Pilgrimage
Connect with Holy Sites to purify karma and facilitate Inner TransformationWhy go on a Pilgrimage
Think of how much time and effort we spend in Samsara to learn and know about our ancestors. Many people research this and feel great pride in finding out great things people related to them have done in the past. They will often visit places important in their family history trying to feel a sense of connection. When people are adopted or do not know their parents, they spend a lot of time to find out and discover who they are and where they are from. But finding out about your worldy ancestors can only give some sense of pride. They can’t make a huge difference in your life and liberation because they are still limited by karma.
When we go on a pilgrimage we try to find out something important about our spiritual ancestors. This is more important than our family past. We find out about our relation to the enlightened beings that have been in these holy places and their enlightened activities. These enlightened beings can have a profound impact on our lives. If you care about them, have the right attitude of reverence towards them, it helps you transform. Enlightened beings have the single goal to benefit others. With this endless and timeless motivation, they have made this connection with their activities in these environments. On an invisible level, they are always connected to these places. When we go to these places we should try to emulate them. We need to cultivate the same motivation as them, dedicate on them and recite prayers and meditate to receive the blessings and inspiration.
Listen to Khentrul Rinpoche’s guidance on pilgrimages
What to do on a Pilgrimage
It is important to make the chance to go at least one time in your life on a pilgrimage. Just think about when you really fall in love with someone, you dont want to be seperate from that person. If you could jump inside that person you would jump inside that person to be with them. So if we feel this strong pull to be with the ones we love in our samsaric meaningless life, how can we not make the effort to visit the places of our beloved enlightened beings even one time? When you are in love with someone, you often can’t even handle only seeing them once or twice, you go again and again. We can considering going on a pilgrimage like this. When we go on pilgrimage to make this connection, we need to generate that energy and feeling as great as samaric love. If you have that feeling and gratitude you can have very incredible experience regardless of your level of practice.
cultivate Compassion
The most important part is your motivation and attitude. With Bodhicitta connect with our spiritual ancestors because our goal is to liberate all sentient beings. Our reason to be alive and to be a sentient being who has Buddha-nature, is to become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Enjoying the holiday and checking something off your bucket list needs to become secondary.
connect with sangha & guru
When you go on pilgrimage with the sangha and guru (who is part of the sangha), you have an incredibly fortunate opportunity to practice compassion and love to all of the sangha, experiencing warmth and forgiveness. Make friends in the global community.
Appreciate the opportunity
Every moment that you are on a pilgrimage you have a big purpose to connect with where enlightened beings have been. It took a lot of good karma and merit to have the chance to visit these places. So appreciate that you have this rare chance in this precious human birth. Do not think it will be easier next time. That you can put it off. There may never be a next time. It won’t be easier. Take the chance now and appreciate your good fortune.
Places We Want to Visit
Khentrul Rinpoche has the aspiration for us to visit many countries and places that have some connection with Kalachakra, Buddhism and the lineage. Also there are places in the world that people associate with strong energy and are special in various wisdom traditions. For those places, Rinpoche aspires for us to visit them to offer a Kalachakra Empowerment in these powerful places such as the pyramids and Machu Picchu.
Once in a Lifetime Experiences
The Tibetan Buddhist Rime Institute in Australia is responsible for arranging Khentrul Rinpoche’s tours. They have arranged tours almost yearly since 2006. Students have been fortunate to be able to visit holy sites in China (previously Tibet) related to the Jonang lineage, Bodh Gaya and Ladahk in India, Mongolia, Indonesia and more. Each trip has been a one of a kind opportunity to connect with Kalachakra, Shambhala and these locations. We have been fortunate enough to offer the Kalachakra empowerment at the stupa in Borabudor Indonesia and various spaces in Mongolia. The tours are often extremely difficult to put together but we persist in making the opportunity for the benefit of global community to have these special practice opportunities on behalf of all sentient beings. People join us from around the world often representing more than 20 countries and speaking diverse languages. Rinpoche often bestows advanced teachings to select students on these tours such as the Higher Kalachakra Empowerment or the first vajra yoga.
༄༅། །སྨོན་ལམ་དོན་ཀུན་འགྲུབ་པ་བཞུགས་སོ། །
Prayer for Establishing all Attainments
to recite by heart on pilgrimage tours
Rinpoche wrote this prayer for students to recite from heart on pilgrimage tours. If you forget your sadhana, it’s raining, windy or cold, if you memorize this one prayer and recite it, you make conditions to actualize the path. This unrestricted prayers is available in the Dzokden Learning Center.
Upcoming Pilgrimage Tours
Jonang Kalachakra Retreat in Thailand
February 7 – 12, 2025 in Thailand
$500 AUD – $760 AUD
The Jonang lineage is the only school of Buddhism that teaches the complete path of Kalachakra, the highest yoga Tantra, known as the Kign of Tantra, fro start to enlightenment. Khentrul Rinpoche is the only master currently bestowing the whole path from the Ngondro to completion stage upon qualified non-monastic practitioners globally.. Khentrul Rinpoche has made it his life’s mission to spread the teachings of Shambhala as it is prophesied that they will bring a Golden age of peace to our earth.
By the request of a sponsor in Singapore, Khentrul Rinpoche will bestow a Kalachakra Ngondro practice retreat in Thailand, a location that is very easy to visit for everyone across Asia. This 5-day retreat will help students who are in process or are just beginning to practice the very precious Jonang Kalachakra preliminary practices.