Kalmykia Marked the Day of Buddha Shakyamuni’s Miraculous Powers

Today the Buddhists of Kalmykia concluded the prayer gathering “Ik Yöräl” with a great festive prayer service. For three days, monks and the faithful offered up all their prayers to the Great Buddha, giving thanks for the precious Teaching, for help, for protection…

“The most important thing for us is not visiting khuruls, not reciting mantras, not circumambulating Buddhist stupas and temples, but observing morality — this is the unshakable foundation on which our life rests. And it is these laws of morality that we must teach our children as well,” Shajin Lama of Kalmykia Geshe Tenzin Choydak emphasized as he addressed the faithful today.

It is very significant that such a sacred day fell on a Friday, the day when we pray for all those who have already departed from us. The second session of “Ik Yöräl” was dedicated to all the deceased. Prayers were offered to the Burkhans for them, asking for a better rebirth.

It should be noted that all the instructions given to us by the monks of the Central Khurul must be observed not only on the days of major Buddhist holidays or rituals, but done daily: to perform virtuous deeds, to bring benefit to all living beings, to reflect on the law of cause and effect, and to abide with pure thoughts and pure motivation.