Saga Dawa Düchen

Saga Dawa Düchen Wednesday 11th June, 2025 the ‘Festival of Vaishakha’ — one of the four major Buddhist holidays celebrating Buddha Shakyamuni’s enlightenment and parinirvana

09.00am – 09.45am Meditation
Temple Main Shrine Room (Tsuklakhang)
All are welcome

10.30am – 12.00am Morning Practices
The Eight Noble Auspicious Ones
The Heart Sutra
Riwo Sangchö
Bodhisattva Vow
Temple Main Shrine Room (Tsuklakhang)
For Buddhist practitioners who are familiar with the practices

1.45pm – 2.15pm Life Release: The Practice of Tsetar
Buddhist practise of saving the lives of beings that were destined for slaughter – lobsters will be released
Gather at South Door of Temple. All are welcome.

2.15pm – 3.00pm Loving Kindness
Spiritual Care Centre
All are welcome

2.30pm – 3.30pm Buddha Prayers
Buddha Sadhana by Mipham Rinpoche
Homage to the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas
Buddha and the Arhats (in English)
Tung Shak
Temple Main Shrine Room (Tsuklakhang)
All are welcome

4.00pm – 6.30pm Tendrel Nyesel Tsok
with ADPs, MGC and Narak Kong Shak
Temple Guru Lhakhang
Vajrayana Practitioners familiar with the practices

Financial Offerings to Support the Practices
If you would like to make an offering to support these practices, you can do so via the Dzogchen Beara website under ‘Offerings for Special Practices‘
This is also a wonderful way to support the practice if you cannot attend in person.

Buddha Shakyamuni’s Enlightenment and Parinirvana
The most Holy month of Saga Dawa, runs from 28 May to 25 June.
Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and parinirvana all fall within this month so it’s an excellent time to accumulate merit by intensifying personal and group practice.

Saga Dawa Düchen the ‘Festival of Vaishakha’ is one of the four major Buddhist holidays. It occurs on the full moon of the fourth Tibetan lunar month and celebrates Buddha Shakyamuni’s enlightenment at the age of thirty-five at Bodhgaya. It also marks the anniversary of his parinirvana at Kushinagara.

On this day the effects of positive and negative actions are multiplied 10 million times.

Life Release: The Practice of Tsetar
Life release is a traditional Buddhist practise of saving the lives of beings that were destined for slaughter. In terms of their own happiness, sentient beings value nothing greater than their own lives. For this reason, saving lives brings tremendous merit, and has always been a central practice of the Mahayana tradition of Buddhism. You can make an offering online here  under the  ‘Special Practices’ section.

Important: Please indicate “life release” in the dedication if you want to direct your offering to that specific practice.

Location

The retreat will be held in our Dzogchen Beara Temple. With expansive views across the bay, the temple is a modern example of a traditional Tibetan monastery, a form of architecture designed to be an inspiring symbol of the Buddha’s teachings for our times.

Catering

Please book your vegetarian lunch in advance if you plan to eat with us.