It says the amount of Attendees were 200,000 not 500,000 like I thought before to the 1985 Kalachakra in Bodhgaya

However, I had no idea what the Kalachakra initiation was until I got to Bodhgaya, India in Bihar State.

I was with my family snorkeling near Bangkok at Koi Samed Island and I got it clear we needed to visit Geshela in Bodhgaya, India so I got my family on a plane from Bangkok to Kathmandu and hired a driver and car to take us to the Indian border of Nepal. Then we took mostly buses from the Raxaul, Border town to Bodhgaya India which is near Gaya India. When we arrived there there were literally 200,000 people there from all over the world but most people were from Asia anywhere from Japan to India to Tibet to all over the region who were devout Tibetan Buddhists there. What I did get right was that there were 10,000 people from places like North and South America and Europe and all over the western world and Japan and Thailand and South Korea and places like that. They put a tent over where us 10,000 westerners were so we wouldn't pass out from the sun because it was pretty hot there then in December. It was strange to be somewhere so hot that time of year( almost Christmas of 1985). 

This was a 4 day initiation by the Dalai Lama also. The most interesting thing for me at least as a westerner was that it was supposed to rain when it finished (the 4 day initiation) and I thought (as a westerner) Sure this is really going to happen?

But, I was wrong on a clear hot very sunny day at the end of this initation a little cloud formed ONLY above the 200,000 people and it rained on all us.

There is something about "The Rain of Blessings" that is talked about in Tibetan Buddhism too with all of this.

While I was there I was treated very well by everyone. In fact, I might have been treated better than I have ever been treated before or since in my life which made me love these Tibetan Buddhists in a way I didn't expect that I would. They were all very precious and Devout people who came there from all over the world. 

They even had western food there in a place called "The Buddha's Belly" so we could get something beyond Dahl Bhat with Curried potatoes there too which was helpful to us used to a more Western World Diet there. During the 4 months or so I was there I didn't like what that much curry did to my stomach either so I tend to shy away from Curry now because of my experiences there 40 years ago now.

However, I still like momos which are like dumplings with either potatoes in them or sometimes meat like Sheep or something like that that are wrapped in Dough and cooked a certain way. I also liked Tibetan Sampa which is roasted Barley powder that you mix with Butter as a staple for hiking through the Himalayas sort of how people here might use Granola as a staple on long hikes since the 1960s here in the Sierras or Rocky Mountains or other mountains in the U.S. or around the world.

Every Tibetan Buddhist wants to have the Kalachakra Initiation because it means your soul can go to Shambala heaven if you are initiated especially by the Dalai Lama at some point during your lifetime.

I met people who had walked 6 months to get there from Kham province knowing that the Chinese would never let them return home once they left Tibet. This is why there are so many Tibetan Refugees in India all over the place especially around Dharamshala where the Dalai Lama lives.

Tashi Delek (which means Good Luck in Tibetan)

By God's Grace