The great master Taranatha, historian, scholar of the Jonang lineage, said that the mulatantra was taught by Buddha during the full moon of Mount Chitra one year after his enlightenment in the great stupa of Dhanyakataska in India. Later, this practice became one of the centrepieces of the Jonang tradition, which has produced many advanced practitioners and masters over the centuries. The line was never interrupted, but sometimes there were only 1 or 2 people holding the line. These instructions and teachings are still as relevant to us today as they were in the time of Buddha Shakyamuni.
Kalachakra is a Buddhist practice within the highest class of yoga, which in turn belongs to the profound teachings of the Bodhisattva vehicle. According to tradition, Buddha Sakyamuni appeared in South India as Kalachakra and taught the instructions at the request of King Sucandra of Sambhala. The king then spread the instructions among the inhabitants of Shambhala. It remained hidden in India until it surfaced in Tibet in the eleventh century. The profound instructions on emptiness/wisdom instructions in combination with the profound compassion/altruism and method spread throughout the Himalayas from Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal to Mongolia.
Instructions for contemplation, exercises and meditation on the situation of our existence are particularly emphasised and practised, alongside further instructions on astrology, planets, elements, winds: summarising a kind of map “of the situation of our present existence itself, in relation to all living beings of the countless universes”
In recent decades, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has organised many large public events and given special Kalachakra initiations. However, he has rarely given public instructions.
It is a great rarity that the instructions are offered and we are HH Chökyi Nangpa Rinpoche that he has accepted the invitation and will pass on these teachings, which are deeply rooted in the Jonang lineage.
If you have any questions, please contact info@ganden.ch or Dr Sabina Alt directly – sabinaalt@bluewin.ch