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Boudha Stupa, Nepal. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Chokhor Duchen, one of the four annual holy days of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, takes place this year on July 21. On these holy days, the power of any meritorious action is multiplied by 100 million, as taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Known in English as “Turning the Wheel of Dharma”, Chokhor Duchen commemorates the anniversary of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s first teaching. It is said that for seven weeks after his enlightenment, the Buddha did not teach. Afterward, Indra and Brahma offered a dharmachakra and a conch shell, and requested Guru Shakyamuni Buddha to teach. Accepting, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha turned the wheel of Dharma for the first time at Sarnath in his teaching on the four noble truths.
Practice Advice
Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for merit-multiplying days include:
- Taking the eight Mahayana precepts—students can receive the lineage of these precepts from a specially produced video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche granting them
- Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
In addition, Rinpoche recommended doing Shakyamuni Buddha Puja. A beautiful and deeply inspirational puja, the text was recently reformatted with hyperlinks for smooth navigation so that individuals can easily do the core practice and any additional ones as their time allows.
Please note: If you wish to do the abbreviated version of the Shakyamuni Buddha Puja, we strongly encourage you to use this original Shakyamuni Buddha Puja as advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche. You can abbreviate it to according to your needs by leaving out some prayers or not doing the additional prayers recommended in the puja.
A longer list of recommended practices can be found on “Practices for Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses.” You can also find advice for merit-multiplying days in French and practice materials for merit-multiplying days in other language.
Of course, it is also good to do any of the other meritorious activities advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche on these great holy days.
In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, FPMT students are encouraged to observe all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Celebrate International Sangha Day
Chokhor Duchen is also the day on which FPMT celebrates International Sangha Day! International Sangha Day provides an opportunity for monastic and lay communities to come together in recognition of their interdependence and celebrate the ways in which they mutually rely on each other’s practice of the Dharma.
We have collected some ways you can honor monastics on International Sangha Day, in the Sangha section of the Affiliates Area. This is also the best day for affiliates to make their mandatory annual donation of US$240 or more to the International Mahayana Institute (IMI), which supports the worldwide FPMT Sangha community. Please make your donation directly to IMI, which now holds and administers the fund previously known as the Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund.
You can also watch a video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche praising the amazing commitment of Sangha to live in the path in “The Sangha Are the Real Heroes Because They Are Defeating the Delusions.” You can find additional inspiration, encouragement, and advice for Sangha collected online.
Offerings on Chokhor Duchen
Every merit multiplying day, the Puja Fund sponsors a large number of pujas and practices performed by thousands of Sangha. During this Chohkor Duchen, the Puja Fund will offer the following on behalf of the entire FPMT organization and all students, benefactors, and beings:
- Recitation of the Kangyur by Khachoe Ghakyil Ling Nunnery
- Recitation of the Prajnaparamita Sutraby Gyudmed Tantric College
- One Thousand Offerings to Namgyalmaand Sixty-Four Offerings to Kalarupa by Sera Lachi Monastery and Gyuto Tantric College
- Medicine Buddha puja and Sixty-Four Offerings to Kalarupaby Gaden Lachi Monastery
- Namgyalma long life ritual and Sixty-Four Offerings to Kalarupaby Drepung Lachi Monastery
- Offerings to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus and to over 10,000 Sangha, including those in International Mahayana Institute Sangha communities
- Offerings of robes to the Shakyamuni Buddha statue in the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya, India, and saffron and umbrellas to the Boudhanath and Swayambunath stupas in Nepal
- Printing sutras, making stupas and Buddha tsa-tsas, and liberating animals
Please consider joining in these pujas and offerings by supporting the Puja Fund.
Special thanks to the Liberation Prison Project for preparing this year’s Tibetan calendar. A limited view of the calendar is always available on “Dharma Practice Dates” as a courtesy to FPMT students.
Through comprehensive study programs and practice materials, FPMT Education Services nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.