༧ཀུན་གཟིགས་ཞྭ་དམར་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཡང་སྲིད་ངོས་འཛིན་དང་འབྲེལ་བའི་ཐུན་མོང་གསལ་བསྒྲགས། / A Joint Statement Regarding the Reincarnation of Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche / 關於認證全知夏瑪仁波切轉世之聯合聲明 སྤྱི་ལོ་ 2023 སྤྱི་ཟླ་ 12 ཚེས་ 4 ..read more

Bokar Shedra Omar Chimey Ling 29 January 2023 The monks who attended the Kagyu Gunchoe have been joined by additional monks from Bokar, Rumtek, Ralang, Zurmang, Sonada and Phodong monasteries. The younger monks are being accommodated in tents. The nuns of Bokar Dolma Lekshay Doeguling Buddhist Institute have also joined, and the Monlam umzes are drawn from both monks and nuns. The main shrine hall of Bokar monastery is decorated according to Monlam tradition. Great banners and drapes in the Buddhist colours hang down and the altar and stage are festooned with fresh, bright marigolds. From bene ..read more

Bokar Shedra Öbar Chime Ling 17/18 January 2023 At the request of H.H. Gyalwang Karmapa, Bokar Rinpoche Yangsi, Kyabje Khenchen Rinpoche, faculty members of participating Shedras, tulkus, khenpos and all the monks at the Kagyu Gunchoe joined to offer the two-day ritual of Hayagriva. In recent years, one of the 17th Karmapa’s aims has been to restore the traditions and rituals of the Karma Kamtsang, and from early on in his time in India, he assigned various rituals to be performed annually by particular monasteries. This Hayagriva ritual is an important and precious tradition within the Karma ..read more

Kagyu Gunchoe Winter Teachings 2023 • Day 2 16 January, 2023 Today we have easy access to copious Buddhist texts that have been translated into our own native languages. However, this fortunate situation could not have arisen without the hard work of translators, both modern and ancient. His Holiness began today’s teaching by paying homage to the panditas of the past, whose many skills and supporting abilities—including great diligence and care—are important to appreciate. His Holiness remarked that he has tried to translate a few texts on his own over the past few years. Yet when he reads the ..read more

My voice is locked. I’m not sure if I’ve got much to say, I’m losing my voice. I’ve been spending a month teaching, and so I really don’t feel like I have much to say. In general, in the current situation, it is not easy for me to go to India, as you all know. All of you members of the sangha and the monasteries in India know that when I was in India, I had many difficulties. It was very difficult for me to travel, no matter where I wanted to go. Even if I wanted to go up to Dharamsala, I had to ask for permission. Later the situation improved a little, but at the very beginning, it was very d ..read more

The Mar Ngok summer teachings concluded with the Gyalwang Karmapa leading the monastic communities in a Shakyamuni puja. The recitations included the Karmapa’s newly composed “Praise of Shakyamuni Buddha,” based on Mātṛceṭa’s “Hymn to the Buddha in 150 Verses” (Śatapañcāśatka), an extensive and complex work. The sadhana for the main puja also included new writing by the Karmapa, and one new melody composed by the Karmapa which was used during the Mandala Offering and the Guru Yoga (later a shorter sadhana of this puja was provided by the Karmapa for daily use). As was the Karmapa’s specific i ..read more

Mar Ngok Summer Teaching 2022: Day 14. In today’s shorter teaching, the Gyalwang Karmapa concluded his discussion of the First Council and the compilation of the baskets of the Sūtra and the Vinaya. He focused particularly on what various scholars have said about its structure, its time and location, the participants, the schedule, and questions raised about its authenticity. The order of events at the Council According to the Indian scholar, Professor S.R. Goyal, Mahākāśyapa presided over the council, whereas Upāli and Ananda led the group recitation or compilation of the Dharma and the Vinay ..read more

Mar Ngok Summer Teaching 2022 Day 12 His Holiness explained that he would continue speaking on the second of the two accounts, as taught in the “Great Commentary on the Hundred Thousand Prajnaparamita” attributed to Nagarjuna. The teaching session began with an explanation of Ananda’s six offenses. There are primarily ten different accounts of Ananda’s offenses: The five offenses according to the Theravada “Khandhaka” The six offenses according to the Mahīśāsaka “Five-Part Vinaya” The six offenses according to the Sarvāstivāda “Ten Recitations of the Vinaya” The seven offenses according to th ..read more

The Mar Ngok Summer Teachings 2022: Day 11 After His Holiness the Karmapa had greeted everyone, he reminded his listeners that he had previously spoken about the different accounts of the First Council found in the Kangyur and Tengyur, which he had divided into two groups and described in two ways. As the first way of describing it had already been covered, His Holiness expressed the necessity to now look at the conclusion of the description of the first account, giving the following outline: Ananda teaches Channa the Dharma (according to the “Five-Part Vinaya” of the Mahīśāsaka school) How A ..read more

Mar Ngok Summer Teaching 2022 Day 10 On day 10 of the Mar Ngok summer teachings, His Holiness resumed the presentation of the order of the First Council, attempting to compile and synthesize disparate accounts from the following four extant sources: The Dharmaguptaka “Four-Part Vinaya” The Mahīśāsaka “Five-Part Vinaya” The Theravāda “Khandhaka” The Mahāsāṅghika Vinaya Comparative sequential ordering of the events of The First Council, according to four disparate traditions of extant Vinaya The Order of the First Council According to the Dharmaguptaka “Four-Part Vinaya” The Mallas’ preparati ..read more