While Tashi Choling is on break, please note the changes to times and hosts for winter pujas. Zoom link is the same for all pujas. Also, there are several additional prayer packets including a new one for White Tara. Thank you to Vimala Treasures for compiling the packets. Please see Event Page for links. | | |
Hosted by ODD
Yeshe Tsogyal: January 13, 6:30-8:30
Guru Rinpoche: January 28, 6:30-8:30
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Hosted by Dorje Ling
White Tara: January 3, 4:00-6:30
Troma: January 18, 4:00-6:30
White Tara: February 1, 4:00-6:30
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At Dorje Ling
Saturday, January 3rd, 4:00-6:30: White Tara, hosted by Dorje Ling (center and online)
Tuesday, January 13, 6:30-8:30: Yeshe Tsogyal, hosted by ODD (center and online)
Sunday, January 18th, 4:00-6:30: Tröma Nagmo Puja, hosted by Dorje Ling (center and online)
Sunday, January 25th, 1:30-2:30:
Riwo Sang Chod, Smoke Offering
(DL center only)
Wednesday, January 28th, 6:30-8:30: Guru Rinpoche, hosted by ODD (center and online)
Friday, January 30th, 7:00-8:30: Tröma Nagmo White Feast (DL center only)
Sunday, February 1st, 4:00-6:30: White Tara, hosted by Dorje Ling (center and online)
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Ongoing at Dorje Ling
Sunday mornings, 11:00-12:15: Ngöndro Practice (DL center and online)
Tuesday evenings, 7:00-8:30: Book Study (online only)
*New Book Study cycle begins Jan 13th
Wednesday evenings, 7:00-8:30: Meditation Class (DL center only)
Our Greater Community
Today! Thursday, January 1st, 1:00-2:15: Prayers for the World Event Page
| | Losar: Saturday February 14th - Wednesday, February 18th | | |
Please come to welcome the lunar new year and join us for practice and teachings hosted by ODD and live streamed at Dorje Ling. Please stay tuned for times and other information in the coming weeks.
Saturday Feb 14th - Monday,Feb 16th
Vajrakilaya Practice and Teaching
w/ Sangye Khandro and Lama Chonam
Tuesday, Feb. 17th
Cleaning Day 10:00-3:00
Potluck 12:00-1:00
Wednesday, Feb 18th
Losar
Dor Sem Vajrasattva
Teaching and Practice
w/ Sangye Khandro and Lama Chonam
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By Wei Wu
The whole life of practice is all about preparation for the moment of death. How wonderful it is if the last sight is buddha, the last sound is mantra chanting, and the last thought is all about devotion! Earlier this November I was lucky to witness a little bird and the last moments of its short but meaningful life.
It was the first day of the yearly Vajrakilaya retreat at Tashi Choling which is located in a quiet valley near Mt. Ashland, Oregon. Before having breakfast, I decided to take a visit to the Vajrasattva garden and the newly built memorial stupa for Gyatrul Rinpoche. The late autumn morning was peaceful with a little bit of a chill. The valley was covered in golden foliage which always reminds me of the Amitabha pure land especially when sun shines upon it.
While turning the big prayer wheels around the Vajrasattva statue, I almost stepped on a little bird sitting on the ground. How cute it is! At the same time, I also noticed a lot of birds making noises from above. The statue has a covered structure to protect it from rain and harsh weather. Apparently, the birds have built nests up there. They were chirping loudly and flying hectically around the statue. I could not help thinking, you guys are ruining the peaceful morning and your friend’s meditation!
I went on to visit the new stupa and after some thought, I decided to return to the Vajrasattva garden, hoping the birds would have calmed down by then.
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The garden was quiet, but… the little bird… wait, it’s dead! I started to chant Amitabha’s name to it. After a moment, I realized this was redundant. There’s an audio player playing mantras and prayers just behind us. The sun came out of the clouds and provided me with the perfect picture with light and shadow.
Still in a state of shock, I started to observe more closely. The bird was in a formal prostration posture instead of lying on its back. The head was pointing to the statue perfectly. On its right side, one can see two stupas: a small one and the big, new stupa.
It’s hard to explain why this bird would pass away in such a location and posture. Maybe it learned about prostrations from visitors of the garden. Maybe it had been transformed by the 24/7 mantra chanting from the audio player.
No matter what, this is the most supreme death I have ever witnessed in my whole life. And it’s the best scenario I could imagine. This little bird is a role model for all of us. May our death be as devoted as this, except without a strange intruder like me.
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Book Group
Tuesday, January 13th, 7:00-8:30
Online. On this date we begin a new book, Matthieu Ricard's Notebooks of a Wandering Monk. Email us if interested in joining the group.
Riwo Sangchö, Smoke Offering
Sunday, January 25th, 1:30-2:30
Center only
Tröma Nagmo White Feast
Friday, January 30th, 7:00-8:30
Center only
If you're interested in exploring the Chod (cutting through) traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism, you are invited to attend. Troma Nagmo is a wrathful female manifestation of wisdom, whose practices are designed to cut through ego, attachment, and dualistic thinking.
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Photo by Kaetlin Kennedy: Dorje Ling sangha during Riwo Sangchö | | Regular Events at Dorje Ling | | |
Meditation Classes
Wednesdays 7:00-8:30pm
(in person only)
We explore a variety of meditation techniques.
Open to everyone
and drop-ins are encouraged.
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Ngöndro Practices
Sundays 11:00-12:30pm
(in person and online)
A foundational practice for students of Vajrayana Buddhism. Open to everyone.
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Lunar Day Practices or Pujas
4:00-6:30 pm
See Upcoming Events for dates
(in person, some offered online)
These practices are intended for our sangha members to come together and make offerings.
Open to everyone.
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"You must first practice hearing the Dharma, then contemplating it, then meditating upon it. If you don’t learn the Dharma first, then on what will you meditate? It will help you accomplish your own benefit and the benefits of others—in this life and future lives."
Ven. Gyatrul Rinpoche,
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Prayers for the World
Invoking Guru Rinpoche in Troubled Times
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Thursday, January 1st,
1:00-2:15pm
Led by Ila Reitz
Online, free
An ongoing event: continue to check the event page for future dates
We invite you to join us in a simple meditation and chanting practice to connect with Guru Rinpoche, that we might generate good energy and merit to offer to all beings of the world.
Although these sessions will have a Buddhist focus, it is open to anyone who has a sense of altruism for others in this world, regardless of your religious affiliation or philosophy. Bring your compassionate mindset and join us in the chants–or simply rest in a state of prayer or meditation during the session.
As we daily receive news of the turmoil and sufferings in our world, it is easy to feel hopeless and helpless in the face of them. The teachings of the dharma can help us both understand these disturbed times and give us powerful methods to be able to do our part to alleviate them–not only to ease our own immediate distress but also to contribute to balance and harmony on every level in our world.
One of the most potent methods is to invoke the all-pervasive kindness and compassion of Guru Rinpoche through mantra and other recitations. Guru Rinpoche was an unsurpassed master who lived around the 8th century and is particularly known for his focus on bringing benefit not only to those in his own time but also to us–the beings in the tumultuous times he foresaw in the centuries ahead. Venerable Gyatrul Rinpoche said: “All beings are suffering because of their ignorance. Pray to Guru Rinpoche to help with your suffering and all of their suffering. None of them are different from you.”
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Our food drive continues! Thank you so much for the donations we’ve received from the Dorje Ling sangha. On New Year’s Eve, 8-10 volunteers gathered to sort and count and box so much food we had gathered and purchased, and then we delivered it all to 16 deeply impacted Latino and Guatemalan households in central Beaverton. Each family received a whole chicken, a big box of non-perishables, and another bag of fruit and veggies - generosity and kindness in action!
Our note to them said, “Que la paz y muchas bendiciones estén con usted y con su familia. Felices fiestas y año nuevo.” So thank you for your continued support. Help restock our pantry! Every donation makes a difference!
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