General Spiritual Director
Post Spring Festival retreats in Spain
Jun 6, 2026
New Year's Eve Celebrations
Part 2
In the second post showing New Year's Eve celebrations we continue our journey to Kadampa centers across the world. Discover how KMC Spain, KMC Berlin, KMC Taiwan, Nagarjuna KMC Thornby Hall, KMC Rio de Janeiro, KMC Cologne, and Vajrapani KBC Johannesburg joyfully welcomed the arrival of 2026.
An Inspiring End of the Year at KMC Spain
At the end of the year, KMC Spain was filled with a deeply meaningful atmosphere as we came together for a purification retreat with Gen Kelsang Rabjor, followed by a very special New Year’s Eve celebration with Gen Kelsang Chokga. These events offered a precious opportunity to pause, reflect and begin the new year with a lighter and more peaceful mind.
During the purification retreat, Gen Rabjor guided us with clarity and kindness through the powerful practice of Vajrasattva. Session by session, participants were invited to let go of past negativities and mental burdens, discovering how purification is not about guilt, but about healing, renewal and creating the causes for future happiness. Many experienced a deep sense of relief, inner clarity and confidence as the retreat unfolded.
On New Year’s Eve, we welcomed the new year in a calm, joyful and meaningful way with Gen Chokga. Through practical teachings, prayers to Green Tara, shared moments, and a delicious dinner together, we experienced how celebration can arise from peace and connection rather than distraction or excess.
It was a beautiful reminder that starting the year with a clear mind and an open heart is the best foundation for whatever lies ahead.
These events were a powerful expression of the Kadampa path: transforming our mind, cultivating inner peace, and sharing this joy with others. We are deeply grateful to everyone who participated and helped create such a harmonious and inspiring end to the year at KMC Spain.
Next year, everything will be different
Instead of fireworks and a typical celebration, this New Year’s Eve with Gen Kelsang Ananda offered stillness, meaning and community at KMC Berlin. It was a calm and heartfelt way to welcome in the New Year. Through meditation, prayers and timeless Buddhist insights, we welcomed the new year with a clear and peaceful mind, blessed by Buddha Avalokiteshavara, and supported by a warm and genuine sense of connectedness.
Gen Ananda explained why New Year’s intentions rarely lead to lasting change and how a compassionate intention is the transformative power many long for, yet, rarely cultivate. A compassionate intention is the heart of all spiritual practice. Without transforming our motivation, old habits quickly return. He emphasized that a compassionate intention - the sincere wish to benefit ourselves and others - is the true source of inner strength and stability, freeing our mind from suffering. When our intentions are grounded in compassion and supported by wisdom and meditation, they become a powerful cause for genuine transformation.
This is the transformative power many people long for, yet rarely cultivate consistently. It was a peaceful and appreciative atmosphere, accompanied by meaningful conversations. An evening full of clarity, connection, and positive, compassionate intentions for the year ahead!
New Year at KMC Taiwan
We had a wonderful holiday celebration at KMC Taiwan, filled with a warm, cozy, and festive atmosphere. We enjoyed a small raffle, created a wish tree, and offered virtuous prayers for the new year. It was a meaningful time that brought everyone together in joy, gratitude, and hope for the year ahead.
wonderful surprises at New Year’s Eve at KMC Rio
At KMC Rio, we welcomed many new people who decided at the last minute to spend a different kind of New Year’s Eve with us, and their stories were truly moving. Everyone left thrilled and joyfully surprised by what they found. We began the evening with an inspiring class on how the regular practice of meditation can help us create a truly different year. Afterwards, it was time to celebrate, enjoy a delicious dinner, and share stories and experiences.
It was delightful to spend this time with friends from the Sangha who are already like family, and also to meet, laugh, and talk with new people who quickly felt at home. It was beautiful and truly fun.
Finally, we began the prayers to Buddha Avalokiteshvara, and at exactly midnight we started the recitation of the mantra as the fireworks began - unforgettable!
May this blessed start to the year be the cause for enjoying the rest of it in the company of Venerable Geshe-la. May we never forget Guru Avalokiteshvara in our hearts, and may we maintain our determination to let the practice of meditation transform our lives in 2026 and always.
New Year Course at Nagarjuna KMC, Thornby Hall
Our special New Year course with Pet Finden at Nagarjuna KMC Thornby Hall offered a meaningful opportunity to pause, reflect, and begin again from within. As the year drew to a close, participants were gently guided to let go of past burdens, reconnect with their inner values, and set clear, compassionate intentions for the year ahead.
The course combined gentle meditation practices with practical Buddhist advice, making the teachings accessible and deeply relevant to everyday life.
As the evening unfolded, the atmosphere became increasingly serene and contemplative. The course concluded at midnight with candlelit prayers to Buddha Tara. Participants left feeling grounded, inspired, and ready to step into the year ahead with renewed purpose and an open heart.
New Year, new you – how to make positive change possible
KMC Cologne welcomed the new year with numerous new participants at a New Year's meditation in the evening. Gen Gyudzhin explained in his loving way how inner peace can become a source of strength for ourselves and our family and friends, and how we can define and maintain our resolutions for inner, spiritual development in the new year.
Afterwards, there was a lively exchange about how we can implement in 2026 what we had heard. The participants were very grateful for the inspiration and encouragement to take their happiness into their own hands.
New Year at Vajrapani KBC Johannesburg
During our New Year's Eve event, our Resident Teacher Gen Mila shared Venerable Geshe-la’s advice on the importance of meditation for gaining perspective - reflecting on what we consider daily problems and what we currently call happiness. Through the practice of wishing love, we meditated on the immeasurable wish for everyone to be happy all the time and to experience the happiness of enlightenment. Using the Liberation from Sorrow sadhana, we requested Guru Tara’s blessings to empower us to develop a superior intention to work for the benefit of all living beings.
At midnight at Vajrapani KBC, we recited Prayers for World Peace, holding a mind of wishing love for our families, friends, and all living beings. Despite a power outage from 5:30pm, with 30 guests in attendance and no air conditioning, the atmosphere remained joyful and peaceful. Miraculously, just ten minutes before midnight, the electricity was restored.
The feedback from participants was deeply positive: “A wonderful evening and the best way to spend New Year’s.” “A very special event - it was absolutely lovely.”
The New Year's Eve course was followed by a 24-hour Tara chanting retreat, beginning at 3:00 am on January 1st and concluding at 12:15 am on January 2nd. This meaningful tradition has been upheld for the past 16 years. People joined throughout the retreat, with some dropping in for one, two, or three sessions. It proved to be a very powerful and energizing experience for everyone involved.
