Dalai Lama in Basel: 2nd Day teaching at the St. Jakobshalle

The second day of teachings began at 8 a.m with the teachings on the text of the Buddha of Compassion follwed by Avalokiteshvara Initiation ( Chenresig Jigten Wangchuk Wang).

In the afternoon session His Holiness talked on the importance of Secular Ethics for today’s World. The President of Basel canton presided over the program to convey his welcome speech to His Holiness.

His Holiness stressed the importance of ‘educating the heart’ through a secular approach without necessarily basing on religion. For this he said educational institutions have an important role to inculcate moral ethics parallel to the academic teachings. Responding to a question posed by a young audience, His Holiness said , in order to curb violence and bullying cases in schools, it is worthwhile to teach about secular ethics to the children as early as at the Kindergarten level .‘ The most important thing is to lead a meaningful life’, His Holiness said in response to another question.
In the evening after the public teaching, His Holiness gave an exclusive audience to the Tibetans living in Switzerland and Europe. Seeing the number of Tibetans gathered in the hall, His Holiness said it, he feels like he is back in Tibet. His Holiness was presented with Tibetan cultural songs by Tibetan children and adults living in Switzerland.

According to the local Tabloid 20 Minuten, about 7600 people participated in the two days teaching programme in Basel.

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