2024 Guru Dragpo and Shitro Pujas

Guru Dragpo Statue, Bylakuppe

Guru Dragpo Drubchoe ~ February 2 – 8

At the end of each lunar year, it is a Tibetan Buddhist tradition to make offerings and perform wrathful pujas, such as Guru Dragpo, a wrathful form of Guru Rinpoche. This clears away negativity and obstacles on both physical and spiritual levels, to prepare for a New Year of opportunity, abundance and good fortune.

The annual Guru Dragpo puja will be held February 2-8, 2024 at Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling, Ayang Rinpoche’s monastery in Bylakuppe, India. Tibetan New Year (Losar), is February 10th this year, the first day of the Wood Dragon Year, according to the Tibetan calendar.

You may participate at home by reciting the Guru Dragpo short mantra:

OM AH HUNG ARTSIK NIRTSIK NAMO BHAGAWATE HUNG HUNG AH HUNG HUNG PHAT//

You may also participate by reciting the Guru Rinpoche mantra (see below) or the Seven-Line Prayer to Guru Rinpoche. Read Rinpoche’s teaching on the Seven Line Prayer , and the prayer in Tibetan and English.

OM AH HUNG BENZRA GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG//

One Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Drubchoe ~ February 18 – 24

and Ceremony to Liberate Dead Beings (Nedren)

The annual Shitro (100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities) Puja to celebrate the beginning of the lunar new year will begin on February 18th and will conclude on the Full Moon Day of the Miracle Month, February 24th.

About the 100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Puja, Ayang Rinpoche says,

“The hundred deities are the attributes and activities of the five Buddhas and their female counterparts. They are the manifestations from the pure nature of our minds, and remain within us in the form of five faculties, five elements and twelve sources of perception, and so on. By relying on the practice of the hundred deities, or even by just hearing the mantra and seeing the mandala and picture of the hundred deities, one may either instantly or gradually realize that the nature of one’s mind is inseparable from the perfect wisdom of the hundred deities.

“During the performance of Jang Chog puja, the hundred deities are invoked and the various types of offerings are made to them. The merits accumulated from these offerings are dedicated to the deceased to help them in their purification and liberation. The prayer itself is also an offering of assistance to those in the intermediate or Bardo state to show them the path to liberation.

“At the end of puja, the paper tablets of the deceased [names] are burnt away. The fire used in the burning symbolizes the wisdom of the hundred deities; the burning of the tablets symbolizes the cutting of the attachment of the deceased to a “self” which is the cause of his or her suffering. Through the prayer and the ritual performed, the consciousness of the deceased are merged and become inseparable from the wisdom of the hundred deities. Thus they are liberated.“

Ayang Rinpoche says the Ceremony to Liberate Dead Beings is the best time to dedicate prayers for the departed beings. Anyone who would like to make offerings and dedicate prayers to family members, friends, loved ones or pets who have passed, please make your offering and send in names of the deceased by Thursday, February 22 at 5 pm (Pacific time) to be included in the prayer list for the Liberation Ceremony.

Ayang Rinpoche reminds us of Milarepa’s saying that anyone sponsoring Dharma activities gains the same merit as the practitioners. If you would like to make a US tax-deductible contribution to the Guru Dragpo or Shitro pujas using PayPal or your credit card, please select the amount of your donation below. The full cost of the Guru Dragpo puja for 280 monks, nuns, khenpos and lamas is $21,650. The cost of one day of meals is $412 and monks offering is $927, not including extras for Rinpoches, Khenpos, Disciplinarian, Chanting Master and Shrine Master.

Your offering of any amount will be appreciated and will be like a drop of water mixed in an ocean of merit. You may include a dedication for your offering in the name of a loved one, including pets. The deadline to submit names of loved ones for the prayer list is Sunday, February 27th at 5 pm PST, but donations to help cover the cost of the puja will bring merit and benefit any time.

You may also send a check in USD made out to Amitabha Foundation to: P.O. Box 2572, Aptos, California 95001. Mail the names for your dedication to info@amitabhafoundation.us.

For donors outside the United States, make offerings to Amitabha Foundation in your own country or click here for information on making offerings directly to the monastery’s account through the Drikung Charitable Society.

2020 Guru Dragpo Puja and Tsok Offering in Bylakuppe, India