We felt fortunate, that Mipham Rinpoche kept his word by coming to Dedrol Ling every year, which happened to be at the beginning of August this time. First of all he visited and blessed the new Karmapa House and was very pleased.
Afterwards we gathered in our meditation hall where we requested the five lay vows (Genyen vows) from him, which are; not killing, stealing, telling lies, only having one partner at a time and no intoxication. Before actually giving the vows, he gave detailed explanations on relying on the power of taking refuge as being the stable foundation for these vows. Rinpoche explained, that the first four vows are a skillful means to protect the one who takes them from harming others out of a selfish motivation, while the fifth one should prevent one from forgeting about them and breaking them. In a joyful atmosphere he gave these vows together with the refuge vow.
