100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Mandala 2021

100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities (Shitro) Puja 2021 100 Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Shrine 2021

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 10 and will conclude on the Great Wheel Full Moon day, March 18th. 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 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, pets or anyone who has passed, please make your offering and send in names of the deceased by Thursday, March 16th 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 as much as you can for a shrine offering or tea sponsorship.

You may also send your donation directly to the monastery’s bank account using the information here.

Click here to see a list of all the annual pujas at Ayang Rinpoche’s monastery, with the lunar calendar dates. The Western calendar dates will be posted as soon as they are announced.

Shitro Puja 2021

Shitro Mandala 2021

Shitro Main Deity Tormas 2021

Shitro Shrine 2021

Peaceful and Wrathful Deities Tormas 2021

Shitro Mandala 2021

Guru Dragpo Puja and Gutor Ceremony

February 23 – March 1, 2022

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 at Ayang Rinpoche’s monastery in Bylakuppe, India, begins February 23 and continues through March 1, 2022. Tibetan New Year (Losar), is March 3rd this year, the first day of the Water Tiger 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//

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 puja using PayPal or your credit card, please select the amount of your donation below. The full cost of the 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.

Here are some suggested donation amounts, but 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, here is the link to make offerings directly to the monastery’s account through the Drikung Charitable Society.

2020 Guru Dragpo Puja and Tsok Offering in Bylakuppe, India

Vajrayogini Mandala

(Ceiling of Opak Kyilkhor Chöling, Amitabha Mandala Retreat Center, Nepal)

A 5-day Drupchö (extensive prayer ceremony) for Vajrayogini, is being held August 22-26, 2021 at Ayang Rinpoche’s monastery in Bylakuppe.

Ayang Rinpoche said about Vajrayogini: “Among all the wisdom dakinis, Vajrayogini is the highest. She represents the True Nature of Mind, Prajnaparamita, the mother of all the Buddhas of the three times and ten directions.” (Sydney, March 2018)

Vajrayogini is one of the main deities for self-visualization in Ngöndro (preliminary practices), Phowa and Guru Yoga meditation practiced by many lineages in Vajrayana Buddhism.  Achi Chökyi Drolma,  the main guardian deity of the Drikung Kagyu lineage, is an emanation of Vajrayogini.

Those who would like to make an auspicious connection with the Vajrayogini Drupchö, or make an offering in the name of a loved one, may send their donations to the Drikung Charitable Society account. For a tax deductible donation in the U.S., please send your check to the Amitabha Foundation, P.O. Box 2572, Aptos, California 95001, or donate online below. You may send names for dedication to info@amitabhafoundation.us until August 24 at 5 PM Pacific time. Donations are welcome at anytime.