This initiation will be held in Paris on september 11th,12th,13th 2010

Choden Rinpoche was one of seven children born to a noble family in Dahi, the Khampa region of Eastern Tibet. Rinpoche's connections to past spiritual masters were evident from early childhood in his exemplary conduct and superior intelligence as well as in the miraculous signs often witnessed in his presence. Reting Rinpoche, the Regent of Tibet, officially recognized the small boy as the living reincarnation of the previous Choden Rinpoche, who had been one of the finalists in the search for the 13th Dalai Lama's reincarnation.
In sum, Rinpoche spent twenty years of his youth studying Buddhist logic, the Perfection of Wisdom sutras, Middle Way philosophy, Treasury of Knowledge treatises, and monastic code and conduct at Sera Je Monastery. Subsequently, he dedicated another two decades to contemplation, meditating on the Five Canons in order to internalize the teachings. Most recently, he has devoted a third span of twenty years to teaching in South India and abroad, disseminating the Buddhadharma to benefit humanity

Highest Yoga Tantra

The Kalachakra or Wheel of Time Tantra belongs to the class of Annutarayogatantra, or Highest Yoga Tantra. Tantras of this class typically are for students of the highest capacity who are able to use desire as the path and can, therefore, attain enlightenment in this very life, or at least at the time of death. Initiations into these tantras are usually given only to individuals or small groups of students.

Kalachakra Tantra

By contrast, the Kalachakra Tantra has traditionally been given to large gatherings. It is also one of the few (perhaps the only) tantras considered to have been taught by Shakyamuni Buddha during his lifetime. He taught it at the request of Dharma King Suchandra of Shambhala, who asked the Buddha to teach a complete path to enlightenment that would allow him to fulfill his royal responsibilities and still attain liberation. The Kalachakra Tantra contains vast teachings on all aspects of life (i.e. astrology, etc.).

His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said about Kalachakra:
The entire meaning of the subject matter of the Kalachakra tantra is included within the three Kalachakras, or Wheels of Time: The Outer Wheel of Time, the Inner Wheel of Time, and the Other Wheel of Time. The Outer Wheel of Time is the external world of the environment, and it is also called "The procession of the external solar and lunar days." The Inner Wheel of Time is the human body, that is an inner Jambudvipa, or earth-surface. Likewise, the inner channels, elements, and movements of the winds are set forth as the Inner Wheels of Time. The Other Wheel of Time is the initiations and paths of Shri Kalachakra, together with their results. It is "other" than the preceding two Wheels of Time. The guru ripens the disciple's psycho-physical continuum with the initiations, and the disciple meditates on the path that consists of the generation process and the completion process. In this way the yogi actualizes the result: the buddha body that is the divine image of emptiness. This is the Other Wheel of Time.

The Kalachakra initiation is a major initiation into Highest Yoga Tantra and thus has commitments which must be kept by the recipient. To begin with, one must commit to attending the entire initiation, which lasts three days, four hours per day, even if one is receiving it as a blessing*. In addition, one must perform the Six-Session Guru Yoga practice daily for the rest of one's life. Booklets of this practice can be ordered online at www.fpmt.org
*One may receive the Kalachakra Initiation as a blessing, in which case there are no further commitments

General Information

Ven. Choden Rinpoche will give the Kalachakra Initiation of the Abhayakara Gupta tradition based on a line drawing. Rinpoche's main attendant could not specify whether this initiation is into the generation or completion stage, but said that it is a full initiation including complete vase, secret, wisdom and word initiations and constitutes a Highest Yoga Tantric Empowerment or Initiation. There are no prerequisites for attending the Kalachakra Initiation. However, anyone planning to take the initiation or receive the blessing, must register in advance. Rinpoche only has time to give the initiation so there will not be any commentary on the practice during this program.

For those taking the initiation or attending to receive the blessing, you must attend all 3 days of the program. If you are taking the full initiation you will need to recite the Kalachakra mantras per day.

If you are not planning to take the initiation, you are welcome to attend the entire three-day program as a blessing. This means you do not recite any of the words when Rinpoche says to repeat so you would not be taking Refuge Precepts, Bodhisattva or Tantric Vows. You would then have no further commitments to keep.