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 21

Songs of the Kagyu Fathers: A Special Ganachakra Blessing

2016.02.17i
17 February, 2016 -Monlam Pavilion, Bodhgaya
Every three years HH the 17th Karmapa offers a reward to those who have completed the 400,000 long ngondro or traditional foundation practices: refuge recitations and prostrations, the Vajrasattva 100 syllable mantra of purification, the Mandala offering of the universe and Guru Yoga. Each of these practices prepares the ground for receiving advanced yidam practices and Mahamudra on the Vajrayana path. Refuge and prostrations to the Mahamudra lineage focuses the mind on the Kagyu lineage masters; recitation of the Vajrasattva mantra cleanses negativity; the Mandala offering accumulates merit; and through Guru Yoga we receive the blessings of the lineage through the three gates of body, speech and mind.

At 7 pm the Karmapa walked in casually and re-arranged the 1000 international practitioners who gathered in the Pavilion. He called everyone onto the stage, and as if by prior arrangement, there was indeed exactly the right number of people to sit in each space. Nuns and monks in robes, and laypeople in white each received a white shawl with a red triangle sewn into the upper centre back, symbolizing our profound connection with the lineage of Milarepa, who wore only a cotton cloth and practised tumo in the freezing Tibetan winters. With two nuns from Bhutan and Nepal as Umdze or chant masters we all sang the Songs of Realization of the Kagyu masters from The Rain of Wisdom. At a certain point the Karmapa joined the Umdzes and the union of male and female voices, powerful and clear, led the assembly into the essence of devotion, with the Karmapa as lineage father supporting his family.

After the ganachakra ritual, we received a delicious concoction which we were told to eat completely on the spot without leaving any remainder. As the ritual closed the Karmapa announced, without any kind of fanfare, that he had received some pills containing the 16th Karmapa’s blood which he would like to hand to us. These were not to eat he said, but to keep with us. The blood had the meaning of both a family connection and the heart blood of essential instructions given to intimate disciples. He moved deftly up and down the aisles handing a packet to each person until 11 pm, without showing the slightest sign of fatigue. Similarly we emerged into the quiet darkness energised and blessed by the lineage father in body, speech and mind.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • E-Mail

Related Posts

  • Generating Bodhichitta— Day 7 and 8: Teachings on One Hundred Short InstructionsDecember 14, 2014
  • The Common Preliminaries are the Foundation of Dharma Practice – Day 6: Teachings on One Hundred Short InstructionsDecember 11, 2014

[ 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

  • 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
  • Results of the First Buddhist Council: How the brahma penalty was imposed on Channa

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