His Holiness Karmapa rehearses the Marme Monlam and Kangyur Procession

January 08-09, 2009, report by Karma Palmo, photos taken by Karma Norbu

On the evenings of the fifth and sixth days of the Kagyu Monlam, His Holiness Karmapa called a meeting at Tergar Monastery to rehearse the Marme Monlam, Butter Lamp Prayer, which takes place on the final night of the Kagyu Monlam, and also the Kangyur Procession which is conducted on the seventh morning. Gelongs and gelongmas were asked to attend, as well as monks and nuns of other Buddhist traditions who intend to chant at the Marme Monlam. First His Holiness asked the Chinese Buddhist Sangha group to chant their presentation, a prayer from the Chinese Buddhist liturgy. This was followed by the Korean chant, and finally the Vietnamese monks and nuns chanted the Heart Sutra. Then, a western choir, complete with guitar and violin, sang a new tune for His Holiness’s poem, ‘Ah World’. His Holiness appeared satisfied with the groups’ performances.

Tibetan Sangha group

Chinese Sangha group

Korean Sangha group

Vietnamese Sangha group

A western group

Three groups, Tibetan, Chinese and English, then chanted the Marme Monlam prayer itself in those languages, to the beautiful and evocative tune that His Holiness had composed last year.

His Holiness then asked for small lotus lamps to be distributed to the gelongs and gelongmas so they could practice turning them on in unison, something which is very difficult to achieve among hundreds of people. The lights were dimmed, and His Holiness said that on the count of ‘chig, nyi, sum’ (one, two, three) everyone should turn on their lamps. Accompanied by much merriment, there were several tries to perfect this simultaneous illumination! In the end, it was deemed good enough, and the entire room clapped.

This year, His Holiness has made some changes to the procedure for the Kangyur Procession, bringing in getsuls with labels around their necks to hand out the precious volumes to the participants. These labels announce which volume that particular getsul is holding, such as ‘Dul.wa KA’, or the first volume of the Vinaya Section of the Kangyur. In this way, when the pages are distributed after the Procession for reading by the assembly, it will be a simple matter to collect the pages again and order them in their volumes. His Holiness taught the participants how to present, receive and hold the texts, and then how to walk with them, and several groups processed around the Shrine Hall.

He gave detailed instructions about walking. He said that each step should take three seconds, that each foot should be raised and lowered with great concentration and deliberation, keeping the mind free from distraction and focusing it completely on the walking process. He said that awareness of the feet contacting the ground should be such that even a tiny object could be felt. The eyes should be downcast and gazing towards the ground in front, and not looking to right or left. The participants should be one arms length apart, and should try to keep their feet in step, beginning with the right foot. He also said that the participants should be relaxed and not tight, as having tension would obstruct harmonious walking. He joked about Tibetan monks and nuns bowing down as they walk rather than standing up straight, saying that perhaps they were ‘looking for their shoes’. Using amusing impersonations of various wrong ways of walking, His Holiness had everyone in the Shrine Hall dissolved in laughter as He strode, hunched, stressed and put his head in the air.

Above all, His Holiness said that the mind should be filled with compassion and kindness for all living beings, without any room for other thoughts. This way of walking in meditation, holding complete mindfulness and awareness of the walking process, while keeping an attitude of loving-kindness and compassion was taught by Buddha Shakyamuni. In ancient times, when there were no planes, cars or trains, people walked slowly from temple to temple and place to place in a tranquil way. The Kangyur Procession should contribute to engendering this kind of mindfulness and peaceful conduct.