Thoughts on the Eve of Kalachakra in Ladakh 2014

July 2, 2014

Kalachakra will take place in Ladakh, India, near the city of Leh starting tomorrow July 3 – July 14. I wish I could be there this year, but alas, I will be here at home in the U.S. And on this, the eve of the event, I’m thinking about when I attended the Kalachakra Event for World Peace in Washington, D.C. held in July of 2011.

At that time, I had returned from my first trip to India where I happened to meet one of the organizers of this event. It was not long before he recruited me to help with video content for the large screens at Verizon Center, where the ritual was hosted.

I helped design and produce material for projection onto the arena screens. Content included Kalachakra prayers, and video presentations of photographs which were shown in between ritual sessions during breaks. These were essentially images of Tibetan subjects by noted photographers such as Don Farber, Tenzin Choejor, Abhishek Madhukar, and many others.

In the process of creating the video material, I had the wonderful experience of working closely with an American Tibetan Buddhist nun named Ani Tenzin Lhamo-la. Her guidance was invaluable. I could not have made these videos for Kalachakra without her. What’s more, her friendship, moxie, and insight as a psychotherapist and monastic have been memorable and enduring.

I felt most honored to have produced a video chronology of the Dalai Lama’s life in celebration of his 76th birthday, which occurred on the first day of Kalachakra, July 6, 2011.

While I am not at liberty to post the video because it was created exclusively for the birthday occasion, I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to work with archived images of His Holiness. Joining that day to help celebrate the Dalai Lama’s birthday were Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s son, Martin. It was a historic appearance together.

I recently suddenly thought of the Dalai Lama sitting in the middle of the thekpu, the ritual platform on which the elaborate Kalachakra sand mandala is created. He does this on the first day of consecrating the ground where the sacred artform is performed, and again when the mandala is about to be dissolved.

I realized that for me, he is the real life version of the deity that resides in the middle of the mandala. Which is to say, I realized in my heart that he is a living example of compassion and wisdom united.

For all its elaborate ritual and complex symbolism, this is the basic goal of tantra—the union of compassion and wisdom. Wisdom of the ultimate nature of mind and reality. The mandala is the guide, the mnemonic image to aide a practitioner towards such enlightenment.

At the end of this ten-day-long event, the sand mandala was swept into a ritual vase to be taken to a nearby body of water and released after chanting and prayers were performed.

Pouring the sand mandala into the water is a way to release blessings out into the world. I was so happy to be part of the small group attending this final ritual act of Kalachakra.

I send warm thoughts to all those who are now engaged in making Kalachakra happen in Ladakh, India! I hope it is blissful and awakening.

Lastly, I wish a hearty Happy Birthday to the Dalai Lama. Your Holiness, I will be thinking of you this weekend on the 6th!