The 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, had given sermons to Tibetan monks and Buddhist followers over the past two days in Tibet, winning the appreciation of an audience of about 1,400.

It was the first time the 20-year-old Panchen Lama, one of the two most senior living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, has preached sermons since he was enthroned as a Tibetan Buddhist leader in 1995.

About 800 monks dressed in crimson and mustard cassocks while 600 believers wore traditional Tibetan robes as they attended the sermon given on Monday morning and Tuesday morning at the Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery in Xigaze in southern Tibet.

The 11th Panchen Lama, who is also vice president of the Buddhist Association of China, spent more than four hours outlining his understanding of "The Three Principle Paths," a Buddhist classic written by Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism.

"It is a blessing to me that I can hear the teachings of the Panchen Lama in my lifetime," 67-year-old Yangla said.

"I benefit a lot from the sermons of the living Buddha," she said.

The Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery was built in 1447 and was the traditional residence of Panchen Lamas.

The 11th Panchen Lama was born in February 1990 in Lhari County, in northern Tibet's Nagqu Prefecture, with the secular name Gyaincain Norbu.

He was approved by the central government as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama in November 1995 after a lot-drawing ceremony among three candidates in the Jokhang Temple in Lhasa.

Since then, he has offered head-touching blessings to hundreds of thousands of believers and enthusiastically participated in activities for the public good.