Although the Kagyu Mönlam is first and foremost a spiritual event, social activities have a firm place in the annual programme as well.
Bihar is one of the poorest states in India, and thus the holy place of Bodhgaya is full of beggars, most of them congregating around the outside of the Mahabodhi Temple. No social services are available to help these poor people, and many of them are forced to spend the chilly winter nights sleeping out in the street, huddled closely together for a minimum of warmth and protection.

Every day during the week-long Kagyu Mönlam, rice, dhal and vegetables are prepared in a tent on the grounds of Kalachakra Maidan and served to the poor on plates made of leaves. Voluntary helpers from all over the world help with this project, and approximately 500 poor people come every day to receive the food offering.
This year, about a thousand warm blankets were also distributed to the poor and homeless to provide them with some protection against the increasingly chilly night air. The demand for the blankets was such that it took the intervention of the police to get the chaos under control.

Last but not least, for the fourth time this year, the Karmapa Healthcare Project provided free medical checkups and healthcare for participants in the Mönlam as well as the local population.
When the project started its first healthcare camp in Bodhgaya four years ago there were just nine volunteers from Europe who dedicated their time and energy to looking after those in need of medical advice and treatment. Sometimes it was just a matter of teaching the patients some basic principles of hygiene, at other times people had to be referred to hospital for treatment of more serious ailments.
This year, about forty medical staff and volunteers from East and West alike, as well as monks and nuns from the different institutes where the project is active offered their knowhow and services.

While Buddhists are sometimes accused of being exclusively concerned with their own spiritual development and not being interested in social activities, this is actually not the case. In Mahayana Buddhism the bodhisattva-in-training puts into action his commitment to benefit all sentient beings by developing the “six paramitas” (transcendental virtues), the first of which is generosity.









The practice of giving to those in need is therefore regarded as part and parcel of the bodhisattva’s training. Moreover, the practitioner develops a great deal of respect and appreciation towards those who are the object of his generosity, in the understanding that we are all interconnected and that the practice of generosity is just as beneficial to the giver as to the recipient of whatever is offered.