A special day!!
A unique Byzantine style depiction of Lama Tsongkhapa with his two heart disciples, Khedrup Je and Gyaltsab Je. This depiction of the three great practitioners is known in Tibetan as Je Yab Se Sum. Click to enlarge and download the high resolution version.
A special day which comes just once a year. At Kechara Forest Retreat this years (2013), we are celebrating Lama Tsongkapa day!!
Lama Tsongkhapa is known as the founder of the Gelug lineage in Tibetan Buddhism but changed the whole landscape of Buddhism in Tibet, China, Russia, Kalmykia, Mongolia and Nepal. Tsongkapa’s influence, writings, practice and teachings brought a complete renaissance to the face of Tibetan Buddhism in which we can still feel the beneficial effects today all around the world 600 years down the road.
Lama Tsongkapa was born in 1357 in the Tsongkha valley of Amdo province in northeast Tibet. It is through Lama Tsongkhapa’s great wisdom and compassion that he ushered in a renaissance within Buddhism as it was practiced in Tibet. Like Buddha Shakyamuni and many enlightened teachers, Lama Tsongkhapa also performed many great deeds… among them are the building of Gaden Monastery, the establishment of the Great Prayer Festival and the composition of the many great texts such as the Six Yogas of Naropa and the Lamrim Chenmo, also known as “The Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment”.
People gain great faith and trust in Lama Tsongkhapa not because he is renowned as the Second Buddha of our fortunate aeon, but because of the effectiveness and results people have achieved by practicing his teachings. Out of great compassion, Lama Tsongkhapa himself underwent extreme training in studying both sutra and tantra, and did millions of purification practices, so that by example, we understand the importance of study and practice in order to generate Bodhicitta.
Lama Tsongkhapa Day commemorates Lama Tsongkhapa’s attainment of enlightenment. It is also known as the Butter Lamp Festival, and on this auspicious day, thousands of people around the world make offerings and sincere prayers. It was said that on this auspicious day, every good deed one does multiplies one’s merits by a million fold.
Here in Malaysia, Kechara celebrates our main Yidam Tsongkapa every year, and for the first time, our celebration is held at Kechara Forest Retreat. I heard from my students that many people traveled from all over Malaysia to participate in both the morning meditation and Lama Chopa prayer. How wonderful that Malaysians understand the significance and importance of Lama Tsongkhapa Day!
Over 300 people joined in the celebrations, and brought along dishes for a potluck lunch and took part in performances. I am very happy to see so many people dedicated to Dharma and would spend their precious weekends befittingly. May Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching and lineage grow and bless all in the ten directions.
With prayers,
Tsem Rinpoche
Enclosed here are many more readings on Lama Tsongkapa and related if you scroll to the bottom. I wish you good luck and to learn more of this great Buddha Lama Tsongkapa.
This is the holy Lama Tsongkapa with many light offerings at Kechara Forest Retreat. Everyone should make or arrange for light offerings on a regular basis. It blesses you and your mind’s wisdom. It assists in your spiritual development. It’s an important practice.
This was the itinerary for the day. The event started at 9am and ended at 3pm…
Offering light to the Buddhas… Do read about the benefits here.
PICTURES
Registration
Offering a candle to Lama Tsongkhapa…
Pastor Jay Jae’s sister came in from Singapore to celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa Day at KFR!
Young Kecharians getting flower offerings for Lama Tsongkhapa.
Kechara In-Motion had their latest products up for invitation, right outside the souvenir shop!
Pastor Adeline giving a briefing on meditation to the attendees.
Lew’s 2 daughters, Wen Yue and Wen Xi, are 2 very young and cute Kecharians!
Wei Theng helping Wen Xin offer a candle to Lama Tsongkhapa.
Many people made their sincere wishes on Lama Tsongkhapa Day…
Hundreds of butterlamp and candle offerings…
Louise explaining the benefits of candle offerings…
The beautiful 12ft Buddha Shakyamuni statue in Wisdom Hall.
Both seat cushions and chairs (for the elders) prepared for the Lama Chopa puja…
A bus from Singapore arrives!
Flower and candle offerings to Lama Tsongkapa at Kechara Forest Retreat.
Many Kecharians brought their parents to receive blessings and make prayers on Sunday.
Circumambulating around Lama Tsongkhapa. Many people from around the world request candles to be offered for them via www.vajrasecrets.com.
Making aspirational prayers…
How beautiful and holy.
A filial son helping his mother make offerings…
Meditation Session
Registering for the meditation session…
Starting the meditation session…
Meditation is very effective in calming the mind…
These simple exercises are suitable for both the young and old.
Buddha Shakyamuni’s presence creates a very peaceful ambiance in Wisdom Hall.
Pastor Adeline going around kindly correcting the postures of fellow meditators.
Pastor Adeline explaining the steps for breathing meditation.
Breathing meditation to calm the mind and detox from thoughts…
Finding a few moments of serenity away from the city, in Kechara Forest Retreat.
Good posture, and fully concentrated on their breath.
All of us need to develop meditation to go inwards within our minds to find the peace and purpose we seek in life.
Even the Kechara staff-on-duty is taking a break and meditating for a few minutes!
Right palm over the left, with both thumbs pressed together…
KH Ng, an active and senior member of Kechara, concentrating on his breath.
Pastor Adeline kindly making sure that everyone has the correct posture.
What a beautiful way to spend your Sunday!
Before Lama Chopa Puja
Offering khatas and making aspirational prayers…
A young boy making aspirational prayers…
Roland Lee, senior member of Kechara browsing through Kechara’s new publications.
Lots of people in the souvenir shop!
Kecharians from Johor donating money for the flood victims in Johor Bahru…
Lama Chopa Puja
Pastor Adeline giving speech to those attending the Lama Chopa puja.
Henry as the Vice-President of Kechara House, making 3 prostrations on behalf of Kechara to Tsem Rinpoche’s seat and the main shrine containing Buddha…
Making a mandala (mind) offering…
Making a statue (body) offering…
Making a speech offering…
Making khata offerings…
Lunch Time
Food catered by Kechara Oasis and a potluck from various Kecharians!
The view of Dukkar Apartment‘s communal area.
That’s a long line for our delicious vegetarian lunch!
Everyone enjoying while there is an ongoing performance from the young Kecharians above.
Sulin on the saxophone. Dharma and music go well together at Kechara.
Wei Yan singing for all the guests…
Sulin (left) and Rachel (right) playing a duet, “Heal the World” by Michael Jackson.
Pictures from Kecharians
Photo credit: Cheryl Ooi
(Caption: Close your eyes. Clear your mind.)
Photo credit: David Lai
(Caption: Over 300 people are at #KecharaForestRetreat to celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa’s passing into parinirvana #buddha #spiritual #celebration #sacred #mystical #buddhism #picoftheday #tagsforlike #instagram #instalike #instapic #instalife #instacool)
Photo credit: Lucy Yap
Photo credit: Tong Sun Sun
(Caption: Souvenir shop)
Photo credit: Pastor Yek Yee
(Caption: 在克切拉禅修林宗喀巴曰，发现了一位有型有款的小修行者。。。 月谊讲法师)
Photo credit: Paul Yap
(Caption: More than 300 attendees are celebrating Lama Tsongkhapa day at Wisdom Hall, Kechara Forest Retreat today morning.)
Photo credit: Pamela Yap
Related Links on Lama Tsongkhapa
- A Tsongkhapa Meditation
- TRANSCRIPT – Lama Tsongkhapa (24 July 2008)
- TRANSCRIPT – Guru Yoga Teaching
- TRANSCRIPT – TSONGKHAPA explained
- The mind and Lama Tsongkhapa
- Tsongkhapa’s way of Compassion
- Condensed Tsongkhapa practice for happiness & clear mind
- TRANSCRIPT – How Lama Tsongkhapa transform to Vajrayogini
- Facebook Question: What are on the Lotuses that Lama Tsongkhapa is holding?
- Tsongkhapa’s daily practice (Video commentary)
- Facebook Question: Why is Lama Tsongkhapa’s hat yellow?
- Facebook Question: The relationship between Lama Tsongkhapa and Maitreya Buddha
- Tsongkhapa quotes by great Lamas
- Tsongkhapa prayers
- Tsongkhapa retreat instructions
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If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Great way to generate merits and remember our founder of Gelug lineage. Wonderful pictures.
Thank you Rinpoche
KFR is so amazing, sadly i wasn’t there :(. It looks like everyone had a great time on that auspicious day which is good! KFR is the right place to hold an event like this. Thank you for sharing Rinpoche
Lama Tsongkhapa day is the day whereby we celebrate the founder of our Buddhist Traditions birthday. Rejoice that despite the distance from KL, many people from all over came to pay respects to Je Tsongkhapa.
It is so amazing to see KFR opened to do such wonderful on prayers on such auspicious days. Lama Tsongkhapa Day is one of my favourite Buddhist festivities as it is extremely auspicious and I had my refuge vows taken on that day. The KFR staff have shown that they have done a lot for this occasion and were extremely diligent and devoted to Rinpoche.
This great special day, “Lama Tsongkhapa Day” was celebrated this year,2013 at our Kechara Forest Retreat(KFR) at Bentong, Malaysia, where more than 300 people from all over Malaysia came to participate! Kechara Forest Retreat is built to provide a unique opportunity for many to experience a sustainable spiritual lifestyle in cultivating mindfulness through yoga, meditation, gigong and to do intensed retreats for a peaceful and healthy personal growth. Building places of worship have traditionally being accepted as a meritorious practice in spiritual faith. KFR will be considered a legacy for future generations, so in this respect, KFR is actively seeking sponsors, helpers, motivators, contributors and volunteers to help them to complete this project for the benefits of all beings!
Lama Tsongkhapa is a great saint who chooses to benefit people with his life, with his great wish and greatest action, he practice Dharma whole life and he gained enlightenment so he can continue to help and save people who are still soaking in this sea of suffering.
We do not pray to a Buddha to make us more greedy, but we pray to a Buddha so we can gain their quality to walk out from samsara, and that will be the real happiness, everlasting happiness.
This is indeed a special day. I am so gald that we all are there to celebrate such an amazing and memorial day. And i am glad that this day has touched many people. Thank you for sharing this with us, and i hope that many people come to this post and see this so that hopefully they will have the chance to join the next Tsongkhapa day.
Thanks Rinpoche for the sharing.
I am very happy that i am able to involve in the Lama Tsongkhapa Celebration this year. And this day also is a very important day for me because, the first activity that i join in Kechara is Lama Tsongkhapa Day 2012. And this day mark my 1st year anniversary in Kechara.
I am very because the Lama Tsongkhapa Day celebration take place at Kechara Forest Retreat. This is a history for Kechara.
Hope that we will have more activity at Kechara Forest Retreat in the future.
谢谢仁波切分享, 宗喀巴大师诞辰是很殊胜的一天，克切拉禅修林那天真得是很热闹。所有克切拉单位部门都很热心的互相帮忙。还有外地各州的佛友也赶来参与和见证这殊胜的一天。大家都祈愿可得到宗喀巴大师的加持和祝福。也祈愿仁波切能得到宗喀巴大师的加持,长驻在世，常转法轮。
It was a beautiful bright sunny Sunday yet not hot in Kechara Forest Retreat on Tsongkhapa Day. More than 300 people attended this memorable event for the first time held in Wisdom Hall in KFR. Butter lamps brightly light up on Lord Tsongkhapa altar and its surrounding areas together with beautiful flowers offerings.
Happy to see many new faces who came here for the first to pay homage to Tsongkhapa and may He blesses everyone that comes here on this auspicious day!
Awesome to see all the different activities that went down at KFR on Lama Tsongkhapa day and the fact that people sent in many light offerings from different countries around the world is wonderful.
Thank you for sharing all the photos. Out of all the photos the photos I liked most were the kids that took part in the event because it is very important to plant the seed of Dharma in their life at a young age. I remember Tsem Rinpoche giving a talk and explaining how important it is to start doing dharma now and not waiting until we think the conditions will be perfect to get serious learning about dharma and being involved in it. These days by the time children grow up to be teenagers they are already bombarded with so many distractions in their mind and so it may be hard for them to want to learn anything spiritual. That’s why it’s so important to teach kids from a young age to be spiritual and then it becomes a natural part of their everyday life.
Some people like me say they will get serious with dharma some day in the future but it doesn’t always work out because we have a lot more of responsibilities, attachments and obstacles to overcome the longer we put it off. We should listen to Tsem Rinpoches advice and not wait any longer to get serious because it’s much easier to start now if we think about it.
Good on the parents for taking their kids to the event and the Kechara organisation for making it all possible.
Thank you Admin for this write up and post, I enjoyed recalling the fruitful event by looking at those beautifully taken pictures. It’s rejoicing to see about 300 peoples turned up for the event, looking forward to more happening events going on in Kechara Forest Retreat.
This year’s Tsongkhapa Day was definitely one of the best and most wonderful Tsongkhapa Day ever celebrated in Kechara!!!
One of the main reasons this year’s Tsongkhapa Day celebration was the best was because it was celebrated within the premises of our very own Kechara Forest Retreat!
It was great to see so many people coming from different countries as well as states such as Kuantan and Johor Baru happily touring around The Wisdom Hall, Dukkar Apartments as well as offering candles, flowers and prayers to Tsongkhapa.
It also heart warming to know that everybody who came far and wide left with seed of the Dharma planted in them!
Thank You for sharing Rinpoche, I was very fortunate to have able to make it to KFR to celebrate Tsongkhapa day along with 300 attendees. It was a very peaceful and blessed day, I’m very glad that there were more than 300 wonderful people, I felt very happy and glad when I saw those new faces.
This is very meaningful day, 1st celebration Lama Tsongkhapa day at Kechara Forest Retreat(KFR)and more than 300 peoples came here to join mediation, Lama Chopa prayer and make offerings to Lama Tsongkhapa. So happy that i able to bring my family visit KFR and make an offering at this special day.
May more peoples visit KFR and be blessed by Three Jewels always. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing and may Rinpoche Long life and healthy.
Lama Tsongkhapa Day celebration is a need to many of those. He was a brilliant scholar and teacher. Without him, there may be degeneration of the Buddha dharma in this world. Also through the kindness of Tsem Rinpoche, we have a retreat place in Malaysia called Kechara Forest Retreat in Bentong for over 300 people to celebrate it together.
This is a very auspicious day, that those people’s was so blessed at Kechara Forest Retreat and they can make candle offering to Buddha, for them to collect good merits.
Thank You Rinpoche for sharing all this nice pictures.
It was such a memorable celebration for me and my boys as this is the first Lama Tsongkhapa Day celebration in KFR. Was very priviledged to be able to cook in the beautiful large, airy kitchen in Dukkar Apartment for the potluck lunch. Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos, Rinpoche. Hope that the next Lama Tsongkhapa celebration I would have the honour of offering you some of my humble cooking to sample.:)
Amazing KFR – thank you Rinpoche for sharing this with us and KFR is undoubtedly the place to be to ‘chill out’ from the secular world. Sometimes it is really necessary to ‘lock’ oneself away from the hustle and bustle of the busy everyday life to focus on self thoughts and mingle with like minded people. KFR staff are very diligent and friendly and motivational. Great place.