Purification Retreats Around the World ~ Part 2
Apr 21, 2024
Welcome to the 2020 International Fall Festival Online
Day 3 ~ Meeting Medicine Guru
Yesterday, Medicine Guru appeared for us to bestow special blessings to transform our body, speech and mind into those of Medicine Guru through the power of Tantra.
In a powerful and blissful empowerment, Gen-la Dekyong explained that when the world is pervaded entirely by problems and dangers due to uncontrolled minds and inappropriate actions, the practice of relying on the Medicine Buddhas is so important.
She introduced us to the Seven Medicine Buddhas whom Buddha Shakyamuni invited at the request of Bodhisattva Manjushri in Vaishali, near Sarnath in India. Their appearance caused realisations in thirty six thousand Bodhisattva disciples who saw them directly, and seven hundred thousand non-human beings also attained high realisations.
Buddha said, “In the future, if living beings rely with strong faith and devotion upon the Medicine Buddhas they will be cured of otherwise incurable physical disease and mental pain, as well as all other outer and inner diseases.”
Gen-la explained how the blessings of these instructions have been transmitted in an unbroken lineage from Manjushri’s disciple Bodhisattva Shantarakshita, to our Spiritual Guide, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche.
Having generated ourself as a newly arisen Medicine Guru, all our own outer and inner sicknesses will be permanently healed and we will have the power to heal others through the most profound healing actions.
How wonderful!
the empowerment
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How Buddha Shakyamuni First Introduced them to his Disciples
je Tsongkhapa Day
Today, October 25, is Je Tsongkhapa Day, on which we celebrate the life and works of the Holy Spiritual Guide, Je Tsongkhapa and his present day emanation as our Spiritual Guide.
It is a day for remembering kindness, and repaying kindness. And what better way to repay the Guru's extraordinary kindness than to listen to and practice his teachings on Medicine Buddha.
Today Gen-la will give two teachings explaining the practice and at 19.30 UK time there will be a global Offering to the Spiritual Guide puja with a special dedication.
Enjoy this auspicious day!
video wall
teaching excerpt
Becoming Medicine Buddha
meditation excerpt
Unpleasant feelings - an inner problem
feature video
The Power of prayer
inter connected
international kadampa family online
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Send your submissions to [email protected]
video stories
Olivia, Australia
photo stories
Jerry, Hong Kong
I stayed up for the Introduction, it was amazing! I agreed 100% what Buddha says that Dharma is the supreme and only medicine for human liberation. Through experiences I agreed without doubt :-)
Jared, UK
I feel so blessed to have Gen-la Dekyong teaching me in my university accommodation!
It is amazing how the subject of these teachings is so clear, logical and straightforward, like a doctor's advice. I love Gen-la's advice to point inwards inside our mind, to recognise our problems in this way as our own unpleasant feelings. This feels so immensely practical and even recognising them helps them to disappear.
Thank you so much Venerable Geshe-la, and Gen-la Dekyong! I am very much looking forward to further teachings. May everyone find the medicine of Dharma.
Tony, Germany
Für mich bedeutet das Herbstfestival, dass einfach riesig große und neue Möglichkeiten entstehen, mich mit anderen Menschen auf der ganzen Welt zu verbinden und gemeinsam die Praxis zu üben, Fortschritte auf meinem Spirituellen Weg zu machen und natürlich darüber hinaus einfach eine ganz große Hilfe für andere Menschen und Lebewesen zu sein!
Indem wir bei diesem Festival alle zusammen Gebete und Bitten richten und uns diese Ermächtigung vom Medizin Buddha gegeben wird, denke ich das wir doch sooooo viel erreichen können durch diesen wundervollen Weg, gemeinsam mit allen Praktizierenden ist sooooo viel Gutes möglich auf dieser Welt und dafür danke ich diesem Moment und allen anderen das wir diese Möglichkeit haben
😊 🙏 Danke
Ich freue mich riesig aufs Festival
Robyn, Australia
I feel as though Gen-la Dekyong has a little secret - as she teaches she smiles. She knows the truth and is thinking "I just need to get it through to you!" I think the great Buddhist Masters like Shantideva could not have been wrong. Geshe- Kelsang Gyatso is the great Buddhist Master of our time. He is not wrong either. How Wonderful!
Maria, Germany
For me, attending the International Festivals is a practice of faith and an offering to my spiritual guide. Geshe-la has explained to us how important the Festivals are and how much he wishes to keep them alive so that many future generations can experience their immense benefits, just like I have.
I feel they are an opportunity to celebrate our good fortune of having met Kadam Dharma and connect with the global Kadampa family. My heart feels aligned to a higher purpose and I am reminded of the real meaning of this human life.
Listening to the teachings and seeing the good example of our kind Teachers who nourish us with the medicine of Dharma gives me a lot of inspiration and encouragement. Thank you
Tina, Brasil
What a teaching last night!!
Beautiful postings today!!
Thank you for preparing all these beautiful articles.
Each time better!!!
Simon, UK
It is the day of the empowerment and mid way through the beautiful meditation this morning our door bell rang. The postman was delivering a parcel from Tharpa. Look who arrived :) Thank you to everyone at the Kadampa Art Studio and in the Tharpa dispatch team for this beautiful Medicine Buddha statue. It is just like we walked into the festival shop today! Love from, Katy and Simon, Whitley Bay UK
Aurore, Canada
This morning my cat Chaton was found in front of my shine, purring, like he was waiting for the empowerment to begin. I deeply rejoice in all the living beings, humans and non humans who will received these powerfull blessings during this festival.
Have a wonderful festival everyone
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insights
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ONE DAY I WON'T BE BACK!
I visited my ordinary doctor this morning. I could not say “I won't be back!”
I have an ordinary body, ordinary self and a very ordinary understanding of my own suffering. But I know - it will certainly get worse and more frequent as I get older. Three of the four great rivers of samsara: sickness, ageing and death. It is helpful to have a realistic starting point for Medicine Buddha empowerment.
Gen-la Dekyong reminded us what an empowerment means. She said it gives us power: the power to aspire and imagine – “not to want to remain ordinary forever”. Through the blessing empowerment of Medicine Buddha we can put that aspiration into practice, make that imagination correct imagination. That’s what a blessing does. It transforms a negative mind into a positive one.
Was I inspired? At first I became very aware that I need to stop disempowering myself, normalising my own suffering, accepting inevitability. And start doing something about it. Then the empowerment takes us into such a different place it. It makes what we accept as normal seem bizarrely strange. And it brings what was unimaginable within our reach. Imagination gives the taste. Wisdom gives the reasons. Together these power our aspiration, effort and practice. Admiring faith and logical reasoning – presented in a seamless blend by Gen-la today.
So for me, today ended in a different place from when it started. I felt, not just thought, things could be different. I came away with one message: stop selling yourself short. Left to my own devices I would not have arrived at that conclusion. That is the power of Guru Medicine Buddha. That’s what an empowerment does. For ourselves and for others. It gives us hope that one day we really will be able to say, “I wont be back.” A little closer to the point of no return.
JEFF, UK
BEING EXTRAORDINARY, NOT EXTRA ORDINARY
At one point during the empowerment, Gen-la Dekyong reminded us of what Buddha beseeched us to do: Do not remain ordinary forever!
What a fantastic and timely reminder: in times like these, pervaded by great external dangers, imbued with seemingly more uncertainties than ever before (although in truth in samsara, nothing is ever certain anyway, we could all have lost all our possessions, health and our lives many times before corona appeared or the political landscape shifted one way or another... we just have a heightened awareness because external appearances are changing so tangibly), great suffering and new incurable diseases - in times like these it is particularly easy to become „extra-ordinary“ because our minds are so rattled by the appearances, grasp so tightly also at our present self that feels overwhelmed and can’t handle the situation and that needs normalcy to return to feel safe and happy.
And here we are, being reminded of our Buddha nature, of our potential to change into a completely pure and - one might say - unfazeable being who can be of unceasing benefit to all living beings through relying upon the blessings and practice of Medicine Guru!
So, let’s not be “extra-ordinary” in times like these, let’s be extraordinary for the benefit of all living beings!!!
All we need to do is follow the instructions and apply effort to receive blessings from Medicine Guru, help from our Sangha and realize the meaning of the instructions. Let’s do this!
MIRI, GERMANY
TWO WAVES OF BLESSINGS
This year my volunteer job helping at the international Kadampa Festival gatherings was quite a break from the routine. I had the good fortune to be asked to assist with translating the teachings into my language. I did this at all three festivals and wanted to briefly share my experience.
It felt like two waves of blessings. The first wave comes from the mother centre with the transcripts of powerful teachings. As soon as it touches your mind, you dive into this wave and spend quite some lovely time in it attending the meaning of the teachings. Then the translated teachings draw back to the mother centre where everything is put together. Then, at the beginning of the festival, a yet much more powerful wave is coming from the mother centre. It contains the beautiful teachings enriched with the kindness and dedication of all the translators and IT support. Everything feels completely fresh attending the festival, yet it goes easy into your heart.
I am looking so much forward to the empowerment, teachings and retreat sessions over this week.
Thank you my lovely Kadampa family ... and most of all Thank You my precious Spiritual Guide!
GEN KHANDRO, GERMANY
festival shop
Be sure to visit the official online shop for the NKT-IKBU International Fall Festival 2020.
There you will find items from Tharpa Publications to support you through the Festival Teaching Program.
From there you can also discover the complete works of the internationally renowned teacher, meditation master and author, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche, as published by Tharpa.
All profit from your purchases on tharpa.com is dedicated to public benefit through the International Temple’s Project.
