Day 3

Fall Festival 2019

A grand beginning

"The main point is to keep a peaceful mind through listening to teachings on Kadam Dharma and trying to put them into practice."

Feature

This evening, Gen-la Dekyong, General Spiritual Director of NKT-IKBU, gave the very first teaching of the 2019 Fall Festival in the Kadampa Temple for World Peace Grand Canyon.

What an amazing privilege it was, to be present on such an auspicious occasion. Over 3,000 people packed the Temple to listen to Gen-la begin the Festival by explaining how everyhting we would enjoy in the coming week has arisen from the great kindness of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.

In so many ways we felt the presence of Venerable Geshe-la, and nobody who experience this occasion could be in any doubt of his extraordinary vision and love for the people of this world.

Two years ago, this was an empty field and today we sat in a magnificent Temple, listening to extraordinary teachings from a fully qualified Kadampa teacher. How wonderful!

Thank you Venerable Geshe-la for this inconceivable gift; and thank you Gen-la for bringing Geshe-la directly into our hearts today.

My First Festival

Raziel Tovar Garcia

Monterey, Mexico

“This is a learning experience for me - seeing the level of organisation involved in this festival and having an opportunity to put Geshe la’s teachings into practise here, especially through volunteering. I was on one of many shuttle buses that took us to the Grand Canyon organised through the kindness of festival organisers. The Grand Canyon is a great place, but the most beautiful part of it is being with other Kadampas."

Each year, the Fall Festival offers an opportunity to visit a different location see some of the most beautiful places in the world. And this year's Fall Festival is no exception. Today, through the kindness of the Festival organisers we were treated to a trip to the nearby Grand Canyon, after which the center is named.

Please enjoy the beautiful photos of this magical event.

5 Minutes of wisdom

What people are saying

Heather McCalman

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

“My visit to the Grand Canyon was epic, and it was especially meaningful to be there with Sangha and our Guru at our heart giving love to others around us. When we got back, I looked up at the tiers inside the new temple and was reminded of the massiveness of the canyon - it keeps on going and going!”

Valerie

France

"When I entered the temple, it was very beautiful and I felt a lot of emotion. I was happy, but had little tears running down my face. I realized just how fortunate I was to be able to be here. I like that Gen-la explained that all the cars driving by will notice the temple and a little seed will be planted in them to find Dharma. Geshe-la sent lots of blessings for so many people to be here."

Daniel

Columbia

"I came from Colombia with fifteen friends. We went into the Temple together and the first thing I noticed was the amazing detail. I loved what Gen-la said about how the Temple arose from our work in our own meditation centers, going to festivals, buying from Tharpa, and all the small contributions from each of us around the world."