General recap:  Khenpo Karten Rinpoche offered a Water Blessing Ceremony on the occasion of the Summer Solstice and First Day of Summer at Lovers Point beach in Pacific Grove. The blessing honored all the earth’s elements as Rinpoche chanted to pray for their protection. Participants offered a prayer for world peace and brought flower petals to contribute to this beautiful and moving ceremony. 

Rinpoche’s recap:  Yesterday, June 21st, the summer solstice, we had the 8th water blessing ceremony on the beach at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. Offerings were given to the nagas, the water serpents, of the three white substances: honey, milk, and yogurt, and many flowers and flower petals of brilliant colors which reset floating on the waves. There was quite a crowd of people! This ceremony of the water element is especially important for California which has droughts and floods and avalanches. I think the Nagas were very pleased!

Photos (thank you Stacy Loving, Heidi Feldman and all others who contributed photos):