By Jay Behrke
WAPPINGERS FALLS – The Kagyu Thubten Chöling monastery last week hosted the 2016 North American Kagyu Monlam to coincide with the newly completed Maitreya Center, a 35,000 square foot, two-story building with Tibetan-style Vajrayana, Chinese-style Mahayana shrine halls, and a 34-foot tall Buddha.
Hundreds of Buddhist teachers, monastics, practitioners, and guests from here and abroad gathered in view of the Hudson to promote international peace and cooperation.
“Monlam is a Tibetan term that means aspiration, goal, or aim,” said event spokesperson Lama Jamdron. “The central aspiration of the 2016 North American Kagyu Monlam is the establishment of world peace.”
The event was overseen by Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, a Buddhist meditation master and author of the New York Times bestseller, “The Joy of Living: Unlocking the Secret and Science of Happiness.” In the book, Rinpoche described his early childhood struggle with panic disorder, and the meditation practices that helped him heal “emotional distress and calm the mind.”
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