completed–SAKA DAWA—SACRED and CELEBRATORY MONTH from May 23, 2020 – Special Day is June 5, full moon day
April 1, 2020 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Special Events
Click on photos to enlarge them.
The Life of the Buddha
SAKA DAWA In Tibetan, Dawa is moon and Saka is a star that appears with the full moon at this time. DURING SAKA DAWA, we commemorate the Birth, the Enlightenment, and the Parinirvana (death) of the Buddha. This is the fourth month of the Tibetan calendar, starting on May 23 in the year 2020. The most holy day is the day of the full moon (15th Tibetan day), which is June 5th. During the entire period, the merit of all good that you do or think is multiplied many times, from 100 to 100,000 times to as many as one hundred million times. On the other hand, your negative deeds and thought are also multiplied. Therefore, this is a perfect time to be focused and dedicated to spiritually positive behavior.
WHAT IN PARTICULAR CAN WE DO? Respectfully clean your shrine and make offerings to the Three Jewels and your shrine space. Practice generosity to all beings. This includes the generosity of forgiving the people and situations that upset and enrage you. Forgive yourself, too, in order to awaken your own Buddha-nature. Practice meditation, especially with compassion and without grasping. Do any of your Buddhist practices with focus and sincerity. Light incense and candles, place water bowls, and dedicate them. Read biographies of the Mahasiddhas and of great Lamas. Save and assist animals and insects. Be kind and patient with all people. You can also make mental offerings of all kinds. Some people take the Eight Mahayana Precepts for a day or more, especially on the full moon day, June 9th. Eat vegetarian or vegan. Spend a couple of days eating like an ordained person–nothing to eat after 1 pm. Recite food offering prayers before you take food, and visualize the offering to the Three Jewels.
Here are the traditional Sakya food offering prayers used by Lama Kunga Rinpoche at Ewam Choden.
CLICK ON THE WORDS AFTER THE ARROW TO OPEN A DOWNLOADABLE PDF FILE —–> FOOD OFFERING PRAYERS
HERE are photos taken during Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche’s last trip to India.
Bodhgaya and Sarnath
(Thangka photo courtesy of http://www.himalayanart.org/items/30696)
PRAYERS FOR ELIMINATING EPIDEMICS
March 24, 2020 by bhockman
Filed under Special Events
PRAYERS FOR ELIMINATING EPIDEMICS
The following information gives you dharma practices to help alleviate the sufferings of people and to subdue the virus epidemic.
(1) “The Prayer that Saved Sakya” transmission from His Holiness Kyabgon Gongma Trichen Rinpoche can be seen here. After receiving this transmission, you are encouraged to recite this prayer.
The Prayer that Saved Sakya from Epidemics
By Mahasiddha Thangthong Gyalpo
Lamas, tutelary deities, buddhas, and bodhisattvas,
All objects of refuge in general, and especially the greatly compassionate
Goddess dressed in leaves (Parṇaśabarī) and her encircling retinue,
Protect all beings from illness, negativity, and misfortune!
May all the ailments which oppress the minds of beings,
The attacks of diseases, negative forces, elemental spirits and the like,
Arising from karma and immediate circumstances
Never occur anywhere in the universe.
May all the painful sicknesses which snatch life away, Separating mind and body in a single instant Like an executioner dragging away his victim, Never occur anywhere in the universe.
May epidemics, temporary or chronic,
The mere sound of whose name engenders fear
Like falling into the jaws of Yama, lord of death,
Never harm any being.
May the eighty-thousand types of harmful obstacles, The three-hundred-sixty sudden dangers from evil spirits, The four-hundred-four types of disease and other ills, Never strike any being.
May all sufferings due to disturbances of the four elements,
Which plunder the well-being of body and mind be pacified;
May we have radiance, strength,
Health and happiness, and a long life free from sickness.
Through the compassion of the Teachers and Three Jewels, The ability and might of the dakinis and Dharma protectors, And the power of the unfailing law of cause and effect, May all our dedications and wishes be fulfilled.
(2) You may recite the following—Parnaśavari is a powerful mantra used for subduing epidemics.
The goddess Parṇaśavarī (or Parṇaśabarī), who is known in Tibetan as Loma Gyönma (lo ma gyon ma) or ‘Leaf-Clad’ is particularly associated with the healing of contagious disease.
Dharani of Goddess Parnaśavari
།ༀ་པི་ཤཱ་ཙི་པརྣ་ཤ་བ་རི་སརྦ་ཛྭ་ར་པྲ་ཤ་ན་ཡེ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།
Oṃ piśaci parnaśavari sarva jvara praśamana svāhā.
The transliteration given to us by Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche is the following:
OM PI SHATSE PARNA SHAWARI SARVA ZOWARA PARSHA MANAYA SVAHA
།
།
CANCELLATION OF ALL EVENTS AT EWAM CHODEN until further notice – posted on 3/13/20
March 13, 2020 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Special Events
Ven. Lama Kunga RInpoche wants you to know that he is sorry we have to do this.
He wants everyone to be as safe and healthy as possible.
On the other hand, we want our precious Lama to be as safe and healthy as possible.
Therefore, Sunday compassion meditation, empowerments, classes, and all other activities at Ewam Choden will not be conducted for the time being.
We’ll send an announcement of any change.
Meanwhile, you may do the (Sunday) Chenrezig meditation at home, saying prayers and mantras for the benefit of all sentient beings.
Send an email if you have any comment or question. info@ewamchoden.org
CANCELLED—EMPOWERMENT OF WHITE SARASWATI (Yangchen) SUNDAY, MARCH 15, 2020 at Ewam Choden
October 9, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Empowerments
| A NOTICE FOR YOU — EMPOWERMENT CANCELLATION
We are very sorry to say that Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche has decided to cancel the upcoming empowerment of White Saraswati that was scheduled for Sunday, March 15, 2020. |
Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche has kindly agreed to bestow the empowerment of White Saraswati on Sunday, March 15, 2020.
Completed—ANNUAL MEMORIAL PRAYERS on Thursday, November 21st, 2019 at 7:00 pm at Ewam Choden
October 7, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Special Events
Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche will conduct the annual Memorial Prayer service at Ewam Choden.
Annually, Ewam Choden holds a gathering to offer prayers for the benefit of all of our friends, relatives and countless sentient beings who have passed on in this year and in previous years.
The event is open to everyone.
You may bring a photo of a special person or animal you wish to include. You may bring tea candles or flowers to set up near the shrine. The gathering begins at 7 p.m. and lasts for one and a half to two hours.
Completed–LOSAR (Tibetan New Year) ORACLE SOUP PARTY on FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020, 7:00 pm, at Ewam Choden.
October 7, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Special Events
Welcome to the Tibetan New Year Celebrations at Ewam Choden !
༄༅།།ལོ་གསར་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ། Losar La Tashi Delek New Year’s Greetings!
The new year is 2147, the year of the Male Iron Rat.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME !
FRIDAY EVENING, 2/21/19 at 7:00 pm at Ewam Choden: ORACLE SOUP POTLUCK PARTY
Everyone is welcome to a LOSAR potluck party at Ewam Choden on Friday, February 21st at 7:00 pm. From the Oracle Soup, you will receive a special dumpling in which your unique fortune for the new year can be found. Join Rinpoche and Sangha friends for a delicious potluck meal.
Completed–MEDITATION WITH LOSAR PRAYERS & WISHES on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2020 at 10:00 am at Ewam Choden
October 7, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Special Events
༄༅།།ལོ་གསར་ལ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་བདེ་ལེགས་ཞུ། Losar La Tashi Delek New Year’s Greetings! The year is 2147, the year of the Male Iron Rat.
Ven. Lama Kunga Thartse Rinpoche will lead the usual Chenrezig compassion meditation and, following tradition, there will be special recitations and prayers for Peace, Health, and Happiness for all Beings.
Come to meditation at 10:00 a.m. as usual, receive Rinpoche’s blessing, greet everyone for New Year, and enjoy sweet rice, Tibetan tea, and some special Losar snacks.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME !
COMPLETED—-EMPOWERMENT OF MIYOWA (ACHALA) on Sunday, November 24, 2019 at Ewam Choden
October 7, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Empowerments
Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche has kindly agreed to bestow the empowerment of Miyowa (Achala) on Sunday, November 24, 2019.
The starting time is 1:00 p.m. Please arrive early to register. The requested donation is $30. Dana (offering) to the Lama is separate. There is no prerequisite and everyone is welcome. A practice sadhana will be provided.
Miyowa, the Immovable One, is a wrathful protector who helps the practitioner remove all types of outer and inner obstacles, including diseases.
—————————————————Completed—-EMPOWERMENT OF TWO-ARMED RED HAYAGRIVA on Sunday, October 27, 2019 at Ewam Choden
October 7, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Empowerments
Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche has kindly agreed to bestow the empowerment and practice teachings of the Two-Armed Red Hayagriva on Sunday, October 27, 2019.
The empowerment begins at 1:00 pm. Please arrive early to register at the door.
There is a requested donation of $30. (Offering to the Lama is separate.)
A practice sadhana will be given, but the empowerment can be taken as a blessing. There is no prerequisite requirement or pre-registration.
This empowerment is open to everyone who has taken refuge and follows the Buddhist path.
The practice of Hayagriva can eliminate external and internal obstacles and problems, particularly those caused by demons and spirits. The empowerment of Hayagriva was originally received by Machik Trupai Gyalmo directly from Hayagriva. She transmitted it to Tipu Sang Nga Dongpo, who transmitted to Rechungpa. Rechungpa gave it to Milarepa who transmitted it to Gampopa and then the lineage was held by the Drigung Kagyu. Eventually it went through the Tsarpa Tradition, and then to the Sakya. From this, to Gelugpa, and all of the Tibetan Buddhist schools.
Completed–EMPOWERMENT OF KURUKULLE on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2020 at Ewam Choden
October 7, 2019 by bhockman
Filed under Completed Empowerments
Ven. Lama Kunga Rinpoche will kindly bestow the Empowerment of Kurukulle on Sunday, FEBRUARY 16, 2020.
The empowerment begins at 1:00 pm and has a requested donation of $30. (Offering to the Lama is separate.)
A practice sadhana will be given, but the empowerment may be taken as a blessing.
There is no requirement or pre-registration. Everyone is welcome. Please arrive early to register at the door.
Kurukulle (Tibetan: rig che ma. English: The One of the Action Family) is magnetizing power. Her practice is one of the 13 Golden Dharmas of the Sakyapa. She may be called upon for her powers of enchantment to subdue those evil spirits, demon and humans working against the welfare of humanity and spiritual evolution. Also, her practice may be helpful for improving health, wealth, and spiritual energy. She brings a power of peacefulness, joy, and wisdom.
