General Spiritual Director
Moments of Wisdom and Compassion: Highlights from Barcelona, London, and Basel
Dec 6, 2024
Gen-la Khyenrab visiting Scotland
Gen-la Khyenrab's auspicious visit to Scotland included visits for the first time to KMC Aberdeen and a special weekend at KMC Edinburgh. Everyone felt very inspired to go deeper on the spiritual path.
Gen-la Khyenrab visiting KMC Aberdeen for the first time
Public Talk with Gen-la Khyenrab in the Snowy North
On a very wintry Tuesday evening over 70 people gathered together from areas in the North of Scotland to enjoy Gen-la Khyenrab's talk Understanding Our Mind.
Based on Venerable Geshe-la's book How to Understand the Mind, Gen-la introduced us to the nature and function of the mind. Weaving in mindfulness, concentration, and karma he described how, by controlling our mind and applying Buddha's teachings in our daily life, we can truly solve our problems and find real happiness. The evening finished with a powerful guided meditation on equalising ourself with others.
Afterwards many people stayed to talk and enjoy the canapes and mocktails made by our wonderful volunteers and had the opportunity to meet with Gen-la Khyenrab directly. Thank you Gen-la Khyenrab for visiting the North of Scotland and inspiring us to go deeper with our spiritual path.
Following the event we had a wonderful weekend retreat with Gen Tubchen and an opportunity to deepen our practice in meditation.
A wonderful weekend at KMC Edinburgh
Public Talk and Centre brunch with Gen-la Khyenrab
On Friday 22 November, KMC Edinburgh was delighted to welcome over 80 people to attend the evening public talk Change Your Mind, Change Your World with Gen-la Kelsang Khyenrab. Despite the snowy forecasts, many travelled from the surrounding areas to be there and enjoy learning about the transformative power of meditation. Gen-la taught how, by changing the way we view ourselves, others, and the world around us, we can transform every situation into a meaningful opportunity for spiritual growth and positivity. After the talk, attendees enjoyed discussing the talk at a mocktail and canape reception.
The next day, the Centre hosted a brunch with Gen-la and students of the Centre braved the snowy conditions to come along and spend some community time together.
Pratimoksha Vow Ceremony
Following Gen-la’s visit, on Sunday afternoon, eight of the community's lay Kadampa practitioners joined together to receive or to renew their Pratimoksha vows in a very special ceremony. These are lifelong vows of moral discipline taken with the motivation of renunciation - wishing for permanent inner liberation.
Gen Wangmo taught on the power of renunciation as a joyful and liberating mind, and explained how moral discipline is the firm ground upon which all our other spiritual realizations grow.
After the flurry of activities around Friday's special event, it was a very powerful and deeply peaceful ending to the weekend. Such a beautiful and incredibly meaningful occasion!
