4.th KHCP-Medicalcamp in Bodhgaya/India, Dec.2011

The Kagyu Mönlam 2011 took place between December 14 and 20, with approximately 11,000 devotees in attendance. Many Rinpoches and high lamas graced the event with their presence, led by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje, the 14th Kunzig Shamarpa Rinpoche – second-ranking lama in the Karma Kagyu lineage – His Eminence Jamgön Kongtrul Rinpoche, His Eminence Beru Khyentse Rinpoche, and many others.
For the fourth time this year, the KHCP - Karmapa´s Healthcare Project provided free medical checkups and healthcare for participants in the Mönlam as well as the local population.
When the project started its first healthcare camp in Bodhgaya four years ago there were just nine volunteers from Europe who dedicated their time and energy to looking after those in need of medical advice and treatment. Sometimes it was just a matter of teaching the patients some basic principles of hygiene, at other times people had to be referred to hospital for treatment of more serious ailments.
This year, the KHCP's staff consisted of a total of forty-four people, all of them voluntary helpers: general practitioners, dermatologists, dentists, physiotherapists, Tibetan amchi, acupuncturists, nurses, a TV team, assistants, organisers and helpers from a total of nine countries. Over 3,500 patients were treated during the Mönlam.

While Buddhists are sometimes accused of being exclusively concerned with their own spiritual development and not being interested in social activities, this is actually not the case. In Mahayana Buddhism the bodhisattva-in-training puts into action his commitment to benefit all sentient beings by developing the “six paramitas” (transcendental virtues), the first of which is generosity.
The practice of giving to those in need is therefore regarded as part and parcel of the bodhisattva’s training. Moreover, the practitioner develops a great deal of respect and appreciation towards those who are the object of his generosity, in the understanding that we are all interconnected and that the practice of generosity is just as beneficial to the giver as to the recipient of whatever is offered.

Text by Rabjam Rikki Catty (private secretary of H.H.Gyalwa Karmapa Trinley Thaye Dorje)
source: www.facebook.com/17th.Karmapa

Photos and subtitle by Peter Cerveny, mandala photos by Anika Wagner
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