NEWS & CURRENT ACTIVITES

January 1, 2014 – Bodhgaya.
For most people the first day of 2014 was a holiday, but the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa’s day was filled with a range of activities combining duty, social activism and ritual.

It began with a Massed Clouds of Nectar Sang smoke puja offering in his golden tent at the centre of the Garchen, for purification and invocation of blessings. His Holiness was joined in the puja by Gyaltsab Rinpoche and other Kagyu tulkus and lamas.

Next, on the first day of the new year, His Holiness paid a visit to the holiest Buddhist site in the world, the Mahabodhi Temple. There he launched the official 2014 calendar of the Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee in the inner sanctum, before presiding Read the rest of this article

December 27, 2013
Tergar Monastery, Bodhgaya, India
In the main shrine hall of Tergar Monastery, a large chair with a curving back covered in luminous white silk has been placed in front of the Buddha. His Holiness the Karmapa has taken his seat there to witness and participate in today’s debates on the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) view. The participants are senior monks and teachers from various monasteries, who have formed two groups, one of the defenders, seated behind a row of ornately painted tables, and the other of the questioners, who are gathered behind a standing microphone about fifteen feet away. Displayed on two screens flanking the Karmapa are digital clocks, counting down the split seconds of the fifty minutes for this debate.

The debate is unhesitating, animated, and vigorous. In the midst of the intense exchanges, the Karmapa Read the rest of this article

24 November, 2013 – Martam Sikkim.

On Lhabab Düchen, the 24th November, 2013, Kyabje Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche led the prayers and blessing ceremonies to inaugurate Drub De Yid Wong Sam Ten Ling, the new Dharma Chakra Centre retreat centre at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. He also offered prayers during the installation of the Ganjera on the retreat centre roof top and inaugurated its new shrine room. Thousands of people from the nearby villages and towns of Martam, Song, Khamdong, Rumtek, Sajong and Gangtok gathered at Martam to celebrate this auspicious occasion. The chief guest was the Hon. Justice of the Sikkim High Court, Mr Sonam Wangdi.

The new retreat centre is named after the retreat centre at Tsurphu Monastery in Tibet, the principal seat of the 900-year-old Karmapa lineage. His Read the rest of this article

16 November, 2013 – Bodhgaya

In a significant event for all concerned, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje became the first world spiritual leader to visit the central shrine of Buddhism, the 1500 year old Mahabodhi temple complex, since the bombings by extremists earlier this year.

At the entrance to the temple grounds, he was welcomed warmly by the Monk-in-Charge, the Secretary of the Mahabodhi Temple Management Committee and the District Magistrate, who then escorted him.

By-passing the newly-established security checkpoints, Gyalwang Karmapa walked into the complex, down the central steps and headed directly to the Mahabodhi temple shrine room. He was greeted along the way by devotees from around the world. Flanking both sides of the pathway, they proffered pink and lilac lotus blossoms or ceremonial white Read the rest of this article

5 October 2013 – New Delhi

His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, addressed students and faculty of the Ambedkar University Delhi on 3rd Oct on a range of topics relating to emotional wellbeing. After a brief opening address to the packed hall at the university’s Kashmere Gate campus, the Karmapa engaged in extended dialogue with MPhil students from a number of departments.

This interaction at Ambedkar University Delhi marked the Karmapa’s first major visit to a university in India. Known for its commitment to social justice, Ambedkar University Delhi is the first university in the region dedicated entirely to postgraduate education and research in the social sciences and humanities.

Describing the ideal spiritual practitioner, or bodhisattva, as “an activist Read the rest of this article