Joyful Dharma Celebrations in Austria and Malaysia
Apr 19, 2024
Both Brasil and France enjoyed their annual Dharma Celebration with their National Spiritual Directors over NKT Day weekend. Enjoy the wonderful photos they have shared.
This weekend, many Kadampa centers around the world took advantage of the Easter holidays to offer special events. And with Saturday being NKT Day it was also an occasion for special pujas and celebrations. In this first post on the events of the weekend we feature the mother center, Manjushri KMC in the UK and IKRC Grand Canyon in the US.
NKT was formally registered as a charity in July 1991. On Saturday April 3 the following year, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche inaugurated NKT Day, which was to be celebrated on the first Saturday in April every year.
The International Kadampa Buddhist Union is a global spiritual family emanating from the heart of our precious Spiritual Guide, Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche. One of the many advantages of this union is that because the Dharma and spiritual direction are the same for all constituent centers it is easy for them to engage in cooperative ventures. Here we feature two recent collaborations.
Last weekend, a rain of blessings fell as many centers around the world held special events at which fortunate Kadampa students received empowerments both in-person and online.
Lat weekend saw many special events in Kadampa centers around the world, with empowerments and other activities online. Enjoy this selection of photos from these events
With over 350 people around the world registered to take part in the online burning offerings this weekend at Manjushri KMC, all eyes on Saturday were on the Vajrayogini Burning Offering presided over by Gen-la Dekyong, General Spiritual Director of NKT-IKBU.
Traditionally at Kadampa centers, February is a time to engage in the practice of Amitayus, the Buddha of long life, wisdom, and merit Some centers engage in short retreats, while others offer special pujas.
Gen-la Kelsang Dekyong will explain the meaning of Buddhist refuge and preside over an online Mahayana refuge ceremony from Manjushri KMC on February 26 – 28. This is a rare and precious opportunity to receive teachings from the General Spiritual Director on the very essence of the Buddhist path.
As a result of requests from many students, Manjushri KMC has received special permission as a one-off to offer Heruka and Vajrayogini fire pujas live-streamed internationally. Gen-la Dekyong, Spiritual Director of NKT, will preside over both fire pujas online for those who have completed a counting retreat but have not been able to attend a fire puja at a center due to current travel restrictions. The pujas will also be open to those who have previously successfully completed a counting retreat and qualified to take part.