Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, June 30: After a gap of 38 years, Leh is all set to host 16-day long massive congregation from July 3, likely to be attended by more than one lakh devotees where world famous spiritual leader, Dalai Lama will confer the 33rd Kalachakra Initiation.
Kalachakra is the most sacred teaching and practice of Buddhism for individual peace, mutual understanding, greater unity, ultimate world peace, tranquility and happiness for all the sentient beings.
The word Kalachakra means cycles of time and the Kalachakra system presents three such cycles-external, internal and alternative. The external and internal cycles deal with time while the alternative circles are practices for gaining liberation from these two.
According to the Buddhist scholars, the initiation process spans several days with the first day being a preparation ceremony followed by some days of actual empowerment. The most important part of the initial procedures is taking refuge and the Bodhisattva and Tantric vows. “Without all three, we cannot actually receive empowerment, although we may witness it and derive great benefit”, they said.
During the days of Kalachakra initiation, regular prayers, teachings and rituals will be conducted under the guidance of spiritual leader Dalai Lama. More than 1,50,000 devotees from across the globe are expected to congregate in Ladakh to participate in this historic sermon, which is happening for the second time in Leh after a gap of 38 years.
The last such congregation in Leh was held in September 1976, which was attended by 40,000 devotees. Similar congregation was also held in Zanskar area of Kargil district in July 1988 with the participation of 10,000 devotees.
The Kalachakra initiation beginning at Leh from July 3 would be the 33rd initiation by Dalai Lama. The first initiation by Dalai Lama was held in May 1954 in Lhasa area of Tibet and last initiation by the world famous spiritual leader was held in Bodhgaya, Bihar in January 2012, which was attended by two lakh devotees from across the globe.
The 33rd Kalachakra Initiation would be held at Jiwe-Tsal, which literally means “Peace Garden”. The place, which can accommodate more than 1.5 lakh people, is about 8 kilometers from Leh town and Leh District Administration as well as Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council have made elaborate arrangements for the major event.
The world famous spiritual leader will give the Kalachakra initiations in Tibetan language and there will be simultaneous translation via FM radio into 13 different languages, which include Tibetan, English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Russian, Spanish, French, Italian, Hindi and Ladakhi.
Dalai Lama, who is the promoter of human values such as compassion, forgiveness, tolerance, contentment, self discipline, promotion of religious harmony and understanding and has strong commitment towards preservation of Tibet’s Buddhist culture-a culture of peace and non-violence, is already camping in Leh.
The Kalachakra 2014 is being jointly organized by the Ladakh Buddhist Association and All Ladakh Gonpa Association.
In order to provide accommodation facilities to the devotees, who cannot afford the hotel and guest houses, around 1000 tents are being pitched in a village near the venue of Kalachakra initiation.
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