Karmapa in Dhagpo Möhra 2024
About Thaye Dorje, H.H. the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa
Contributed by Paul Waibl
Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, will visit his centre of Dhagpo Möhra as part of his European tour from the 14th to the 16th of June and will speak publicly in the hall of FLUGRAUM4, Eisenach, Thuringia on the topic “Love and Compassion – Approaching the 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva”. On the 16th of June Karmapa will give refuge, the Bodhisattva vow and the empowerment for Vajrasattva (Dorje Sempa).
For all of us, this is a precious opportunity to directly meet the head of the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. This tradition has preserved with all its richness the teachings of the historical Buddha Shakyamuni, transmitted first for 1500 years in India and then for more than a thousand years in Tibet, as a living transmission. For about fifty years, the Karma Kagyu tradition has been taking root in many parts of the world.
The incarnational lineage of the Karmapas began in the 12th century with the first Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa. His successor Karma Pakshi was the first tulku to be recognized as such in Tibet. Over the centuries, his successors were found and recognized based on references, often in writing, left by the Karmapas during their lifetimes. They were fully realized yogis, often also great scholars and artists, and were among the most important and significant Buddhist masters in Tibet.
The appearance of the Karmapas was predicted in several doctrinal discourses of the historical Buddha. For example, the Samadhiraja Sutra states: “…The bodhisattva Simhananda, known as the Karmapa will appear. He will be a master of samadhi. He will tame beings and, by seeing him, hearing him, thinking of him or being touched by him, lead them to supreme joy.”
It is also said that we are living in a good age as 1000 Buddhas manifest to bring the liberating teachings, the Dharma, to the world. We are living in the time of the fourth Buddha, Shakyamuni. The predictions speak of Karmapa appearing as the sixth Buddha Simha.
The seventeenth Karmapa Thaye Dorje was born on May 6, 1983 in central Tibet. As soon as he could speak, he told his parents that he was the Karmapa. In accordance with the 900-year-old tradition, he was enthroned as Karmapa by the 14th Kunzig Shamar Rinpoche in Delhi. He completed his formal training in 2003, when he was conferred the title of Vidyadhara, a knowledge holder of the sutras and tantras. By now, Karmapa Thaye Dorje has spiritual responsibility for over 900 monasteries and Dharma centers around the world. In addition to his activities of transmitting and preserving the teachings of the Buddha in general and the special teachings of the Karma Kagyu tradition in particular, Karmapa is also busy spreading his vision of peace, education and social commitment to the world through various projects. In particular, he has the young generation in mind. They, but not only they, can follow him on social media.
On the subject of peace, Karmapa said:
“Peace is complete awareness.
In this state of awareness, we cultivate and combine compassion and wisdom.
In this state of awareness, we are alive, awake, we take responsibility for our actions. In this state, we are not driven by emotion, we control our emotions and actions.
In this state, we are patient, nonviolent, we do not judge. In this state, we nurture our Inner Wealth – our innate values – and balance them with outer (material) wealth in a way that benefits all sentient beings. This is peace.”
Now we have the opportunity to make the Buddha’s prophecy from the Samadhiraja Sutra come true for us personally by meeting Karmapa, seeing him, hearing him, thinking of him…
Registration & Programme
You can purchase your tickets for the programme with Gyalwa Karmapa on our website and find more practical information around His Holiness’ visit to Dhagpo Möhra.
The practical information will be updated regularly.
From the 17th to the 21st of May
Looking back – Family weekend
For parents and children
Over Whitsun, more than 40 children and teenagers were in Möhra with their parents.
They were wonderful days! In the mornings, the children and teenagers, divided into four groups, meditated and did yoga exercises. There were also various workshops on offer: Gardening, handicrafts and clay workshops. The main topic of these workshops was to learn about the meaning and different construction methods of stupas. The children and teenagers were then able to build various stupas themselves in the workshops.
The highlight of the weekend was a garden walk and wish celebration on Monday afternoon, when parents, children and teenagers joined the Möhra team in making wishes for the self-built stupas.
We would like to share this inspiring and joyful time with you with these photo impressions:
We look forward to see you all again very soon, on the occasion of the extraordinary visit of Gyalwa Karmapa to Dhagpo Möhra.
Sincerely,
from Dhagpo Möhra