The countdown starts for the teaching to foreign students

December 17, 2009, Tergar Monastery, Bodhgaya, India, report by Ching-ya Huang, photos taken by Karma Norbu
 

Prior to the 27^th Kagyu Monlam Chenmo, H.H. the Karmapa will be teaching Nagajuna’s Letter to a Friend to international students between 20^th and 22^nd of December.  Registration is available in 2 sessions from 8 to 11am and 3 to 5pm.Over 10 volunteers from various countries assist with registration and the passing out of special pins at the registration counter next to the bookstore at Tergar Monastery. This year the administration has found a creative way to group the participants: they are being organized into five sections, based on the colors of the five Buddhas. They receive a colored vajra cord, blessed by His Holiness, to wear for the three days on their right wrist. The colour determines the order in which people enter the shrine room and this order changes every day so each group has a chance to enter first and gain access to the best seats.

The 3-day registration began at 8am today at Tergar Monastery, Bodhgaya.  The one thousand and thirty one who have registered online are gradually arriving, and there is also on-site registration. Coming from all directions, crowds began to gather at the monastery early in the morning. They had arrived from thousands of miles away, drawn by His Holiness’s compassion and charisma. Their smiling faces, filled with strong devotion and expectation, were bright in the sun of Bodhgaya. On the first day, December 17, 329 participants registered for the teachings and also for an audience with His Holiness the Karmapa.

Various dharma texts are also available at a counter next to the registration booth. What is special this year is Nagajuna’s Letter to a Friend, for which H.H the Karmapa gave specific instructions that all eight languages be printed in the same book. This small United Nations appears to the eyes of readers as they open the text. Languages are different, but the essence is the same—that’s the heart meaning of the 8-in-1 language text. It also breaks the record by having the most languages in one text.  His Holiness not only participated in the editing process himself, but also painted the portrait of Nagajuna and wrote the title in Tibetan calligraphy for the cover, which is exceptionally auspicious.