Wonderful to behold
Gyalwang Karmapa’s Private Audience with Members of the Friends of Kagyu Monlam

January 07, 2009, report by Jo Gibson, photos taken by Karma Lekcho, Karma Norbu

Approximately five hundred members gathered in the assembly hall at Tergar Monastery, waiting expectantly for His Holiness. Seated quietly in rows, the array of races and nationalities truly illustrated the international nature of the Kagyu Monlam, and the bond of friendship through the Dharma which has united people from all five continents.

Members of the sangha sat at the front, clad in the traditional robes of their respective traditions: the grey baggy trousers and loose jacket, with a one-piece brown outer dharma robe hanging from the shoulder, of the Korean sangha; the more tapered grey trousers and long grey or brown outer jackets of the Chinese sangha, with their mid-brown to chocolate brown outer dharma robes; the maroon robes and yellow ochre dharma robe of the Tibetan Buddhist sangha.

The soft chanting of the prayer Karmapa Khyenno [Karmapa, think of me] filled the hall.

His Holiness arrived, walking briskly and energetically, he smiled and bowed his head before sitting down in an armchair specially placed below the dais.

Having recited a blessing, His Holiness gave a short speech, in which he compared the growth of Kagyu Monlam to the growth of a fruit tree. The seed had been planted twenty-six years ago, with the inception of the Kagyu Monlam in India, and now the tree had grown to maturity, its branches had spread and were fruit-bearing. Continuing the analogy, fruit trees needed the right conditions in order to grow, and His Holiness acknowledged the support and generosity of the Kagyu Monlam Members which had provided the conditions for the growth of Kagyu Monlam.

Others were now benefitting from the fruit and it was His Holiness’ aspiration that these auspicious conditions would continue to ripen, and that those of us who lived on this earth would leave behind a good imprint. Kagyu Monlam was the foundation for creating an imprint of virtue, well-being and harmony for the future. It was a mandala which attracted goodness.

His Holiness then showed everybody a postcard-sized print of one of his own drawings, a White Tara, which he wanted to share with them. He apologized that it had not turned out as he would have liked, but assured everyone that he had drawn it with one-pointed concentration. It was a symbol of the one-pointed concentration with which he regarded all his followers, and was linked with the Tara empowerment he would give on Friday. Finally his hope was that by the merit accumulated from participating and supporting Kagyu Monlam, all those present would be absorbed into the Tara mandala of longevity.

Settling down with the prints on a table in front of him, His Holiness joked that he’d brought a lot of pens with him in order to sign the prints. Members then came forward, one-by-one, to present their khatags, and each received a freshly-signed print, the ink still wet, directly from the hand of the Gyalwang Karmapa.

Clutching their prints, the members moved reluctantly away from His Holiness and left the hall with radiant faces. Many had tears in their eyes. Through the power and grace of His Holiness, this had been an extraordinarily precious experience for everyone, a moment of transcendence, out of time and the ordinary dimensions in which we live our lives. It would be a memory to treasure when they returned home, a source of strength in the future, and a reassurance that the Gyalwang Karmapa sincerely holds every one of his disciples in his heart and mind.