General Spiritual Director
Booking for the Fall Festival 2026 opens 4 days
Jun 14, 2026
International Fall Festival 2025 diaries
At International Kadampa Retreat Center
Grand Canyon
Day 3 ~ connected and protected
One of the many beautiful things about international Festivals is that everywhere you look you see faith and devotion in action. People make offerings, meditate, read and discuss Dharma between sessions as well as working with joy and enthusiasm to enable the Festival to run.
We are united in our love of Dharma and our common faith and this leads to an uncommon warmth and friendliness even among such a large group of people. The very act of attending the Festival is a form of refuge from ordinary life as we seek sanctuary in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha and intensify and enrich our spiritual lives.
filling our hearts with faith
In this Festival in particular our focus is on faith in Guru Dorje Shugden, recognizing him as inseparable from our Spiritual Guide and Je Tsongkhapa. In both teachings Gen-la Dekyong helps us to deepen our understanding and appreciation of the value of the unmistaken Dharma we have met through the kindness of Venerable Geshe-la. She helps us draw close to him and to want to be faithful qualified students, so that we can move beyond intellectual understanding and gain actual experience of the teachings to benefit both ourselves and others.
She encourages us to care for our faith like a precious jewel and to keep it in our heart. With faith it is easy to make spiritual progress. We have the practice of Heart Jewel to help us to do this on a daily basis including when we go home. In this way we can stay connected to our Spiritual Guide and protected by our Dharma Protector.
how we can be happy day by day
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A Dharma protector is an emanation of a Buddha or Bodhisattva whose main functions are to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent practitioners from gaining spiritual realizations and to arrange all the necessary conditions for their practice.
protecting dharma in our hearts
During the teachings we receive a commentary to the essential points in the book, Heart Jewel, interspersed with priceless oral teachings from Venerable Geshe-la. These include a special way of reading Dharma books, and a simple but profound way of relying on Dorje Shugden to receive his blessings, protection and special care.
What we are protecting in particular is the inner Dharma, pacifying our inner obstacles and helping us to develop compassion, bodhichitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness. This is the inner Dharma that needs to be protected and outer conditions are of secondary importance.
how does dorje shugden help you?
The day begins and ends with collective prayer and meditation. As Gen-la reminded us, the reason why we feel so happy during Festivals is that we are focused on Dharma, we enjoy the company of spiritual practitioners setting a good example for us to follow, and we are engaged in service for others. She encourages us to continue this day to day, following correct methods and staying close to Guru Dorje Shugden. In this way we can do our own scientific research and we have a great opportunity to let ourself be happy every day.
