Vidyaloke's video: The Dharma Wheel The Four Noble Truths Guru Shishya Teaching His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Vidyaloke's Guru Shishya Teaching by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama — Day 2 9th December, 2017 | Somaiya Vidyavihar, Mumbai | India The video captures the 2nd day of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama’s Guru Shishya Teaching at Vidyaloke. His Holiness shared that on the first turning of the wheel of the Dharma, the Buddha Shakyamuni gave the teaching on and The Four Noble Truths - a shared teaching between the Pali and Sanskrit traditions. The Four Noble Truths has become the foundation of the entire teaching of the Buddha. His Holiness further elaborated on selflessness of phenomena and person. The second turning of the Dharma wheel therefore proved that things have no intrinsic or essential existence in itself. His Holiness also touched upon ignorance, altruism, knowledge, reasoning and training of mind to understand emptiness and samsara. His Holiness is one of the greatest spiritual teachers alive today. He often reminds us, that the Buddha taught his students, bhikshus and followers that they must not accept his teachings out of faith or devotion but from a ground of understanding and conviction. To that effect, he also highlights the importance of using our intelligence to understand the true nature of reality and the destructive effect of our emotions; a method to break out of habitual mental patterns. As one of the greatest living scholars of India’s wisdom, he is also one of its greatest teachers and practitioners. Giving his precious time and energy to Vidyaloke so generously, his only aspiration is for us to study ancient Indian knowledge and to develop a mind that investigates, experiments and generates compassion for all beings. His Holiness places particular emphasis on the youth, and challenges them with the revival of Indian wisdom. ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Vidyaloke means wisdom and light. Our vision is to revive Indian Wisdom in contemporary India. Not as a spiritual organisation or movement or philosophy – but as a facilitator for those seeking the greatest living teachers of ancient Indian wisdom. Through teachings, talks, interactions and virtual resources we aspire to provide shishyas the opportunity to study and learn from the greatest teachers of our time. Drawing from the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni and from sacred sutras and texts, we will focus on wisdom that is authentic, revered and at least 2000 years old. Vidyaloke will only make teaching requests to gurus with lineage, accountable to a legacy and with the highest levels of personal practice and accomplishment. Beyond the opportunities that Vidyaloke provides, each shishya must chart out a journey. While each shishya’s journey might be unique, it is essential to know that the mind deludes itself, projecting what it wishes to see, think and feel. There is no replacing the guru to point out the truth, to pull the rug from underneath one’s feet and to do what books cannot do. This understanding is the basis of the guru-shishya parampara and must provoke a careful search of whom we might see as our guide. All wisdom traditions also stress the importance of sangha, to help encourage our practice and efface egocentrism. It is our hope that through Vidyaloke, shishyas find their own sangha and the support that it provides. We believe in living a full and eclectic life but ask interested shishyas to have genuine commitment to their own journey and practice. This includes study before teachings, attending activities in their entirety and putting in effort afterwards. It is said that selfless devotion to all sentient beings is the only way to find happiness for oneself, therefore genuine motivation to benefit others is highly encouraged. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is Vidyaloke’s first torchbearer, for which we will be forever indebted. His boundless compassion, concern for India and her legacy, motivate him to give us his invaluable time. For more than 1500 years, the Buddha’s teachings have been preserved and practiced by the highest scholars, practitioners and teachers to India’s east. Perhaps it is India’s karma, that it is once again a point of confluence for the greatest living teachers of ancient wisdom. Vidyaloke believes it must focus on the relatively young. Private Teachings are intended for those between 16 and 40 years of age, however Public Talks and other Vidyaloke formats are open to all ages. While one’s spiritual journey is independent of age, we feel there is a heightened need to spiritually nourish India’s youth. | REVIVING INDIAN WISDOM IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA | www.vidyaloke.in | www.vanafoundation.org.in www.instagram.com/vidyaloke | itunes.apple.com/in/podcast/vidyaloke Copyright © 2017 Vana Foundation. All rights reserved.