On the most auspicious day of the Guru Rinpoche Drubchen for world peace, our precious Teacher Patrul Rinpoche received a message by telephone and suddenly instructed some students to start cleaning an area beside the throne in the main Temple .

There was an air of bewilderment in the room as the main sadhana was only partly completed, but this was immediately put on hold, only the mantra continued.

Within minutes a large platform was being built and the room was buzzing with speculation as to what was being prepared, and why?

Within an hour everyone's curiosity was answered when a large freight vehicle reversed up to the temple door with many large crates which had arrived from Nepal . This could only mean one thing, the large statue of Guru Rinpoche had arrived.

Now the mass curiosity turned into mass excitement and happiness and everyone crowded around to welcome the statue and receive Guru Rinpoche.

The students were not the only ones surprised as the delivery driver was greeted by a gathering of Dakas and Dakinis bearing incense and holding Katags.  

The crates were quickly opened and the statue was carefully assembled on the platform.  

When the statue was complete Patrul Rinpoche and Khenpo Thubten Lodro Nyima performed a ceremony to bless the statue. 

Guru Rinpoche was immediatly given the responsibility to maintain peace in Europe, and to carry out enlightened activities for World Peace.    

The statue of Guru Rinpoche is nearly three meters high and is possibly the largest Guru Rinpoche statue in Europe , it is  inspiring and  beautiful and seems to radiate a glow that immediately touches the heart. The only glow that shone brighter was that of our own precious Teacher Patrul Rinpoche.

After the ceremony Rinpoche was asked if the statue was ordered specifically for the 5th day of the Drubchen, Rinpoche replied that the statue was only ordered from Nepal a short time ago and he could not have known what day it would arrive, and if it would arrive during the Drupchen at all. 

Rinpoche then went on to explain that the 5th day of Drubchen is the most auspicious day of a Drupchen.  In Dzogchen it was during this time that signs of blessings appeared, such as amrita flowing from tormas. Rinpoche said that when he was a child he did not really believe it, but when he became chöpön (master of ceremony)  for six years he could see it with his own eyes. On the fifth day, everyone would wear good clothes, and expect something to happen. At the beginning of the day at the invocation time, everyone became relaxed, and sometimes the teacher would say "how is the torma going?". Amrita started coming out of the torma. In the afternoon amrita would flow, and at the end of the day as well as the following days, there was so much amrita that you could drink it- it has the taste of honey. This has been reported already during the time of the 4th Dzogchen Rinpoche.

This Drupchen in Dharma City, many things happened. Not only did Guru Rinpoche arrive, but also  the first book of Patrul Rinpoche for the wide public, and several beautiful CDs of previous teachings have been delivered by the publisher on the same day.
Late evening, a rainbow was seen in Dharma City, and since then the relentless wind has settle down.

When Guru Rinpoche was in Tibet , with the help of others, he implemented Buddhism, created monasteries and translation of Indian texts. Now we are very lucky. Guru Rinpoche has arrived in Dharma City . Maybe in the future all Dharma will pervade Europe from here.

All these are very good signs indeed, and we are convinced that the teachings of Buddhism, and its message of compassion, tolerance, harmony, is now firmly implemented in Europe.

Thank you very much to all the sponsors who have made it possible! 

More pictures