地點：印度 菩提迦耶　金剛座 Mahabodhi Stupa, Bodhigaya, India
時間：2007年12月17日 December 17, 2007
報導：噶舉祈願法會文宣組 Tashi Paljor
攝影：噶瑪善治 / 噶瑪諾布 / 生命電視台
编辑：释妙竹 Edit by Bamboo (2022.10.03)

今天是第二十五屆噶舉大祈願法會的第一天。

By 5.30am most of the sangha, more then 4000, were seated and waiting, huddled in their cloaks against the morning cold. Gelongs (fully ordained monks) sat at the front and gelongmas (fully ordained nuns) sat behind them Then came the getsuls (novice monks) and behind them the getsulmas (novice nuns). Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and Khenchen Yongzin Thrangu Rinpoche were seated to left and right of the Gyalwang Karmapa’s throne. Approximately 2000 laypeople sat in designated areas, and on the walls and grass banks surrounding the main temple.
五点半，超过4000名僧众，就已披着厚披风排排坐好，比丘坐在比丘尼之前，接着是沙弥和沙弥尼。蒋贡康楚仁波切和创古仁波切分别坐在法王法座的左右两边。大约2000名居士坐在指定区域。(Bamboo英译中)

The sound of a police siren heralded the arrival of Gyalwang Karmapa. The sangha participants stood, donned their yellow robes and waited under the Bodhi Tree as His Holiness entered the site to the ceremonial sound of gyalings. He circumambulated the Stupa and took his place at the head of the assembly, a powerful presence, unshakeable and grounded in stability. He immediately presided over the 24-hour Sojong vows, a practice which accumulates merit and removes negative karma, so that the ceremony could be finished before the sun rose. In the context of Sojong, he explained that the important goal was to try to do positive deeds and to examine all our thoughts and actions.
天近破曉時，法王抵達會場，開始傳授大乘布薩，藏文稱為 「搜炯」(Sojong)，也就是八關齋戒。傳戒之後，法王領導大眾持誦持戒清淨咒二十一遍。持咒圓滿之後，天色已亮，正覺大塔園內，一列列的僧眾，莊嚴端坐，紅黃法衣鮮明，印度黃菊處處，會場一片紅黃大海，宛如沐浴於佛光。

第一座香 The First Session

Beneath the spreading branches of the bodhi tree was an array of magnificent butter sculptures. Behind the Gyalwang Karmapa’s throne was a glorious Mandala of the palace of Akshobya; all the beings contained within are bodhisattvas and the palace is created from precious stones.
法王上座開示。法王的法座設在佛陀達正覺的菩提樹－即金剛座──前。法座後方有不動佛唐卡，兩旁分別有精緻生動的三祖師朵瑪及不動佛壇城。黃、藍、白三色相間的布幃，為會場增添幾分夢幻感。

Then, following His Holiness’s new additions to the Monlam prayers, the assembly chanted the refuge and Bodhichitta prayers, the Heart Sutra and other verses from the Sutras in Sanskrit. The ancient chants floated on the chilly morning air, connecting all those in attendance here in 2007 to the dawn of Buddhism almost three thousand years ago.
然後引領與會僧俗二眾唱誦梵文三皈依及心經。莊嚴的法音盈盈入耳，令人有超越時空一品古德佛法妙音的感受。

Again, His Holiness honored the crowd by giving a short commentary on Refuge and on Bodhichitta, explaining the importance of pure motivation: “the motivation in taking refuge should extend beyond a wish for well-being in this life; it needs to be seen as an aspiration for future lives, and should include the aspiration for liberation from samsara and ultimate enlightenment.” HH Karmapa advised people who could not yet keep the bodhisattva vows to make an aspiration to be able to take them and keep them in the future.
接著，法王簡短開示正清淨皈依的重要，他强调聞法時的正確「動機」很重要。佛法珍貴難得，我們應當以渴求的心來聽聞佛法，彷彿自己是飢餓不堪的人；或自己是病人，而說法的人是醫師，而法就是药。修持佛法的目的不是為了今世的名利，甚或來世的安樂，我們必須以出離輪迴求得解脫的心來修持。

His Holiness led the prayers from the Kagyu Monlam Prayer Book, the Twenty-Branch Kagyu Monlam Chenmo, originally composed by the Seventh Karmapa, Choedrak Gyatso, and racently re-formulated by the Seventeenth Karmapa, Thus His Holiness introduced the example of that earlier time in the Kagyu lineage of some six centuries ago, further reviving this tradition. After the Three Daily Observances of Prostration, Reciting Sutras and Dedication, the assembly chanted the assembly chanted Samantabhadra’s King of Aspiration Prayer, the Aspiration for Noble Conduct, and Maitreya’s Aspiration, from the Branch of Aspiration.
法王带领唱诵祈愿法本里第七世噶玛巴撰写，由他重新编辑的『祈愿二十支』。法王介绍这是恢复六世纪前的噶举传统。接着是《三常诵》——念诵经文和回向；《普贤行愿品》；《慈氏愿文》等(Bamboo英译中)

第二座香the second morning session

Gyalwang Karmapa resumed his transmission of The Life of Milarepa begun at the previous Monlam.
接著，法王繼續講授去年開講的密勒日巴大師傳。

The theme was purification of negative deeds. The Karmapa’s recounting of Milarepa’s life reached the point the narrative when Milarepa’s life changed direction completely and Milarepa was desperate to study the Dharma, which the Karmapa described as like someone who was very thirsty and longed for a glass of water. His Holiness analogized the Buddha to a doctor, his students, ourselves, as the patients, and the Dharma as the medicine.

He emphasized that this analogy expresses the correct attitude for listening to dharma teachings. Our motivation should never be tainted by the eight worldly concerns. The second session concluded, as it always does, with The Great Aspiration: Monlam Chenmo, and Dedications for the Living and the Deceased.

Roots of virtue of the three times were dedicated so that they will not be lost or used up. They are dedicated for the attainment of unsurpassable perfect enlightenment for oneself and others, in the presence of His Holiness Gyalwang Karmapa as the dedicator. These prayers were followed by the Dharani for the fulfilment of aspiration prayers.

雖然密勒日巴的苦行是噶舉弟子耳熟 能詳的故事，但法王特別圈點這些故事在修行上的意義，使這些故事更為貼切。例如，法王指出密勒日巴尊者之所以能忍受苦行，是因為他有強烈的出離心，往昔所造的惡業讓他渴求正法。三次苦苦造屋又拆屋，卻仍然沒有得到法教時，密勒日巴感到非常沮喪，但馬爾巴上師即時為他敘述的那若巴大師苦行求法的故事，讓他深受感動，求法的心因此更為堅定，出離心也更為強烈，最後終能一世成佛，這是我們應該效法的。尊者的故事，可說是修行的口訣。法王說，修法像 massage （按摩）一樣安逸是不行的。

講授密勒日巴大師傳到一段落，並貼心地確定大家都用了早茶之後，法王帶領大家一起唱誦一首密勒日巴大師的道歌。

午休

The session having concluded, the gelongs and gelongmas filed out to board buses to take them to Tergar Monastery where they were served lunch by the Chinese Buddhist community.

接下來是午餐時間，比丘和比丘尼二眾前往德噶寺吃缽飯。

第三座香
The third session

主題是超薦亡者的不動佛儀軌修持。
After lunch, the Gyalwang Karmapa performed the Ritual of Vajra-Akshobhya, the Buddha with whom the Karmapa lineage holds a special connection. This ritual powerfully purifies negative karma in the world, hence promoting the security and well-being of all sentient beings, harmony and peace, and the preservation of the world environment.

第四座香
A short fourth session

Which included long-life prayers for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, His Holiness the Gyalwang Karmapa and other important Kagyu lamas, and a prayer for the reincarnation of Bokar Rinpoche, concluded the day’s prayers, along with the Dharma Blaze Aspiration for the flourishing of the Dharma, and Protector Prayers.

Finally, as His Holiness stood to leave the Bodhi Tree, the entire assembly slowly chanted the Descent of Sacred Auspiciousness that Transforms One, composed by the Gyalwang Karmapa himself:

Auspicious blessings blaze and ornament the world
Shining upon the vast kingdom
At the north of the Land of Snows
Lineage of Dharma practice flourishes
May blessings and auspiciousness fill the world
May happiness and joy increase in the world.