General Spiritual Director
Delighting in Buddha’s Presence
Nov 21, 2024
Day 4 ~ powerful heart
worldwide web of kindness
There is not a single aspect of this Festival that has not arisen from the heart of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.
And because of this his compassionate presence can be felt everywhere - in every home the Festival is appearing.
Venerable Geshe-la, from the depths of our hearts we thank you for this Festival, the immaculate teachings, the pure Teachers, and the extraordinary development of Kadam Dharma being streamed world wide. May all living beings quickly enjoy the great good fortune of meeting your holy Dharma.
PROGRAM FOR TODAY
Today is a special day on which we celebrate the great kindness of the Spiritual Guide.
- The day begins with a guided meditation led by Gen Rabten based on Gen-la's teachings on the Yoga of Buddha Vajrapani
- At 11am UK time Gen-la will give the second teaching on developing compassion
- At 4pm UK time, Gen-la will give the concluding teaching on developing compassion, which will finish with the blessed prayer, Request to the Holy Spiritual Guide Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche from his Faithful Disciples
- The day ends with an Offering to the Spiritual Guide puja at 7.30pm UK time at which a special dedication will be read out
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Generating faith in Guru Vajrapani
my mind will always be with you
A special feature of this Festival is the casting of literally thousands of miniature statues of the Holy Spiritual Guide at the Kadampa Art Studio at Manjushri KMC, with the prayer that his emanations will pervade every corner of the world.
It is said that as each statue is produced we believe that a new living Buddha manifests in our world from the Dharmakaya. Now every Kadampa can keep a precious statue as a living reminder of the great kindness of the Spiritual Guide and his continuous presence in our heart.
interconnected
international kadampa family online
Share your videos, photos, stories and insights from the teachings and meditations
Send your submissions to [email protected]
rachel, USA
mary, australia
sandra & sven, germany
joe, uk
Gina, mexico
We are three happy Kadampa practitioners from Mexico. We saw your post on Instagram and would like to share our experience with you.
Faye, New Zealand
This festival is such a fantastic illustration of how our body is separate from our mind! I'm thrilled to be present at the Mother Centre, despite my body being so far away. By attending from home, I feel I've been able to focus on the sessions without disruption. Thanks to everyone in our community for this phenomenal opportunity.
Katy, Hong Kong
Having received the powerful blessings from Guru Buddha Vajrapani, with deep faith in him and continued practice of the Yoga of Buddha Vajrapani, I am confident I can pacify all outer and inner demons.
isabel, brasil
We are so grateful and delighted to receiving Vajrapani blessings. This was so powerful. Thanks a lot for the great effort of all of you that are making this Spring festival online possible
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I CAN AND I WILL BECOME BUDDHA VAJRAPANI
After granting the blessing empowerment of Buddha Vajrapani, Gen-la Khyenrab reminded us that we need to maintain the blessings of the empowerment by regularly engaging in the practice of The Yoga of Buddha Vajrapani.
Venerable Geshe-la said he considers this particular sadhana to be one of our wishfulfilling jewels within our tradition. How fortunate we are to be able to practice this sadhana prepared by our Guru for us!
Gen-la then explained the common and uncommon practices of the sadhana. He said that “Getting enlightened is a process of cause and effect. Each meditation is a cause for the next meditation, which is its effect, and then there’s another cause. So if we miss out some of these causes, we can’t expect the effect to come.”
I am inspired to apply effort in the practice and also I am confident to practice it by myself following the sadhana as explained by Gen-la.
I have the wish to become Buddha Vajrapani for the benefit of all living beings but I am not able to accomplish this by myself. With my Guru’s powerful blessings and his step-by-step clear instructions guiding me on the spiritual path, I know I can and I will become Buddha Vajrapani.
Margaret, Hong Kong
INNER EXTREME VIEWS CAN BE BENEFICIAL
What a beautiful and powerful empowerment of Buddha Vajrapani!
I am still enjoying going back in my mind and revisiting all the points Gen-la Khyenrab made when introducing Buddha Vajrapani.
I was very happy to receive a teaching on beneficial "extreme views". It explained so well how to skilfully be a modern Kadampa practitioner. Most of even basic Buddhist view is in some context of modern society regarded as extreme and unusual. The belief in the existence of Buddhas everywhere, the law of karma, past and future lives and many other meaningful objects that we know through Buddhas kindness and the kindness of our present Teachers.
But we can hold these beneficial beliefs and views inside. They give our life direction, protect us from mental pain and help us to be peaceful. We do not need to openly share them unless it is appropriate and welcome. We do not need to openly carry them into society.
In traditionally non-Buddhist countries, when we first come to Buddhism and immerse ourself in the teachings, we often fear to lose our old friends, because now we do not share common ground any more - but with this way of practicing we can maintain our relationships.
We can be with our friends and families as normal; just maybe a little bit different. A little bit better. And in the future a lot better.
Gen Khandro, Switzerland
VIEW FROM MY ROOM AT MANJUSHRI KMC
From my window here at Manjushuri KMC I can see no external signs of the Spring Festival - no marquees, no people laughing, no meeting with Sangha and discussing Dharma.
But here I am taking part in the Festival with everyone else! Although we may be thousands of miles apart we are all together in Venerable Geshe-la’s heart.
How fortunate and blessed we are that during these troubled times we are able to receive the supreme medicine from the supreme doctor and take these teachings deep into our heart.
During the empowerment it felt very blessed and extremely powerful to receive the blessings of Buddha Vajrapani. How special that we have a method to help us remove the delusions from our mind and to be able to generate a supreme mind of compassion for all living beings.
I feel that for myself personally at the end of the Festival I will have taken these precious teachings and practices deeper into my heart.
Thank you Venerable Gesh-la for your supreme kindness.
Kelsang Zondru, UK
MY FIRST INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
C'est mon premier festival international !
J'ai adoré les méditations guidées par Guèn Rabten. Il a une manière d'aborder les choses très claires.
Habituellement j'ai des difficultés à méditer sur la vacuité. Suite à sa présentation, je pense que je n'ai jamais abordé une méditation sur la vacuité de façon aussi légère. Juste se dire que tout ceci est comme un rêve, ne pas chercher à aller plus loin... J'ai vraiment été surprise de ne pas perdre le fil lors de ces deux méditations.
This is my first international festival!
I loved the meditations guided by Gen Rabten. He has a very clear way of approaching things.
Usually I have difficulty meditating on emptiness. After his presentation, I think I have never approached a meditation on emptiness so lightly. Just thinking that this is all like a dream, not trying to go any further. I was really surprised that I didn't lose track during these two meditations.
Catherine, France
