Saga Dawa

Every year during Saga Dawa, Odsal Ling sets aside a few moments of the day for the sangha to do practice.

This year, we will have personal practice sessions from May 19 to June 3 and Powa practice sessions on May 21 and 27 and June 3.

See more information and how to participate in the boxes located just after question number 10.

The Full Moon of Saga Dawa is considered the holiest day in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar, when the enlightenment and parinirvana of Shakiamuni Buddha is commemorated. This year, Saga Dawa Düchen will be on June 4.

On this day, Lama Tsering invites everyone to participate in a big Vajrasattva accumulation.

The goal is to reach together 100,000 accumulations in a single day!

Attend one or more sessions of the practice and send in your numbers using the form that will be available on this page soon.

 

Time UTC-3

4am | Vajrasattva accumulation

6:30am | Morning Puja

8am | Concise Red Tara practice (only Portuguese)

9am | Vajrasattva accumulation

10am | Teaching with Lama Tsering

1pm | Life Saving Practice

2pm | Vajrasattva accumulation

4pm | Night Puja

5:30pm | Amitabha Practice

7pm | Vajrasattva Accumulation

8pm | Shower of Blessings Tsog

(links to the practices will be available soon)

 

Join us!!

Saga Dawa is a sacred period for Tibetan Buddhism, when the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana (passage into nirvana) of Shakiamuni Buddha are celebrated. It is also called the "month of merit," a period dedicated to generating merit through virtuous actions and positive thoughts.

It is said that during Saga Dawa virtuous actions are accumulated exponentially. So practitioners make an extra effort to accumulate merit during this period, such as practicing generosity, virtue, and compassion, and then devote it for the benefit of all beings.

Saga Dawa takes place in the 4th lunar month of the Tibetan calendar. The sacred period begins at the new moon of that month, reaches its peak after 15 days, at the full moon, and extends until the next new moon.

All the days of Saga Dawa are sacred, but some are even more sacred, those commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of Shakiamuni Buddha.

At the peak of this period, the day of the full moon, occurs Saga Dawa Düchen, which is considered the most important holy day of the year for Tibetan Buddhism. It commemorates parinirvana and the enlightenment of Shakiamuni Buddha.

Saga Dawa 2023:

May 19 - Beginning of the period

May 27 - Tampei Düchen (birth of Buddha Shakiamuni)

June 04 - Saga Dawa Düchen (enlightenment and parinirvana of Buddha Shakyamuni)

June 18 - End of the period

Düchen means "great occasion"

It means that all positive or negative actions of speech, body and mind are accumulated exponentially. During Saga Dawa, it is said that every action, positive or negative, is multiplied 100 million times. Therefore, it is important to engage in virtuous actions.

Body

Kill

Taking what was not given

Sexual misconduct

 

Speaking

Lying

Sowing discord

Rude talk

Useless chatter

 

Mind

Greed

Wishing ill for others

Wrong views

 

More details about each of these actions can be found in the book: "The Words of My Perfect Teacher" by Patrul Rinpoche

"What makes an action good or bad?

It is not what it appears to be, nor whether it is big or small,

but the motivation, good or bad behind it."

Excerpt taken from the book, "The words of my perfect teacher"

 

Therefore any act done with a motivation to benefit beings becomes a positive action.

During Saga Dawa it is also common for practitioners to engage in activities cultivating the 6 Paramitas which are:

Generosity

Discipline

Patience

Diligence

Concentration

Wisdom

More details on each of these actions can be found in the book: "The Words of My Perfect Teacher", by Patrul Rinpoche.

A vow is a commitment. There are very elaborate ceremonies for taking a vow, but it can also be done simply. It is not necessary to have any empowerment to make one or more vows. The most important thing is to make the vow with the pure motivation to benefit all beings until they are free of suffering and achieve immediate and definitive happiness.

The simple way is to stand in front of your altar (or anywhere) and visualize, in whatever way you can, Shakiamuni Buddha or your chosen deity, inseparable from your Lama, and before them, with them as witnesses, proclaim your vow.

You can make vows for one day, for many days, or even for the entire period of the Saga Dawa.

Yes, you can take part in the Saga Dawa celebration, even if you are a beginner, by doing the concise Red Tara practice, which is performed in Portuguese and broadcast on Zoom daily. Besides this practice, you can also participate by watching Lama Tsering's teachings on Sundays. If you don't have empowerment, you cannot visualize yourself as a deity, but this doesn't prevent you from attending Tara practice in Tibetan, and the Tara and Guru Rinpoche Tsogs, and receiving the blessings of these practices. That is, in the more elaborate meditations, you can listen and accompany the practice by visualizing the deity in front of you. Check the schedule here: bit.ly/2RZQba2

Vesak, which is followed by some Buddhist traditions, is the commemoration of the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of Shakiamuni Buddha on the same day, on the full moon of May.

For practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism, the equivalent of Vesak takes place during the Saga Dawa period. In addition, within this period, there are specific days for commemoration of enlightenment and parinirvana, called Saga Dawa Düchen, and of the birth of the Buddha, called Tampei Düchen.