We will celebrate this special Guru Puja on Losar in honor of both Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, co-founders of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition.
Lama Yeshe passed away in the early morning of Losar in 1984. Rinpoche said there is incredible merit in offering tsog (offerings) on that occasion each year.
In addition to honoring the memory of Lama Yeshe, we will recite additional tsog offering verses for Lama Zopa Rinpoche's long life, as advised by Venerable Roger and FPMT. If you wish to follow along from home, you can download a copy of the practice How to Offer a 1,000 Tsog Offerings here.
Guru puja (Lama Chöpa) is a practice of making offerings and requests to all the Buddhas and holy beings, but especially the root guru, who, according to the teachings, is the root of the path to liberation. It is a practice recommended by FPMT's Spiritual Director Lama Zopa Rinpoche, who says:
"This practice of Guru Puja is very profound, with many extra benefits, and is very quick to bring enlightenment. The lam-rim prayer, the prayer of the steps of the path to enlightenment, in Guru Puja has lam-rim and also lo-jong, or thought transformation. Generally, the whole of the lam-rim, from guru devotion up to enlightenment, is thought transformation. If your mind is not transformed into the path, how can you have realizations of the path? There’s no way, without transforming your mind."
As part of the puja, we perform a special practice called tsog which has extensive offerings. According to the Liberation Prison Project Tibetan calendar, on the 10th and 25th of every Tibetan (lunar) month, Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, “Those who have received an initiation into Highest Yoga Tantra have a commitment to perform tsog” on these days. Kadampa Center holds pujas with tsog on these dates (when they don't conflict with other programs).
Anyone is welcome to attend pujas, even if you are unfamiliar with the practice. This puja is partly recited in English and partly chanted in Tibetan. (It is possible to read the English translations of the whole puja, and there is optional sheet music available to help learn the Tibetan tunes.) Traditionally the offerings for the sangha and puja are sponsored by Dharma students, especially if they want to dedicate the puja to their spiritual teachers or loved ones in need of support and prayers.
