His Eminence Ratna Vajra Rinpoche arrived in Minneapolis on June 1, 2007 for three days of teachings and initiations at Sakya Thupten Dargye Ling. The Minneapolis Center is a branch of Tsechen Kunchab Ling, Seat of His Holiness Sakya Trizin in the United States. Venerable Lama Kalsang Gyaltsen and Center members welcomed His Eminence with a festive reception, which was followed by a public Dharma talk on “The Meaning of Life from the Buddhist Perspective.” The event filled the reception hall with western students and many Tibetan families. Minneapolis and St. Paul are home to the second-largest Tibetan population in the U.S, including many Sakya families.

On Saturday, His Eminence graciously bestowed a brief Medicine Buddha initiation, followed by an easy-to-follow explanation of the sadhana practice. He also taught “Parting from the Four Attachments,” the great Sakya classic that shows us how to overcome four types of obstacles on the path to enlightenment. Everyone found this exceptional teaching, as presented by His Eminence, to be as relevant to our lives today as it no doubt was when it was written centuries ago.

His Eminence concluded his visit to the Twin Cities on Sunday with Long Life and Vajrakilaya initiations at the Tibetan American Foundation in St. Paul. After the teachings, everyone in attendance, including His Eminence, enjoyed a home-cooked Tibetan meal and a full double rainbow that stretched end-to-end over the foundation building. It was an auspicious ending to a wonderful visit.

Everyone at Sakya Thubten Dargye Ling is extremely grateful for His Eminence’s kind efforts to spread the authentic and perfect Dharma in the West. It is our sincere hope that he will be able to visit our community again soon.