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Large Thangka display and Guru Bumtsog at Kopan Nunnery, 2023. Photo by Ven. Roger Kunsang.
For the ninth year in a row, a very large thangka of Padmasambhava (Guru Rinpoche) will be displayed and an auspicious 100,000 tsog offering event (Guru Bumtsog) will take place at Khachoe Ghakyil Ling (Kopan Nunnery). This yearly event now takes place in honor of Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s birthday, December 3, to commemorate Rinpoche’s life and fulfill Rinpoche’s wishes. Students of Rinpoche are encouraged to attend this extremely joyous annual event when one is able. The event will start early in the morning of December 3, local time in Nepal, at approximately 8 a.m. and will be presided over by H.E. Jangtse Choeje Kyabje Gosok Rinpoche of Sera Mey Monastery.
The thangka, which is 75 feet (23 meters) high and 87 feet (27 meters) wide, depicts in stitched appliqué the Padmasambhava merit field in the center. Lama Zopa Rinpoche personally designed and oversaw the creation of this huge thangka and also raised the funds for it, thanks to the kindness of two generous donors. The thangkha was also blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The incredible weight of the thangka and raising it safely up large scaffolding to display requires tremendous skill and effort. The puja is an incredible undertaking by Kopan monks and nuns as it takes days to set up and arrange, plus lunch offered to all in attendance requires major preparation.
Guru Bumtsog event with the large Padmasambhava thangka on display, December 16, 2023. Photo courtesy of Kopan Monastery.
Ven. Sarah Thresher shares, “The text used [in the Guru Bumtsog] is the Sadhana of the Lineage of Awareness-Holders from the Northern Treasures cycle revealed by the great treasure-finder Rigdzin Godem. It is the same text used for Guru Bumtsog at His Holiness Dalai Lama’s temple each year and it has been translated by Bia Bispo. For those of you who are not aware, the Northern Treasures are widely practiced in Khumbu Thamichowa and this was the main lineage held by the first Lawudo Lama. So it is a wonderful opportunity to pray for a new unmistaken manifestation of the Lawudo Lama to swiftly return in magnificence!”
Lama Zopa Rinpoche prostrating to the giant Guru Rinpoche thangka during the Guru bumtsok at Khachoe Ghakyil Nunnery, January 2020.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche explained that displaying large thangkas is an auspicious way for anyone in the area to make a Dharma imprint and connection to the deity depicted. “You may think that a statue or thangka is just a statue or thangka,” Rinpoche has said, “but it is the transcendental wisdom of dharmakaya, which understands and directly sees absolute truth, as well as conventional truth.”
Rinpoche also expressed that it is his wish for many FPMT centers to have huge thangkas and once a year to display the thangka and have a festival day for the public based around the holy object. During the festival day, Rinpoche requested for there to be many thousands of offerings in front of the thangka, as well as offering banners.
Students of Lama Zopa Rinpoche are encouraged to rejoice in these events occurring on December 3 as a way to honor Rinpoche’s extremely beneficial and inspiring life, and to dedicate the merit for the swift return of his unmistaken reincarnation. Students are also reminded of the practices advised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. All swift return prayers have been compiled for ease of use.
Please rejoice in this auspicious yearly event which is fulfilling Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Vast Visions for the FPMT organization, and has profound effects on those in Nepal and the entire world. The costs of offering this yearly event are substantial and will be covered this year by two very kind benefactors.
The Puja Fund was established by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to provide resources for continuous pujas dedicated to the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to the success of all the FPMT centers, projects, services, students, benefactors and those serving the organization in any way.