Portugal: Kadampa Buddhist Festival 2013 and Opening of the Kadampa Temple for World Peace in Sintra
Cascais | 25-31 October, 2013
An International Festival of Kadampa Buddhism will take place in Cascais (approx. 40 minutes from Lisbon) from 25th to 31th October, 2013, at the Hippodrome Manuel Possolo.
The Festival will feature nearly 6,000 participants from 40 countries.
This Fall Festival offers an unique opportunity to meet the Founder of the New Kadampa Tradition (England, 1991), Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, and receive directly from him the Tantric empowerment of Great Mother Prajnaparamita, and teachings on the perfection of wisdom, from his book The New Heart of Wisdom.
The Festival also celebrates the opening of the Kadampa World Peace Temple, near Sintra, in Portugal.
You are invited to join thousands of spiritual practitioners from all over the world to enjoy an unforgettable spiritual holiday of empowerment, teachings and meditations in the beautiful surroundings of Cascais, Portugal.
This extremely rare and precious occasion is not one to be missed!
Empowerment & Teachings
Friday October 25 (Je Tsongkhapa Day)
The Festival will begin in the evening of this special day with an introduction by Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, marking the beginning of truly auspicious week in the presence of the holy Spiritual Guide.
Saturday October 26
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso will grant the blessing empowerment of Great Mother Prajnaparamita, a female Buddha who is the manifestation of Buddha’s perfection of wisdom. Her function is to overcome maras – the outer and inner obstructing demons – and to bestow the realization of the higher perfection of wisdom.
Sunday October 27 – Tuesday October 29
Venerable Geshe Kelsang will give three days of explanation and transmission of his book, The New Heart of Wisdom. He will teach how to train in the perfection of wisdom that Buddha explained in his Sutra teachings and how to train in the higher perfection of wisdom that Buddha explained in Highest Yoga Tantra. He will also give the blessing transmission and essential explanation of The Blissful Path – The condensed self-generation practice of Vajrayogini – and the Uncommon Yoga of Inconceivability.
Tuesday October 29 (pm) – Wednesday October 30
There will be a day and half of retreat on the teachings given by Venerable Geshe Kelsang. Following the tradition of the ancient Kadampas, doing retreat immediately after receiving a teaching enables us to take the meaning of the teaching deep into our hearts.
Thursday October 31 (am)
The Festival Play – The Life of Atisha – will be performed on the morning of Thursday October 31 by Kadampa students attending the Festival.
Profound Teachings from Buddha’s Heart
When Buddha taught the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras on Massed Vultures Mountain in Rajagriha, India he introduced the entire path to enlightenment into our world, thereby giving all living beings the precious opportunity to attain a lasting peace and happiness.
Both the words and the blessings of this teaching have been kept alive over the centuries by Buddhist Teachers passing them unchanged from Teacher to disciple in an unbroken lineage that has continued to the present day.
Today, we are able to receive this precious lineage from the contemporary Buddhist Master Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, who himself received it in its entirety from his own Spiritual Guide.
In October 2013, the words of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras will be heard once again when Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso reveals the inconceivably profound meaning of these teachings and explains how to integrate them into our contemporary daily life.
As with the disciples of Buddha over 2,500 years ago, those attending this Festival will receive an explanation of the entire path to enlightenment – the paths of compassion and wisdom – and they will learn how to apply these practices to their modern daily lives and thereby attain the ultimate
goal of human life.
About Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso is a world-renowned Buddhist meditation Master who has pioneered the introduction of modern Buddhism into contemporary society.
The Founder of the New Kadampa Tradition – International Kadampa Buddhist Union (NKT-IKBU), he has established over 1,200 meditation centres and groups throughout the world and trained modern Buddhist teachers to teach at them.
His profound personal experience of the entire path to enlightenment is revealed in the twenty-one authoritative books on Buddhism and meditation he has written.
His deep wisdom, clarity, and ability to convey even the most subtle teachings of Buddha to the people of the modern world are revealed in the thousands of inspiring teachings he has given worldwide in the last 36 years.
His boundless compassion for this and future generations is revealed in the extensive charitable activities of the International Temples Project that he founded.
The Fall Festival 2013 is a unique opportunity to meet and receive teachings directly from this remarkable Teacher, who in everything that he thinks says and does embodies the compassion, wisdom and power of Buddha’s teachings.
KadampaWorld Peace Temple, Sintra
The Festival will celebrate the opening of the Kadampa Temple for World Peace in Sintra, Portugal (home to Deuachen KMC – Portugal) the three-acre site will comprise:
- A traditional Kadampa Temple that can seat 450 people for regular activities, and which can be extended to accommodate up to 800 for Festivals and other major events.
- A public building housing a World Peace Cafe, shop, commercial kitchen, visitors’ accommodation, office, and managers’ accommodation
- A residential building with single and twin rooms, all self contained with private kitchens and bathrooms
The Temple shrine will include large statues of Buddha Shakyamuni, Tara, Avalokiteshvara, Je Tsongkhapa and Sons, Dorje Shugden Five Lineages, and the recently cast statue of Venerable Geshe Kelsang Gyatso.
The site is only a 30 minute drive from Lisbon and so is easily accessible for those wishing to live at the KMC and work in the city.
During the Festival, tours of the Temple will be arranged from the Festival site, which is approximately 20 minutes’ drive from the Temple.
Call for the Community of Cascais
Visit the Temple on Sunday November 17th for a guided presentation and for a coffee at Café pela Paz Mundial (World Peace Cafe) . For more information, contact: info@cbd.pt
Sart: Fri, 25-Oct-2013 – End: Thu, 31-Oct-2013
Email: info@cbd.pt – Web: kadampafestivals.org – T: 219245879
