Karmapa gives Dharma talks and transmits three empowerments in southern Spain

September 19, 2023

Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, arrived in the Diamond Way retreat centre of Karma Guen in southern Spain on the evening of the 30th of August, and immediately paid a private visit to Lama Ole Nydahl, who had travelled to Spain from the Europe Center to participate in the programme with Karmapa.

On the 1st of September, Karmapa granted the empowerment of Vajrasattva (Tib. Dorje Sempa), the meditation deity associated with the purification of negativities, to a gathering of nearly 3,000 practitioners in the meditation hall (Tib. gompa) of Karma Guen.

On the following day Karmapa gave a Dharma talk on the topic of the Preliminary Practices (Tib. Ngondro) to the assembled devotees, and answered questions related to these meditation methods.

On the 3rd of September Karmapa travelled from Karma Guen to Benalmádena, to transmit the empowerment of White Tara at the Enlightenment Stupa, located on a panoramic platform overlooking the Costa del Sol. Over 3,000 people were crowded around the stupa to listen to Karmapa’s Dharma explanations and receive the blessing empowerment.

On the last day of the public programme in Karma Guen, on the 6th of September, Karmapa granted the empowerment of Karma Pakshi, the second Karmapa, in the big gompa of Karma Guen.

In between and after the public programmes, Karmapa visited the Diamond Way centres in the cities of Malága and Granada, blessing the premises and sharing some Dharma advice and local food with the gathered practitioners.

He also had several more private meetings with Lama Ole and his team, and met with a large group of Diamond Way travel teachers, as well as with representatives of various project groups and boards.

Karmapa also took time to meet and have question-and-answer sessions with the Latin American and Ukrainian sanghas.

Karmapa departed Spain, the last stop on this year’s European tour, on the 10th of September.

All the centres he had visited during his two-month stay in Europe conveyed their deep appreciation and gratitude for everything they had received, and expressed their hope that he would visit again soon.