International Summer Festival 2023 diaries
Kadam Lamrim of Sutra & Tantra
July 28 - Aug 12 2023
The Complete Path to Enlightenment
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A GREAT ASSEMBLY OF FAITH
Gen-la Dekyong, the General Spiritual Director of NKT-IKBU, began Week Two of the Festival by rejoicing that through the wisdom blessings of our Spiritual Father - Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche - over 3,000 people have made the decision to come in person, literally from all over the world. The festival site is noticeably busier. Tents have overflowed for the first time ever into the adjacent field, and there is a joy in the air at so many Kadampas gathered together.
WHAT IS GREAT BLISS?
DAY 8 ~ HERUKA EMPOWERMENT PREPARATIONS
We enjoyed a morning of meditation, skilfully guided by Gen Sangden, in order to prepare our minds to receive the profound blessings of the Highest Yoga Tantra empowerments.
The power of gathering together as a great assembly becomes truly apparent during the afternoon Heruka Empowerment Preparation with Gen-la Dekyong. The stewards help to seat everyone so that there is barely a spare seat to be found, but it doesn’t feel crowded - it feels powerful and full of faithful minds. When you look around you see people of every age and background all with the same wish to have a meaningful spiritual life.
During the preparations we already begin to leave the ordinary world behind, and through the power of correct imagination and the wisdom of imputing, to understand the incredible power of Tantric practice. As we leave the temple, with a determination to maintain a mind of love, we are ready to receive the actual empowerments.
“This is the most incredibly diverse festival I've been to: amazing to practice with people from all parts of the globe!”
Festival Podcast
If our mind is peaceful, we’re happy regardless of our external situation… In any situation, it’s how our mind is relating to what’s appearing to it that determines whether we’re miserable or happy.
