Tibetan kids in Dharamshala to learn Buddhism

{image-tibetian kids_23012008.jpg news.oneindia.in}Dharamshala, Jan 23 : Teaching classes are being organised for Tibetan kids in Dharamshala with an aim to inculcate values of Buddhism. Volunteers in the hilly Buddhist town have taken it on them to revive the Tibetan Buddhist values, traditions and culture that seem to be fading away.

Regular teaching classes are held in religious organizations, monasteries to inspire the children to follow the footsteps of their spiritual leader Dalai Lama. Tenzin Dawa, by delivering these spiritual lectures is trying to bring out the Buddhism from seclusion to every day life. "It is very important that you should become a good seichi (holy) being (meaning a good human being) or should have a very warm heart," said Tenzin Dawa, a Tibetan teacher.

According to religious heads, in the existing educational curriculum, there is hardly any place for spiritual teachings, which are necessary to influence the thought process of children. During the winter vacations, 40 to 50 children from different schools of North India are attending the lectures on Buddhism.

Lectures will be delivered for a month and half most of the students attending the lectures are in the age group of 9 to 13 years. "This is our tradition to study Tibetan Buddhism philosophy. Since we are Tibetan, it is very important to know these things," said Jamyang, a student.

Till date, the Dalai Lama has set up over 200 monasteries in 54 different settlements in India and other parts of the world. More than 20,000 monks study Buddhism in these monasteries every year. An estimated 134,000 Tibetans live in exile, a majority of them in India and Nepal.

ANI