His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang performed the groundbreaking and earth blessing ceremony for the temple building at a new Drikung Kagyu retreat center in Northern Germany.

The Milarepa Retreat Center in Schneverdingen, Germany, is the second Drikung Kagyu retreat center under construction bearing this name, the first one being currently built in New Zealand. The idea for these centers goes back to a vision of the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang to firmly establish training of meditation and retreat as it is practiced in the Drikung Kagyu tradition. Since the times of the lineage founder Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön, it was the custom to send practitioners of the Dharma to do retreats at the sacred mountains of Kailash, Lapchi, and Tsari in Tibet. Nowadays it is almost impossible for Western Dharma practitioners to do retreats at these holy places. Therefore it is the wish of His Holiness to establish three centers in the West corresponding to the three sacred mountains of Tibet. Hence the idea of the Milarepa Retreat Centers was born. While the New Zealand Center corresponds to Mount Lapchi, the German Center corresponds to Mount Kailash.

The Milarepa Retreat Center Germany is situated in the heart of the Lunenburg Heath. Nestled in a magnificent and quiet stretch of land of more than 20 acres of pastures and woodland, a former farm comprising several old timber-framed houses is currently undergoing restoration. It was an auspicious coincidence that the terrain for building the temple was just ready, when the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang was expected visiting Hungary. He spontaneously consented to travel on to Schneverdingen to perform the groundbreaking and earth blessing ceremony there.

In the morning of July 18, the ceremony took place in the presence of His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang and Venerable Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen. Despite the short time for preparation, everything was meticulously arranged for by Lama Tsering Rinpoche, the resident Lama of the Drikung Garchen Institute of Munich, and several nuns of the same Institute. Many Sangha members took the opportunity to participate at this auspicious event, regardless of the short-dated announcement.

According to old Bön traditions there are numerous classes of Sadag ( sa bdga) or earth-owning spirits. As they dominate the soil and habitats connected with the earth, they are easily disturbed and irritated by humans. Tibetan astrology assumes that orientation of the Sadag in the earth turns seasonally. In order to appease the Sadag of the place his position has to be determined using special astrological calculations by laying out the grid with flour along a five-colored cord. On the site of the future temple, His Holiness ascertained the cardinal and ordinal directions and the divisions. Eventually an image of a Sadag was placed in the correct position. After that a special earth blessing Sadhana was performed, written by the great Drikung Dharmakirti, the first of the Chungtsang Rinpoches, Rigzin Chökyi Drakpa (1595-1659). During the ceremony an incense burning offering as a purifying ritual was done by burning different tree leafs and tsampa with butter and brown sugar and other ingredients as an offering mainly for the local deities.

The exact spot for the groundbraking is located right beneath the left armpit of the image of the Sadag on the template. His Holiness broke out a piece of earth with the spike of a pickaxe which subsequently was examined and ascertained as being favorable. Once the temple is built, it will later be dispersed on the land. Eventually the ceremony continued with a sweet rice offering and prayers in a tent. His Holiness also blessed two other spots on the land, one will house a small Achi shrine and the other will be a smaller temple exclusively for the participants in Three-Year-Retreat on a particular separate area of the property.

His Holiness was very happy to see many of his disciples and also to meet Gelugpa nuns from the Tibetan Center in Hamburg who have their own meditation center Semkye Ling just a couple of kilometers away from the Milarepa Retreat Center.