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HH the 17th Karmapa's Visit to Singapore |
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At 7/10/2006 0630 am, a large crowd of devotees joyously welcomed His Holiness to Singapore at Changi Airport T2 although it was very early.
Due to His Holiness' compassion, everyone had a chance to offer His Holiness khata and receive his blessings despite his fatigue from the journey.
At 4 pm, an even larger crowd of nearly 100+ devotees arrived at the centre to receive
Karmapa's blessings and join in the welcoming dinner.
On 8/10/2006, devotees took Refuge and Bodhisattva
Vows under His Holiness and attended the Mahakala Puja
conducted by Him.
On 9/10/2006, devotees were granted
audience with His Holiness to receive spiritual blessings.
On 10/10/2006, nearly 700 over devotees came for the
Milarepa Tsog Offering Puja and also the Amitayus Empowerment
given by His Holiness.
On 11/10/2006 and 12/10/2006,
an overwhelming number of nearly 1000 devotees turned
up for the Red Chenrezig (Gyalwa Gyatso) Empowerment,
the hall was so packed on 12/10/2006 that some devotees
had to sit on chairs outside and watch the proceedings
on an LCD screen. Even for the morning event of Medicine
Buddha Empowerment on 13/10/2006, the hall was full.
It is touching that many deemed the event important
enough to take leave and come down to be in His Holiness'
presence. He had to fly in the evening to Mumbai, India
to meet Dr. Manmohan Singh on the 14/10/2006 for a Buddhist
Conference. It is unfortunate that some devotees were thus unable
to get the chance to meet him. The evening program for
13/10/2006 was Samanthabadra's Aspiration Prayers and
Sangha Offering. Many devotees followed the Rinpoches
and Lamas in recitation of the text which was distributed
to the devotees for them to keep. Even though His Holiness
was not present, the spiritual ambience was wonderful,
may our aspirations for world peace be fulfilled.
The dinner on 15/10/2006 was a sell out success, the many varied performances were received well by the audience. The stage at Changi Expo was beautifully set and the sound, light and pyrotechnics systems were flawless. It is heartwarming that many devotees have selflessly volunteered to help out in various areas for this event such as manning of booths, crowd control, area cleaning and decoration, puja setup, transportation, flower arrangement, administration work etc. The event could not have run successfully without them. So many people had the initiative to do what has to be done quickly such as clear up the prayer hall after prayers, in preparation for the dinner and setting up of the dinner. Many went beyond the call of duty and were tireless in their efforts. We pay special tribute to Sendy, our tireless bilingual MC and Eliza who arranged for the reception of His Holiness at the airport and handled press releases togther with Buay Hong. We also thank Lai Lai for the wonderful dinner arrangements, David and Mr Ho See Song for the wonderful setup for the pujas. Security work is a tiring and thankless job which our security team carried out uncomplaining and with dedication. Thank you Steven, Gina, Regina, Sharon and all the rest from the security team for your hard work. The reception headed by Evelyn and Siew Eng did a very good job in answering to the public's enquiries and serving their needs. There are too many deserving people to mention, not least the team who helped to look after the lamp offerings, they hardly got the chance to go up to the hall to take part in the pujas. Here we rejoice at everyone's efforts, may they accumulate lots of merits with Karmapa's blessings. |
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