On January 6 and 7, His Holiness Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje presided over the final two days of the twentieth annual Pal Nyammay Kagyupay Sangha Monlam Chenmo (the Great Monlam Aspiration of the Glorious Unequaled Kagyu Sangha) in Bodhgaya, India. On January 6, His Holiness offered teachings and the Green Tara empowerment to the 5,000 monks, nuns, and lay sangha gathered for the Monlam which began on December 31, 2002. On the final day of the Monlam, His Holiness the Dalai Lama joined the Karmapa for the concluding session. (A news report describes the prayer festival's opening day.)

Later that month in Bodhgaya, His Holiness received the Kalachakra initiation from His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The Karmapa joined over 150,000 Buddhists from throughout India, the Himalayas, and around the world to receive the profound Kalachakra tantra, which concluded with a long-life empowerment from the Dalai Lama on January 20.

A feature article about His Holiness Karmapa was published in The Sunday Times on January 5. The extensive piece by journalist Katharine Saunders features quotes from her interview with His Holiness.

His Holiness travelled to Thrangu Rinpoche's Vajravidya Institute in Sarnath, India for a monthlong visit, where he presided over the annual ritual practices leading up to and celebrating Losar on February 2. While at Vajravidya, His Holiness continued his regular studies and participated in debates with institute students in the evenings.

An Associated Press story reported on the Karmapa's arrival in Sarnath for a brief visit in early January, while another news report described preparations that were under way a month before that visit.

Just before Losar, His Holiness offered the Bodhisattva Vow to a large gathering of Chinese disciples and lay students from the Himalayas and around the world. His Holiness also offered the same long-life Amitayus empowerment that Rechungpa received from Tipupa during a pilgrimage Rechungpa made to India nearly one thousand years ago.

On February 16, the auspicious full-moon day of Chotrul Duchen (the Buddha's month of miracles which follows Losar), His Holiness Karmapa presided over the chanting of monlam prayers in front of the Dhameka Stupa at Sarnath, the place of the Buddha's first turning of the wheel of dharma. His Holiness was accompanied by Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and a large sangha assembly.

Scenes from His Holiness's activities in January, at the Kagyu Monlam in Bodhgaya, India; and in Sarnath in February, where he spent a month at Thrangu Rinpoche's Vajravidya Institute, are showcased in a gallery.

His Holiness Karmapa gave a public teaching and bestowed a long-life empowerment on February 23 at Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi, India on his way back to his temporary quarters near Dharamsala.

On April 11, His Holiness Karmapa was the guest-of-honor at the closing ceremony of the annual Shoton (Great Yogurt Festival) at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts in Dharamsala. The ten-day festival is marked by performances of lhamo (traditional Tibetan opera) by Tibetan troupes from throughout India and Nepal. His Holiness also attended the opening day's festivities on April 2, along with other distinguished guests including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and numerous officials of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

His Holiness Karmapa gave a meaninful speech on the importance of Tibetan culture, and his aspirations for the Tibetan people, at the closing day of the Shoton.

Visit the gallery for a glimpse of His Holiness Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje at the Shoton in April.

In mid-May, His Holiness Karmapa attended ceremonies marking the end of a year-long celebration of the 360th anniversary of the Gaden Phodrang Government. His Holiness the Dalai Lama officiated at his main temple in Dharamsala over a program that was attended by religious leaders, government officials, ordained sangha, and the public. The Gaden Phodrang was formed in 1642 when the Fifth Dalai Lama Lobsang Gytaso assumed political authority over Tibet.

On June 1, His Holiness Karmapa served as the chief guest on the first day of the Gyalyum Chenmo Memorial Gold Cup football (soccer) tournament on the football grounds of the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala. His Holiness spoke at the opening ceremony on the importance of pursuing one's education in whatever field one chooses, and also said that in the spirit of sportsmanship we must be prepared to accept victory or defeat. He then watched the first two games.

The eight-day football tournament, sponsored by the Dharamsala-based Tibetan National Football Association, included matches between teams from Bylakuppe, Delhi, Dharamsala, Doon Valley, Gangtok, Kathmandu, Mungod, and Pokhara (who went on to win the tournament). Players from these teams will be selected to form a Tibetan national team with the hope of touring Europe. The Gold Cup tournament is named in honor of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's late mother, Gyalyum Chenmo Sonam Tsomo.

On June 26, the eighteenth birthday of His Holiness Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje was met with unseasonably fine weather at his temporary residence in Sidhbari, near Dharamsala. (In the Tibetan tradition this was counted as his nineteenth birthday.) The day began with representatives of His Eminence Tai Situ Rinpoche, Sherab Ling Monastery, and the Tsurphu Labrang presenting a mandala offering, followed by long-life prayers to His Holiness Karmapa.

Though a large, public birthday celebration was not scheduled at the request of His Holiness, over 1,000 ordained and lay devotees arrived, hoping to make offerings to the Karmapa and receive his blessing. This gathering of disciples filled the large Main Shrine Hall of Gyuto Ramoche Tantric University, and spilled onto the veranda outside.

[Celebrations and pujas presided over by His Eminence Gyaltsab Rinpoche were held at Dharma Chakra Centre, Rumtek, Sikkim. His Holiness Karmapa videotaped a message especially for those gathered to celebrate his birthday at Rumtek, and the videotape was screened during the morning activities at Rumtek to the assembled crowd of 3,000.]

His Holiness greeted his visitors at 2:30 in the afternoon and gave a spontaneous talk, where he expressed that birth itself is nothing to celebrate, as it leads to suffering, sickness, old age, and death. At the same time, a precious human birth, where one has the opportunity to meet authentic teachers of the Buddha's teachings and put those teachings into practice for the benefit of oneself and all other beings, is truly something to cherish. He made the aspiration that all those gathered be honest, maintain a good heart, and reject hypocrisy. The Karmapa expressed his deep gratitude to all who had come in person, and to all those from around the world who had offered their best wishes on the occasion of his birthday.

Finally, he affirmed his personal commitment to the mahayana path by quoting Shantideva:

As long as space endures,
As long as there are beings to be found,
May I continue likewise to remain,
To drive away the sorrows of the world.

The afternoon at Gyuto concluded with tea, sweet rice, kapse, and birthday cake. An auspicious light rain fell for 30 minutes at the end of the day.

In early July, His Holiness Karmapa made a five-day trip to Shimla, the capital of the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. He was invited by the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society to participate in Shimla's celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday, which took place at the Central School for Tibetans on July 6. During his visit, the Karmapa spent time with His Eminence Taklung Tsetrul Rinpoche, a renowned Nyingma master and abbot of Dorje Drak Gompa, one of the main monasteries of the Nyingmapa lineage.

Read an account of the trip, and visit the gallery to see His Holiness Karmapa in Shimla.

During the fall, Tenga Rinpoche travelled from his monastery in Nepal to offer teachings to His Holiness Karmapa at Gyuto.

In September, the Karmapa visited the newest of the seven Tibetan Children's Village Schools at Gopalpur in Himachal Pradesh, which houses and educates close to 1,000 students, many of them recent arrivals from Tibet.

On October 27, His Holiness Karmapa joined His Holiness the Dalai Lama in marking the 43rd anniversary of the Tibetan Children's Village School in Dharamsala. The school was one of the first to be established in exile for the education and welfare of Tibetan refugee children.

In early November, His Holiness Karmapa consecrated the newly constructed Thosamling, a unique nunnery and institute for ordained Western women located behind the Norbulingka Institute, not far from the Karmapa's temporary residence in Sidbhari.

Over 80 students from The Tibetan Homes Foundation School in Mussoorie, Uttaranchal visited His Holiness on December 16. The teen-age students made a special pilgrimage to see His Holiness at Gyuto as an auspicious beginning to their final year of school.

Earlier in December, His Holiness studied with Khenpo Rinchen Thundup at Gyuto.

His Holiness Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje presided over the 2003 Pal Nyammay Kagyupay Sangha Monlam Chenmo (the Great Monlam Aspiration of the Glorious Unequaled Kagyu Sangha) in Bodhgaya, the place of Buddha Shakyamuni's enlightenment. This annual international gathering of eminent teachers and ordained and lay sangha of the Karma Kagyu lineage took place from December 30, 2003 through January 7, 2004.

En route to Bodhgaya, His Holiness stopped in Delhi, where he offered teachings to a delegation of dharma students from Taiwan on December 26, leaving for Bodhgaya on December 27.