Representative Kaydor Aukatsang’s Welcome and Gratitude Remark at the North American Gratitude Tenshug Event for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on July 10, 2015 in New York
Good afternoon and welcome everyone.
The Office of Tibet recently held an essay contest to honor His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 80th birthday. Tibetan youth residing in North America were asked to write on “What does His Holiness the Dalai Lama Mean to you?”
In his winning essay, Tashi from Amdo (Tibet) who fled to India to seek freedom and after finally fulfilling his dream of meeting His Holiness, wrote that His Holiness was neither the God that he had imagined with his family in Tibet nor the demon the Chinese officials pushed him to believe. His Holiness was a spiritual teacher who taught him to love everyone equally even the Chinese officials. To Tashi, His Holiness was a budding scientist, a deep philosopher and a thinker, a great scholar, a staunch peacemaker, and above all, just an amazing simple human being. Most importantly, His Holiness was the source of Tashi’s immense pride as a Tibetan.
Tibetans are indeed blessed to have His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama as our beloved leader.
His Holiness has steadfastly led the Tibetan people from the tender age of 16 and through the most challenging phase of our history. He has been our father, mother, teacher, and a great uniter uniting all Tibetans into one people and one nation. He has provided us with modern education while still keeping us anchored in our tradition and culture. He has not only revived Tibetan Buddhist culture in exile, but extended its influence exponentially and made it truly global. He has deeply engrained the principles of democracy and non-violence into the DNA of the Tibetan freedom movement and taught us to look at China and the Chinese government as a prospective peace partner rather than an eternal foe. Most of all, to Tibetans in Tibet, His Holiness is a source of inspiration and occupies a centrality in their lives as critical as a heart in the human body. The prospect of seeing His Holiness return to Tibet keeps their lives beating and their spirits high. No amount of Chinese repression, bribery or indoctrination can undo this unbreakable bond between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people.
His Holiness, however, is more than the leader of 6 million Tibetans. He is a global leader, a peace icon and a moral anchor of this world. He travels around the globe tirelessly promoting compassion, education of the heart, oneness of humanity, interfaith dialogue and harmony among different faiths, and preservation of Tibet’s unique Buddhist culture and protection of its fragile environment.
His Holiness transcends a singular religion or a group of people. He is as he expresses time and time again, a simple human being just like the rest of the seven billion people, but he is an extraordinary simple human being.
His Holiness bridges different faiths by revealing that all religions preach the same message of compassion, service and love. He connects Buddhism and science by promoting the linkage of the inner-world (the mind) and the outer world. He is helping reshape modern education by advocating for a curriculum that gives equal emphasis to education of the heart and fostering a more compassionate younger generation. He is bringing Tibetans and Chinese together by promoting reconciliation and a shared future of peaceful co-existence.
Most importantly, His Holiness connects you and I to every other individual on this globe through his message of oneness of humanity. He stresses that each of us have a moral responsibility to participate in the solving of global issues be it climate change, economic inequality, sectarian violence or non-proliferation. His Holiness firmly believes that we can create a more peaceful world, not simply through prayers but through action. Actions that you and I as individuals can take and inspire others towards a more peaceful, compassionate and happy world.
Happy birthday your Holiness and thank you! This day-long program of gratitude organized by the North American Tibetan community expresses our profound gratitude for all that you have done and continue to do for Tibetans and the world.
May your Holiness live long and may the aspirations of Tibetans in Tibet in seeing your return to home in Tibet be realized in this lifetime.
May your Holiness continue to be the light that shines in darkness and remain to dispel the miseries of the world.
