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Mahabodhi Temple:
Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche gave the Sojong Vows.
Gyalwang Karmapa attended the sessions before and immediately after
lunch.
Press Conference:
At 11.30am Gyalwang Karmapa held a press conference on the 25th
International Kagyu Monlam at Tergar Monastery. Twenty eight
reporters, photographers and film crew, representing fourteen
different agencies and seven countries, attended the conference.
They received a pack of information about the Kagyu Monlam in either
English or Chinese, and a small souvenir gift of a hat and tee
shirt. Gyalwang Karmapa welcomed them and extended prayers and good
wishes to all on behalf of Kagyu Monlam.
Medical Camp:
This was the second day that the free camp
staffed by Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps was held in the village
of Vinobapuri. The camp was set up in a local private school. On the
first day 731 patients arrived. On the second day there were 826,
and when the clinic finally closed in the evening, there were still
about two hundred patients who had not been seen. Most of the
patients were women and children; there were very few old people.
Many of the children were suffering from conditions such as clubfoot
and hernia which could easily be corrected by surgery. Many had
distended bellies and bleached hair, both signs of malnutrition.
Coughs, colds, earache and worms were the most common complaints,
and there were probable cases of tuberculosis. Sadly, several of the
children had been severely disabled by polio. India has a major
nationwide polio immunization drive each year, but it hasn’t yet
reached Vinobapuri.
After a hard day working at the camp, the volunteers came to Tergar
Monastery to have a group photo taken with Gyalwang Karmapa in the
Great Hall. There was some confusion and much laughter when they
were ordered to say “cheese” by one of the photographers!
Rehearsals for the Marme Monlam:
This year’s Marme Monlam will be even more
elaborate than before. Candles have been replaced by electric
lights, and the sangha will be issued with special lotus- shaped
lights which change through pink, blue, green. The driving force
behind these changes is Gyalwang Karmapa, and at 8.00pm he came down
to the Main Hall of Tergar Monastery, where the gelongs and
gelongmas had assembled, and personally conducted a rehearsal.
First, the new lotus lamp lights were distributed and everyone had
to practise a synchronized switching on and off. Then groups
representing the different languages ─Tibetan, English, Chinese and
Korean ─performed their set pieces, which they will sing during the
Marme Monlam on Monday. Finally, everyone practised the Marme Monlam
Prayer to a new melody composed by His Holiness.
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