Dalai Lama's Remark On Buddha's Birth Place Misunderstood In Nepal: Clarification From His Office

Dalai Lama’s Answer On Buddha’s Birth Place Misunderstood In Nepal: Clarification From His Office

His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s answer about the Lord Gautam Buddha’s birth place during an interactive session in India has been misunderstood in Nepal. The office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (OHHDL) today issued a clarification notice in it official website that there has been a misunderstanding in the intend of his answer.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama made a remark on the Lord Buddha’s background while answering questions from students in Meerut, India on 16 October 2017 which is being shared in the form of a video clip to campaign that the Tibetan spiritual leader is misleading the people.

However, OHHDL issued a clarification to queries made by media as follow:

“It has been brought to our attention that media reports in Nepal have queried a reference His Holiness the Dalai Lama made to Lord Buddha’s background while answering questions from students in Meerut, India on 16 October 2017.

We are concerned to know there was misunderstanding of the intent of his answer, and would like to clarify that His Holiness meant no disrespect towards his Nepalese brothers and sisters. Like Buddhists everywhere, he wholeheartedly accepts that the Buddha’s birthplace was Lumbini. What he wanted to emphasize in contemporary terms is the importance of understanding what the Buddha taught and the scope of his influence throughout Asia. It is universally acknowledged that India, the land of the Noble Ones, is where the Buddha achieved enlightenment and subsequently gave profound teachings.

We trust that this clears up any misunderstanding or misapprehension.”

Hope this clarifies the misunderstandings being share and spread by the concerned individuals and organisations especially in Nepal. You can view the view being contested as below. Kindly note that it is a clip from a program:

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Written by:

TJ editor

Editor at Tibetan Journal

13 responses to “Dalai Lama’s Answer On Buddha’s Birth Place Misunderstood In Nepal: Clarification From His Office”

  1. Ujjwal Avatar
    Ujjwal

    Dear lamajee, that time there was no India as well, if Lumbini ( which is in Nepal) was not a part of Nepal. According to your logic, Buddha got enlightenment not in India but rather in some ancient poor village which falls in Indian border today.

    Reply
    1. Tsering Maya Avatar
      Tsering Maya

      I concur with Ujjwal. There was no country called Nepal then, but neither was there India – if we cannot say that Buddha was born in Nepal (even though Lumbini is in present day Nepal), then we cannot say that he was born in India either (as written by the Dalai Lama in his book “An introduction to Buddhism”, which I have a copy of).

      I have the highest respect & admiration for the Dalai Lama – for his presence & his teachings – but I must say he is not being sensitive here (in the original comment and the subsequent clarification). And this clarification is no clarification: we are not talking about where he got enlightened but where he was born. I, myself, accompanied my parents to pilgrimages to Bodh Gaya from Nepal every winter since I was a child for Dalai Lama’s Kala Chakra. Nepalis still regularly go on pilgrimages to various sites in India which are major landmarks of the historical Buddha.

      There are several reasons many Nepali people are touchy about this subject (btw, I am not implying that Buddha was a Nepali). I will let the following article explain it better.

      https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-column/search-buddha-without-borders.html

      India is our huge bully neighbor – in 2015 after we had suffered major earthquakes in April & again in May, India blocked the borders (although not “officially”); we had no cooking gas, no basic food items, no medicine, and no fuel. This extreme shortage went on for half a year, when the weather had turned to winter and many people didn’t even have shelter. How many people died due to the blockade?

      We must take into account, also, of India claiming Piprahwa as the site of Kapilvastu as the article above explains – that is clearly not true; in fact, that is an outright lie.

      I’ve checked on various online Nepali forums regarding this video clip – this is upsetting most people on those forums.
      I can see this “clarification” also antagonizing many Nepalis – this is rather unfortunate, especially coming from the Dalai Lama.

      Reply
      1. Ngawang Phunkhang Avatar
        Ngawang Phunkhang

        Undoubtedly Lord Buddha was a Nepali but here HH the Dalai Lama was talking about his teachings, Lord Buddha gained his enlightenment in Bodhgaya not in Lumbini or Kapilvastu. As far as I know Buddha gave most of teachings in current India. So instead of arguing we should strive to implement his priceless teachings.

        Reply
      2. Tenzin Kunsel Avatar
        Tenzin Kunsel

        If people are saying they respect His holiness then i think people must learn to believe in him you just cant simply say that you respect him without accpeting him
        And my dear friend I do believe that this world is full of fabrications and everywhere you go its all fake..
        But then I’m not saying it just because I’m a Tibetan honestly but because I’m a citizen of the world sharing the same roof with you I must say that the whole time we’ve been so busy making up stories that we are leaving behind the true meaning of our lives
        There’s so much hate in this world in general that we are nearly forgetting the point that we’re creating war within ourselves by arguing with a statement Somebody said, that also when they didn’t mean any harm towards you people
        So please try to understand it with cool mind as you will never get the point when your all heated up inside already
        Think carefully once again without any social media’s influence but even then you’re disappointed with that fact then I’m truly sorry
        Its just that I’m too too small for you to make you understand
        I really mean it!
        ✌️ Good day
        Good life
        and a peaceful life ahead

        Reply
  2. Anatta Avatar
    Anatta

    ‘ India ‘ is recent word, I would be glad if he had used words like ‘ Jambudipa ‘ to signify the part of South Asia where holiness prevails. So far, Nepal is not the country like Pakistan,Bangladesh which were part of India and had been colonized.Nepal is free country with its own sovereignty so you can never point out Nepal through the word India in present context. Moreover, Buddha was from Shakya Kingdom. And Shakyas are only found in present Nepal.

    His intention behind his words shows he is speaking like a refugee in India.

    Reply
  3. Tsering Maya Avatar
    Tsering Maya

    P. S. It seems to me that most Nepalis who are having a strong reaction to the clip of Dalai Lama currently circulating around are also offended by his “tone” when he says “nonsense…” – I thought I should bring this to your attention because this is a significant cause of the outcry against the Dalai Lama taking over social media in Nepal: it (the seemingly dismissive tone) is impacting (some) Nepalis at the emotional level & thus, eliciting an emotional reaction.

    Even just a few months ago, I probably wouldn’t have written a comment here implying that Dalai Lama has been insensitive but he himself said (speaking on the Sogyal scandal) that if the teacher is wrong, we must bring it up.

    Reply
  4. Deepak Avatar
    Deepak

    Dalai Lama appears old. If he doesn’t even acknowledge the basic history of Buddhism it is a sad reflection of the state of affairs. If he is doing this to pander to Indians as a refugee, it is politically stupid.

    Reply
    1. Erickson Avatar
      Erickson

      Everyone makes mistakes even god made a mistake Like creating you “deepak” but his holiness the Dalai Lama did not make mistake here it was misunderstood. Please note that

      Reply
    2. TSERING Avatar
      TSERING

      If you don’t know where you make your mistakes, that’s your worst mistake: not knowing where your mistakes are at. I am not answerable here but it is needed.

      Reply
  5. Arun Manandhar Avatar
    Arun Manandhar

    I think this whole isuue is getting more absurd. He should apologize to Nepal, that’s it. By the way, really curious to know what he asked to his sidekick.

    Reply
  6. Tsering dolkar Avatar
    Tsering dolkar

    Stop it u uneducated people …
    Stop creating things….you all are idiots. Stop saying bad to our spiritual leader Dalai lama and learn to respect him.

    Reply
  7. Tashi Avatar
    Tashi

    His Holiness stated ‘nonsense’ to those poeple who said Budha should be Nepali as he was born in lumbini. The word nonsense has many meanings…study it. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Gyozo Avatar
    Gyozo

    With all due respect to His Holiness, my strong intuition from informed knowledge about Indian and Nepali politics, is that this was said under strong suggestion by Indian officials who, under their current government, demand increased respect for Indian versions of history and, with the Dalai Lama’s age and possible succession predeterminded by China, are desirous of ensuring a more robust claim to various religious tenets. I say this with–again–due respect as well for India’s native Hinduism.

    Reply

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