Karmapa grants Buddhist Refuge, Bodhisattva Vows, and Amitabha empowerment

July 22, 2023

On the 16th of July, Thaye Dorje, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, transmitted the Buddhist Refuge, the Bodhisattva Vows, and the empowerment of Buddha Amitabha, the Lord of the Pure Land of Sukhawati, to a gathering of about 1,600 practitioners at Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle in Bad Salzungen. Karmapa gave detailed explanations on the various stages of the practice, to help the assembled practitioners be aware of the meaning of the ritual.

Over the course of the next few days, Karmapa met with various individuals, groups of practitioners, and administrators, among them the team and volunteers of Dhagpo Möhra and the Dharma Village.

Karmapa also met with Mr. Udo Schilling, former mayor of the municipality of Moorgrund and current vice district administrator of Wartburgkreis. During their meeting, Karmapa expressed his appreciation for Mr. Schilling’s invaluable support for the activities and projects of Dhagpo Möhra throughout the years, ever since the centre was first established in 2005.

On the afternoon of Monday the 17th of July, Karmapa consecrated the new stupa in the Möhra Dharma Village. After a speech by Mr. Schilling, Karmapa and his monks performed a consecration ritual at the beautifully decorated stupa site, after which they toured around the residents’ accommodation and the premises of the Dharma Village.

On the 19th of July, Karmapa visited the memorial site of Buchenwald concentration camp, located about one and a half hours’ drive from Dhagpo Möhra. He was received by Dr. Philipp Neumann-Thein, Deputy Director of the Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora, and given an extensive guided tour with detailed explanations on the various locations of the memorial site. At the end of the visit Karmapa thanked Dr. Neumann-Thein, expressing his hope that while there were never any guarantees in life, such memorial sites were nevertheless an important contribution to our joint efforts to prevent similar atrocities from happening again in the future.

Karmapa departed from Dhagpo Möhra in the afternoon of the 20th of July. The residents, volunteers and gathered practitioners offered their deepest gratitude for what they had received from him and expressed their hope that he would come back again in the near future.