The French Festival was definitely a banquet of delight for the French sangha who had the great good fortune to enjoy this special time with Gen-la Khyenrab, retired General Spiritual Director of NKT-IKBU and National Spiritual Director of Canada.

In the days before the Festival, he guided a Sojong Ceremony on the 15th of April, Buddha’s Enlightenment Day, and the gave public talks in Paris and Lille.

Then the Festival began. Over 300 people gathered at KMC France to receive the blessing empowerment of Arya Tara from Gen-la and teachings based on Meaningful to Behold by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. The Festival concluded with a guided retreat led by Gen Eupame, National Spiritual Director of France.

The title of the Festival was Becoming the Friend of the World and right from the start Gen-la encouraged everybody to try to make the precious mind of bodhichitta their purpose for participating in the Festival and in this way make this holiday meaningful. He added that to hold that nectar of bodhicitta we need a suitable vessel - the mind of refuge. Arya Tara being a perfect refuge for us since she has a special connection with the people of our world and especially for Kadampa practitioners.

Great good fortune
70 people took or renewed their Pratimoksha vow with Gen Eupame before receiving extraordinary and practical teachings from Gen-la Khyenrab on the practices of equalizing and exchanging our self with others, the heart of the Bodhisattva way of life, the quick path to enlightenment.

On top of that, the day before the Festival started, Tharpa Editions received copies of Great Treasury of Merit freshly printed. It is the first time this precious book has been published in France.

A wonderful reminder of how fortunate we are to have met such an extraordinary Spiritual Guide, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, who is gathering all the perfect conditions for us to become a better person and benefit others. (continued after the video)