Guru Rinpoche empowerment in Kuching
Thaye Dorje, the 17th Karmapa bestows Guru Rinpoche empowerment in Kuching.
On May 19th His Holiness granted the empowerment of Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava, the “Lotus-Born”, to a gathering of approximately 1,500 devotees. The preparation for the empowerment started in the morning, with His Holiness and the gathered Rinpoches, lamas and monks performing the puja of Guru Rinpoche.
Just like the previous night, the evening session started with a series of offerings to His Holiness by countless sponsors and devotees, preceding the actual empowerment.
When asked to give a short introduction into the meaning of the empowerment, Gyalwa Karmapa started out by emphasizing the preciousness of our human existence:
I think that we must acknowledge that among all the positive circumstances [mentioned previously] the main one is our precious human rebirth – with this existence, with this rebirth, we are able to communicate and share our knowledge with great freedom… Due to this existence we are able to share very beneficial information, beneficial not just for this life but for all our rebirths, for all our lives. This precious information is none other than the knowledge, the wisdom that was very generously, very kindly explained and taught by our historical Buddha Shakyamuni – his journey in life and his teaching have given us an example of how to follow virtue, how to follow positive qualities in life.”
His Holiness then went on to explain that all the elaborate rituals and methods practiced in Vajrayana Buddhism are not an end in itself but ultimately serve the purpose of cultivating inner wealth, and most of all contentment.
Prior to becoming a Buddha, Siddhartha showed that he had everything – all the outer conditions anybody could wish for, but that after a while if there is no contentment in the heart, if there is no contentment in the mind, if there is no inner wealth, such as kindness and compassion, then no matter how comfortable you may be physically, it doesn’t last. So therefore, instead Siddharta set forth to find peace within the mind.
And of course we all know the historical facts of how he obtained the truth, absolute happiness in his life, meaning that what he really achieved was contentment.
It is said that if there is less desire, less attachment, and more contentment, there is always joy.
I think in short that’s exactly what he achieved, and exactly what we have to pursue when we follow our path. So we have the precious Buddha dharma, meaning a very precious path, precious guidelines, precious teachings, which progressively show us how to achieve contentment.”
Report: Rabjam Rikki Caty
May 19th Guru Rinpoche Puja with Gyalwa Karmapa at Pullman Hotel in Kuching
Albums from 4th official visit to Malaysia:
[ngg_images gallery_ids=”7″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_pro_masonry” size=”190″ padding=”10″]
