Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism’s Drikung Kagyu lineage, is to join his followers at a year-end dharma session to pray for Taiwan, the event’s organizer said.
The Chinese Buddhism Drikung Kagyu Association said that in addition to the year-end party to welcome the New Year, Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, who arrived in Taiwan on Sunday, would give “Achi empowerment of the great Chikung lineage” today, “Namgyalma empowerment “on Saturday next week and “Namgyalma thousand-offering puja” on Sunday next week.
The thousand-offering puja is to feature the largest mandala ever built in Taiwan, which would be decorated with 1,000 flowers, 1,000 lanterns, 1,000 umbrellas and 1,000 bells, with participants chanting a dharani, or mantra, 1,000 times while walking around the mandala 1,000 times.
The unit of 1,000 is highlighted to symbolize the rapid accumulation of merits and blessings, the organizer said.
On Tuesday, Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang is to join a “dialogue with celebrities” to discuss the theme of “life is a play,” at which director Chu Yen-ping (朱延平) and singer Lotus Wang (王彩樺) are to share their thoughts on life with the Tibetan high lama, whose escape from China made him a focus of attention, the organizer said.
Before fleeing to Nepal in the 1970s, Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang witnessed China’s Cultural Revolution when he was sent to a labor camp for “re-education.”
It was during this period that he made friends with peasants and shepherds, and learned to speak Mandarin, the association said.
His lineage runs hundreds of temples, universities and Buddhism research institutes, retreat centers and modern libraries around the world. He leads tens of thousands of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns and numerous followers, including those in Taiwan, the association said.
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