In the early morning of the second day the sangha once again gathered in the big tent for the recitation of praises to Lord Buddha, the Sixteen Arhats and the great Bodhisattvas.

After a short break the graduation ceremony for the second generation of graduates from Shri Diwakar Buddhist Institute began.

A representative of the students guided the audience through the programme. He started out by giving a short speech, expressing the students’ gratitude for the perfect conditions for studying the Buddha dharma and thanking all those who had contributed to making this possible. He then asked Gyalwa Karmapa to take the floor and say a few words to the assembly.

Complying with the request, Gyalwa Karmapa addressed the audience, saying that while the graduation ceremony was a formality, the process of learning itself was timeless. “There is no limit to how much we can learn. So therefore we should always be hungry for knowledge.”

Gyalwa Karmapa’s address was followed by a speech by Prof. Sempa Dorje, a great scholar and Gyalwa Karmapa’s private tutor.
After a final address by a member of the Administrative Board of the Institute, Gyalwa Karmapa was asked to hand over their certificates to the proud graduates.

The afternoon started with a symbolic reading of the kangyur, the sacred scriptures containing the direct words of the Buddha.
In his second session of teaching Gyalwa Karmapa focused on the practice of what is known as monlam in Tibetan, or “aspiration prayers” in English.
Gyalwa Karmapa explained that the reason why he wanted to focus on this subject was because whenever practitioners gathered for events such as the Buddha Purnima, where they offered their wishes and dedications for the sake of all beings, it was very important that they knew exactly what they were doing.

“Aspirations are something that we accumulate constantly. In one way, we could say that they are the very reason why all of us are here today. But even though in some way we are all the same, yet there is something very particular and individual about every single one of us, in terms of our character, our personality, our way of thinking. And if we want to find an answer to why it is like this, it is all due to wishes and aspirations.
It is because of constant and continuous wishes and aspirations that we came to be who we are right now. And if we can open our consciousness, our wisdom, our knowledge to this factor, then we can transform the very experience of our life into an even more meaningful one. Therefore, aspirations or monlam are very very important. They define how we are right now, and how we will be in the future. So knowing how to make proper wishes is very essential.

There are countless guides or manuals for performing proper aspirations. The one I can recommend to all of you is the Aspiration Prayer of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, in Tibetan known in short as the Sangchö Mönlam.

So, I would like to very much encourage all of you to make aspirations and follow the way of the bodhisattvas in practising perfect aspirations.”
At the end of the session Gyalwa Karmapa once again encouraged his audience to ask any questions they might have, and they made ample use of the opportunity.

The afternoon concluded with a Milarepa puja with tsok (feast offering) and the practice of Mahakala, in the presence of Gyalwa Karmapa and all the lamas, monks and nuns.