Karmapa presides over Kagyu Monlam in Bodhgaya

HONOURS PADMASAMBHAVA IN SACRED DANCE
Gangtok, 10 Jan: For the first time ever in India, the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, today performed an elaborate sacred dance honouring Padmasambhava, the Indian mahaguru who was instrumental in establishing Buddhism in Tibet. The prayers and sacred dance are being held as part of the 31st Kagyu Monlam prayer gathering in Bodhgaya in Bihar, an official press communiqué informs.
Padmasambhava is particularly known for having pacified strong opposition to Buddhism during the earlier stages of its transmission from India to Tibet. The elaborate Garchen Tsechu puja is held to prevent obstacles and to ensure peace and prosperity, the release details.
As the release explains, the Karmapa is leading this puja along with the sacred lama dance “with the aim of pacifying causes behind degradation of the environment and in beings, that everyone in the world may be happy, and that all the people in the India, and in particular the state of Bihar and the sacred site of Bodhgaya, may be happy and prosperous”.
Coming six months after the most sacred site of Buddhism was subject to a bomb attack, the prayer gathering reaffirms the Buddhist commitment to non-violence, with thousands of people from across the Himalayan region and from 30 other countries praying for peace in India and around the world.
“No bomb can destroy the Buddha’s love or blessings,” the Karmapa is quoted as saying.
It will not help if we respond to violence with more violence. Rather, we need to take full personal responsibility for our own behavior and our own interactions with others. We need to learn to care more for and about others, and we must especially remember that the fundamental purpose of all religious traditions is the same: to help others.
Held for the 31st time in Bodhgaya, the Kagyu Monlam continues a tradition established in Tibet in the 14th century. Since the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, began presiding over the annual gathering in 2004, it has grown rapidly and now attracts over 10,000 people, primarily Himalayan Buddhists. It has also expanded to include social service and educational initiatives, including extensive medical, dental and veterinarian clinics.
This year’s Monlam particularly honours the Indian roots of Tibetan Buddhism. The day-long event upholds a unique form of a dance tradition that was brought from India into Tibet over a thousand years ago. Senior lamas of the Karma Kagyu lineage headed by the Karmapa also joined him on the stage to perform the sacred dance, as will nuns from three nunneries across the Himalayas.
In addition to the Padmasambhava puja, the 31st Kagyu Monlam includes Dharma public discourses and empowerment, and five days of intensive prayers for world peace. On the final day, classical singer Shree Vidvan Nanda Kumar will perform a Sanskrit doha by the Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa whose lineage the Karmapa holds today, followed by sacred songs by Buddhists from all traditions. In an event that highlights the musical contributions of India, Bhutan and Tibet, the doha performance will be complemented by song and dance presentations by a troupe from Bhutan and by the Tibetan Institute for the Performing Arts (TIPA).