H.E. Ayang Rinpoche Performing the Neydren Ceremony to Liberate Dead Beings in 2017

Ayang Rinpoche’s monastery in Bylakuppe, South India will be holding its annual Shitro (100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities) Puja to celebrate the beginning of the lunar new year. The puja will begin on March 8 and will conclude on the Great Wheel day, Chotrul Duchen, on March 14th. On that day, they will also hold the Ceremony to Liberate Dead Beings.

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 the 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, paper tablets of the deceased’s names are burnt away. The fire used in the burning symbolizes the wisdom of the hundred deities; the burning of the names symbolizes the cutting of the attachment of the deceased to a “self”, which is the cause of their suffering. Through the prayer and the ritual performed, the consciousnesses of the deceased are merged and become inseparable from the wisdom of the hundred deities, and thus are liberated.

Ayang Rinpoche has said that the Ceremony to Liberate Dead Beings is the best time to dedicate prayers for departed beings. Anyone who would like to make offerings and dedicate prayers to family members, friends, loved ones, pets or anyone who has passed, please make your offering and send in names of the deceased by Wednesday, March 12th at noon (Pacific time) to be included in the prayer list for the Liberation Ceremony.

Those interested, may offer at one of the suggested levels below, or $350 for a day’s meals for all the monks, or $1,050 per day for an offering to the monks and lamas, or according to your circumstances for a shrine offering or tea sponsorship.

Shitro Shrine

Guru Dragpo Drubchoe ~ February 21 – 27

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 21-27, 2025 at Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling, Ayang Rinpoche’s monastery in Bylakuppe, India. Tibetan New Year (Losar), is February 28th this year, the first day of the Wood Snake 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//

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.

For more pictures of recent pujas in the new temple at Rinpoche’s monastery, please visit Facebook.

2020 Guru Dragpo Puja and Tsok Offering in Bylakuppe, India

The annual Dzambala offering Puja at Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling Monastery in Bylakuppe is being held  from September 24 to 28, 2024. Dzambhala means “precious golden deity who gathers or distributes spirituality or Dharma with material stability or accomplishment to our circumstances.” Dzambhala aids us through removing all catastrophes and hurdles, as well as boosting all good fortune and contentment.

Dzambhala is an emanation of Buddha Ratnasambhava, whose enlightened activity is increasing and whose essence is generosity. He is portrayed riding a snow lion and holding victory banner and a jewel-spitting mongoose. Some view the mongoose as triumphant over snakes or nagas, the keepers of wealth.

The offering puja is also referred to as a Yangdrup, meaning a ritual to generate “Yang”, the powerful magnetizing properties associated with fortune and luck. This in turn creates all opportunities to ensure accomplishment in spiritual practice, as well as an abundance of wealth, prosperity, success, good fortune, luck, long life and wisdom in a person’s personal, business and family life.

People who wish to dedicate prayers for their loved ones, including pets, living or passed, may donate towards tormas, butter lamps, tsog, tea, meals, offerings for monks and nuns, or other puja expenses, by sending in their contributions through Amitabha Foundation in their own country, directly to the monastery’s account, or by donating online here. Donations are tax-deductible in the US.

Long Life Prayer Ceremony Schedule

for His Eminence Chöje Ayang Rinpoche,

the Illuminator of the Glorious Drikung Kagyu Teachings, 2024

September 16: Arrival at Drikung Kagyu Thubten in Mysore, South India of His Eminence Kyabje Gar-Namrol Rinpoche and ten monks along with their entourage, from Ladakh Aryan region.

September 17: Torma making and offerings preparation

September 18-19 Ritual of Bhagavati Cintamanicakra Tara (Wish-fulfilling Wheel Tara)

September 20: Lamp Illuminating the Clear Arrangement of Practices” ritual, focusing on Chakrasamvara, Mahakala and other deities

Ways to support the Long Life Ceremony for H.E. Chöje Ayang Rinpoche

Feast Offerings (Tsok)

Tea offerings for lamas and monks

Meals for lamas and monks

You may dedicate your offering to loved ones, living or deceased. Please send offerings and names by 5:00 PM (Pacific Time) on September 16th to be included on the prayer list.

Make US-tax-deductible donations through the Amitabha Foundation USA by check (payable to Amitabha Foundation, mailed to P.O. Box 2572, Aptos, CA 95001), or online. Donations may also be made directly to Drikung Charitable Society or through the Amitabha Foundation branch in your own country.

For information in Tibetan and Chinese, please visit Facebook.