April 23 — World Book and Copyright Day

This day is an occasion to remind ourselves once again of the importance of reading books. As René Descartes said, “the reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest people of past centuries, and moreover such a conversation in which they reveal to us only the best of their thoughts.” Reading the sacred scriptures is like communing with the greatest holy figures in the history of humanity, who have exerted their influence on us for millennia already. Lama Tsongkhapa, at the end of his life, asked his future disciples not to grieve that they had not met him in person, but to read his works “Lamrim” and “Ngagrim,” and this would be equivalent to a personal meeting. On this day one can recall the sacred books of Buddhism: “The Word of the Buddha,” the “Kangyur” and the commentaries on it by the great teachers and followers of the Buddha, the “Tengyur,” as well as the “Lamrim” of Je Tsongkhapa. “In the library of the Central Khurul we have gathered an enormous collection of Buddhist books of various schools and authors, and our collection is constantly growing,” noted in this connection the senior administrator of the Central Khurul of Kalmykia “The Golden Abode of Buddha Shakyamuni,” Yonten Gelung. “We pay great attention to books, since for Buddhists the Dharma is the chief of the three jewels. It is precisely thanks to books that humanity has preserved the Teaching of the Buddha for 2,500 years already and has the opportunity to study and practice the Dharma in all its depth and breadth. On World Book and Copyright Day we wish that the Buddhist Teaching may always be preserved in our world and bring benefit to all living beings.”