Saka Dawa

Saka Dawa: Join us to practice together on the merit-multiplying day and be part of a Lama Chöpa with tsog practice, preliminary prayers from the prayer book and prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Swift Return!

WHEN: Thursday May 23, 6.30 – 9.00 pm CET
WHERE: Onsite & Online
LEVEL: Open for everyone
DOWNLOADS: Sadhana, Lhagsam Prayer Book and Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Happy Saka Dawa! Thursday May 23 is the fifteenth day of the fourth Tibetan lunar month, the day to celebrate Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and passing into Parinirvana. Any actions done during Saka Dawa, both auspicious and harmful, are multiplied in their power. Karmic results are said to be multiplied by one hundred million times, so don’t miss this precious opportunity! It is a very powerful time to practice and increase one’s commitment to both practice and study. This evening we’ll do a Lama Chöpa with Tsog Offering, as recommended by Lama Yeshe.

Schedule:

18.30 – 19.30: Lama Chöpa (Tibetan/English)
19.30 – 19.40: Break
19.40 – 21.00: Guided Meditation and Teaching Inspiration

Lama Chöpa is a practice of guru devotion special to the Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. In Sanskrit, lama is guru, and chöpa is offering, so Lama Chöpa translates into English as ‘offering to the spiritual guide.’ A special practice of Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the founder of the Gelugpa School, Lama Chöpa was compiled by the first Panchen Lama, Panchen Lozang Chokyi Gyaltsen (1570-1662), who was the teacher of the fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682). As indicated by the opening words, ‘Arising within the sphere of great bliss, I manifest as a Guru Yidam,’ it contains the idea of personal transformation through the practitioner merging his or her mind with the guru as the meditational deity. The essence of the practice is to see the guru as an Enlightened Being, a Buddha, and to receive his or her blessings in return.

About the Teacher

Ven. Tenzin Michael is a Buddhist monk, born in Switzerland. At the age of 24, he visited Asia for the first time and learned Buddhism hands-on in the monasteries of Himalaya. In the years to follow, he traveled Asia and his interest in Buddhism kept growing. He spent many years in the Tibetan Buddhist Drepung Monastery in South India and is currently studying Buddhism in the Nalanda Monastery in southern France. More Information.