By Tenam
Paris 20 April: Nechung Kuten, the medium of the Tibetan government’s state oracle, and monks from Nechung Monastery led a special prayer for the victims of last week’s earthquake in Tibet’s Kyigudo region. Some hundred Tibetans and few french Buddhists joined the prayers at the Kalachakra Centre in Paris organized by the Tibetan Community of France.
In an unprecedented gesture of solidarity with the Tibetan people affected by the earthquake the Shadhiliyya Sufi community collected around 600 Euros. Shadhiliyya is the Sufi order founded by Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili and followers are known as Shadhilis. Today it is the most popular Sufi order in the Mediterranean region and also has followers in Indonesia, France and few other European nations.
They said that this is a gesture in solidarity with people struck by disaster and brothers helping each other without any distinction based on nationality or religious faith. They will send the donations directly to agencies working in the area. The group Shadhiliyya in France has organised many interfaith exchanges with Christians, Jews and Buddhists in recent years.
Donations were collected from Tibetans living in France as the Tibetan Community plans to launch a massive drive in France to help the survivors of the deadly earthquake that left more than two thousand people dead according to the official Chinese figures. The number is disputed by Tibetans who fear that the Chinese government is understating the number of deaths.
Thanking the French President Nicolas Sarkozy for the solidarity letter sent to the victims of the earthquake, Thupten Gyatso, from the Tibetan Community requested Sarkozy to discuss the wishes of the people of Kyigudo stated through a letter circulated on the internet expressing their wish to have the Dalai Lama visit them.
“We ask you to inform your Chinese counterpart, Mr. Hu Jintao, about the request by Tibetans in the region affected by the earthquake. They are waiting for His Holiness the Dalai Lama to visit the area and pray for them,” Thupten Gyatso wrote in a letter to the French President.
Earlier the Dalai Lama also expressed his eagerness to visit the quake affected areas and said he would like to pray with the affected families for those who have lost their lives and offer solace to them.
The Nechung Kuten and the monks wrapped up a ten-day tour of France today. The ceremony of Buddhist rituals ran packed house at the prestigious National Opera of Paris last Saturday.
