Guru Purnima falls on the day of the full moon in the month of Ashadh (June–July) of the Shaka Samvat, the Indian national calendar. Buddhists celebrate this day in honour of the greatest of Buddhist teachers, Lord Buddha himself, who gave his first sermon on this day at Sarnath near Varanassi. To mark the auspicious occasion, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje gave a dharma talk to a gathering of His followers, as well as a group of young adults from ANK, a Delhi-based registered NGO which offers free educational facilities for underprivileged children.

The main topic of his talk was the importance of the teacher – not only in the spiritual sense of the term but rather in its most general sense.
“This is a day where one remembers, and rejoices in the guidance of one’s teacher, in Sanskrit known as “guru”. And I would like to say a few words about this topic, because I believe that the importance of the teacher is universal, not limited to just a few spiritual traditions.

For all of us, there are so many different teachers who have helped shape our lives. The first teachers are actually our parents, and our whole family, because without their guidance we wouldn’t know how to go about life at all. Then we have the next step where we have to learn how to stand on our own feet, and for this we enter the educational system where we acquire many different types of knowledge and learn about different fields of science. And then the next level for us, as practitioners, is the spiritual teacher who teaches us about “spiritual science”, which is the ultimate level.
But nonetheless, one cannot say that one is better or more important and another one is less important. The fact is that all of these teachers together have made our life what it is today. So therefore this is a day for us to go back in our memory and remember the kindness of all of our teachers.”



The young students who come from underprivileged social backgrounds were given a free medical check-up, as well as some advice on basic principles of health and hygiene. “For economically weaker sections of the population regular health checkups are never a priority. We at ANK dream of an India where every child goes to school and is given proper healthcare and shelter. It’s our privilege to be associated with KIBI. I am looking forward to having a fruitful association with KIBI," said Mr. Abhishek Kishore, Executive Director, ANK.

This social community service was initiated in accordance with the wishes of Gyalwa Karmapa himself, who considers education of underprivileged children a social endeavour of the utmost importance.

The students also participated in a prayer ritual performed by Gyalwa Karmapa’s monks in KIBI’s lhakhang (shrine room) and were given a guided tour of KIBI.
Festivities ended with everybody sharing a delicious vegetarian lunch, over which both the young students and the teachers had the opportunity for a more informal exchange with Gyalwa Karmapa.