MONDAY-WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24-26, 2025

35 Confession Buddhas, Heart Sutra Obstacle Clearing, and Six-Armed Mahakala Practice

English chanting with brief commentary

9:00am - 6:00 pm (with breaks) Mountain Time USA

In-person and Online via Zoom

NO PRACTICE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2025   

LOSAR DAY -- Riwo Sangcho (Smoke Offering) & White Tara Sadhana, followed by tea and jewel rice

8:00am - 11:00am Mountain Time USA 

In-person and Online via Zoom

KSK Gompa
3777 KSK Lane

Santa Fe, NM, 87507 USA

$75 suggested donation per day (No one turned away for lack of funds)

For more information, please email info@nobletruth.org or robweiner8@gmail.com

At the end of the Tibetan calendar year, Tibetan Buddhist monasteries all over the world typically offer practices invoking “wisdom protectors,” enlightened beings who take on fierce manifestations to clear away the most difficult of obstacles, to welcome the new year afresh. 

Extremely elaborate practices requiring a great deal of expertise, coordination, and time to complete properly, these practices are encountered rarely outside of monasteries and practice centers in Asia and beyond. Moreover, they are intricate applications of profound spiritual understanding, which can make them hard to understand for those unfamiliar with their philosophical and practical underpinnings.

This year, to celebrate Losar, or Tibetan New Year of the Year of the Wood Snake on February 28, 2025, Kagyu Shenpen Kunchab offers our community a special opportunity to participate in traditional year-end obstacle clearing practices, in an accessible way. 

From Monday to Wednesday, February 24 to 26, we will offer a condensed version of the year-end practice of the Wisdom Protector 6-Arm Mahakala (called Chakdrugpa in Tibetan). The simplified sadhana, or ritual practice, will be chanted in English, accompanied by English commentary elucidating some aspects of Vajrayana practice present in the text. This is a valuable opportunity to encounter this powerful practice in a meaningful way, providing an introduction to those curious but unfamiliar with this form of practice, as well as a deepening of understanding for Vajrayana practitioners. 

Additional practices, chanted in Tibetan and/or English, include Confession to the 35 Buddhas and Heart Sutra purification, as well as concluding practices such as  long-life prayers and aspiration prayers, and New Year’s Day smoke offerings and White Tara practice for longevity and wisdom. Together we will practice for the benefit of ourselves, our environment, and all beings inhabiting it, moving forward into the new year with grace and confidence.

Monday to Wednesday, February 24 to 26, our schedule runs from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, with a midday lunch break and tea breaks. Session breaks and conclusion times vary depending on variations from day to day.

Losar Day practice on Friday begins at 8:00 am and will be followed by jewel rice and tea. 

Practices will take place at the Kagyu Shenpen Kunchab Gonpa. Those who have a bell and vajra should bring them for practice.

Participants traditionally bring tsok, or feast offerings, as well as other offerings of your choice including candles, flowers, incense, and donations for the lamas and the center. Although Ven. Lama Dorje will probably not attend, we will have a kata line to his house after ceremonies.

All are welcome to attend the Losar practices. Attendance at any or all sessions is welcome.