Tergar Shrine Hall,
27 February 2025

Today was the final day of the Tibetan Year of the Wood Dragon. Tomorrow will be Losar, the first day of the Year of the Female Wood Snake. After three days of the Mahakala ritual combined with Tseringma, the nuns met early in the morning to conclude the Gutor.

They offered a final Short Mahakala before the Ritual for Receiving Siddhis, when the great torma is taken around the congregation and everyone breaks off a small piece and eats it, receiving the blessings from the ritual.
They then performed the Sang or smoke offering “Cloudbanks of Amrita”; the ritual fire for the offerings burned on the path in front of Tergar Shrine Hall.

The Gutor was successfully concluded and everything made ready for the new year.

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.