This year’s International Summer Course was crowned by a very special premiere: for the first time in the West, H.H. the 17th Karmapa Thaye Dorje gave an initiation into Rechungpa (1084-1161; Rechung Dorje Dragpa), one of the two main students of Milarepa, the great yogi of Tibet.

An empowerment or initiation by a realized teacher introduces the Buddhist practicioner to a certain Buddha aspect, passes on his blessing and, if desired, empowers her to meditate on this Buddha and his enlightened qualities.

Rechungpa, together with Gampopa, was one of the two teachers of the 1st Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa, the founder of the Karma Kagyu Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. While Gampopa emphasized on the monastic tradition, Rechungpa passed on the transmission of powerful Diamond Way meditations as practiced by the Indian meditation masters and later by the yogis in the mountain and forest retreats of Tibet.