After an early breakfast at Shri Diwakar Buddhist Institute everybody left for the morning’s meeting place at Mela Ground, Kalimpong’s large stadium. Buses had been organised to pick up devotees at the institute and take them to the destination where a very special exhibit – a huge thangka representing Buddha Shakyamuni – was displayed.

The thangka measures 45 by 30 feet and is made of tiny pieces of cloth stitched on by hand. Extensive offerings were set out in front of this great representation of enlightenment.

An auspicious light drizzle was falling as the thangka was slowly unveiled. Then the monastic sangha performed a puja in front of the large Buddha thangka and the Buddha statue which had been placed in front of it. During the puja the rain stopped, and as soon as it was finished the sun came out.

Next, over five hundred monks and nuns and thousands of lay devotees prepared for a solemn procession through the town of Kalimpong, carrying the holy texts of the kangyur (Buddha Shakyamuni’s teaching).

Such a procession (chokhor) is a way of spreading the blessing of the dharma (the Buddha’s teaching) and accumulating vast merit, which is then dedicated to all beings, thus increasing well-being and prosperity and contributing to world peace. Thousands of devotees joined in the procession through the streets of Kalimpong, temporarily bringing traffic to a near standstill. The local population were waiting along the side of the streets, waiting for blessing with the holy scriptures, burning incense in front of their doors and offering food and drinks to the participants in the procession. Once the procession reached its point of departure, another ritual was performed, after which everyone headed back to Shri Diwakar Buddhist Institute for an early lunch.

Meanwhile, His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje gave a press conference to representatives of a good dozen national and local media, answering questions on a large variety of topics, including the meaning of Buddha Purnima, reincarnation, the responsibilities of a Karmapa, and the ten years he had previously spent in Kalimpong.
When asked about the meaning of Buddha Purnima he said that this day was important for all Buddhists.
“We celebrate this day to remember Lord Buddha’s achievement as a human being, and more than that, we remember his life as an example for all of us. Having been born as a human being, we can accomplish amazing things in our life. But from a Buddhist perspective, if one had to pinpoint the most inspiring accomplishment possible for a human being, it would be the attainment of absolute freedom, absolute liberation. This is what Lord Buddha achieved – complete liberation, also known as perfect enlightenment (samyaksambodhi) – and it is something that any one of us can achieve. So therefore we celebrate this day in order to remember that, in order to remind ourselves of what each and every one of us – no matter where we come from, no matter who we are – can accomplish. So that’s why it is a special day.”

When prompted to talk about the symbolism of the big thangka of Budha Shakyamuni displayed on Mela Ground he said that “for us, as human beings, visual expression is very important, and due to that, over the course of centuries and millennia, we have developed countless ways of portraying enlightenment: paintings, sculptures, statues – all of those represent enlightenment in a visual way. Of course, the ultimate, complete expression of enlightenment is in the form of words, through the teachings, the texts of the dharma, but its simplest expression is through imagery, such as this big thangka that we can see today.”

After lunch everyone assembled once again in the tent for the empowerment of Buddha Amitayus. Many more devotees joined the audience of the previous days, bringing the total to about four thousand. In particular, countless devotees from Sikkim had made the journey to Kalimpong to receive the empowerment. They were very happy to meet with Gyalwa Karmapa in Kalimpong, and they all want him to come to his seat – Rumtek monastery in Sikkim – as quickly as possible.

Moreover, the five hundred Bhutanese students who attend different schools and institutes in Kalimpong had been very inspired by Gyalwa Karmapa’s teachings – particularly the question-and-answer sessions – and they also joined the gathering for the empowerment.

The tent was not big enough to hold the crowd, so some people were sitting on the lawn around the tent.

Before starting the empowerment proper, Gyalwa Karmapa gave some instructions on how to consider empowerments in general and the empowerment and practice of Buddha Amitayus in particular.

“There are several reasons why we do this long-life practice of Buddha Amitayus. The obvious reason is that we want to live long. Who wouldn’t? But there has to be a reason, there has to be a purpose why we want to live that long.
First of all, we must understand the obstacles to a long life span, such as lack of good karma, lack of merit, or too many obstacles – these are the factors that make our life short, and as a result we are more prone to illness, accidents and so on.
The benefit of doing this practice is that we begin to understand that all of these factors are extremely relative. Through this, we are able to overcome all forms of obstacles – in this case particularly in terms of our lifespan – because of our understanding that all of them are so temporary, so ever-changing that they are not worth investing in. If we need to invest in something then we invest in nothing but our bodhicitta, the true quality that we all possess, the quality that cannot be taken away by anyone. So by focusing on that, naturally whatever life span we have left is as good as having lived a hundred or a thousand years or aeons. Otherwise, we could have a life that lasts for hundreds of thousands of years but with no purpose or meaning.”

Gyalwa Karmapa then proceeded with the empowerment, and by the time all the devotees had passed before him for the blessing with the ritual vase and other implements it was time for dinner.

The festive day was rounded off by an evening of lively philosophical debates between students of Shri Diwakar Buddhist Institute in Kalimpong and students of Vikrama Shila Buddhist Institute in Pokhara, Nepal. Even if one did not understand Tibetan the debates were captivating and highly entertaining, and both Gyalwa Karmapa and his private tutor, Prof. Sempa Dorje, listened attentively