What do you get a Bodhisattva for his 90th Birthday in 2013?

Written by May Lein Ho, Coordinator of the Friends of KTD, Sept 2, 2012

This year we celebrated Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 89th birthday. I enjoyed very much looking at the beautiful pictures posted on the Internet – Rinpoche’s smile, the grand cake, the group of happy sangha members gathering around Khenpo Rinpoche, etc. I wondered what could be done even better than this party to pay tribute to our beloved spiritual teacher when he reaches 90 years old next year! I shouldn’t have worried – Rinpoche himself has already “planned” it for us.

A few weeks ago I visited Karme Ling Retreat Center with friends. We recited two prayers to request the swift return of Traleg Kyabgon Rinpoche when we did group White Tara practices.

The time staying at Karme Ling with Rinpoche gave me a chance to deeply contemplate on how fortunate I am to have a great teacher like Rinpoche – the best thing that has ever happened to my life. Then an idea came to my mind – it’s about time for me to initiate a third grand Buddha statue offering project – this time for the 2014 KTD annual Amitabha retreat. (It will be the 15th annual Amitabha retreat since the first one took place in 1999/2000.)

In the past, we had offered on two separate occasions at least 108 Amitabha Buddha statues at the Amitabha retreat (the first time in year 1999/2000; the second time in year 2009/2010) to serve as a grand offering to the Buddha and our Rinpoche. The KTD shrine room simply looked so magnificent with so many shining statues in it. So I went to Rinpoche to ask for permission to do the same for the 2013/2014 Amitabha retreat, since it will take at least two years to make an offering of this size happen. I also asked him what Buddha statue we should make this time. I thought, “well, this can’t be a “surprise” birthdate gift to Rinpoche since he will need to fill and bless all the statues before they are ready – and it will take him more than 5-6 months to fill more than 108 statues!! I better make sure Rinpoche can do this for us.”

In response to my request, Rinpoche said he would be committed to fill all the statues, but I should not wait to the end of 2013 to make the offering. Instead, the 108 Buddha statue offering can be done at his 90th birthday party, which Rinpoche had previously said would take place during the 2013 Ten-Day Teaching.

Instead of making Amitabha statues, Rinpoche said I should find the best craftsman to make the finest White Tara statues to create a White Tara shine for the three-day White Tara retreat, which will be part of the Ten-Day Teaching gathering. At the end of the retreat, Rinpoche will consecrate all the statues so that all the blessing will go to people who attend the ceremony and to individual sponsors who will take their statues home. This is the plan Rinpoche has laid out for his 90th birthday “party.” I was delighted! What else can be better than this to celebrate Rinpoche’s 90th birthday and express our sincere respect and gratitude to him?

This is a rare once-in-the-life-time opportunity to obtain a very beautiful White Tara statue at Rinpoche’s 90th year birthday, dedicated to his and all lineage gurus’ longevity and also for our own longevity so we will gain more precious time to practice.

All the statues will be decorated with precious stones and will be handcrafted with beauty and care. The quality of the statues will be supreme. Reserve your statue(s) as soon as possible since they will go fast. Please also recite the White Tara mantras whenever you can to pray for our guru’s longevity.

The mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SO HA. (The short White Tara Mantra is the same as the Green Tara Mantra.)

Please support this project as much as you can, and help us create the most magnificent White Tara shrine at KTD, His Holiness Karmapa’s temple, to celebrate Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche’s 90th birthday. Collectively, we will all accumulate a lot of merit for participating in this project.

Karmapa Chenno!!

HOW TO ORDER YOUR STATUE

If you are mailing your donation check, please fill out the White Tara Statue Request Form below and include the form with your check to the following address:

STBSG/KKR Loving Kindness & Compassion, P.O. Box 10556 New Brunswick, NJ 08906

If you use PayPal to submit your donation, please fill out the White Tara Statue Request Form below and email the form to the following email address:

friendsofktd@gmail.com

You will receive a confirmation if a statue is available for you to reserve. Otherwise, we will return your check. Please submit your request ASAP. An installment plan is available if needed. Please contact friendsofktd@gmail.com.

White Tara Statue Request Form – updated 5/1/2013