Tergar Shrine Hall, Bodhgaya,
24 – 26 February 2025 

In the days immediately preceding Losar, it is customary to offer a Mahakala ritual; this is known as the Gutor [དགུ་གཏོར་] in Tibetan because it concludes on the 29th day of the twelfth Tibetan month. Tergar Shrine Hall was freshly decorated with great garlands of marigolds and a shrine to Mahakala Bernakchen was set up in front of the stage to the left. The ritual is performed each year before Losar in order to purify any negativities collected during the year and to clear away obstacles in the year ahead. Mahakala Bernakchen, the two-armed Mahakala, is the special protector of the Karma Khamtsang, so this ritual is of particular significance to Karma Kagyu; however, the aim is to perform the ritual for the benefit of all sentient beings
This year the Short Mahakala Puja was combined with another ritual—Tseringma. This ritual, previously performed at Tsurphu in Tibet, is an offering to the five Tseringma –the five Long-Life Sisters who are protectors of the Kagyu lineage–and their connection with the Kagyu can be traced back to Milarepa, hence a statue of Milarepa crowned the shrine set up to the Tseringma to the right in front of the stage.
Tashi Tseringma is the principal deity of this group of female protectors who are known as the Tashi Tsering Chenga. 
In 2016 the 17th Karmapa expressed his hope that in the years to come, the nunneries would engage in the extensive practice of Tseringma every year and so it has become part of the Arya Kshema. 

For further information on Tseringma:
https://www.aryakshema.com/index.php/en/category-lists/en-articles/5th-arya-kshema/the-nuns-offer-two-rituals-dolkar-and-the-five-tseringma
https://www.aryakshema.com/index.php/en/category-lists/en-articles/5th-arya-kshema/the-nuns-offer-two-rituals-dolkar-and-the-five-tseringma

20-23 February 2025

In private study sessions, the nuns have been busy memorising textbooks for each level. These texts were specially compiled for the winter debates by the Gyalwang Karmapa, assisted by a group of shedra monks. They cover what a student should know in each topic, and are used by all Karma Kagyu shedra students, both nuns and monks. The nuns have also been practising their debating skills individually and in small groups over in the Monlam Pavillion, supervised and assisted by their teachers.
Now the competition has begun and they also have to debate in Tergar Shrine Hall in front of all of their teachers and the other nuns from the eight different nunneries  that are attending the 9th Arya Kshema Dharma Gathering. There is also a panel of judges drawn from the shedra teachers who award marks for the skills the nuns demonstrate.
On 20th February, two groups from Lorig [Mind and Awareness], styled as Group K and Group Kha, according to the Tibetan alphabet, competed against each other.
On 21st February, Groups K and Kha from Tarig [Types of Evidence] competed.
On 22nd February, Groups K and Kha from Dupa [Collected Topics] competed.
Sunday 23rd was a holiday.
The debate competition does not include Pharchin or Tsema yet,  as not all the nuns’ shedras have been established long enough to have taught the whole curriculum.

Tergar Shrine Hall
19 February 2025

Not all the nuns at the Arya Kshema are taking part in the debates. Some of the older nuns who were ordained many years before the shedras were established and some of the younger ones who are too young for shedra study  dedicate their time during the Arya Kshema to reciting prayers for the benefit of all sentient beings.
This year, at the direction of the Gyalwang Karmapa, they will receive a series of teachings that Khenpo Ghawang will be giving on the Four-Session Guru Yoga.
The Four Session Guru Yoga is one of the principal practices of the Karma Kamtsang and the essential daily guru yoga practice.  Many monastics recite the text daily; it is recited daily during the Kagyu Gunchoe and the Kagyu Monlam.
It was composed by Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje, who based it on an earlier text found in the writings of Lama Shangtsalpa, a disciple of Lord Gampopa.
The Gyalwang Karmapa gave the empowerment and teachings on the Four-Session Guru Yoga at the 34th Kagyu Monlam.

Tergar Monastery Shrine Hall,
Bodhgaya, 
16 February 2025

When the great mahāsiddha Nāgārjuna was meditating in the acacia forest in South India, Green Tārā manifested to him and professed her intention to help him benefit beings. In that marvellous place of the acacia forest, Nāgārjuna built a temple to her. Green Tārā consecrated the temple herself with blessings so powerful that anyone who practised there would achieve ordinary siddhis very quickly. Out of compassion for people who lived far away from that sublime place, Nāgārjuna composed the sādhana of Green Tārā of the Acacia Forest (Skt: Khadiravaṇī Tārā, Tib: སེང་ལྡེང་ནགས་ཀྱི་སྒྲོལ་མ་).
Through one of his four principal disciples, Nāgabodhi, in an unbroken transmission, this tradition was passed down to the First Karmapa Düsum Khyenpa and onwards. This tantra has always held a special place in the Kamtsang Kagyu as it became one of Düsum Khyenpa’s core five-sets-of-five yidam deities:
    •    Five-Deity Cakrasaṃvara (Tib: Khorlo Demchog)
    •    Five-Deity Vajravārāhī (Tib: Dorje Phagmo)
    •    Five-Deity Hevajra  (Tib: Kyei Dorje)
    •    Five-Deity Tārā (Tib: Drolma)
    •    Five-Deity Hayagrīva (Teib: Tamdrin)
The Five-Deity Tārā tradition became included in the Knowing One Frees All (Tib:  གཅིག་ཤེས་ཀུན་གྲོལ Chig She Kün Drol) compiled by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje.
However, over time, the precious practice of Five-Deity Tārā has declined and there was no complete ritual. In the spirit of an auspicious revival of this practice, the Seventeenth Gyalwang Karmapa’s intention had been to compile the ritual in full. This involved not just preparing the ritual but adding aspects such as offering four mandalas, instructions on how to recite the Homage to the Twenty-One Taras, and the thousand-fold offering. It was first introduced during the Kagyu Mönlam in January of 2023 and it has been practiced in the Arya Kshema Spring Gatherings ever since. This year, His Holiness the Karmapa has finally completed his work on revising the sādhana.
In fulfilment of the revival of this core Kagyu practice, the Gyalwang Karmapa has requested Kyabgön Drung Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche to bestow the Five-Deity Tārā empowerment. 
In the main Shrine Hall of Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya, lavishly decorated with flowers, tormas and other offerings, Rinpoche conferred the empowerment to the congregation of trulkus, khenpos, shedra teachers, monks, nuns and lay-people. Following the customary mandala offering, Gyaltsab Rinpoche wore the golden, brocade Gampopa hat, and performed the main section of the empowerment. After the mandala offering of gratitude, the empowerment blessings were shared with everyone present.