From the car to the hall, back to the car, from planes to another bus or car, super ultra quick. It means we don’t always see much either, other than the city flying by through the vehicle window, a fading skyline my only sense of where we are, or were. This is happily very different now on the EU 2023 Tour; we’re outside, moving around and it’s lovely. There is bright summer sunshine, beautiful blue skies, flowers and puffy clouds dotting my vision everywhere we go. It seems Karmapa is really enjoying it, from behind my lens I see him beaming at everyone, and all I see are smiles and joyful faces looking back. This makes my job easy, just point and click and you’re capturing happiness. Outside for a Stupa inauguration in the Möhra village, speeches and puja, touring the buildings and inspecting all the work that has been done. What an amazing place they have made, it’s literally a small village made up entirely of Sangha members. In a very long day back in the hall, Karmapa gave teachings, transmitted the Refuge and Boddhisattva vows, and then bestowed the empowerment of Amitabha to 1600 people, with barely 30 minutes break. I did a fair bit of movement there myself, running around trying to keep up as Karmapa slowly made his way through the crowd, calmly blessing everyone. It was pretty incredible to watch. Honestly it never gets old to me, watching him gracefully move through crowds with absolutely zero stress or rush. If anyone needs a reminder of what true compassion really looks like, one must look no further than watching His Holiness bless a huge room of people. Look to the middle of the throng and wild energy, and you’ll see him at the center, gently passing through like the eye of the storm.
Our last day we went to the former Buchenwald concentration camp, this place was a very different kind of energy. One could feel the pain and suffering in the air, hanging there stagnant like a putrid fog. I was especially moved and affected, on more than one occasion I had to move away from the group to wipe my eyes and catch my breath. Many people had the same, very powerful feelings for everyone. We walked through the enormous complex, which has been converted into a museum in parts, seeing what remains of a place deigned for pain and torment. In a shocking moment of revelation I saw the glaring contradiction; I was walking next to Karmapa, the purest source of compassion and love in the world, surrounded one all sides by one of history’s greatest tragedies. Near the gate Karmapa led our small group in prayer which was very powerful. You could feel the ugly fog being lifted, sunshine allowed in, the space feeling more open and light, joy coming back to my heart. It was a fully palpable experience, like fresh air coming into a stale and dark room. Reminding me that everywhere one goes, there is light and dark. But through comparison and love, the darkest places can be made bright again.
Dhagpo Möhra
