Since mid April Markus from Germany stayed here, making prostrations for his Ngondro practice and It was a welcome change for him to celebrate this year Saga Dawa Duchen, Buddha Shakyamuni’s Enlightenment and his Parinirvana in our Gompa. Here is his report :

For few years now there is a contact with a leprosy nearby, to whom our society already had offered food and clothes to them. This year it was the wish to invite them to the Gompa, to celebrate together this extraordinary day.

During the Padmasambhava Puja there were about 150 people from the Lepers together with people from other Buddhist societies, 3 Europeans and of course our Monks and Lamas and Tulku Ugen to pray together.

During the Puja, our guests could offer butterlamps and our Amala presented with blessings the Tsog-Offering.

At the end we all got offered a delicious meal to eat and enjoy together.
It was really a very emotional day for us and all the people who joined this event. It was great to look into happy, thankful and smiling faces.

A good reminder on how important it is to pay respect to all the sick people, who are suffering, to give them our love and compassion, to treat them right and show our sympathy.

May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and be free from suffering.

According to Tibetan Calendar, the fourth month is considered quite special for practicing and performing virtuous actions. This year, Lord Buddha Shakyamuni's birth, Enlightenment and Paranirvana fall on 27th for the Saga Dawa and 28th May for the Vesak day, this is a time when the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied by 10 millions times.

Besides being a festival for rejoicing and making offerings to the three jewels, it is also an occasion for reflecting on our personal spiritual development. On this day, many Buddhists around the world release captive animals such as birds and fishes. This act of kindness recalls the Buddha Teaching of Universal Compassion.

Others take part in the ceremonial bathing of the statue of baby Prince Siddharta, as an act of purification of one unwholesome actions.

Meanwhile, in Khordong Gompa in Tibet this the time for the greatest annual event, starting on the 10th day of the month with the gathering of all the lamas and the beginning of several days pujah together with Cham dances.

This year for the first time our lamas have taken English class with a fully train English teacher from England thanks to Lindsay Young who volunteered to teach them during her stay here at the gompa.

The teachings could take place every morning over a period of one month till the end of March. Children were absolutely delighted from that experience. Lindsay got very good at making them talk in English with each other and surprisingly we could catch some of them practicing their English while playing together or taking shower.

Unfortunately Lindsay had to fly back to the U.K. On her last day we had a very nice exchange of songs and the lamas got given reading books and new school bags. All here are looking forward for her return next year; meanwhile it is very much our wish to receive somebody else who is wishing to teach them English on a regular basis over a certain period of time. If such experience is of your interest please let us know, do drop us an email at thechhimedrigdzinsociety@yahoo.com

Time flies and we already missed the chance to wish you all a very happy Losar on time. Anyway the tiger is already jumping around happily and we really wish he will be good to each and every one of you.

This year’s appeal for the 19^th butterlamp retreat got a very positive and generous feedback. Quite a few French speaking people made their way here, together with some Germans and a British, making a very harmonious and dedicated group for the retreat. All of you who supported this retreat were very much here with us, while your names were read aloud in the gompa during a tsog break. It was our way to say thank you and to inform everybody how many people were actually part of it.

The pujas started on January 24^th with 3600 lamps on both tables of offering. Our 14 lamas together with 12 westerners were lead by Tulku Ugen  in this beautiful and deep process through our everyday ceremonies.

Having been requested, Tulku Ugen accepted to give the wang of Padmasambhava on the last full moon day of the Tibetan year. On that occasion we had a very joyful day together. We then left on pilgrimage to Tashiding for two days. There we could practice in the Guru Lakhang while a temporary lamp house had been prepared. On Dakini day Tulku Ugen got requested to give the lung of the Machig Labdron guru yoga. From this moment the sound of the Machig Mala song was with us till the end of the retreat.

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On February 10^th we left to Kachopelri wishful filing lake with the very clear intention to go there pray and make offerings in the name of each member of the sangha, with the very special request to see our Rinpoche back among us soon. The weather was wonderful with a very clear blue sky. We all could practice together in front of the lake. During lunch time Tulku Ugen tied the knots between many many prayer flags, making the wish that all these knots tied together could symbolize the union and harmony of our sangha. Even though there was only a few of us, we were all very aware that each and everyone represented the whole of us as a sangha in this very strong wish and request. Then the flags got hung high in the sky and we completed the lamp offering prayer, before to head back to Tashiding for our last evening.

On February 11^th most of us went back to gompa to close the retreat with the last lamps offering. We all arrived exhausted yet so happy and aware to have participated at something very profound. Meanwhile the lamas had prepared the torma for the ritual of Vajrakilaya to be performed on the Gutor’s day. We then decorated the gompa and got ready for the losar which we celebrated on February 14th with great joy while inaugurating the new open air classrooms in presence of Amala. This got followed by much dances and songs and a very delicious late lunch. For the first time in Khordong Byangter Gompa we were more than 40 people to celebrate Losar together as some of the guardians of our monks came to join us together with more westerners. This gave to the day a great feeling of auspiciousness.

Sarwa Mangalam!