More than 17,000 people gathered on Thursday in a New York area sports arena to offer prayers for the long life of the 89-year-old Dalai Lama, who said he expected to live past 100.
“I have done my best to benefit others and the Tibetan people,” the Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader said in his first major public appearance following knee replacement surgery in June.
“Going forward too, I will live for more than 100 years in order to fulfill the wishes of the Tibetan people,” he said, reiterating past predictions.
The Dalai Lama also spoke about the need for religious harmony and emphasized the principles of secular ethics - an ethics system that appeals to religious and nonreligious alike and is based on the cultivation of genuine compassion.
“The world has the existence of different religions, which need to have harmony and respect for each other,” he told the crowd, which came from 30 U.S. states and Canada.
“In the case of Buddhism, many scientists and atheists today show interest when it comes to Buddhist philosophy and perspectives on the mind and psychology,” he said.
Tenzin Namdol from Boston, one of the attendees at the UBS Arena, home of the New York Islanders’ hockey team, said she felt “so blessed” to hear the Dalai Lama.
“He advised us to make an effort to understand the meaning of Buddhism and to make an effort to live according to the teachings,” she said. “His Holiness assured us he would live a long life.”
The Dalai Lama returned to New York on Tuesday after completing over six weeks of physiotherapy in Syracuse, New York, where he was undergoing his recovery and resting after knee replacement surgery on June 28.
He is scheduled to return to Dharamsala, India, on Aug. 28 but will make a brief stop in Zurich, Switzerland, where Tibetans there are scheduled to offer long-life prayers on Aug. 25.