June 22, 2015
Dharamsala
"On the occasion of celebrating his eightieth birthday, I offer my greetings to HH the Dalai Lama, the great protector, who is to all of us Tibetans, the refuge for this life and those to come, and the one who brings peace and well-being to the world. I also give my greetings to the leaders of the spiritual lineages and their representatives as well as to the Sikyong, head of the Central Tibetan Administration, to the representatives in the parliament, all the staff offering their services, and to all the ordained and lay people who have gathered here today.
"Usually, in the presence of HH Dalai Lama, I feel a bit shy and words do not come easily, but today he must have blessed me since I've found the courage to speak. Just now, the great lamas and their representatives have given extensive advice so if I talk a lot, people will be quite bored. However I would like to say that from a young age, His Holiness has continually born the responsibility for the teachings and living beings. In particular, at the age of sixteen he took on complete responsibility for the affairs of state and religion. Since then, continually throughout the day and night he has worked very hard― something all of us know well.
"The one who carries the responsibility for the country and the Dharma is an impressive title; however, it came at a grave and critical time for Tibet, so that as a young man, His Holiness had to take on this tremendous responsibility under extremely difficult circumstances. An ordinary person would have a hard time imagining the worries and concerns he would have had then in that situation that had never before occurred in the history of Tibet. The country underwent a huge transformation so that the Tibetan people were divided into those who remained in Tibet and those in exile. The situation turned so difficult that His Holiness could not stay in Tibet but had to flee.
"In brief, under extremely difficult circumstances from his early years until now, His Holiness has continually taken on difficulties without hesitation. For all his trials and tribulations, it is impossible to express enough appreciation and gratitude, but to be in harmony with today's celebration, I will say that disregarding hardships, you worked with your body, speech, and mind to benefit the teachings and all the people of the world, in particular those of Tibet, and so I offer this gratitude from the depths of my heart.
"Since they are very clear to everyone, there's no need to speak about His Holiness' activities or his great qualities. The main point is that I feel extremely joyful that he has arrived at his eightieth birthday. I also want to give special thanks and offer my gratitude to the Domed Organizing Committee for preparing this wonderful celebration.
"The very best offering we can make to His Holiness is to please him and make him happy. We can show our gratitude by fulfilling his wishes to the very best of our abilities. This would be the best way to bring him happiness. As for myself, I continually make efforts to do all I can to please him, trying my best to act so that not even one second of displeasure arises in his mind.
"Since he has spent the majority of his adult life outside Tibet, the Tibetans within the land of snow, just as someone who is thirsty yearns for water, continually hope and aspire to meet him in person and hear him his words directly.
"People have given their body, life force, and wealth so that His Holiness might come to Tibet. I make the constant aspiration that His Holiness will celebrate his birthday of turning ninety in the great land of Tibet.
"Now it's especially important that His Holiness take some rest and relax after making the great efforts that we all have witnessed for the benefit of the teachings and living beings. This is my hope for him, because even if he does not do anything, his mere presence among us brings immense benefit to the Dharma and to all who live.
"I offer my great gratitude for the enormous activity you have sustained until now, and for the future, I hope that your schedule can be more relaxed and that you will enjoy more leisure time."
Source: https://www.facebook.com/michele.martin.54943/posts/10153029551613811
(Karmapa's speech starts from 3h 9m 30s)