General Spiritual Director
Fall Festival 2024 ~ Day 2
Oct 27, 2024
Day 15 ~ worldwide retreat
deep prayers for world peace
Yesterday, thousands of people around the world came together to meditate for world peace. We meditated on a peace that for most people is impossible even to imagine - the deep peace of Guru Heruka's mind. And we prayed that all living beings without exception will soon come to enjoy this peace.
Over the last few days we have become accustomed to Gen-la Jampa's light and joyful presentation of profound subjects, and in this retreat Gen Rabten is continuing with that tradition. His presentation makes the practice so accessible and achievable. It is a delight and a privilege to end the Festival with such profound and blessed meditations.
Thank you Gen Rabten.
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Applying this to Heruka body mandala
a precious gift
Today is the last full day of the Festival, which concludes tomorrow with two morning retreat sessions.
After the Festival, for some there will be an opportunity to take part in one of the many Post-Festival Retreats planned by Kadampa centers around the world.
For others it will mean returning to our usual routine. But wherever we go, whatever we do, we will all take with us something very precious and life-changing that will remain in our hearts for ever.
Thank you Venerable Geshe-la for this precious gift.
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Thank you for all your wonderful contributions for the Diaries. See you for the next Festival.
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Transforming adversity
With only 30 minutes till session a giant monsoon came through and knocked out power to the Temple, so we did what Kadampas do best and instantly transformed!
We moved to the former meditation room and was set to go only 10 minutes late. A special thank you to our Education Team and volunteers Oliver and Damion for moving so quickly!
many helping hands
We have received so many orders at the Tharpa US Festival Shop! To make sure they arrive on time, many volunteers are helping us do things like gather the products, take them to the post, and make the invoices. Since we are on the grounds of Kadampa Meditation Center New York, many residents and even visitors help during normal and especially peak times. A big hand for everyone who is helping.
Mandalas in texas
During the Festival Renee and Kelsang Tenpa spent an afternoon showing the Sangha at KMC Texas how to make Mandala offerings! A very special moment for so many!
"When making mandala offerings to our Spiritual Guide and other holy beings, we are in reality offering them the entire universe." Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
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REFLECTIONS ON RETREAT
Gen Rabten encouraged us to imagine meditating in a beautiful tranquil environment, not difficult when sitting in the stillness and peace of the temple at Manjushri Centre. As he said it, it brought to mind the thousands of others sitting in a myriad different environments, but all of us in union, meditating together throughout the world on the exquisite mental objects within The Yoga of Buddha Heruka.
What an unusual and extraordinary festival it has been and the retreat is no different. Having received an absolute banquet of empowerments and teachings from Gen-la Jampa in week 2, the retreat gives us time to digest and deepen. Gen Rabten joyfully and skillfully guides each session of the retreat with confidence and delight. Taking us step by step into a deeper experience of our practice and giving very precious encouragement along the way.
Some gems that stand out so far:
If we look into the lives of others it will break our heart how much suffering they experience in this life, let alone future lives. This gives us powerful encouragement to develop Renunciation, Bodhichitta and Refuge.
He encouraged us to see all our practices as essentially conversations with our Spiritual Guide and to understand who our Spiritual Guide really is at a deep level. Through viewing our Spiritual Guide as a precious emanation of definitive Heruka, not other than Je Tsonghapa and Buddha Shakyamuni we can receive the most profound empowering blessings and we can have such a joyful mind, feeling close and connectioned with this holy being who has been looking after us for countless lives.
As we conclude the first full day of retreat, we understand that we are trying to achieve something so extra-ordinary, almost beyond conception, getting ourself from the state of an ordinary being to an Enlightened being, and we have found precise, extremely blessed methods to accomplish this in our tantric practice.
How truly fortunate we are to have this opportunity.
Thank you Geshe-la
GEN TUBCHEN, SCOTLAND
