Karmapa attends a reception and meets with young practitioners in Dhagpo Möhra

August 8, 2024

Karmapa arrived for his second, more private visit in Dhagpo Möhra late in the evening of the 30th of July.

On the following day, he attended a reception which was held in his honour in the Gradierwerk (graduation works: a salt water spa) at Bad Salzungen, in the presence of mayor Mr Bohl, his wife, vice mayor Mr Knott, and numerous members of the municipal council, as well as other local dignitaries.
Before the official part of the reception started, Karmapa was given a guided tour of the graduation works.

Bad Salzungen is one of Germany’s oldest brine spas. Guests have been using the strong natural brine for their health for generations, since the early 19th century.

Both graduation walls were extensively renovated from the end of 2020 to mid-2023. The walls and tubs were completely dismantled and replaced during this construction phase.

Karmapa learned all of this, and much more, during the guided tour of the Gradierwerk.
Once the tour was finished, all the invited guests met in the venue hall for the official part of the programme, which included a welcome speech by Kathleen Heß from the municipal cultural department, followed by an address by Mayor Klaus Bohl. Both of them expressed their joy at Karmapa’s visit, and their wish to welcome him again soon.

A special highlight was the musical accompaniment, with pianist Monika Ripamonti’s virtuoso performance of works by Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven.

At the end of the reception, Karmapa took the stage and addressed the assembled guests in a short speech. In it, he compared the graduation house with the human organism, with the graduation walls representing the two lungs. He once again expressed his appreciation for the region and its people, stating that no matter how beautiful an area may be, without its content – the people – it’s just like an empty shell. In particular, he praised the locals’ healthy mixture of pride in their local traditions and culture and their openness towards what is foreign and unfamiliar. He said that it is these two qualities combined that make a place charming and welcoming, and that for him Dhagpo Möhra always feels like home.

On the 2nd of August Karmapa met with a group of almost 70 young practitioners, many of whom had come to take part in the youth summer camp, held annually in Dhagpo Möhra. Most of these young people have been brought up in Buddhist families and have been connected with Dhagpo Möhra from an early age. The meeting took place in the temple of Dhagpo Möhra, and the exchange between Karmapa and the young Buddhists was rich and lively and went on for almost three hours.