2024 Sacred Transition: Dying, Death and the Bardo

This is a paid event and will be available both Online and In-Person.
This page is for Online registration only. For In-person registration, you may reserve a seat by adding your registration below, come in at the location during the event date and make an offering/donation in any amount.

English (USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc)
South Africa and India
Bhutanese (English & Znongkha)
中文 (Traditional Chinese)
中文 (Simplified Chinese)
Монгол
Deutsche (Germany, Switzerland, Austria)
Español (Puerto Rico, Spain and South America)
Italiano (Italy)
Magyar (Hungary)
Portuguese (Brasil & Portugal)
Romanian
Francais
Slovenian
Russian
Tiếng Việt

PRACTICAL TEACHING INCLUDES
-Understand the Bardos from the Kalachakra Perspective
-What to do when you or a loved one dies
-How to spot opportunities for liberation in the Bardo of dying

Who is this course for?
Open to anyone who wants to understand how to prepare for your own or someone else’s death.

 What will you learn?
You will learn an overview of the 6 bardos, focusing on how the bardos dying and the the bardo before rebirth.

How will this benefit you?
Death is one of the best opportunities. This series of teachings helps you understand how to prepare best for it.

Course Curriculum
In this practical teaching, Khentrul Rinpoche will discuss the step by step instructions for what to do for our loved ones at the time of death, through their dying process and the subsequent prayers and practice we can do once our loved one has passed away. We do not have to be an incredible yogi to benefit from these teachings. Everyone can create conditions in this life, for their loved ones to have a peaceful death and a beneficial future rebirth.

Schedule by Timezone

QUESTIONS?
Email [email protected]

Vajra Vega Wheel of Protection: Fierce Kalachakra Empowerment & Retreat with Khentrul Rinpoche and Robert A.F. Thurman

This event is available both In-person and Online.
This page is for Online registration only. If you wish to register for the In-person event, please click here.

English (USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, etc)
South Africa and India
Bhutanese (English & Znongkha)
中文 (Traditional Chinese)
中文 (Simplified Chinese)
Монгол
Deutsch (Germany, Switzerland, Austria)
Español (Puerto Rico, Spain and South America)
Italiano (Italy)
Magyar (Hungary)
Portuguese (Brasil & Portugal)
Slovenščina
Română
Francais
Russian
Tiếng Việt

Learn the Most Powerful Spiritual Protection Practice Done before the Kalachakra Empowerment

Vajra Vega, the wrathful form of Shri Kalachakra and the King of the Wrathful Deities, is the protector aspect in Kalachakra. There are many benefits to establishing a connection with Vajra Vega. The essence of Vajravega is that he represents the non-conceptual primordial wisdom that arises when the winds enter the central channel. This is the method by which the root ignorance of conceptuality is cut. It is also the basis or container where the precious six vajra yogas arise. When we establish a wheel of protection with Vajra Vega, we are symbolically stopping the arising of dualistic appearances and abiding within the non-conceptual wisdom. Vajra Vega is considered the King of Spiritual Protection, and his 60 retinues are incredibly powerful.

Khentrul Rinpoche has never before agreed to bestow this practice on students before keeping it to a very limited number. This powerful practice forms a vajra-protective sphere containing Vajra Vega and 60 protectors. It is performed at the start of a Kalachakra empowerment ceremony to secure the space. It is also done in some of the extensive Kalachakra Sadhanas. Robert Thurman requested the VajraVega Jenang and other special practices on the mind Mandala. For this reason, Yeshe Wangmo requested Rinpoche grant this wheel of protection practice that is so special and rare. Khentrul Rinpoche agreed to give this specific practice especially due to Robert Thurman’s initial request for Vajra Vega.

Who is Vajra Vega?

For those joining in person, there will be several in-person-only activities. Retreatants will be a part of creating the empowerment mandala and tormas of the retinues as well as a King of Kalachakra Fire Puja, among other exclusive offerings.

It is very important and special for us to connect with this aspect of Kalachakra in our lifetime to benefit from the connection in the Bardo state after death. While we must do our best to create karmic propensities to realize our own sacred truth during this life, if we do not then in the Bardo state after death, we may be able to recognise Vajra Vega in the sea of wrathful Deities and be liberated. For this reason, we also have several smaller practices that can help increase our connection and familiarity with Vajra Vega.

Mudra and ritual instruction classes will be led by Yeshe Wangmo.

Included in the Retreat both Online and In-Person
– Vajra Vega Jenang (wrathful Kalachakra) Blessing Empowerment
– Oral Transmission and practice text of Praises of Vajra Vega
– Oral Transmission and practice text of Short Practice of Vajra Vega
– Oral Transmission and practice text of Vajra Vega’s Wheel of Protection Sadhana
– Khentrul Rinpoche will give a short Commentary on the Wheel of Protection Sadhana
– Teaching by Robert Thurman
– Teaching on Dharma Protectors and the importance of their rituals
– Lesson in how to make the torma and tea offering to Dharma Protectors
– Specific Mudras related to Vajra Vega and the Wheel of Protection
  and the 12 Kalachakra Offerings according to Jonang
– Instruction on how to perform the ritual with the mudras are lead by Yeshe Wangmo

Included In-person Retreat Only
– The King of Kalachakra Jinsek Fire Puja
– Torma Making Class – Vajra Vega’s Retinue and Vajra Vega’s Torma
– Sand Mandala Construction

WHO CAN COME
In-Person students must have already taken the Kalachakra Empowerment (wang) or plan to take it in the future. The participant must already believe that the Kalachakra tantra is an important practice they wish to continue with in this life. Khentrul Rinpoche is being generous in offering the in-person attendees the opportunity to attend this retreat even just with the intention to take it in the future, rather than insisting on prior initiation as is customary

Online participants must have already taken the Kalachakra Wang before. 

OPTIONAL SUPPLIES TO BRING
-Damaru
-Bell and Dorje
-Serkyem (Golden Tea Offering Set)

HYBRID FORMAT
This workshop will be online and in person. Oral transmissions and empowerment must be received in real-time (i.e. not via video replay). Recordings will be added to learn.dzokden.org after the retreat. Everyone enrolled in person or online will be able to access the course. 

ABOUT KHENTRUL RINPOCHE
Shar Khentrul Jamphel Lodrö Rinpoché spent the first 20 years of his life herding yak and chanting mantras on the plateaus of Tibet. Inspired by the bodhisattvas, he left his family to study in various monasteries under the guidance of over twenty-five masters in all the Tibetan Buddhist traditions. Due to his non-sectarian approach, he earned himself the title of Rimé (unbiased) Master and was identified as the reincarnation of the famous Kalachakra Master Ngawang Chözin Gyatso. While at the core of his teachings is the recognition that there is great value in the diversity of all spiritual traditions found in this world, he focuses on the Jonang-Shambhala tradition. Thought to be extinct by many Western scholars, he found it held the most advanced teachings of Kalachakra (wheel of time), containing profound methods to harmonize our external environment with the inner world of body and mind.

Since 2014, he has traveled to more than thirty countries, guiding students to realize their own sacred truth of limitless potential through a clear, systematic step-by-step presentation of the Kalachakra Path to enlightenment. By teaching people how to cultivate a flexible mind and remove bias, Khentrul Rinpoché aspires to create compassion-based communities, transforming this world into a golden age of global peace and harmony.

Schedule by Timezone

Financial aid for online attendance
Email [email protected] to request further financial aid. You must clearly state your financial reasons for needing the scholarship and your qualifications, as this is a supplementary practice as well as very unusual if not unheard of to be offered. 

QUESTIONS?
Please email [email protected]

Grand Sur Puja for Ullambana

This is a FREE event and available both In-person and Online.

Experience the profound spiritual journey of grand Sur Puja, a sacred practice of immense significance. Khentrul Rinpoche will practice two powerful Sur Pujas: one written by Patrul Rinpoche, known as Patrul Sur Ginma, and another written by Bamda Gelek Gyatso and Lama Luthak. So, both Nyingmapa’s and Jonangpa ‘s Sur will be practiced.

Sur Puja is a universal practice that is open to all and without restrictions. It offers immense benefits to all sentient beings, with a special focus on those who have passed away and those in the bardo. This practice allows us to make offerings to a multitude of beings, enlightened or otherwise, to benefit them.

The Sur Puja involves the burning of offerings in fire, symbolizing one of the female Buddhas, Gökarmo (Pāṇḍarāvasinī), the consort of Amitabha. This nurturing mother nature bestows her blessings on these beings through the fire.

The Sur Puja is particularly beneficial for those who have passed away, be they relatives, pets, or any being with whom you share a special connection. It is also an effective practice for repaying karmic debts accumulated over countless lifetimes. For those who want to be connected to this, we can write the name of a special person, animal, or pet on the 6-realm mantra wheel and offer it for you. 

Through the Sur Puja, we provide physical offerings and impart the Dharma, guiding these beings towards liberation. This practice can help beings in lower realms attain higher rebirths, ultimately leading them towards enlightenment. Join us in this significant practice and contribute to the well-being of all sentient beings.

Ullambana

The Ullambana Festival, or the Filial Piety Festival, is a significant event in Chinese Buddhism. It provides a unique opportunity for individuals to express their appreciation toward their parents.

1. Understanding the Ullambana Festival: “Ullambana” is derived from Sanskrit, signifying “rescue from being inverted.” The phrase “inverted” symbolizes the torment in hell. Individuals with negative karma may be reincarnated in hell and undergo severe punishment after death. Consequently, the Ullambana Festival embodies the concept of liberating those who are enduring agony in hell. It also allows everyone to honor their filial responsibilities towards their parents and forefathers.
2. The Genesis of the Ullambana Festival The Ullambana tradition traces its roots back to the tale of Maudgalyayana (also known as Moggalana in Pali), one of Buddha’s esteemed disciples, who rescued his mother from the realm of famished spirits. Upon achieving Arahantship, Moggallana immediately remembered his late mother. Using his divine vision to explore all domains, he discovered that his mother had been reborn in the realm of famished spirits, suffering from extreme hunger and thirst due to her disproportionately large abdomen and minuscule neck.

Moved by his mother’s plight, Moggallana collected food in his alms bowl and attempted to feed his mother using his supernatural abilities. However, her selfishness and greed caused the food to transform into flaming coals before she could consume it. Distressed by his inability to alleviate his mother’s suffering despite his extraordinary powers, Moggallana sought Buddha’s guidance.

Buddha advised him to wait until the seventh lunar month and make substantial offerings to the monks on Pavarana day, marking the conclusion of the 3-month Rain Retreat. This would result in enormous blessings due to the monks’ rigorous spiritual practices during these three months. Transferring these blessings to his mother would liberate her from the realm of famished spirits and facilitate her rebirth in a divine realm.

Following Buddha’s counsel, Moggallana saved his mother and numerous famished spirits, enabling their reincarnation in heavenly realms. This inspiring narrative led to the annual celebration of the Ullambana Festival in the seventh lunar month, now referred to as the Ullambana month. This festival allows people to express gratitude towards their parents, grandparents, and ancestors.

Known as the month of absolution for the deceased, individuals respectfully present offerings to the Three Jewels during this time, transferring their merits to their ancestors. This act may liberate their ancestors from the realms of famished spirits and hell.

Khentrul Rinpoche will practice Sur and recite the prayer for rebirth in Shambhala to dedicate all living beings to the second golden age. Meanwhile, dedications will be arranged during pujas in monasteries in Tibetan areas.

Schedule by Timezone

East Coast USA, Toronto – SUNDAY August 18, 2024 / 2:00 PM
Melbourne, Australia – MONDAY August 19, 2024 / 4:00 AM
Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mongolia, Singapore and Taiwan – MONDAY August 19, 2024 / 2:00 AM
Central Europe and South Africa – SUNDAY August 18, 2024 / 8:00 PM
São Paulo, Brazil – SUNDAY August 18, 2024 / 3:00 PM
West Coast USA – SUNDAY August 18, 2024 / 11:00 AM

Zoom Information

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84900820961?pwd=9zbXn90ugKYqM3iAislm79moMvEqTg.A9ShOdj1lhMiOABp
Webinar ID: 849 0082 0961         Passcode: 108108

QUESTIONS?
Please email [email protected]