His Holiness the Dalai Lama

80th Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Please enjoy these beautiful inspiring images on the celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's 1st Visit

His Holiness the Dalai Lama performed the formal consecration and dedication of Nechung Dorje Drayang Ling on October 28, 1980. He came to NDDL at the completion of a tour to Canada. It was His second visit to North America (the first was in 1979). Due to political pressures at the time, the afternoon teaching was kept to an invitation-only guest list, making for an intimate meeting with the Buddhist leader in the main hall of Wood Valley Temple.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama's teachings convey the essence and purpose of Buddhist practice. His message brings together all spiritual traditions to show the identical nature of all human beings' desire for happiness and their wish to eliminate suffering.

The outcome of religious practice is exemplified by an increase of compassion and tolerance, along with experience of the wisdom of emptiness. His 1980 talk, one of his first in english, is reprinted here."There are many people sitting together in one room here. Physically there are slight differences but basically, we are more or less the same. Inside our heads, there are many varieties of thought, much different from the face. Our thoughts are coming and going; they are restless. Sometimes due to certain thoughts we feel happy, sometimes due to certain thoughts we become very sad. Sometimes thoughts are without any feelings of happiness or sadness, just neutral. All thoughts come and go, under the deep nature of the illuminating mind.