Dalai Lama @ Lit Fest: India is our guru, we are 'chelas'

Stealing the limelight at the Jaipur Literature Festival the Dalai Lama on Thursday spoke about India's immense contribution to learning since ancient days beginning with the Nalanda University, in his talk on the Buddha's influence on the literary world.

The spiritual leader who spoke for the first time at the event since its inception in 2005, said, "India is our guru and the source of all the knowledge we have has come from Nalanda."

Kicking off a series of sessions that would speak about the influence of Buddhism on philosophy and literature for the next five days, the Dalai Lama praised India calling it a "living example of how different religions and communities can live in coexistence".

The Dalai Lama one of the major speakers of the day, received a rousing applause when he spoke about Ahimsa and India's role in promoting secularism.

"India's greatness lies in the idea of Ahimsa. This country is a living example for the world to see how so many religions can exist together for centuries," he said.

"Secularism doesn't mean disrespect of other religion. India's understanding of secularism is to respect all the religions and not give preference to any," he said.

The 77-year old Tibetan leader spoke at length about varied topics like morality, education system and secularism.            "India is our guru and we are your chelas (disciple). We are not just your chelas but we are also faithful. All the knowledge to us has come from India," the nobel Prize winner said in Jaipur.