His Eminence Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche consecrated the newly built College Lhakhang on April 5, 2019. His Eminence offered his prayers for the College and all sentient beings. The consecration ceremony was followed by a teaching on ‘mindfulness’ to the entire JNEC family and attendees from the community, including school teachers in the multipurpose hall of the College.
Rinpoche said that Buddhist do not do mindfulness to be happy, successful or to be healthy. Rinpoche said that none of these are our ultimate aim. So why do we do mindfulness? The ultimate aim for Buddhist to practice mindfulness is to ‘understand the truth’ said Rinpoche.
Rinpoche said, “If you do not understand the truth, no matter how relaxed you are, how not-stressed you are, how balanced you are, it does not matter. You are an ignorant being. You are a delusion(ed) being. What we need is to understand the truth. The moment you know the truth, then you are liberated, nirvana”.
Rinpoche further said that the sufferings that people experienced centuries ago, such as war, plague and famine have drastically gone down. Yet, the suffering in the world still exists even in the 21st century. Despite the availability of advanced medical facilities, abundance of food, yet people are found to be suffering. It is all due to ‘identity’; the significant challenge that youths face today in the 21st century is ‘Identity crisis’ said Rinpoche. He said that young people do not know who they are and that is why the 2500 years old Buddhist teaching is becoming more relevant now.
Rinpoche said that young minds are struggling to find their own identity; identity crisis. Instead of chasing their dream they are forced to live up to their parents’ dream. In fact, “you should do what you would like to do, but you should be critical” he advised. He shared that being mindful has become vital since most people today are struggling and searching for their own identity. The session filled with humor on a serious note made attendees realize their purpose in life, especially youths.
Rinpoche also gave instructions on how to do ‘mindfulness’, which was followed and practiced by the attendees for about 2 minutes.
The College is grateful to His Eminence for the blessings and the opportunity. The College would also like to thank our alumni for their contributions for the purchase of statues and other items for the Lhakhang.