Sixteen Drops of Kadam Empowerment – Day Two

Tashi Lhunpo, Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India, 31 December 2015 – There was a rosy dawn in the skies over Tashi Lhunpo this morning shortly before His Holiness the Dalai Lama arrived to prepare for the second day of the Sixteen Drops of Kadam Empowerment. He sat in silence performing rites before the mandala pavilion. To begin with, the only other sound was a steady hum and a regularly rising chorus from a group of Tibetan pilgrims seated on the steps below reciting Om mani padme hung.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama performing preparatory rituals before the second day of the Sixteen Drops of Kadam Empowerment at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 31, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

“Today, we’ll complete the empowerments of the remaining drops,” His Holiness announced.

Referring to the Buddha as the ‘great protector’, he explained that he is the one who has eliminated all obstacles and acquired all realization. He has accomplished the welfare of others and self. His Holiness stressed the need not only to take refuge in the Three Jewels, but to generate the uncommon Mahayana refuge that also involves generating the awakening mind of bodhichitta. He said it was important to remember that the Buddha attained enlightenment as a result of his own effort; he wasn’t always the Buddha. He taught on the basis of his own experience about the cessation and path he had achieved within himself.

“We go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha not in order to live a long life, nor even to gain a good rebirth. Going for refuge intent on liberation is the practice of Hearers and Solitary Realizers. What I’m referring to is when we say ‘I go for refuge until I’m enlightened’. This is allied to the practice of the six perfections with which you ripen your own mind and the four means of gathering disciples through which you ripen the minds of others. Generating the awakening mind of bodhichitta, we remember others and work for their benefit.”

His Holiness reviewed the drops, the empowerments of which he gave yesterday, beginning with Avalokiteshvara Jina-sagara. He resumed the empowerments with the 11th, the drop of Atisha and those that follow:

The drop of Dromtön Gyalwai Jungné
The drop of the vast practice
The drop of the profound view
The drop of the inspirational practice
The drop of great awakening

Each empowerment involved visualization of a fresh mandala comprising a deity and retinue in a drop at the heart of the deity of the previous drop. The respective mantra was recited and the empowerment concluded with a water initiation. This was physically represented by a small amount of blessed saffron water poured into initiates’ hands and drunk. At the conclusion of the Empowerment there was a short thanksgiving ‘tsog’ offering.

Members of the audience taking part in the Sixteen Drops of Kadam Empowerment at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India on December 31, 2015. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL

“Transmission of the 18 Jangchub Lam Rim – Stages of the Path – texts has been successfully completed, although I think it’s something I can only do once in this life.” His Holiness remarked as he got his feet. “I’d like to thank everyone who has contributed to making it possible: the organizers of the teachings, the patrons, and the staff here at Tashi Lhunpo and Sera, Ganden and Drepung. Some who were with us when we began four years ago, like Geshe Namgyal Wangchen, have gone. That’s only natural. It’s what will happen to all of us in the end. Which is why we all have to practise. No matter how great or small your intelligence, you can still train your mind.
“The fact that the Buddha’s teaching has been upheld in Tibet is a wonderful thing. The existence of teachings on bodhichitta and the profound view of emptiness is wonderful too. We have many friends from the Himalayan region, from Mongolia, China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam, who like us follow the Nalanda tradition. Here and now in the 21st century, what we should all take to heart is the importance of study and using our reason.
“We’ve finished the Jangchub Lam Rim teaching here at Tashi Lhunpo and we’ve begun the ‘Commentary on the Compendium of Valid Cognition’ (Pramanavartikkakarika). If there’s time I hope we’ll be able to continue that.
“Those of you who’ve come from abroad, tomorrow’s the start of 2016 – a Happy New Year to you all. Now you’ll go home, but those of us who are still here will meet again when we hold the Kalachakra Empowerment in Bodhgaya in January 2017. In the meantime, the way to ensure a good rebirth is make your life meaningful now. Be happy and ‘Tashi Delek’.”

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