A very warm welcome to the Karmapa Public Course 2023! This year’s course writes history as the largest number of Karma Kagyu followers to date gathers in the Institute to receive Dharma teachings and empowerments. All the devotees are very happy to be (back) at KIBI and enjoy their course participation in the headquarters of His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje.
This year we once again invited great scholars of Buddhism to teach profound yet practical topics of both Buddhist philosophy as well as practice. Without doubt, those will be immensely helpful in our daily life as well as in our striving to become good human beings.
On top of that, the course is led by the great 21st century bodhisattva, His Holiness the Gyalwa Karmapa Thaye Dorje. The participants are profoundly blessed as the Gyalwa Karmapa will impart two empowerments as well as teachings on Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara.
In the first session of the day, Ven. Lama Jampa Thaye gave a Welcome speech and introduced the course as well as the institute, reminding everyone in the audience of the greatness of our teachers and the preciousness of the Buddha dharma. Next, Khenpo Lobsang commenced his subject, Chandrakirit’s Madhyamakavatara, an essential treatise of the Middle Way school.
Introducing the empowerment of Green Tara, the Gyalwa Karmapa stressed several general aspects of practicing the Buddhist—in particular the Mahayana—path: first, the importance of enjoying what we are doing. Be it Lodjong (Mind Training), or any form of (visualization) practice, if we simply enjoy the practice, we will find limitless inspiration and continue on and on, without striving for an “end”. Further, the motivation we generate is of utmost importance, while aspiration and dedication share a “common ground”: the focus of aspiration is on the activity aspect or, in other words, the present moment and our utilization of it, and dedication brings in the aspect of impermanence—each moment lived fully, with aspiration, is simultaneously bound to cease. As long as we don’t see its genuine nature, we call it impermanence; once realized, it is dedication—the “flowing along” with whatever happens.
Following in this line, the empowerment was concluded with the Short Aspiration Prayer of Sukhavati. By the merit accumulated through sharing & listening to the precious dharma, through practicing and receiving blessing, as well as through all the manifold activities in support of realizing and running KPC, may the suffering of all beings be fully alleviated, may well-being and happiness increase and swiftly lead all beings to the state of complete Awakening!
