Blessings and Prayers for KWPC

7 April 2010 - 9:51pm No Comments

As Kechara gears up to build our retreat centre, the Kechara World Peace Centre (KWPC), there are an increasing number of pujas being done to facilitate the growth of Kechara House and the manifestation of KWPC. Until Monday evening however, when a series of Drolchok (Tara) pujas commenced, only Setrap and Dzambala pujas had been conducted. Here, Nicholas Lee relates his experience of being involved in the Drolchok pujas.

Learn more about our plans for KWPC this coming Saturday 10 April when you attend our Creating a Legacy event!

Setrap pujas are being done in the Kechara Southern Jewel Chapel in Johor, as well as in Kuala Lumpur!

Sunday saw 15 dedicated Kechara members gather for a Drolchok puja practice session in preparation for the actual 10-day puja which started on Monday. Like so many of the pujas that Kechara members are currently doing, this series is being dedicated for KWPC’s success. The puja group is comprised of members of the regular puja team who were originally taught by Ven. Kating Rinpoche and Gen Lobsang Yeshe, as well as other Kechara members.

A lesson in torma-making during our practice session

After laying out our ritual items, we began by learning how to make tormas, which are offerings made out of oats, milk, honey, curd, butter and sugar as a food offering for the Buddhas. Under the expert direction of Chia, we proceeded to knead the mixture until it reached a consistency that was shapeable. Adorned with “flowers”, the tormas were then laid out amongst the other sensory offerings on our altar.

Just as we were about to begin, we were pleasantly surprised with an audience and short teaching by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, where he stressed the importance of doing the puja well. Rinpoche said that although our tormas may be a little lumpy and wonky, and not entirely perfect, it was our motivation that mattered…but we should not use it as an excuse to never improve our tormas!

Rinpoche also spoke about doing things the ‘Kechara’ way. He said that as with every Kechara activity, we were going to have a lot of fun doing the pujas. However, we should not forget that the teachings we receive and the pujas we do have an authentic source, coming directly from Gaden and from Lama Tsongkhapa.

The practice puja began with Shin Tan as umze (lead chanter). Conducted entirely in Tibetan, the pace was slower to accomodate for those of us unfamiliar with the puja. We concluded the practice session around midnight, when we adjourned to watch a video of Gen-la and Kating Rinpoche doing the puja. Watching the professionals was an experience in itself; their speed, accuracy and concentration were truly inspiring, and we left the screening very excited to start the puja the next day.

At 7pm, this past Monday the actual puja kicked off. With seven participants, we began by rolling our tormas. The completed product was definitely a significant improvement from the previous day’s…on all of our minds were Rinpoche’s words to make our tormas better with each session! After setting up the altar, Liaison Jamie Khoo took the lead as umze, setting our motivation for the manifestation of KWPC.

It is this motivation that we will be keeping for the next nine days as we invoke Tara’s blessings for KWPC!