A Festival run on kindness & a Temple built on kindness

Summer Festival 2019

Day 12

A Festival run on kindness, a Temple built on kindness

"Material conditions can never solve human problems and give pure and everlasting happiness."

Festival life

The Joy of Serving Others

Today we celebrate the great kindness of others, and especially the kindness of all the volunteers working to help Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche's extraordinary vision become a reality.

As we can see, both at the Temple project in Arizona and the Summer Festival in the UK wonderful people are accomplishing wonderful things.

You cannot be at the Summer Festival and not marvel at the complexity of the organisation. And yet everything runs smoothly and efficiently. All our basic needs are taken care of by teams of kind-hearted people. Indeed, almost the entire festival runs on the voluntary work of the people attending it.

Why are people so keen to volunteer at these events?

My First Festival

Penelope

Oregon, USA

“Working with other Kadampas is a delight. Everyone works together harmoniously with a really wonderful spirit in a loving way. It’s selfless giving, and the festival can’t function without volunteers. By investing yourself in it you’re really being a part of what’s happening, and this gives you a feeling of ownership about it, which is wonderful.”

Volunteering is part of the practice of giving - when we freely give our time and energy to benefit others. And because it's part of the practice of giving, it's always done joyfully without any expectation of acknowledgment or reward.

Wherever we look in the Festival from our initial arrival at the car park, to registration , accommodation, meals, the Temple - and just about every other aspects of the Festival, we see kind volunteers.

All of them demonstrating through their actions Venerable Geshe-la's vision of a society based on kindness and cherishing.

Listen to 5 minutes of wisdom

The Four Great Preliminary Guides - Offering The Mandala

What people are saying

Andrea Garzon

Colombia

"When you help out you feel more engaged with the festival. You become a part of the whole experience. You appreciate that everything that happens is the result of someone doing even a little bit. I would encourage everyone to try it. Try it with a good heart, thinking of others!"

Juan Torres

Mallorca, Spain

“Volunteering at the festival is very gratifying because the environment is perfect for accumulating merit easily and enjoyably. This is because we aren’t doing these jobs for ourself, we do them for others. To collaborate in the upkeep of the festival is to collaborate in Geshe-la’s work, and from my point of view this is the best thing we can do."

Alexandra Gil

Colombia

“I’m volunteering as as a marshal: making sure everyone is ok in the queues, keeping entrances to the buildings clear and so on. It’s very relaxed work because everyone conducts themselves so well - in a place where two thousand people are making effort to control their minds and to become better people in order to benefit others. It’s something so meaningful."