Some images from today’s visit: [Click on any image to enlarge]
Today Ven. Rinpoche visited the juvenile detention centre in Ulanbataar city. He was greeted by the head officer of the detention centre. They had a meeting in his office where he updated Ven. Rinpoche with the current status of the young boys. There are 6 young boys in the detention centre at present. The centre has been moved to a new facility in the outskirts of Ulanbaataar city. There have been a lot of new developments in the detention centre, such as providing the same education as other schools in Mongolia to the boys. They can study up to the level of higher secondary school.
Ven. Rinpoche personally thanked the officer for all his good work to provide the best opportunities for these young boys and of making good use of their time in the detention centre. Ven. Rinpoche met all the 6 young boys and the staff. They showed him great respect and appreciation for his coming to visit them. Ven. Rinpoche gave them a Dharma teaching and advised them to make the best use of their time in educating themselves and learning new skills as they now have these facilities in the centre. He also advised them to make a strong motivation every morning to make their lives a happier and meaningful one. He told them that there are no bad people. Mistakes are made by everyone but if they make a strong motivation to improve their behavior and bring changes into their life, then they can do a lot of positive things. This will help them live a meaningful life. Ven. Rinpoche prayed for their health and success and distributed Dharma books from HH the Dalai Lama which were translated into Mongolian. He advised them to read and learn from these books. He also distributed socks, toiletries and sweets to all the boys.
Ven. Rinpoche has been going to this juvenile detention centre for many years. Members from Asral Charity also go to the centre every week to help these boys. Asral provides psychotherapy and counselling sessions to the boys and brings Buddhist teachers to the centre to give teachings to them. We were informed that the boys are showing a lot of interest in meeting Buddhist monks. The office of the juvenile detention centre provides a room, which is now in the middle of renovation, for these young boys to do daily meditation and prayers.
In the afternoon Ven. Rinpoche went to an old student’s family where her father was passing away. Ven. Rinpoche performed the appropriate Buddhist rituals and gave blessings, prayers and instructions to the family as to what needed to be done when he passes away.
In the evening, Nalahai monastery’s abbot invited Ven. Rinpoche for a dinner along with a few other Tibetan lamas, including HE Kunde Ling Tatsak Rinpoche, Ven. Gosok Rinpoche (abbot of Ganden Monastery in Mongolia), Ven. Woeser Rinpoche, Ven. Thuksay Rinpoche. Many other Geshi, monks and nuns were also invited. There was a performance of traditional music and song for the evening.
