Kurukulla Center will be welcoming Choden Rinpoche for several teachings and initiations in July and August 2013. The schedule is subject to impermanence -- it has changed already and may change again. However, for planning purposes, please keep the following schedule in mind and rejoice at the wonderful opportunity to receive these teachings!

Choden Rinpoche, born in 1933 in eastern Tibet, escaped persecution and imprisonment from 1965 to 1985 by never leaving his tiny, dark room in Lhasa, pretending to be an invalid and thereby avoiding the ravages of the Cultural Revolution. All the while, without texts, ritual implements, or an altar, he meditated, profoundly deepening his realizations of Buddhism's core insights. Read more about Rinpoche's amazing life story here.

Choden Rinpoche arrives at Logan Airport - American Airlines Flight 1352
Thursday July 25th 8:30pm

In Tibet and India, when a great lama is due to arrive at a village or monastery, a host envoy goes out well in advance and meets the lama and their entourage - even up to one day's travel ahead of time! They then accompany and escort their special guest, with great fanfare and joy, back to the monastery. As the party approaches the village, there are lines of people holding ceremonial white scarves along both sides of the road, welcoming their esteemed guests with reverence and smiles. This river of white scarves and pure hearts can go on for miles.

In that spirit, we invite you to join in community to welcome Choden Rinpoche, Geshe Gyalten, and two attendant monks to Boston. At the airport we will wait, with scarves, flowers and bright hearts, for Rinpoche to come out of the restricted area where we can make our offering to him. You will see how our own Geshe Tenley will go quickly up to Rinpoche, bow deeply, and offer his scarf. Then others will have a chance.

How wonderful if there were also community members at the Center. We may not be able to line Magoun Avenue, but we can line the walkway leading into the Center.

All are welcome to participate to make Rinpoche's arrival to Boston and Kurukulla Center as auspicious as possible. Please check online at aa.com that day to find out the accurate flight arrival time.

Lamrim Teaching
Saturday July 27th 10:00am-12:00pm

The Lamrim teaching on Saturday July 27th will be available via live video streaming.

The graduated path to enlightenment teachings, or lamrim, present a complete roadmap that guides a practitioner on how to become an enlightened being. The great Indian master Lama Atisha, who went to Tibet in 1042 to help in the revival of Buddhism, wrote the first lamrim text, Light for the Path. Since that time many other lamrim texts have been written by masters who practiced based on Lama Atisha's text and then wrote from their own realizations and experience. Everything in the lamrim is designed for contemplation and meditation so that realizations will arise in our minds, cleaning our minds of delusions and allowing the innate nature of enlightened wisdom, compassion, and strength to be unencumbered.

Any amount of understanding of the lamrim is indispensible to our spiritual growth, especially the practices of renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness -- the understanding of how things actually exist. And the lamrim is the basis and support for the practice of Buddhist tantra, each supporting the other.

To receive teachings from Choden Rinpoche is to hear from one who has practiced and realized the lamrim. Therefore the imprints are very powerful for one's practice. In addition, we receive incredible blessings for our mind even just being near a holy being such as Rinpoche, because of the power of his realizations and because he lives in pure moral conduct.

We are anticipating that Choden Rinpoche will teach from Lama Tsong Khapa's The Foundation of All Good Qualities, a short lamrim text found in the Kurukulla Center prayer book. This prayer is excellent for daily contemplation and recitation as it lays energy of the entire path to enlightenment on our mindstream.

All are welcome.

Vajrasattva Initiation
Sunday July 28th 3:00pm until completion

Sometimes our Dharma practice doesn't seem to bring good results. This is because our negative karma is creating obstacles. Therefore we need to engage in purification, an essential practice on the path to enlightenment.

Vajrasattva is a powerful tantric purification practice where we loosen, uproot, and purify our negative habits and karmic imprints, thus allowing more space for our enlightened qualities of love, wisdom, compassion, strength and so forth, to grow. Vajrasattva Buddha is the manifestation of the complete purity of the enlightened state. Out of their great compassion and limitless love, the buddhas and bodhisattvas have manifested their collected purity in Vajrasattva so that we can identify ourselves with his qualities.

Choden Rinpoche will confer this as a Kriya Tantra initiation, the first of the tantric levels. You may attend with the intention to receive the initiation in which case during the proceedings you will receive the bodhisattva vows, which are taken for life. You can read about them at The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive.

There will be no practice requirements for this initiation. However Rinpoche recommends that we recite the Vajrasattva mantra as often as possible. Here is a short Vajrasattva meditation which includes the mantra. When you receive an initiation from a lama, you enter into a relationship where they become your vajra teacher. It’s important to check-up prior to the empowerment to ensure you have respect for and faith in Choden Rinpoche as a master.

You are also welcome to attend as a blessing and receive positive imprints. With this intention you do not receive the bodhisattva vows, nor have a daily commitment.

On the day of the initiation please prepare in the following way:

1. Refrain from eating onion, garlic, meat, eggs and radish, and from drinking alcohol
2. Shower or bathe and brush teeth before coming to the Center

This is an incredibly special opportunity to receive the Vajrasattva empowerment from a fully realized master, and to create a strong connection with a foundational tantric purification practice that is so important to our spiritual development.

Open to all. Can be taken as a blessing.

Hayagriva Sand Mandala. Watch the monks create the mandala from 10am - 12 noon and 2 - 5pm daily!
Monday July 29th until Thursday August 1st or until completion

Five monks from Sera Jey Monastery who are on a fundraising trip in the US for the Sera Jey Secondary School will visit Kurukulla Center to create a Hayagriva sand mandala and assist with the creation of the many tormas needed for the Hayagriva initiation with Choden Rinpoche.

We are tremendously fortunate to have this rare opportunity to witness the creation of this exquisite sacred sand mandala.

In addition to their work at the center, the monks will also be selling various articles and souvenirs, and will be available to perform pujas, home and altar blessings, and other private ceremonies upon request and donation. If you would like to request any of these, please email details to program@kurukulla.org.

Preliminary teachings for both Hevajra and Hayagriva initiations
Friday August 2nd 6:00pm until completion

Choden Rinpoche will give a preliminary teaching that will also serve as preparation for those who wish to attend either the Hevajra or Hayagriva initiations. When taking tantric empowerments it is indispensible to have thoroughly studied, practiced, and meditated on the sutra teachings found in the lamrim. Rinpoche will teach on the main points to inspire and prepare the minds of the students.

All are welcome.

Hevajra initiation
Saturday August 3rd 4:00pm until completion

The Hevajra initiation is being conferred in support of a Six Yogas of Naropa Retreat being held by Geshe Gyalten August 5th - 10th, and for the benefit of serious tantric practitioners. Attendees take the bodhisattva and tantric vows for life, and commit to the lifetime daily practice of the Six Session Guru Yoga. Rinpoche could give further daily commitments such as mantra or sadhana practice. We will do our best to clarify ahead of time.

Rinpoche has clarified that this initiation will be open to all, and can be taken as a blessing.

Most Secret Hayagriva initiation
Sunday August 4th 4:00pm until completion

Hayagriva is a wrathful manifestation of Chenrezig, the embodiment of all the Buddha's compassion. Devotion to and practice based upon Hayagriva is a swift and powerful means to overcome negative forces and obstacles. Prayers to Hayagriva are especially beneficial in these degenerate times when sufferings and illnesses are rampant due to the strong delusions of sentient beings.

Relying on this practice dispels obstacles created by naga energy such as cancer, leprosy and skin diseases, landlord spirits which manifest as paralysis or spirit harm, and epilepsy which is connected to spirit harm. The principal cause of these illnesses is one's negative karma, while the non-human entities are precipitating conditions.

Relying on this practice dispels obstacles created by naga energy such as cancer, leprosy and skin diseases, landlord spirits which manifest as paralysis or spirit harm, and epilepsy which is connected to spirit harm. The principal cause of these illnesses is one’s negative karma, while the non-human entities are precipitating conditions.

Hayagriva is in the Annutara Yoga, highest yoga, class of tantra. You may attend with the intention to receive the initiation in which case during the ritual you will receive the bodhisattva vows, which are taken for life. You can read about them at The Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive. You will also receive the tantric vows for life. A commitment for those taking the initiation will be the practice of 6 Session Guru yoga, and Rinpoche suggests that we recite the Hayagriva mantra as often as possible. The mantra is: HRIH VAJRA KRODHA HAYAGRIVA HULU HULU HUM PHAT.

When you receive an initiation from a lama you enter into a relationship where they become your vajra teacher. It's important to check-up prior to the empowerment to ensure you have respect for and faith in Choden Rinpoche as a master.

You may also attend as a blessing without taking vows or formal commitments. Geshe Tenley explains that when this empowerment is given in the monastery in India, many people come from afar to receive this powerful blessing.

Most Secret Hayagriva is the special protector deity of Sera Je Monastery, the monastery of Choden Rinpoche, Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Geshe Tsulga, Geshe Tenley and other teachers with connection to Kurukulla Center. Recently it has been advised to do as many Hayagriva mantras as possible dedicated to the long life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche, the Spiritual Director of Kurukulla Center.

Open to all. Can be taken as a blessing.

Long Life Puja for HE Choden Rinpoche
Sunday August 11th 9:00am until completion

One of the most moving ceremonies in Tibetan Buddhism is the long life puja for a teacher, an elaborate display of devotion towards a spiritual guide comprising heartfelt prayers and praises, and a procession of symbolic offerings. The purpose of the long life puja is for students to purify the mistakes that occur in relationship to their teacher, and to create the causes and conditions to continue to receive benefit from that teacher for a very long time.

The essential practice for creating the cause for the Guru's long life is harmony between students. Additionally, our devotion to our teachers is best expressed by following their advice, which includes offering service. By maintaining harmony, following our teachers' advice and offering long life pujas, students accumulate the merits so that our precious tea