An inspiring weekend in Vienna!
Oct 5, 2024
Home  →  News  →  2024 Spring Festival General Festivals & Celebrations
28 May 2024
Dorje Shugden Empowerment and teachings
on the Extensive Protector Puja
By now there is a strong feeling of harmony at the Festival amongst everyone attending, a pervasive feeling of peace and protection. Everyone is appreciating the teachings, which help us to understand how to improve our own practice and help others to find happiness.
"Dorje Shugden always helps, guides and protects pure and faithful practitioners by granting blessings, increasing their wisdom, fulfilling their wishes, and bestowing success on all their virtuous activities."
Heart Jewel
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Throughout the morning meditation with Gen Devi, the teachings with Gen-la Jampa and the first retreat session with Gen Tonglam there is a central theme: how we need protection for our spiritual life.
 The Temple was very quiet as over 1000 people listened intently to the teachings and especially to the words of our precious root Guru that Gen-la Jampa so kindly and powerfully shared with us. Taking his time and sharing them in full, he enabled us to deepen our heart connection with our Spiritual Guide and take his advice and encouragement into our hearts. A key point of the teachings was understanding the dependent relationship between being a sincere practitioner and receiving the powerful blessings and protection of Dorje Shugden whose function is to protect and flourish Kadam Dharma in our hearts and our world.
Geshe-la explained in his teachings that wanting sentient beings to experience the happiness of full enlightenment through helping Kadam Dharma to flourish indicates that Kadampa practitioners have very special good hearts. In this way, we are keeping our heart commitment of cherishing others. We want Kadam Dharma to flourish because we cherish people.
In the meditation sessions we had the opportunity to concentrate on heartfelt contemplations and sincere determinations, and to feel their power changing our minds and building the inner protection we seek. 

In the evening we began our short retreat with Gen Tonglam.
Through receiving the wisdom blessings of the Dharma Protector we can transform appearances of adversity into realizations of renunciation, compassion and wisdom.
"I love this empowerment because every time I receive it I feel like my practice is renewed and invigorated. Also I enjoy coming back to Manjushri KMC and this time it was especially great to see all the improvements."
"I really feel this Festival has brought me closer to Dorje Shugden by understanding his nature is wisdom even though he looks a bit different to other Buddhas."
"Gen-la Jampa's teachings are so pacifying. Everyone seems peaceful."