From Toronto, Yishin Norbu was driven to the four-year old Dharma Centre of Canada in Kinmount, beautifully situated in a landscape of forests and lakes. The visit had been intensely prepared for months, during which “even the rain of that memorable Canadian summer, the wet tents, the black flies, and mosquitoes” could not “dampen the youthful optimism; the joy at the arrival in the West of Tibet’s great spiritual king,” as one of the participants put it.[1] But in spite of the extensive preparations, the place still was very basic and difficult to heat. His Holiness liked it anyway, and this was, as Karma Thinley Rinpoche explained, “due to his fondness for Namgyal Rinpoche.” Karmapa remained for two weeks in the center, where he gave two to three empowerments a day. He wished to carry out the daily pūjās in the temple, “in order that the full monastic tradition may be experienced by Westerners.”[2] He blessed a new stupa which the Canadian sangha had completed in time for his visit, as well as the Mahākāla shrine in the forest. At the forest shrine one evening at dusk Karmapa gave some students, who were planning the first traditional three-year retreat in the West, the authorization to practice the main protector of the Kagyü lineage, Mahākāla Bernagchen (Black Cloak). Sister Palmo comments:
The Canadians showed their tremendous interest in meditation. They have gotten quite far under the guidance of Namgyal Rinpoche in a rather unorthodox way, and it is fitting in some way that some of the deepest teachings of the tour were given in the Canadian forest in the center of Namgyal Rinpoche. The protector Mahākāla had found a home there.[3]
From: Gerd Bausch: Radiant Compassion, Edition Karuna, p. 214.

[1]      Mary Jane Benett (Jangchub Wangmo): Meeting the 16th Karmapa, in: Levine: The Miraculous 16th Karmapa... op. cit., p. 204.
[2]      Document: Visit of His Holiness Gyalwa Karmapa to Canada. Final Schedule and Itinerary.
[3]      Sister Palmo: The Life of His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, op. cit.
 

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