Kalachakra Initiation & Old Friends

I had a very good meeting at the new Sakya Nunnery with Sakya Trizin Rinpoche yesterday. We discussed art, Bon, Mongolia and Kalachakra, and agreed to meet again before I leave for Delhi. Today is the first day, 'ta gon', of the two day Kalachakra empowerment. It is an introduction or preparation prior to entering the mandala which takes place on the second day of the empowerment and called the 'ngo shi'. For more information see the Kalachakra Outline Page and the excellent Kalachakra website of Edward Henning.

Each day I meet old friends, some I have not seen for 35 years while others I have seen more recently in Tibet, China, the USA or Europe. Today undoubtedly I will see many people. I expect several thousand people to attend the empowerment at the new Nunnery (probably the largest Tibetan nunnery in South Asia with approximately 300 nuns).

The image above is a depiction of the world according to the Buddhist Abhidharma system. The world is flat with four principal continents in the four directions with a large mountain in the middle - the flat earth theory. The Buddhist Kalachakra Tantra system on the other hand presents a round earth theory long before the Italian Galileo came up with his ideas.