Bodh Gaya — His Holiness the Dalai Lama began the preliminary empowerment of the Kalachakra initiation on January 10th, at the largest international Buddhist religious gathering held in Bodh Gaya, India.
To an audience of an estimated 200,000 devotees, His Holiness said that the devotees must remember that receiving the empowerment with a preset attitude of gaining benefits only for this life or personal benefits is a mistake.
“We take an initiation to enhance our capability to attain enlightenment through the generation of wisdom of emptiness. So it is total mistake to have a motivation only for personal gain in this life,” the Dalai Lama said, adding that praying and taking refuge in the three jewels for personal and temporary benefits in this life would be equivalent to asking a great scholar to assist us in making tea.
Aiming to attain liberation from samsara by attending the initiation is also a wrong notion, he said.
“To attain enlightenment, we need to practice Bodhicitta and proper understanding of emptiness. If we have developed Bodhicitta and emptiness, this life would be more blissful, good fortune, long life and it guarantees a good continuous human rebirth,” the spiritual leader said.
The first day of the preliminary empowerment was preceded by a ritual offering ceremony, where His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over a ritual dance, performed by 16 monks of Namgyal Monastery and led by a ritual master, to mark the start of Kalachakra empowerment.
The ceremony was also highlighted with multiple cultural representations including Bhutan, Mongolia, Tibet, Korea, Kalmykia and Himalayan regions: Shar-Kumbhu, Spiti, Mon, Kinnaur.
The next three days, His Holiness will continue to confer the Kalachakra empowerment and on January 14th, the last day of the gathering, a long life prayer will be offered to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
