2020 Online Tara Drupchen

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Nalandabodhi International announces our fifth annual Tara Drupchen to be held online with practices at Nalanda West in Seattle, Karmapa Center 16 in Chicago, and many Nalandabodhi centers around the world from September 24-27, 2020.  All are invited and welcome to participate for free by joining practices online (register below), making prayer requests, aspirations, and offerings, and choosing to #gokind in thought, word, and deed.

Our 2020 Tara Drupchen will be especially dedicated to overcoming the current pandemic, to all beings suffering directly or indirectly from it, and to dispelling fear in our world. 

Who or what is Tara?

In all wisdom traditions, including Buddhism, it is said that the antidote to fear is loving-kindness. In Vajrayana Buddhism, the figure of Tara symbolizes the fearless and compassionate energy of our mind’s true nature and a firm resolve to dispel the suffering and fears of all beings.

Tara is also a historical figure, a devout practitioner and princess who, after being told by a group of monks that in order to progress in her dharma path she should pray to be reborn as a man in her next life, vowed to attain full awakening in a female body in order to demonstrate that gender is no barrier to enlightenment. Therefore, Tara is considered both a symbolic representation of our inner qualities and a historical, female bodhisattva. In Tara practice we connect with this fearless and compassionate nature of our own mind, as symbolized by Tara, through a combination of methods—visualization, making offerings, chanting, and meditation—in order to embody and manifest those qualities more fully in our daily life.

This practice intensive will be led by our senior Nalandabodhi teachers—acharyas, lamas, and mitras—who will be joined by practitioners from around the world.

What is a “drupchen”?

Drupchen (Tibetan: སྒྲུབ་ཆེན་ ; literally, “great practice [gathering]” or “great accomplishment [gathering]”) is a traditional format for a practice-intensive retreat in the Vajrayana tradition. The practice of Drupchen is said to bring great benefit to its participants and the communities around them. In this way it is a strong generator of merit, purification, and blessings. It is a powerful method for dispelling obstacles and hindrances for ourselves and our sangha’s dharma activities.

See our BLOG about 2018 Tara Drupchen

How can I attend?

Please register below by 5:00 PM (Pacific) on September 23rd to receive the Zoom link for the Tara Drupchen.

2020 Tara Drupchen Schedule

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche’s teachings are intended to support the practice of those who are attending and participating in at least some of the practice sessions of the retreat.

The Drupchen will open the evening of Thursday, September 24^th with a teaching by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen explaining the meaning of the Drupchen and setting our intention for the weekend of practice.

Recordings will be available to registered participants for all teachings and practice sessions of the Drupchen.

All times are Pacific Daylight Time

Thursday, September 24th

4:30 – 6:00 pm Lung offered by Lama Rabten followed by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen Teaching

Friday and Saturday, September 25th & 26th

7:00 – 8:30 am Practice Session (Tibetan)–Broadcast from Karmapa Center 16

9:30 – 11:00 am Practice Session (English)–Broadcast from Nalanda West

12 noon – 12:30 pm     Prayer Request Slide Show

12:30 – 2:00 pm Smoke Puja ཕུད་རབ་མཆོད་པ། –Broadcast from Karmapa Center 16

4:30 – 6:00 pm Teaching by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche

Sunday, September 27th

7:00 – 8:30 am Practice Session (Tibetan)–Broadcast from Karmapa Center 16

9:30 – 11:00 am Practice Session (English)–Broadcast from Nalanda West

12 noon – 12:30  Prayer Request Slide Show

12:30 – 2:00 pm Smoke Puja ཕུད་རབ་མཆོད་པ། –Broadcast from Karmapa Center 16

Please note the main events hosted at Nalanda West in Seattle and Karmapa Center 16 in Chicago will be streamed online through Zoom and will be accessible to those who register below.

Sessions in English and Tibetan will be presented throughout each day of the three-day period. There will be one English-language Tara practice session per day, one Tibetan-language Tara practice session per day, smoke offerings, and other opportunities to hear and practice the dharma.

Teachings will be translated to Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, French and German.

How can I add prayer requests and aspirations?

You can make an offering in honor of those who are ill, recently passed away, or for any challenge you or others face, or positive aspiration you have for the world. These prayer requests and aspirations will be shared with our Nalandabodhi teachers and sangha participating in the Drupchen at our centers and study groups around the world. As an act of generosity and auspicious connection, it is a time-honored practice to make a monetary offering to accompany a prayer request. A suggested minimum donation is $25.

Click here to make prayer requests, aspirations, and offerings.

What do my offerings support?

Making offerings to sponsor a Drupchen is part of Buddhist tradition,  is a way to practice generosity, and creates a connection between oneself and the practice, even if you are not able to personally attend.

Your offerings support the hosting of our Tara Drupchen event and Nalandabodhi International’s efforts to make the dharma—the Buddha’s teachings on wisdom, compassion, and non-violence—accessible to seekers and practitioners around the world.

Specifically, your offering will allow us to make this and other practice opportunities available online, help our non-profit navigate these difficult times; provide offerings of candles, flowers, and food for the event; support the activities of our translators; make the necessary preparations for the ritual ceremonies; provide offerings to our teachers; and support the ongoing dharma activities of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and our Nalandabodhi International sangha.

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