated to World Peace and the creation of a Global Family, reflecting Dalai Lama’s enduring message that all human beings are members of one human family. The 1,000 Buddha statues stand as symbols of compassion, wisdom, peace, and humanity’s shared aspiration for a better world.
The programme began with a reverential welcome to His Holiness by Ven. Bhikkhu Sanghasena, Founder and Spiritual Director of MIMC, along with monks, nuns, students, staff, volunteers, and members of the Mahabodhi family.
Ven. Bhikkhu Sanghasena also shared some of MIMC’s future aspirations with Dalai Lama, including the proposed Mahakaruna University, envisioned as a centre dedicated to the study, practice, and propagation of universal compassion.
MIMC also expressed its profound gratitude for Dalai Lama’s gracious message for the forthcoming International Black-Necked Crane Festival, an initiative being undertaken in collaboration with the UT Administration and international organisations to promote awareness, compassion, and responsibility towards the conservation and protection of the Black-Necked Crane and its fragile Himalayan habitat.
The Centre is also preparing to host the International Conference on AI, Spirituality, Education and Compassion next month. With compassion as a central guiding principle, the conference will explore how wisdom, ethics, spirituality, education, and human values can help guide humanity through the rapidly changing age of artificial intelligence.
The Devachan Campus today attracts thousands of participants from India and across the world for MIMC’s educational, spiritual, humanitarian, environmental, meditation, and international programmes. The campus continues to evolve as a platform for dialogue, interfaith harmony, inner transformation, service, and the promotion of global peace.
For the Mahabodhi family, the return of Dalai Lama after 32 years represented the completion of a profound and meaningful circle.