Losar 2011

Losar 2011 – Tibetan New Year 2138
Year of the Yin Metal Rabbit
March 5, 2011

Tashi Delek!

Traditional Losar and First Month (Tibetan Calendar) Events
Namdroling Palyul Monastery, South India

Last 5 days of the 12th Month: Vajrakilaya Gutor
The Vajrakilaya Gutor is a practice for pacifying negativities and eliminating obstacles of the current year and preparing positive conditions for the new year.

Visit the official Namdroling Monastery site at: http://www.namdroling.org/

First 15 days of the 1st Month
Whatever good deeds (or negative actions) one performs or merits one accumulates during this fortnight, those actions are thought to be multiplied by 100,000.

Tenth Day of First Month: Guru Rinpoche Lama Dance
Including all Eight Manifestations of Guru Rinpoche; also 10 Story Tall Guru Rinpoche Thangka Unfurled.

Seventh Day of First Month to Fifteenth Day
Drübchen Purification (24 hr/day practice for 7 days)

Fifteenth Day of First Month
Various Lama Dances of all the meditational Buddhas; Amitayuus or Shakyamuni Buddha Thankga Unfurled; Empowerment (wang) granted in afternoonafter dances.

Seventeenth or Eighteenth Day of First Month: Traditional One-Month Retreat*
(Ngondro, Tsa Lung, and Dzogchen Teachings)

*The same retreat is offered in the United States every year from July 10 to August 10 at Palyul Ling, NY. Please visit http://retreat.palyul.org for information.

March 6, 2011
Chotrul Duchen:
10 Million Merits Practice Day

Down through the centuries, the first 15 days of the New Year (Losar) have gained special significance: they are known as “the 15 days of awakening energy and ability to perform auspicious accomplishments.”

Whatever good deeds one performs or merits one accumulates during this fortnight, those actions are thought to be multiplied by 100,000; the last day falling on the full moon.