Dharamshala: In a heartfelt address to the growing concerns of the Minnesota Tibetan Association and Tibetans in general towards His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s health, the 84-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader assured that he is in best of health and reaffirmed to live to be 110 years old. The video of the members of the Minnesota Tibetan Association’s special audience with His Holiness at the Von Ngari Monastery on 18 August was widely circulated on social media delivering joy and relief to many around the world.
Concerns grew over His Holiness’ health when news of Holiness admission to a private hospital in Delhi following a chest infection was reported by various news media this past April.
While consoling the members whose faint weeps occasionally permeated the room, His Holiness recalled a dream in which the goddess of glory, one of the eight Dharma protectors and the protector deity of Tibet, Palden Lhamo riding on His Holiness’s back proclaims His Holiness will live for 110 years. His Holiness also shared that other divinations carried similar foretelling.
The extraordinary karmic bond between the lineage of the Dalai Lamas and the Tibetan people is etched in history. “Tibetans have not forgotten me, and I will not forget you,” said His Holiness as the spiritual leader pads on the back of one of the members while recounting a moment when thoughts of the Tibetan people flashed as the flight His Holiness was travelling in shook due to mid-air turbulence.
It is only the words of reassurance of His Holiness that could ease the anxiety in the hearts of the Tibetan people. Holding the letter presented by the representative of Tibetans in Minnesota, His Holiness reassures again of his health while humorously remarking about the well-functions of his digestive tract. His Holiness also shared in the video about the attention, support and best of medical services that are being provided by the Indian government.
The reaffirmation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama is indeed the long-standing collective aspirations of six million Tibetans. Many watched the video with tearful eyes forwarding the video to friends, elderly parents, families and colleague to share the joy, the hope and the peace that Tibetan collectively feels in the well-being of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the supreme leader of Tibet.
-By Kunsang Yelphel