His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa visits Hamburg, Germany
His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje visited Hamburg, Germany on the 21st and 22nd of June, 2007. This would be the final stop for the joint travels of Lama Ole Nydahl and His Holiness until they meet again in August for a program in Kassel, Germany. About two thousand people turned out over the course of these two days to pay respect to His Holiness and to receive his blessings.
On the morning of the 21st, His Holiness was welcomed with the traditional offerings of body, speech, mind, quality and activity in the symbolic form of an Amitayus statue, a Dharma text, a stupa, a jewel and a double dorje. Afterwards, he was shown a presentation of all the centers in Germany while they enjoyed refreshments together. Then, His Holiness gave pertinent advice on how to work together harmoniously with trust and the motivation to help all sentient beings. He encouraged everyone to use these two days towards the development of bodhicitta. Once the meeting was over His Holiness blessed all the children who were in attendance and offered a small toy to each child.
That evening, Karmapa Thaye Dorje gave teachings on the essence of bodhicitta (enlightened mind). Afterwards he gave the lung (oral transmission) of the Mahamudra Prayer and the Bodhisattva Promise. He then blessed the large crowd of people one by one on into the night as they patiently waited in queue.
On the evening of the 22nd, His Holiness gave the Dukar (white umbrella) empowerment to nearly two thousand disciples, who had traveled from all over the world to be with His Holiness and receive his blessings. Karmapa elucidated the purpose of the practice, explaining how it can help one to be free of all kinds of obstacles of body, speech and mind. He added, “It is like a rain drop into the Ocean. Once the rain enters the water, there is no way to separate them. In the same way, our minds and the wisdom aspect become inseparable.” Lama Sherab Gyaltsen Rinpoche was also in attendance that evening and participated in the ceremony with His Holiness.
