At Dalai Lama’s place

At Wednesday according our plan, we wanted to travel to Dharamsala. The town’s name was totally unknown for me until I understood who lives there and what a huge meaning in the spiritual world this settlement has. At 1950 China attacked and conquered Tibet. In this war over 1 million Tibetans were killed, and another 100 000 were forced to run to India. Among them also was their spiritual and political leader Dalai Lama. He settled in Dharamsala, which quickly became an important Buddhist center, attracting pilgrims from all over the world.

After we traveled whole night, early in the morning we arrived in Dharamsala. A part of our team went in a hotel and another part - to local missionaries, who were only 3 people, from “Youth With A Mission”. Later in the day we planned to visit the upper part of the town where Dalai Lama was living. There were troops in front of his residence who didn’t allow visitors to enter inside, and even didn’t allow making photos. Right in front of his home was built a big Buddhist temple with few meters high golden statue of Buddha. There were tens rolling prayer wheels on the way to the temple and around the temple itself. When the pilgrims pass them, they pray and with right hand roll the wheels only in one direction. The wheels are made by wood and there are prayers written on them. This ritual has important part in the Buddhist’s life. Here is the place where we have to say few words about the Buddhism.

This is a monist religion, it means Buddhists don’t believe in the existing of a personal God. According the Buddhism, the world is ruled by the nature laws and phenomenon, not by a Creator. In the Buddhism doesn’t exist the concept of sin in the meaning that it has in the Bible - sin and rebel against God. The Buddhism appeared about 560 BC in the territory of today’s India, Uttar Pradesh state. Its founder is Siddhartha Gautama, later called Buddha or The Enlighten.

At this moment in the world live about 600 million Buddhists. In India they are 5 million. Just the fact that in Dharamsala lives Dalai Lama shows us the huge spiritual meaning of this city with population 22 000 people. I noticed that only a few Christians were living there - the three missionaries and five local believers. What a big inequality of the powers! Just in such cities, which have such key meaning for the whole world the missionaries, full with the Holy Spirit and faith, must be sent. If we look Dharamsala with our spiritual eyes, we will see a black and dark fortress, built by Satan, which disgorges and floods the whole world with a false doctrine. Every year Dalai Lama speaks to his fans. While we were in Dharamsala, we saw a white man, maybe American, with a skinned head and in a red coat, showing that he is a Buddhist monk. How right is God’s Word when says in Romans 1:24,25 "That’s why, according the passions in their hearts, God push them into dirtiness, their bodies to be violated among them themselves - they, who changed the true God with a lie, and preferred to worship and serve the creation, not the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen". This man came from a Christian country, where maybe has heard the Good News, but has ignored it and hugged the devil’s lie. There were tens young boys in this Buddhist center, who became monks. We saw how they were exercising. They jumped from one leg to another in a very strange way, with a body inclined forward, flapping with a right hand and screaming.

While we walked around the temple, we saw, at few meters from us an old woman, also with skinned head and a read coat, staying in front of an idol. We stared at her, to see what she will do. Praying to the idol, she fall down on her face in front of it, stayed in this pose for a while, then stood up. Then she again repeated the same ritual, over and over again. We stayed few meters behind her, but nothing seems could disturb her in her worshiping. I thought, over 1 billion Muslims in the world worship Allah, 850 million Hindus worship their idols, 600 million Buddhists do same, but I have seen too few Christians worshiping God, in the way that He ordered in His Word - with spirit, soul and body. From Genesis to Revelation, every word about worship written in the Bible, describes the purpose of creation of every human being - to worship God.

I believe, God expect from us as Christians, when we meet together, to give Him blazing and worthy worshiping, a time when we tell Him how great is He and how good is He to us, but also I believe, God expect from us a time, when we praise Him. At a moment when the words are not enough, and we stay in from of Him with reverence, when all our personality praise Him, showing Him that He is the Greatest Master, and we are just His obedient servants. In many Christian’s prayer life the body worshiping is an undivided part of their communication with God, when they are in their “hidden room”. But it is not like this, when the Christians meet together in the church. The biggest reason is the shame, which don’t allow us to show with body our worship too. When Moses told the Hebrews that God has heard their prayers and He is coming to save them from Egypt slavery, they fell down in front of Him (Ex. 4:31). At the dedication of the Solomon’s Temple when God’s glory came down over the Jews, they fall down and worshiped. (2 Chr. 7:3). But one of the most impressing example is: "...when the living creatures offer glory, honor and thanks giving to the One, Who sits on the throne and lives forever, the twenty four old men fall down in front of Him and worship the One, Who lives forever, and lay down their crowns in front of the throne..." (Rev. 4:9,10). The twenty four old men show us what we must do, when we are in God’s presence - nothing else but just to fall down and worship. I say all this with one purpose - if the pagans can with all their heart worship their idols, then how much we Christians must worship the living God. You reader, have you ever thought about this? I challenge you to pray for God’s grace, which can help you to have a real communication with him.

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