His Holiness the Dalai Lama concludes his visit to Latin America

In the year 563 B.C., on the border of modern day Nepal and India, a prince was born to a ruler of a minor kingdom, the Sakyan. His name was Siddhartha Gotama and, at the age of thirty five, he attained, after six years of struggle and through his own insight, full enlightenment or Buddhahood. The term 'Buddha' is not a name for a god or an incarnation of a god, despite Hindu claims to the contrary, but is a title for one who has realised through good conduct, mental cultivation and wisdom the cause of life's vicissitudes and the way to overcome them. Buddhism is, perhaps, unique amongst the world's religions in that it does not place reliance for salvation on some external power, such as a god or even a Buddha, but places the responsibility for life's frustrations squarely on the individual.

This handbook, Buddhism 101—Questions and Answers, is a selected collection of Buddhist basic teachings for beginners. While composing this book, we thought in particular about those Buddhists who just initiatively started to study and practice Buddhism in environments of multiple religions and multiple cultures. Therefore, the basic themes introduced here serve to provide readers with a general view of the Buddha’s teachings in regard to both theory and practice. Given the limitations of a handbook, we dare not go further into intensive issues of Buddhist philosophy as doing so may lead to difficulties for beginners. However, the selected questions discussed here are the core teachings of Buddhism. As a beginner, you need to master these teachings firmly and precisely before going further into the Buddhist studies. We hope that this handbook will be a useful ladder to help you along the way in your learning and practicing.

At the press meet His Holiness said that too much attention is being paid to a secondary level of difference between people and neglected the basic oneness of human beings.

In his address to the Brazilian industrialists and business leaders, His Holiness said that 20th century had witnessed too much bloodshed and millions of people had lost their lives.

For almost an hour and half, His Holiness spoke about Mind Training in general and later went through the text of Seven Point Mind Training...

His Holiness told the media people that they have an equal responsibility to promote and create awareness about these basic human values and that they should report unbiasly...

His Holiness began his talk saying 'We're all equal, we all want to have a happy life, and we all have rights to be happy.' His Holiness spoke for more an hour standing...

His Holiness was extremely impressed and touched by the amount of attention paid by the Mexican Buddhists throughout his day-long teaching.