The students of Shri Diwakar Buddhist Institute had done a great job preparing for the big event.

A huge tent had been set up in the grounds behind Gyalwa Karmapa’s residence, featuring a wide stage with a throne for Gyalwa Karmapa and a large shrine, lavishly decorated with offering bowls, tormas, flower garlands and bouquets of flowers.

The front and side walls were hung with thangkas of the forefathers of the Kagyu lineage, from the primordial Buddha Dorje Chang to Gampopa, the root guru of the first Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa, and the line of Karmapas from the first to the sixteenth, as well as some of the Mahasiddhas (great realised yogis).

Pride of place was given to a large painting of Buddha Shakyamuni, flanked on either side by representations of Manjushri, the Buddha aspect representing supreme knowledge or wisdom...

The front part of the tent was reserved for the hundreds of monks and nuns who had arrived from dozens of monasteries in India and Nepal, whereas cushions had been laid out for the lay devotees in the back half of the tent.
The path leading from Gyalwa Karmapa’s house to the tent had been marked with drawings of the eight auspicious symbols.

On the morning of the first day of the celebrations, monks, nuns and lay practitioners gathered in the tent for the recitation of sacred texts, starting with the taking of refuge and cultivating of bodhicitta (the mind of enlightenment), followed by praises to Buddha Shakymuni, the Arhats and the great Bodhisattvas and recitation of the names of Manjushri. The sacred chants pervaded the atmosphere, carrying blessing and inspiration.

After a delicious vegetarian lunch to which all guests were invited the sound of gyalings announced the arrival of Gyalwa Karmapa in the tent, where he joined the assembled lamas, monks, nuns and lay devotees for the recitation of various aspiration prayers, including Samantabhadra’s King of Aspiration Prayers for Excellent Conduct, the main prayer accumulated during the annual Kagyu Mönlam gathering in Bodhgaya.
After a tea break everybody once again assembled in the tent for a session of teaching with Gyalwa Karmapa.

Apart from the large numbers of monks, nuns and lay devotees, over five hundred students from different schools and colleges of Kalimpong had gathered to listen to Gyalwa Karmapa’s teachings.
He started out by talking about the meaning of Buddha Purnima, emphasising the importance of the occasion due to the fact that it commemorates three equally significant events in the life of Buddha Shakyamuni.
“It is a very special day for all practitioners of Buddhism, because it is the anniversary of three important events in Lord Buddha’s life.

First of all, it is the anniversary of Lord Buddha being born in our world.
Secondly, under the Bodhi Tree, he attained what we all wish and hope to attain: perfect enlightenment. There are many many different types of liberation which are known throughout the world, over the centuries and millennia – they have their own philosophies, theories, conclusions, ideas about various forms of liberation, but the one that Gautama attained under the Bodhi Tree is known as the perfect enlightenment, the absolute liberation. So that’s the second event.

And the third one is known as the Parinirvana, meaning that the present conditions that we have – the external or outer conditions which are the world we live in; the inner conditions, such as our thoughts and our own body; as well as the secret conditions, our own consciousness – that all of these are compounded phenomena, and from the moment something is compounded, it is a given that at one particular time whatever compounded phenomenon was there will be subject to impermanence; it will dissolve. And so, in order to demonstrate that, to show that, the Buddha passed away into perfect enlightenment, and in doing so he left with a great teaching, showing that all phenomena come to an end. It is neither good nor bad; it is natural.
So these three events sum up the whole teaching of the dharma, everything that we as practitioners are trying to understand and achieve.”

Gyalwa Karmapa then continued his dharma talk by addressing the topic of meditation, inviting his audience to share their own thoughts and questions on the subject and encouraging everyone to regularly question themselves about the meaning and purpose of dharma practice, rather than just going through the motions.
After the session of teaching His Holiness joined the sangha for the puja of Mahakala, a protector of the Buddha’s teaching.
In the evening Shri Vihara Buddhist Institute was beautifully lit with garlands of multicoloured lights, and the alternating sounds of gyalings and radungs resounded from the rooftop.