My beloved teacher has passed into the dharmakaya. Please come back soon!

The following program has just been released by Karma Choeling Tibetan Buddhist Monastery

Tashi delek dear friends,

We know you will be as immensely sad as we are at the passing of our precious Guru. We are now able to provide details of the traditional ceremonies that we will host to honour his life & devoted service to all his students in New Zealand, Australia & world-wide.

Early next week, Venerable Lama’s sacred Kudung will arrive in New Zealand from Australia. On Wednesday 22 May, the precious Kudung will be welcomed by local Iwi onto the Karma Choeling property. He will be carried, as is customary, by palanquin with attendants, and he will be positioned in repose in the Gompa.

The Programme

Wednesday 22 May
The precious Kudung will return to his traditional seat of Karma Choeling between 10 and 11am, he will be welcomed by Iwi onto the property. We request all participants have open kata and lit incense, as we will line-up from the main gate to the outdoor stairs by the Bodhi House to welcome him.

To begin in the Temple, Venerable Pong Re Tulku Rinpoche, Choje Lama Shedrup, and invited Lamas will lead the traditional prayers in Tibetan for the deceased. There will be a catered lunch break around 1pm, then the second session of prayers will be in English, starting with the Message Book (Ngnodro Practice) and Calling the Guru From Afar. Around 3pm there will a catered afternoon tea, followed by the third session starting with Chenrezig Puja.

After this everybody is welcome to sit in the Gompa and do their own personal practice, receiving the Kudung’s blessing before cremation the next day.

Thursday 23 May (Saga Dawa)
This will be the day of cremation. The morning will begin at 6am with prayers at the specially constructed Cremation Stupa site (in the campground near the Stupas).

The precious Kudung will be carried by palanquin to this site at approximately 6.30am where the Buddha Akshobya Cremation Fire Puja will begin, conducted by Venerable Pong Re Tulku Rinpoche as the Vajra Master. This ritual will take several hours, and we invite all participants to remain until the end.

Please note that this event will be professionally videoed, and a film of the events will be shared at a later date. The Trust requests that no images from the two days of events be publicly posted.

How you can participate
We are welcoming contributions to this sacred event, knowing that our offerings help us all to feel closer to our precious Guru. You can specify what your offering is for in your donation reference, or make it a general offerings for the event expenses. Some suggestions would be:

Sangha
Shrine offering
Cremation Stupa offering
Sangha travel expenses
Food
Tea offering
Bank transfer to ASB: 12-3209-0303196-51
For overseas use PayPal and enter the email: office@kagyu.org.nz on the official PayPal website.
 
Other general notes:
The two days will be catered professionally, but we request your understanding if anyone has special food requirements. Please consider bringing your own food if you are concerned.

We hope the weather will be kind to us but recommend sensible shoes, an umbrella, and rain jacket in case.

For purposes of catering and parking, we would be grateful if you could add your details to this form: https://forms.gle/TPV5AxBFNMGaL1ti8

We are honoured to host this sacred and historic event, and we pray all aspects are as our precious Guru would wish - heartfelt, sincere and without obstacle.

Tashi Delek
The New Zealand Karma Kagyu Trust

Biography

 Ven. Lama Karma Samten

Venerable Lama Karma Samten is a monk in the Karma Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in West Tibet, his parents originally were from East Tibet. At the age of 5 he went to stay with his uncle in a cave. He learnt to read and write and studied the preliminary Buddhist philosophies here. He also discovered a taste of solitude.

At the age of 10 years the Chinese army invaded Tibet in 1959. He managed to escape with his family and other Tibetans through Nepal to India. Many people died on the way, including his whole family of 5 sisters, 4 brothers, father and mother. He was the sole survivor.

In India, he joined a Tibetan refugee camp and worked on the roads. In 1963 he took the Noble Vow from Ven Khenpo Chime Rinpoche, a Sakya Abbott and received all his Buddhist philosophy teachings from him. At the age of 21 yrs he took full ordination in the Karma Kagyu tradition from the Very Ven Khyabje Kalu Rinpoche, and went directly into 3 year retreat, for 3 years, 3 months and 3 days. He completed this 3 times in succession.

He wanted to continue in retreat but in 1980 HH 16th Gyalwa Karmapa Rang Jung Rigpe Dorje, the head of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, sent him to New Zealand as resident Lama of the New Zealand centre. He established a traditional temple, built the biggest Buddha statue in the Southern Hemisphere, and 8 stupas. He also developed a traditional Tibetan healing clinic. He retired in 2004 and now concentrates on his personal practice and international teaching program through his organization Dharma Chakra Dhana Paramita. His teaching tours include visits to New Zealand, Australia, Great Britain, United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Taiwan and India.

Lama Samten is an artist and musician. He has recorded several CD’s of traditional chants and prayers for his students including the 2004 Grammy Award winning “Sacred Tibetan Chant, the Monks of Sherab Ling Monastery” on the Naxos World label. He is the author of many books including “Living with Death & Dying” and other traditional Tibetan Buddhist commentaries for practice. His teachings in English are known for their direct and earthy manner, sprinkled with a sense of humor.

Special Thanks to Kate (Catherine Raynor Brown) for the biography