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Lama Zopa Rinpoche with ordained Sangha attending the Vajrayogini retreat, Institut Vajra Yogini, France, May 2019. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Join us in celebrating Chokhor Duchen and FPMT’s eighteenth annual International Sangha Day on July 24, 2020. Chokhor Duchen, “Turning of the Wheel of Dharma,” commemorates the anniversary of Shakyamuni Buddha’s first teaching. The power of any meritorious actions performed on Chokhor Duchen is multiplied by 100 million as taught in the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic. The International Mahayana Institute (IMI), FPMT’s community of monks and nuns, is organizing a twenty-four hour Heart Sutrathon for July 24. IMI director Ven. Losang Tendar explains about this special opportunity.
This is a way for all FPMT students, centers, projects, services, and study groups to engage together in a worldwide Dharma activity. The Heart Sutrathon will be livestreamed on the Chenrezig Institute YouTube channel. We hope all of you will be able to watch and participate.
Each hour a monk or nun will recite the Heart Sutra while another monk or nun serves as the facilitator. Viewers can participate by simultaneously reciting the Heart Sutra. During some of the twenty-four hour period there will be recitations in Spanish, French, and Italian, as well as English. The sutra is short, will be easy to follow, and can be downloaded from the FPMT website.
IMI will count the number of recitations and offer the practice to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
International Sangha Day is intended to provide an opportunity for lay and monastic communities to come together and recognize our interdependence in the practice of Dharma. Therefore, there will be an opportunity for questions and answers with viewers near the end of each hour of recitations. Recitation leaders have been asked to share something inspirational about their experience of ordination or their local Dharma center, monastery, or nunnery after the recitations.
Download the Heart Sutra from the FPMT website:
https://fpmt.org/education/prayers-and-practice-materials/sutras/
Suggestions for merit multiplying days such as Chokhor Duchen can be found on the page Practice on Merit Multiplying Days and Eclipses:
https://fpmt.org/teachers/zopa/advice/practice-on-the-four-great-holy-days/
Suggestions for celebrating International Sangha Day include reciting the Sutra for Remembering the Three Jewels; showing respect for and appreciation of monastics; generating a deeper awareness of the Sangha Rare Sublime One; and making a donation to the Lama Yeshe Sangha Fund.
To learn more about the International Mahayana Institute visit the website:
http://imisangha.org
FPMT.org and Mandala Publications brings you news of Lama Zopa Rinpoche and of activities, teachings, and events from over 160 FPMT centers, projects, and services around the globe. If you like what you read, consider becoming a Friend of FPMT, which supports our work.