The Third UK Kagyu Monlam
2:00pm 27 May 2023 - 7:00pm 02 June 2023
Cost: £0.00
Venue: Samye Ling
After missing three years due to the pandemic, this year we are happy and honoured to host the third UK Kagyu Monlam in Samye Ling.
The Monlam will take place during Saga Dawa, the most auspicious month in the Tibetan calendar, where the anniversary of Lord Buddha’s Birth His Enlightenment and Parinirvana all occur.
Drupon Khen Rinpoche has kindly agreed to preside over the Monlam and to give daily teachings. Drupon Rinpoche will teach on "A String of Pearls – Gampopa’s Community Teachings” and a copy of the text will be available to all who register for the teachings. We are grateful to Rinpoche for providing this unique opportunity to study a text not previously taught in Samye Ling.
We also plan to celebrate our Abbot, Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche's 80th birthday on the final day of the Monlam, 2nd June and everyone is most welcome to attend.
Please send an email to bookings@samyeling.org to register and to book accommodation in Samye Ling. Preference will be given to those booking for the whole time.
Please be aware that anyone attending the teachings must come to every session except in case of emergency, though this does not apply strictly to prayer sessions.
We hope this third UK Monlam will be a magnificent event and that as many people as possible will take part. Please do come to help us work towards achieving H H Karmapa's wonderful aspiration for the Kagyu Monlam - see his inspiring message below.
The Kagyu Monlam is a major international prayer festival held annually in Bodhgaya, India, where people gather to listen to Buddhist teachings and to pray for peace and harmony and the well-being and happiness of the world. It is now also held annually in other countries all over the world on a smaller scale and this will be the third time it is being held in the UK.
History: Though the Kagyu Monlam belongs fully to the contemporary world, its roots lie in 15th-century Tibet, where the 7th Karmapa, Chödrak Gyatso, established the tradition of great prayer gatherings. People from all over Tibet assembled annually to pray for the benefit of all sentient beings. In India, the Monlam tradition began in 1983, when two great lamas in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, Kalu Rinpoche and Bokar Rinpoche, began holding annual prayer gatherings at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya.
After the 17th Karmapa assumed responsibility for the festival in 2004, he brought in many innovations, creating the international festival that exists today.
The 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s Aspiration for the Kagyu Monlam
"I make this aspiration that when you recite these prayers during the Monlam, each word may first arise in your heart, and then emerge from your mouth. I pray that every letter and syllable becomes a golden image and that every word fills the entire world. May all the sounds of lament and war as well as the poisonous winds in the environment be dispelled. May these words of love and compassion blend with the innate goodness of every single being and coalesce into one powerful force. Like the light of the sun, moon and stars, may love, compassion and wisdom shine forth. May they strike every single living being and dispel the darkness of ignorance, attachment and hatred that has lurked for ages in their being. When any living being meets another, may it be like the reunion of a mother and child after a long separation. In a harmonious world such as this, may I see everyone sleep peacefully to the music of non-violence. This is my dream."
There is no course fee for the Kagyu Monlam, though donations towards overheads are most welcome. Donations may be made in the Reception Office in Samye Ling.
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