Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa
  • The Karmapa
    • A Short Biography
    • The Lineage of Karmapas
    • Activities & Projects
  • Teachings
    • YouTube Archive
    • Video Library
    • Podcast
  • News
  • Schedule
  • Buddhism
    • Shakyamuni Buddha
    • Buddhism in India
    • Buddhism in Tibet
    • Kagyu Lineage
    • The Golden Rosary
  • Centers
    • North America
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Oceania
    • Africa
    • South America
  • Office
    • Media
    • Contact
Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa Karmapa – The Official Website of the 17th Karmapa
  • The Karmapa
    • A Short Biography
    • The Lineage of Karmapas
    • Activities & Projects
  • Teachings
    • YouTube Archive
    • Video Library
    • Podcast
  • News
  • Schedule
  • Buddhism
    • Shakyamuni Buddha
    • Buddhism in India
    • Buddhism in Tibet
    • Kagyu Lineage
    • The Golden Rosary
  • Centers
    • North America
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Oceania
    • Africa
    • South America
  • Office
    • Media
    • Contact
  • English
  • France
  • Germany
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Canada
  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • Poland
Feb 22

Compassion in Action: The Well-Being Free Medical Camp


14 February, 2017 – Sujata Vihar, Bodh Gaya, Bihar,
The essence of the mahayana teachings is bodhichitta, the wish to attain full awakening so we have the capacity to truly benefit others. From the very beginning of entering the path, the focus is on others: there is not only the wish to help them but the actual engagement in specific activities. For many years now, the Kagyu Monlam has sponsored medical care for the local population, following the Karmapa’s directive: “When we do something for people, we have to do it genuinely as if we are doing it for ourselves.”

The first three days of the camp, called the Multi-Specialty Medical Camp, are held in conjunction with Max India Foundation. It has won many awards for its Corporate Social Responsibility, which focuses on healthcare for the underprivileged. Its CEO, Mohini Daljeet Singh, has come each year to Bodh Gaya to oversee the camp and meet with the Karmapa. Among the large network of Max Hospitals in India, this year she sent out a request to the Max Hospital in east Delhi, and six doctors responded with the wish to participate. Many of them had already staffed in free clinics in the Delhi area and their specialties covered pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, and general surgery.

Also participating in the camp are three Tibetan women doctors trained in allopathic medicine from Sikkim, and eight Tibetan nurses from Delhi and Sikkim, who are followers of the Karmapa. Finally and importantly, there are two senior doctors from the local Gaya Medical College, who will help during the camp and also with the people who need follow-up care. Near the Monlam Pavilion, easily accessible to the participants is the Tibetan Medical Camp, where Tibetan medical doctors provide free diagnosis and medicines as well as two Tibetan physiotherapists offering their services. In total, there are fifty people volunteering at the camps this year.

From the Karmapa’s Office of Administration, Lhakpa Tsering for many years now has been organizing the camp, which this time extends from February 14 to 18. The day starts at 9 am and finishes around 5 pm or when all the patients have been taken care of. To let people know about the camp, for days beforehand a vehicle with a recorded announcement has circulated through Bodh Gaya and the surrounding ten villages and leaflets in Hindi have been distributed in a five-kilometer radius.

Each year, Lhakpa Tsering explained, they have tried to develop their services and add value to what they are doing. This year, in addition to diagnosis, counseling, free medicine, and hospital referrals, they have added the awareness of preventative measures people can take to improve their health. The nurses have prepared presentations in Hindi, and in the main hall where the camp takes place, short movies are continually shown, covering topics such as the dangers of smoking, the importance of hand-washing, breast cancer and TB awareness as well as how to prevent malaria, hepatitis, and typhoid. Also new this year is free diagnostic testing on the advice of the doctors.

On this first day of the camp, some 100 people have arrived in the morning on a large white bus. Separated into lines of men and women, who often have children in their arms or by their sides, they are lined up in front of a long table where three nurses take their initial information. The patients range in age from two to ninety-one. Afterward they move inside to have their vital signs taken and then watch the informative films while waiting see a doctor. On this first day 600 people received medical care, and that number or more are expected for the remaining days.

Late in the morning the Karmapa arrived to tour the facilities and meet the staff. He was welcomed by Mohini Singh and Lhakpa Tsering, and invited inside to see the pharmacy and meet the staff. He entered each of the four offices, greeted all the doctors, and then walked across the street to visit the Akong Tulku Rinpoche Memorial Soup Kitchen, located at a Buddhist monastery near the medical camp, so that patients waiting to return home can have a meal.(**) The head monk greeted the Karmapa and they walked together to the outdoor shrine with a lovely statue of the Buddha to whom the Karmapa offered a white scarf. He then proceeded to view the kitchen, peering into the bags of cabbages and carrots and greeting the workers, before posing for a group photo with all the volunteers. With the Karmapa’s presence and blessing, there was a feeling of quiet joy that the camp had gotten off to a wonderful start.
20170214AM_HHGK visits Medical Camp

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • E-Mail

Related Posts

  • The Nuns Gain Confidence: The Debate CompetitionsMarch 20, 2017
  • The Gyalwang Karmapa Attends 34th KalachakraJanuary 14, 2017
  • Winter Debates End with an Historic Announcement and Great GratitudeMarch 16, 2016
  • An Announcement From The Gyalwang Karmapa About The Recent Tragic Events Concerning Two Tibetan ChildrenMarch 6, 2016

[ long read ]

MIND TRAINING TEACHING
The Gyalwang Karmapa gave an extensive teaching on the 8 Verses of Training the Mind

[ video series ]

THE PRAJNAPARAMITA
Taught over six sessions, this is a direct explanation of the Buddhist view of emptiness

[ long read ]

THE CHENREZIK PRACTICE
The Gyalwang Karmapa taught on how to practice Chenrezik and recite his mantra

[ video series ]

100 SHORT INSTRUCTIONS
Taught over nine sessions, this text by the 8th Karmapa was taught in great depth by the present Karmapa.

[ long read ]

THREE PRINCIPLE ASPECTS
A comprehensive teaching that condenses the entire Buddhist path by Tsongkhapa

 

Recent Updates

  • Approaches to Understanding the Thirty Verses of the Mind Only
  • The Inauguration of the 23rd Kagyu Gunchoe
  • The Essence of Glory: A Shakyamuni Puja in the Kadampa Style
  • The Gyalwang Karmapa’s Closing Remarks to the Mar Ngok Summer Teachings
  • Differing Perspectives on the First Council and the Compilation of the Tripiṭaka
  • Upāli – the Foremost in the Vinaya and Contemporary Analyses of the First Council  
  • Ananda’s Offenses, Arhatship, and Recitation of the Sūtras

Kagyu Office Around the World

中文 // Français // Polski // Español
The Karmapa’s website is carbon neutral. //

About the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa

His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, is the head of the 900 year old Karma Kagyu Lineage and guide to millions of Buddhists around the world.

Born in 1985, the Karmapa resides in his temporary home at Gyuto Monastery in India after making a dramatic escape from Tibet in the year 2000.

Traveling the world, the Karmapa skillfully teaches traditional Tibetan Buddhist Dharma while also advocating topics such as environmental conservation, feminism, digitization of the Dharma, and much more.

Please use the icons below to find the Karmapa on social media maintained by his office of administration.

// // // //

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Please view our Privacy Policy. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo