On New Year's Eve ( 12/31), Lama Tsering will conduct the lamp offering ceremony at 11pm, followed by Red Tara practice. Uniting the Sangha to practice and make aspirations has the power to profoundly benefit all beings.
This ceremony is open to all, even beginning students and their families.
If you cannot take part, it is possible to participate in this celebration by making a butter lamp offering online.
The importance of offering butter lamps
“In the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition, we accumulate merit to create positive temporary circumstances, such as health, wealth and longevity and, more deeply, to reveal our wisdom nature. Of all the methods for accumulating merit for generosity (one of the six perfections), the offering of a lamp is one of the best.
By offering butter lamps, we intend that the light disperse the darkness of our ignorance and give way to clarity and wisdom. We think of the beings who suffer, and we wish their torments to be soothed. We aspire that all beings may have mental clarity to discover the causes of lasting happiness in the virtuous actions of body, speech and mind. (...)
The practice of the six perfections, which we bring to any offering, can make possible an ocean of enlightened activities”.
Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche