On July 16th, 2013, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche will lead three hundred disciples from the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center to Phyang Monastery in Ladakh, northern India. There they will participate in the “Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara Empowerment Puja,” over which His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang will preside personally, as well as the inaugural ceremony for Hevajra Monastery which was supported by Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche. When Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche led disciples of the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center on February 24th and 25th of this year (2013) to Jangchubling Monastery in Dehra Dun to participate in the Long Life Mandala Offering Puja held for His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, the organizers gave Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche a special and sincere invitation to attend this “Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara Empowerment Puja” and the inaugural ceremony for Hevajra Monastery.

Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche has stated before that Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara compassionately came back to the world aspiring to liberate all sentient beings; however, after being liberated, they again committed evils and fell back into suffering. This caused Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara so much anxiety that the Bodhisattva’s head split into seven pieces. Thereupon, the root guru Amitabha connected the pieces to form eleven heads, sat on the topmost one, and affixed a thousand arms to Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. This allowed Bodhisattva to have a thousand arms and a thousand eyes, thus possessing even more emanation bodies with which to liberate sentient beings. These thousand arms also represent all different kinds of Dharma methods Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara possesses in order to help the enormous variety of sentient beings.

On July 23rd last year (2012), His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang’s birthday, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche presided over the Amitayus Puja for the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei and led more than a thousand disciples in a 24-hour recitation of the Amitayus Mantra as an offering to His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. Because the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang is an emanation of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, before the Dharma was performed a special consecration ceremony was held for a statue of the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara to be enshrined at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center. The purpose of this was to welcome the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara to the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center, as well as to implore the Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara to bless His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang.

This journey, on which Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche will specially lead three hundred disciples to participate in the “Thousand-Armed and Thousand-Eyed Avalokiteshvara Empowerment Puja” to be presided over personally by His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, represents the lineage transmission of the Avalokiteshvara Dharma method. It is also a demonstration of the utmost respect and gratitude with which Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche wholeheartedly supports and makes offerings to the Dharma activities of the Three-Grace Root Guru, His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang.

Updated on July 4, 2013