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Sakyamuni Buddha.
Today, June 11, 2025, is the day we observe the merit-making day of Saka Dawa Duchen which commemorates Shakyamuni Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana when karmic results are multiplied by 300 million times as it commemorates Shakyamuni Buddha’s three major life events. As Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained, “Because Saka Dawa combines these three special days, the possibility to create merit is unbelievable. Due to this, it is very important for one to use this opportunity to do everything the best!”
We wish to remind you of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice for merit multiplying days, in particular:
- Taking the eight Mahayana precepts. Students can receive the lineage of these precepts from a specially produced video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche granting them, recorded in 2020 at Kopan Monastery.
- Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
Lama Zopa Rinpoche also advised that, “It is so important also to understand that if one collects non-virtue on merit multiplying days, then that will also increase by that many number of times. One has to be careful to not increase non-virtuous actions during the merit multiplying days.”
In 2020, Rinpoche offered “Advice for Saka Dawa” from Kopan Monastery. (Rinpoche’s teaching starts at 22:51 in this video). You can also read the transcript of this advice.
Watch Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teaching “Advice for Saka Dawa”:
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Shakyamuni Buddha.
Saka Dawa, Duchen which occurs this year on June 11, is one of the four great holy days of the Tibetan calendar, each of which celebrates an anniversary of Shakyamuni Buddha’s display of extraordinary powerful deeds for sentient beings’ sake. On this particular holy day, karmic results are multiplied by 300 million times as it commemorates Shakyamuni Buddha’s three major life events.
Please refer to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s advice for merit multiplying days, in particular:
- Taking the eight Mahayana precepts. Students can receive the lineage of these precepts from a specially produced video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche granting them, recorded in 2020 at Kopan Monastery.
- Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
Offerings on Saka Dawa
On Saka Dawa Duchen the FPMT Puja Fund will be sponsoring numerous pujas, including two recitations of the 100,000 Praises to the Twenty-One Taras and Names of Manjushri (Jampal Tsen Jo) for the swift return of our precious Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as well as many additional pujas and prayers. The Puja Fund will also be making monetary offerings to all the Sangha undertaking these practices and to all of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus; and a new coat of paint, umbrellas, and new robes to holy objects in India and Nepal. Please consider sharing information about this vast offering and extensive prayers that have been specifically set up by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the benefit of the whole organization and all beings.
Please join us in rejoicing in all the meritorious activities happening within the FPMT organization and around the world on this auspicious merit-multiplying day!
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Three-month Vajrasattva retreat participants engaged in fire puja, Tushita Meditation Centre, India, 2023.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered extensive advice to thousands of students on preliminary practices. Based on Rinpoche’s letters we created the Lama Zopa Rinpoche: Life Practice Advice page with the most essential advice as well as related materials on preliminary practices.
Rinpoche advised that the purpose of doing preliminary practices is to purify obstacles and collect extensive merit to achieve realizations of the path to enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. In addition, to cause such realizations to ripen within one’s mind, one needs to receive the guru’s blessings through the practice of guru yoga.
We are happy to share that FPMT centers are offering retreats for engaging in preliminary practices in order for students to fulfill Rinpoche’s advice and progress in this most essential way on the path. Here are a few upcoming opportunities:
- Between June 30 – September 23, Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamsala, India, is organizing a three-month Vajrasattva group retreat, which will end with a fire puja on the final day.
- Institut Vajra Yogini in France and Mahamudra Centre in New Zealand are offering shorter Vajrasattva retreats with Yangsi Rinpoche and Ven. Khadro, respectively, in June and August of this year.
- In August both Land of Joy in the UK and Institut Vajra Yogini in France are offering water bowl retreats.
Please take a look at our Retreat Schedule page where you can find information on other group retreats offered by FPMT centers around the world.
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Recently added to the FPMT in-depth education programs, FPMT In-depth Meditation Training (IDMT) focuses entirely on meditation and support of long-term practitioners. IDMT is a four-year online meditation training that offers personal instructions and guidance, helping meditators progress, develop, and experience a genuine taste of the nature of reality and bodhicitta.
IDMT was developed in dialogue with Lama Zopa Rinpoche, inspired by Rinpoche’s teaching that the true fulfilment of our precious human life is to generate the awakened mind, bodhicitta, and that a practitioner needs deep meditative practice to accomplish this. Based in the lamrim and in the gelug tenets, the training progresses from foundational shamatha and insight to Mahamudra and Kriya Tantra.
Weekly guided meditations are combined with in-depth lectures and meditation training, prioritizing the needs and levels of practice of the participants. This is a training that serves the students, adjusting itself in accordance with their needs, developing with them.
Suitable for students who have a thorough understanding of the Dharma, the program will be most rewarding for practitioners wishing to make Buddhist values and goals an integral part of their lives. With the benefit of a supportive community, meditation practice and lifestyle become mutually complementary; time on and off the cushion will be transformed into a path to enlightenment.
The training is offered in collaboration with FPMT centers, and provides them with materials, publicity and financial support. Participating students have the option to deepen their practice through week and weekend retreats offered at the hosting centers, with online options.
A two-year preliminary practices and lamrim training is under development; a one year intensive personal meditation training for select IDMT graduates provides training of IDMT teachers and scientific collaboration with researchers from the University of Nîmes.
About the Teacher
Ven. Losang Gendun
Venerable Losang Gendun has dedicated nearly four decades to practicing Buddhism, serving as a fully ordained monk in the Tibetan tradition for the past 19 years. Prior to his ordination, he worked in diverse fields such as palliative care, technology, refugee organizations, and management. His extensive training includes ten years of studying Buddhist philosophy and practice in monasteries across France, India, Nepal, and Myanmar. Additionally, he spent over four years in retreat, immersing himself in Tibetan sutra and tantra, as well as the Burmese Theravada Forest Tradition. For the last 15 years, Ven. Gendun has taught worldwide, sharing his knowledge of Buddhist philosophy, psychology, and meditation. He serves the aspirations of H.H. the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as part of the FPMT.
In addition to providing long-term guidance for Buddhist meditators, Venerable Gendun’s main interest is intercontemplative social engagement. He serves as an interreligious canon at the Peace Cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia, and collaborates with a Mevlavi Sufi dargah in Istanbul. Ven. Gendun is a member of Mind & Life Europe, a multidisciplinary laboratory that brings together researchers and contemplative practitioners.
How to Participate
The training is offered in collaboration with the following FPMT centers so far, and additional centers are encouraged to join as well!
- Maitreya Institute Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Shantideva Center, New York, USA
- Jamyang Buddhist Centre Leeds, UK
- Institut Vajra Yogini, Lavaur, France
- Yeshin Norbu Center, Stockholm, Sweden
Please read more about this training course: https://fpmt.org/education/programs/fpmt-in-depth-meditation-training/
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.
Lama Atisha’s Protection Stupa.
Among the many holy objects Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised to be displayed publicly is Lama Atisha’s Protection Stupa.
“This image must be in the gompa, and can be in the office, and in any rooms where the public come in. If the center has more than one level, there should be one copy on every level,” Rinpoche explained. “Also individually, of course, everyone should have this in their house, room etc. This is so important to protect from mental pollution. It’s very important the mantras are clear, and best if it is framed nicely. You can also wear the image of this stupa as a protection amulet so that wherever you go, you are protected from this pollution.”
Rinpoche further advised, “If you are new to Buddhism and don’t understand this, it doesn’t matter; just keep it in your room for the benefit of other people.”
You can read the article “Lama Atisha’s Protection Stupa to Keep Away Heavy Mental Pollution” from Mandala January-June 2017.
All are welcome to download the Lama Atisha Protection Stupa PDF file from the Foundation Store.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe, Lake Arrowhead, 1975. Photo by Carol Royce-Wilder. Courtesy of the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
The Fifteen Days of Miracles commemorate the special time when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha showed miraculous powers in order to subdue six tirthikas, or non-Buddhist teachers, who lacked faith in him, and to inspire more faith in his followers. It begins on Losar (February 28, 2025) and culminates on Chotrul Duchen (March 14, 2025), the full moon on the lunar calendar.
All fifteen days are merit multiplying days, when the merit of virtuous actions performed on each of these days is multiplied by 100 million, according to the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Below we share a wealth of resources to help ensure this meritorious time is as powerful as possible for you, your community, and the world. There are so many opportunities available, and we do hope you will take advantage of all that you are able to!
Practice Advice | Swift Return Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche | Anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s Passing | Offerings on Losar
Practice Advice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Khenrinpoche Geshe Chonyi, and Kopan sangha offering incense puja on the hill at Kopan Monastery on the third day of Losar, March 5, 2022. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche offered extensive advice for how to make the most of these great holy multiplying days. Of particular note:
- Take the eight Mahayana precepts: Students can receive the lineage of these precepts from a specially produced video of Lama Zopa Rinpoche offering them in May 2020.
- Recite the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
Rinpoche also suggested any of the following, as one is able:
- Perform the Guru Shakyamuni Buddha puja. A beautiful and deeply inspirational puja. The puja text is formatted with hyperlinks for smooth navigation, so that individuals can easily do the core practice and any additional ones as their time allows. (This puja was performed with Khandro Kunga Bhuma on Vesak Day 2022 at Losang Dragpa Centre in Malaysia, with its resident teacher, Geshe Jampa Tsondu, as chant master. You can watch this online, starting at 6:10 in the video.)
- Recite sutras, such as Vajra Cutter Sutra, Sutra of Golden Light, and Sanghata Sutra
- Undertake Nyung Nas
- Perform self-initiation, for those who fulfilled the necessary prerequisites
- Perform Lama Chopa, and at either the beginning of the practice or during the lamrim section, you can meditate on emptiness
- Recite other prayers, such as Chanting the Names of Manjushri, and King of Prayers
- Recite the names of the Thirty-Five Buddhas, with prostrations
- Recite Vajrasattva mantras
- Recite OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ with bodhichitta
- Meditate on emptiness and dependent arising
- Meditate on bodhichitta
- Practice tonglen
- Practice rejoicing in the good deeds of others
- Liberating animals
Of course, any other meritorious activities often advised by Lama Zopa Rinpoche are also good to do on these days. If you choose to recite the Sutra of Golden Light on these or other days, please remember to report your recitations in the Sutra of Golden Light reporting page.
Swift Return Prayers for Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Prayer session for the swift return of Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Bodhgaya, India, December 31, 2023. Photo by Ven. Tenzin Michael.
For any prayers and practices done on these multiplying days, please do take the opportunity to dedicate all of the merit generated for the swift return of our most precious Lama Zopa Rinpoche. In this way, you join forces with students around the world in order to generate as many powerful prayers as possible for Rinpoche’s unmistaken incarnation to swiftly return to us.
There are many events and activities being organized around the world for powerful prayers dedicated to Rinpoche’s swift return during this merit-multiplying period. Here we share a short list of some of the planned programs, for inspiration, rejoicing, and when possible—for joining in!
- During the Fifteen Days of Miracles, many Tibetan monasteries hold a Great Prayer Festival, which originates from Lama Tsongkhapa. Kopan Monastery continues to host the Great Prayer Festival on behalf of the FPMT annually since 1998.
- According to the wish of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Nalanda Monastery in France will be hosting its second annual Gelug Monlam from March 11-15. A Monlam Chenmo Prayer Book is available for centers or students who wish to host their own Prayer Festival or recite some of those prayers during this period are much encouraged.
- Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, is once again organizing a 15-day Losar Prayer Festival dedicated for Rinpoche’s swift return at the Bodhgaya stupa. Everyone is invited to join the livestream prayers on the Root Institute’s YouTube channel, February 28-March 14, 2025, copies of the prayers and links to livestream will be made available closer to the time.
- Tushita Meditation Centre, Dharamsala, has organized for sixteen Dharma teachers to lead and inspire over the 15 Days of Miracles, all dedicated to the swift return of Lama Zopa Rinpoche. All are very welcome to join online.
- Please do also check with your local center to find out about Losar and 15 Days of Miracles activities planned.
Plans continue for commemorating the second anniversary of Rinpoche showing the aspect of passing away on April 13, 2023 including prayers at Kopan Monastery on April 13, and the second annual Lawudo Anniversary Pilgrimage starting on April 26-May 10.
Anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s Passing Away
Lama Yeshe, Yucca Valley, California, US, 1977. Photo courtesy of Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.
Losar is a special time for the FPMT organization as it commemorates the anniversary of FPMT founder Lama Yeshe’s parinirvana at dawn of Losar in 1984. Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised to offer extensive Lama Chöpa with tsog on this special day.
Rinpoche’s advice for a short Tibetan text, translated and with commentary by Rinpoche, Advice for the Anniversary of the Guru’s Passing Away, explains the importance of making offerings on the anniversary of the passing away of one’s guru.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche requested that centers host annual events on Losar day to introduce new students to Lama Yeshe. These events might include students who knew Lama Yeshe sharing their favorite stories, watching videos of Lama teaching, or reading stories about Lama. Of course, students are also encouraged to share stories of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, particularly now that Rinpoche has shown the aspect of passing away, this is a wonderful opportunity to keep these stories of our founders alive.
Additionally, according to the wishes of Rinpoche, on the anniversary of Lama Yeshe’s passing each year (Losar), gold will be offered to the Lama Yeshe statue at Kopan Monastery. This has now been occurring since 2022 and will be ongoing, in order to honor Rinpoche’s request. FPMT affiliates which have statues of Lama Yeshe are also encouraged to offer gold in this way every year, or as you are able.
Offerings on Losar
Monks offering puja at Kopan Monastery.
During the fifteen days of Losar, the FPMT Puja Fund will be sponsoring numerous pujas, including the recitation of the entire Kangyur, Guhyasamaja Root Tantra, 1000 set of offerings to Namgyalma, Medicine Buddha, Druk Chuma, and recitation of the and Names of Manjushri (Jampal Tshen Jo) for the swift return of our precious Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as well as many additional pujas and prayers. The Puja Fund will also be making monetary offerings to all the Sangha, to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus; and offering saffron, a new coat of paint, umbrella, and new robes to holy objects in India and Nepal. Please consider sharing information about this vast offering and extensive prayers that have been specifically set up by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the benefit of the whole organization and all beings.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Geshe Gelek, teacher of the 4th FPMT Masters Program at ILTK, with MP students at the thanks giving puja offered to conclude Ornament.
The FPMT Masters Program in Buddhist Studies of Sutra and Tantra (MP), FPMT’s most advanced education program, is the unique design of Lama Thubten Yeshe. First offered by Geshe Jampa Gyatso at Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa (ILTK), Italy, and developed by FPMT Education Services based on Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s instructions, it is the actualization of Lama Yeshe’s vision for a comprehensive Dharma education inspired by and adapted from the traditional Geshe Studies at the Gelugpa monastic universities.
The FPMT Masters Program’s mission is to provide a full-time, in-depth education for students of the Tibetan Mahayana tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa that emphasizes the integration of academic, practice, behavior, service, and training components. In addition to offering students a profound deepening of their Dharma understanding and practice, the program aims to provide the FPMT with highly qualified Western teachers of Buddhist theory and practice.
Do you really enjoy going deeper into your Dharma studies, beyond what your local center can offer? Do you have a keen curiosity about the extensive studies that shaped your teachers’ insights and gives them the ability to share profound knowledge with such confident, joyful clarity?
An opportunity has opened up to join a group of dedicated, like minded and highly committed Dharma students! Istituto Lama Tzong Khapa, Italy, welcomes new residential and online participants for their next FPMT Masters Program subject, Middle Way—the study of the Madhyamakavatara, Chandrakirti’s Supplement to the Middle Way starting February 3, 2025. Consider deepening your Dharma understanding by studying the great texts of the MP curriculum!
There are enormous benefits: for one’s own practice, for more confidently guiding others in meditation and practice, to teach better, to meditate better, to broaden one’s perspective profoundly, to go beyond superficial notions and presumptions. This is a chance to develop and extend one’s mind in a supportive and a wonderfully inspiring ambiance. Please learn more about this precious opportunity.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Vajrasattva.
With the new year approaching, many of us are reflecting on the past year— rejoicing in the blessings we received, and also assessing mistakes we have made in relation to ourselves and others. Fortunately, we have methods at our disposal to help us purify negative karma we have created. We can utilize these practices daily, and also as a way to enter the new year with a renewed sense of resolve to be the best versions of ourselves, so we can be of most benefit to others.
“Of course by purifying negative karma collected since beginningless rebirth and by collecting extensive merits, this allows you to have realizations on the path to enlightenment and for your mind to change,” Lama Zopa Rinpoche once explained to a student. “There is always hope the mind can change, even to achieve enlightenment, so you can achieve a higher rebirth, ultimate happiness, liberation from samsara and enlightenment.”
Rinpoche taught in April 2023 from Kopan Monastery, “There are so many problems in the world—what should we do? Doing Vajrasattva practice is the answer; doing purification is the answer. You are purifying negative karma, from where all the sufferings came. Purification is the answer to war, famine, disease, and the dangers from fire, water, earth, and air. That is the answer.”
We have a special page dedicated to purification practice. Please explore all that is available to you.
Additional Resources:
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachings on Vajrasattva from 2023: April 2023 Teachings at Kopan Monastery
- Rinpoche’s four teachings on Vajrasattva from 2022: Teachings for 2022 Vajrasattva Retreatants at Kopan Monastery.
- Read more in “Benefits of Vajrasattva Practice,” posted in Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Online Advice Book:
https://www.lamayeshe.com/advice/benefits-vajrasattva-practice
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche and Kopan monks doing Lama Chopa puja on Lama Tsongkhapa Day, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, December 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Ganden Ngamchoe, literally “Ganden Offering of the Twenty-Fifth Day,” or Lama Tsongkhapa Day, is a celebration of the anniversary of Lama Tsongkhapa’s parinirvana. It is celebrated on the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month of the Tibetan calendar. This year, Lama Tsongkhapa Day falls on December 25.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche encouraged us in a variety of practices on Ganden Ngamchoe to celebrate and create merit. We are pleased to share with you a new page we have created that contains all you will need to maximize your practice on this special day.
On this new page you will find links to resources in English, French, Tibetan, Spanish and other languages, and you will find specific advice offered by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in the 2019 celebration of the 600th anniversary of Lama Tsongkhapa’s parinirvana.
We also wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone about the precious advice we received from His Holiness the Dalai Lama to recite Chanting the Names of Noble Manjushri for the swift return of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, which can be added to your Lama Tsongkhapa Day auspicious activities. Please also rejoice that on this special day, Lama Zopa Rinpoche began the tradition of offering lunch and dessert to all Sangha in IMI communities.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Kopan Monastery illuminated during the Heart Sutra Retreat, 2024. Photo by Kira Dane.
Kopan Monastery is hosting a Wheel of Sharp Weapons Retreat from April 17-23, 2025 with retreat leader, Geshe Legtsok. This retreat follows the CPMT meeting taking place at Kopan from April 6-11, Advancing Our Gurus’ Vision of a World Guided by Compassion and Wisdom, and the two year commemoration of the passing of Lama Zopa Rinpoche on April 13.
Geshe Tenzin Legtsok at Sera IMI House, Sera Monastery, India.
Building upon Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s wish, this retreat offers a unique opportunity for practitioners to engage deeply with the teachings of the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, a powerful text is known for its capacity to facilitate deep introspection, inner transformation, and purification, helping practitioners reframe challenges, clear the mind, and progress along the spiritual path. Rinpoche explained that this text teaches us how to “use difficulties to cut the demon of our self-cherishing thought.”
This retreat honors the passing of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and will center around teachings from the Wheel of Sharp Weapons, with meditation sessions woven throughout each day to help participants apply the transformative power of the teachings in their personal practice.
More details on this precious retreat are now available, and registration is open!
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
In 2017, Wisdom Publications published Approaching the Buddhist Path, the first volume of a new collaborative series—The Library of Wisdom and Compassion—between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and American Buddhist teacher, scholar, and author Ven. Thubten Chodron. Since then, nine additional volumes in this series have been published, including a new release, Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path.
We are sharing today that Wisdom Publications is offering 20% off any of the volumes in the series and 30% off when you purchase the entire series before November 27.
You can use the code LWC24 at checkout to save 20% on any volume in the series, including Vajrayana and the Culmination of the Path.
To save 30% when you purchase the entire series, simply add Volume 10 to your cart and use the code LIBRARY at checkout. A 30% discount will be applied to Volume 10, and volumes 1–9 will be added to your cart at the discounted price.
“This work is breathtaking, indispensable for anyone who wants to know what is possible for human beings to do with their lives in this astonishing day and age. Words fail to convey my admiration for the authors and the work, and my confidence in the boon of clarity and delight it grants its thoughtful readers.” — Robert Thurman, Professor Emeritus of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies, Columbia University.
Please read more about this new release and explore the entire Library of Wisdom and Compassion series.
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.
Shakyamuni Buddha statue inside the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, India. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
Lhabab Duchen, one of the four great holy days of the Buddhist calendar, takes place this year on November 22, 2024. We wanted to give students ample time to make plans to take advantage of this merit-multiplying day.
Lhabab Duchen celebrates Guru Shakyamuni Buddha’s return to Earth from the God Realm of the Thirty-Three after teaching Dharma for several months to the gods, including his mother, Mayadevi, who had died a week after Buddha’s birth and been reborn there. As a merit multiplying day, the karmic results of actions done on this day are multiplied 100 million times. This amazing result is taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.
Practices for Merit Multiplying Days
Specific practices recommended by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for these special 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, which was edited from Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Teachings on Thought Transformation video series, recorded in May 2020 at Kopan Monastery.
- Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels
A longer list of recommended practices can be found at “Practices for Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses.” Find advice for merit-multiplying days in French and practice materials for merit-multiplying days in other languages.
The translated Sutra of Great Liberation, which Lama Zopa Rinpoche extolled the immense benefits of engaging in, is another sutra that can recited on this special day.
In accordance with the advice of Ven. Choden Rinpoche, one of Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s teachers, Lama Zopa Rinpoche observed all the auspicious dates in the Buddhist calendar by Indian Standard time, instead of any other local time.
Offerings on Lhabab Duchen
On Lhabab Duchen the FPMT Puja Fund will be sponsoring numerous pujas, such as the recitation of the Prajnaparamita as well as thousands of recitations of Names of Manjushri (Jampal Tshen Jo) for the swift return of our precious Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as well as many additional pujas and prayers. We will also be making monetary offerings to thousands of sangha, to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s gurus; and offering saffron, new coat of paint, umbrella, and new robes to holy objects in India and Nepal. Please consider joining in this vast offering and extensive prayers that have been specifically set up by Lama Zopa Rinpoche for the benefit of the whole organization and all beings.
Please join us in rejoicing in all the meritorious activities happening within the FPMT organization and around the world on this auspicious merit-multiplying day!
Foundation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), is a Tibetan Buddhist organization dedicated to the transmission of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and values worldwide through teaching, meditation and community service.