24 February, 2017 – Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya The ritual preceding the Cham—an offering of the Fifth Shamar’s abridged form of the Sixth Karmapa’s text Incinerating the Hostile—began at 11.00pm on the 24th February. Vigorous chanting accompanied by the beat of both large temple drums and hand-held drums, punctuated by a crescendo... read more →
Mar
10
Mar
10
24 February, 2017 – Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya After only a few hours of sleep, rinpoches, lamas, khenpos, monks, and nuns reassembled in the Pavilion in the middle of the night to begin the third day of the Great Encampment Mahakala pujas. There was a surprising chill in the air at... read more →
Feb
25
Feb
25
22 February, 2017 – Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya Almost overnight the Kagyu Monlam Pavilion had transitioned from a cool, elegant space appropriate for sutric-based prayers for world peace into a fiery, dramatic hall dedicated to the wrathful practices of those fierce deities who protect the dharma, and in particular the lineage... read more →
Feb
25
21 February, 2017 – Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya For over three hundred years, from the time of the Fourth to Tenth Karmapa, the Karmapas traveled extensively in what was known as the Great Encampment. This allowed them to reach disciples all over Tibet with great flexibility and spontaneity. From the time... read more →
Feb
23
19 February, 2017 – Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya The last afternoon of the 34th Kagyu Mönlam started slightly earlier than usual with a Medicine Buddha tsok practice according to the Concise Ritual of Offering to the Seven Tathagatas, compiled by the 6th Sharmapa. Tsok, in the form of small bags of fruit,... read more →
Feb
23
19 February, 2017 – Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya The extensive Ritual of Offerings to the Gurus, always performed on the last day of the Kagyu Monlam Chenmo, was composed in 2005 by His Holiness the 17th Karmapa. It is a compilation drawn from many famous Buddhist texts. The puja often serves... read more →