The January retreat season at Manjushri KMC opened Wednesday night with an introduction by Gen-la Kelsang Thubten to the first retreat entitled Meditations on the Heart Sutra, which has over 300 people attending in person and online..

Gen-la emphasised what great good fortune it was to meditate on an entire Sutra of Buddha's words following the sublime commentary by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche in his precious book The New Heart of Wisdom.

"Gen-la told the story of how Buddha delivered the Sutra on Mass Vultures Mountain. Everyone was very inspired. We felt as if we had traveled back in time and witnessed this extraordinary event in person.

"The retreat will consist of meditations on the meaning of the Sutra led by Gen-la. Each day will begin with a session in which we will practice of The Great Mother, a special method for overcoming hindrances and obstacles based on reciting and contemplating the meaning of Essence of Wisdom Sutra."

This retreat will be followed by a retreat on the Heruka generation and completion stages led by Kadam Morten Clausen.