The third month of the Tibetan calendar is once again a special month, the month of Kalachakra. On the full moon day of the third month the king, Chandrakirti (Tib. Chogyal Dawa Sangpo) requested the Buddha to turn the wheel of Kalachakra in South India, in a place known as Palden Depung Kyi Choten. In accordance with this tradition, Benchen Monastery here in Kathmandu has been performing annually a one-week puja based on the Kalachakra sand mandala. In connection with this puja, a Malaysian disciple of Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche, How Yok Bee, had been requesting Tenga Rinpoche for many years to bestow the Kalachakra empowerment. In
explaining her request, she pointed out that here in Nepal there are quite a great number of people who are not able to go far away to receive the Kalachakra empowerment. She also felt that it would be very fortunate for her as well as for other disciples to receive this transmission from Ven. Tenga Rinpoche because he holds the
uninterrupted lineage of this empowerment directly from H.H. The 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje. Tenga Rinpoche felt that this year would be a good time to perform the empowerment so he kindly agreed to do so. How Yok Bee generously sponsored the whole one-week puja as well as the attributes required for the empowerment.
The four-day empowerment was preceded by week-long intensive practice by Rinpoche and over 200 monks. More than 7000 participants, including monks and nuns from 15 monasteries all over the Kathmandu valley, attended the empowerment itself. All the monks and nuns were accommodated inside the lhakang, which was blessed by this huge gathering of the sangha. Most of the other participants sat in the courtyard under the protection of a huge tent and watched the proceedings on strategically placed TV monitors. Rinpoche spent nearly 19 hours a day doing puja and giving the empowerment, and we are truly blessed and thankful to Rinpoche for his tireless efforts on our behalf.
In the afternoon of the third day of the empowerment, all the participants were given a chance to look at the sand mandala and to receive the blessing. In the Tibetan community, this part of an initiation is always approached with great enthusiasm; nevertheless, the organizers managed to keep some semblance of order so that there was little disruption. Rinpoche was very kind to give the blessing by his own hand to over 7000 people without any interruption, although the blessing itself lasted six hours. On completion of the empowerment, the sponsor, How Yok Bee, offered the thanksgiving offering of mandala, body, speech and mind, quality, activities, and many other offerings.
In the morning of the following day, the puja for the dissolution of the sand mandala was performed. The elaborate mandala was dismantled and the sand taken with banners in a procession and poured into a nearby Naga lake, where a Naga puja was performed.