August 9, 2010 - It was the 3rd day of the spiritual ceremony. It was the usual chanting of Buddhist sutras, dharma talks, meditation and the blessing pujas. This time around, I brought Allister along to attend the blessing puja by Rinpoche. The blessing pujas on the 3rd day was a little bit different from the first 2 days of the ceremony. Rinpoche and the lamas was seen circling the small mandala stage next to the main stage while chanting the sutras, the youngest lama was seen sprinking flowers water to the mandala stage. Later the two younger lamas was seen sweeping the mandala sands on the stage to the bucket while Rinpoche continued to chant the sutras.
The sacred mandala or sand offering designed and created by the lamas few days ago before the start of the spiritual ceremony and on the third day, the lamas swept (with hands of course) the mandala or sand into the bucket and was later given away to everyone in small little packets
Close up pic of the sacred mandala made of sand from the holy land which
was later given away to everyone at the end of the blessing puja
Rinpoche and the lamas later proceeded to the shrine where the Buddha and Green Tara posters were hung and where the sacred tormas were placed and continued to chant the sutras.
H.E. Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche chanted sutras in front of the Buddha and Green Tara shrine
where the tormas that represent the tantric deities were placed.
Rinpoche and the lamas chanting sutras and performing some blessings on the
Buddha and Green Tara posters
After that, as Rinpoche and the lamas proceeded onto the stage and as Rinpoche sat on high chair on the stage, everyone of us in the hall were told to stand up and circled the hall (I lost count how many times we circled the hall but I remember it was a lot of times) as we chant the Great Compassion Buddhist sutra. Thereafter, we proceeded to the stage to receive blessings from Rinpoche. As Allister and I reached the stage, we knelt down in front of Rinpoche while Rinpoche puts some of the mandala sand on top of head while chanting some sutras in Sanskrit. One of the lamas later passed us some red threads and I asked Rinpoche to bless Allister's Buddha pendant which he happily agreed. He also gave us the mandala sand in small little packets.
Snapshot of Mike receiving the blessings from H.E Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche
on the 3rd day of the spiritual ceremony
Everyone has their turns to receive the blessings from Rinpoche and by the time Rinpoche completed the blessings puja, it was near midnight. According to uncle James, the sacred mandala was the climax of the 3 days blessings puja by H.E Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche. We were indeed the priviledged lots to receive the blessings directly from H.E. Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche. Too bad mom was not there as she went for her usual Taichi class. I was glad that later I managed to get a packet of the mandala for mom. In Tibetan Buddhism, the mandala is envisaged as a sacred space, a pure Buddha realm, a place of Nirvana and peace and is regarded as one of the greatest protection from "samsara".
At the end of the session, the committees had their group photo taken with Rinpoche and the lamas. Mike and I took the opportunity to also snap some pics with Rinpoche and the lamas (I look terribly ugly in the pics but heck, it's not all the time I get to take pictures with H.E Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche and so I reluctantly exposed my "natural" look without the make up in these pics).
H.E Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche and his brother, Tsultrim with Mike and myself
Mike and I with the youngest and eldest lamas in the group
Mike and I with the other 2 lamas
Mike and I went home very happy that night as we got to talk and took pictures personally with H.E Dungyud Tulku Rinpoche. It was perhaps one of the most memorable experience I ever had in my journey for spiritual wellbeing.
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