18 December, 2014 Bodhgaya
The arrival of His Holiness the Sakya Trizin at Tergar monastery on December 18th, 2014 marked an historic re-connection between the Karmapa lineage and the Sakya Trizin. Previously the 16th Karmapa, Rigpe Dorje, nurtured the young Sakya heir when he first came to India, for which HH Sakya Trizin later expressed his gratitude in a letter.
For over an hour an estimated one thousand people stood patiently holding ceremonial scarves and incense as they lined both sides of the one kilometre road that leads to Tergar. The Karmapa made his own car available for HH Sakya Trizin and his two sons, Khondung Vajra Ratna Rinpoche and Khondung Gyana Vajra, on their journey from Patna to Bodhgaya. As the car approached Tergar Monastery, a procession befitting royalty escorted it. Monks and lamas bedecked in dazzling orange and red brocade played horns, blew the conch, beat ceremonial drums and held victory banners aloft. A monk walked beside the car, holding high the golden parasol. The car cleared the gates through banks of juniper smoke and came to a halt near the steps of Tergar. HH Karmapa in ceremonial dress with HE Jamgon Kongtrul and HE Gyaltsap Rinpoches came down to the stone plaza to greet their esteemed guests with long silk scarves. The two Holinesses gazed at each other with loving kindness and undisguised warmth as their hands touched. Under the shade of the fringed golden parasol, they entered the darkened temple, leaving crowds of enthusiastic devotees outside the heavy wooden doors.
His Holiness Sakya Trizin and his two sons went to the shrine, lit butter lamps and threw a katag up to the huge golden Buddha. Then escorted by HH Karmapa, they went upstairs for a private lunch; afterwards HH Karmapa brought them back to the car and their heads touched in parting.
On December 20th, HH Sakya Trizin will bestow a Kriya Yoga empowerment prior to the Chik She Kundrol, a series of empowerments that the Karmapa will be offering that afternoon and on subsequent days.
It marks the first time that the head of another lineage will give an empowerment at Tergar.
”There is a sectarian feeling that occurs in Tibetan Buddhism ” said the Karmapa, ”so (one of the reasons) we have invited His Holiness Sakya Trizin is to decrease our sectarian feeling.”
