Photos and brief writings by Howard G. Fass July, 2011
I had the tremendous good fortune to be able to attend the Kalachakra event in Washington, DC hosted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
While there is much that could written about the details and religious significance of just what the Kalachakra is, rather than go into all of that and risk making a mistake, I can simply say that this Kalachakra event was a clarion call for peace and harmony for all beings in a very troubled world.
The timing could not have been more poignant as all over the news and media the world-over, we seemed to be constantly assaulted by tragedy, suffering and misery. Everywhere one looks there are the tell-tale signs of moral decay and environmental degradation. The Kalachakra in its essence tells us that we are all inter-connected throughout the vast expanses and cycles of the universe.
What we do and think matters on very practical levels and changes and impacts ourselves and those around us. If we pollute the rivers, we poison ourselves and harm every living thing in the water. If we harbor and persist with negative destructive mental states within, we damage our bodies and cause our spirits to suffer and maybe even die.
No one and nothing exists in isolation and cannot be found to not be either composed of many different parts and/or be connected-dependent in some way or the other to something else. The analysis is in how things exist in reality and the fundamental world-view that naturally evolves from this point.
For the Kalachakra, its a call for peace, balance and mindfulness. These are all ideals human beings have been struggling with since the very beginnings. But now, as humans have advanced with science, technology and population, our abilities to be either destructive or benevolent have been greatly increased and magnified to tremendous capabilities. Are we up to the task? Have our hearts and minds also advanced to match our species new found power and brawn?
For me, at the most simple level, this is what the Kalachakra is all about; a message of peace because we impact eachother. I welcome any comments here if I have somehow made any mistakes or errors here with my simple understanding of Kalachakra.
