SPIRITUAL: Holy Day

Lhabab Düchen is one of the four major Buddhist holy days of the year. On this day, we celebrate the Buddha’s return to beings in our realm after a three-month separation. During that separation, he had gone to the God Realm of Thirty-Three, a higher realm where his mother was reborn after giving him birth, in order to repay her kindness by giving teachings to liberate her from samsara. His teachings in the God Realm of the Thirty-Three also benefited the Arya Beings who lived there.

As a Buddha holy day, this is an auspicious day for practice, when the karmic effects of actions are multiplied one hundred million times, according to our Spiritual Director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, citing the Vinaya text The Treasure of Quotations and Logic.

Lhabab Düchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth month on the Tibetan lunar calendar.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche, encourages students to take the Eight Mahayana Precepts on holy days. For more about the practice of precepts, please read The Direct and Unmistaken Method by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. Rinpoche advises many other practices on holy days as well.

We will celebrate with a Shakyamuni Buddha Puja at 1 pm on Zoom.

Registration is required to participate. Please register here.

Sponsorship of a Holy Day puja is $125, and of general Holy Day events and activities, it's $108.

Supporting the Holy Day event is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation or sponsorship (use the button below on this page)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

Sponsor Holy Day Activities $108

Sponsor Holy Day Puja ~ $125

The month of Saka Dawa celebrates Shakyamuni's birth, enlightenment and passing into parinirvana.  The merit of any positive actions are increased exponentially.

On this holy day we will do two merit-making practices: Prostrations to the 35 Confession Buddhas and a group recitation of the Vajra Cutter Sutra, each of us taking a turn to read a page (if we wish).

This is an online event, available on Zoom and our YouTube channel.

Registration is required to participate via Zoom.

Click here to register.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Seven weeks after attaining enlightenment at Bodhgaya, Shakyamuni Buddha gave his first teaching at the Deer Park in Sarnath. We celebrate this day as Chokhor Düchen.

At this teaching, the Buddha expressed his profound realization of the nature of existence in the Four Noble Truths:

    The Truth of  the Nature of Suffering
    The Truth of the Origins or Causes of Suffering
    The Truth of the Cessation of, or Liberation from, Suffering
    The Truth of the Eight Fold Path as the means to attain ultimate happiness and freedom from suffering.

This teaching, referred to as the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, led to the formation of the Sangha, the community of disciples committed to following the Buddha's example of living simply, following the Path, and teaching the Dharma. Accordingly, every year at this time, the FPMT encourages its Centers to celebrate the presence of the sangha community. Our website includes a Sangha Support and Offerings page with valuable information, including a previous year's talk and Q&A about sangha with our director, Robbie Watkins.

Kadampa Center will offer a reading of the Vajra Cutter sutra, as well as other prayers, online at 12pm.

You can sponsor Holy Day events - amazing merit!  Click here to sponsor Chokhor Düchen

Spend the lunch hour on this merit-multiplying holy day by joining our communithy in a group reading of the Golden Light Sutra. Lama Zopa Rinpoche, our Spiritual Director, has advised us at Kadampa Center to recite this sutra to create the causes for hosting this year's Light of the Path Retreat.

We will read the sutra monastery-style:  All the pages will be divided among those who attend, and then we will all read aloud at the same time until all are finished. The idea is that, even if we are not consciously comprehending the words, the entire sutra is entering our mindstream because we can hear one another speak. It's a joyful cacophony!

Learn more here about the Golden Light Sutra.

Sponsoring the sutra readings is a great way to create merit, and it's especially auspicious to do so during the Days of Miracles, when our merit is multiplied exponentially.

Sponsorship is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your sponsorship (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation (use the buttons below on this page),

Sponsors may wish to dedicate very simply - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might make more extensive spiritual wishes, such as ""May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

Use our secure online community to donate by clicking your choice below. 

To try our new Text Giving, send KC108 to 73256 and select your level from the drop down menu.

Don't forget to dedicate your sponsorship!

Sponsor a Sutra Reading ~ $75

The two-week long Tibetan Great Prayer Festival, Monlam Chenmo, which began with the Tibetan New Year, culminates in the Day of Miracles, Chotrul Duchen, which falls this year on Monday, March 9.  As a Buddha Holy Day, the karmic effects of virtuous actions performed on this day are multiplied exponentially, according to Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Our Schedule:

•  12:00 pm  Group reading of the Golden Light Sutra, followed by

                       Medicine Buddha Puja

The FPMT spiritual director, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, encourages students to take the Eight Mahayana Precepts on holy days. This is a set of vows that are taken for 24 hours, from just before dawn to sunrise the following day. Those who have taken precepts previously from a qualified teacher are encouraged to take them at home, at "first light".

*Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends reciting the Golden Light Sutra everyday, and especially on Buddha holy days. The benefits from reciting, listening to, or even hearing the name of the sutra are immeasurable, extending from eliminating conflict, terrorism, torture and gamine, to achieving full enlightenment. The Sanghata Sutra is a direct teaching by the Buddha that promised to tranform all who read or recite it.

Sponsoring the sutra readings is a great way to create merit, and it's especially auspicious to do so during the Days of Miracles, when our merit is multiplied exponentially.

Sponsorship is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your sponsorship (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation (use the button below on this page),

Sponsors may wish to dedicate very simply - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might make more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

Use our secure online community to donate by clicking your choice below. 

To try our new Text Giving, send KC108 to 73256 and select your level from the drop down menu.

Don't forget to dedicate your sponsorship!

Sponsor a Sutra Reading ~ $75

We will enjoy milk tea, Tibetan rice, and cookies during the celebration.

There will be no classes for the Family Program -- children are invited to remain in the gompa for the festivities.

The actual date of Losar is Monday, February 24. This day marks the beginning of the 14-day Days of Miracles, a festival of prayer. Lama Zopa Rinpoche advises us that this is an especially auspicious time to do spiritual practice, because our merit multiplies exponentially.

Sponsoring the Losar Celebration is a great way to create merit!

Sponsorship is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your sponsorship (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation (use the button below on this page),

Sponsors may wish to dedicate very simply - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might make more extensive spiritual wishes, such as ""May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

Use our secure online community to donate by clicking your choice below. 

To try our new Text Giving, send KC108 to 73256 and select your level from the drop down menu.

Don't forget to dedicate your sponsorship!

Sponsor Losar Celebration ~ $125

Come join us as we celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa,  the founder of our lineage, the Gelugpa tradition, in Tibetan Buddhism. This day marks the 600th anniversary of his passing. He was a renowned scholar, practitioner, meditator, teacher and author.  His studies and meditations in all the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism resulted in the founding of the Gelugpa lineage. Among his major accomplishments is writing the Lamrim, or the Great Treatise on the Path to Enlightenment, a step-by-step guide to the spiritual practices that lead to enlightenment. He also wrote several condensed versions of the Lamrim, including Foundation of All Good Qualities, the Three Principal Aspects of the Path, and Song of Experience.

  
Led by Geshe Gelek, we will celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa and his great contribution to the Dharma with a festival of prayer and practice.  To bring us closer to him, we will bring Lama Tsongkhapa and his disciples from the main altar onto a special altar in the center of the gompa, where we will make light offerings and circumambulate the altar while reciting mantras. Our celebration also includes review of his three major short works. Geshe-la encourages us all to come, even if we can't attend the entire festival. Students are welcome to drop in and drop out throughout the afternoon.

Program
Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga
  Circumambulate altar while chanting 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Return to seats for long mandala offerings.
Foundation of All Good Qualities – review & analytical meditation
  Circumambulate altar while chanting 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Return to seats for long mandala offerings.
Three Principal Aspects of the Path – review & analytical meditation
  Circumambulate altar while chanting 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras
  Return to seats for long mandala offerings.
Song of Experience – review & analytical meditation
  Circumambulate altar while chanting 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras 
  Return to seats for long mandala offerings.
In Praise of Dependent Origination – review & analytical meditation
  Circumambulate altar while chanting 21 Lama Tsongkhapa mantras
  Return to seats for long mandala offerings.
Recite Lama Tsongkhapa mantra 14 times
Lamrim dedication prayerr

Geshe Gelek encourages students who have previously taken Eight Mahayana Precepts to take them at home before sunrise, before their home altar.

Lama Tsongkhapa Day honors a very powerful practitioner so there is great power in the merit of supporting it financially. Supporting this holy day's spiritual practices – whether you are able to attend or not – is an opportunity to collect great merit. If you are sponsoring but not attending, you can offer prayers for those who are participating in the events.

Supporting the Holy Day event is a two-step process

Step One  is dedicating your generosity (click here).

Step Two  is making the donation or sponsorship (use the button below on this page)

Dedications may be very simple - "For my mother, Rosemary" - or they might encompass more extensive spiritual wishes, such as "May these teachings be the cause to liberate all sentient beings," or wishes for the teacher's long life, to benefit a person who is ill - any heart-felt positive intention!  You also can dedicate for more than one intention.

The festival begins with Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga puja and will include light offerings.

Sponsor Holy Day Puja ~ $125

Sponsor the light offerings ($50)