Lunar Calendar | Tibetan Buddhist Altar

The Tibetan Buddhist New Year celebration called LOSAR is a day of joyfully welcoming in the New Year.

The celebration begins two days prior with GUTOR, a day where one reflects back on the past year and any mistakes that have been made. Practice is done to avert the negativity of the past year.

On the eve of the New Year, time is spent cleaning the home and Temple. This represents joyfully sweeping away the past negative karma and preparing for the many blessings that the New Year will bring.

LOSAR is a time of happiness, joyful effort and celebration. The first month of the New Year is regarded as very auspicious and is referred to as “the month of display of Enlightened Activities” or miracles of the Buddha. In particular, on the first 15 days Lord Buddha Shakyamuni performed a miracle each day to increase the merit and devotion of future disciples. Below is an account of one such miracle as described by the Venerable Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche:

At one time the Buddha was invited to share in a festival. It was then traditional (as it still is in India) for people to brush their teeth with a piece of twig. This was considered very healthy for your gums and teeth. So the Buddha was brushing his teeth with a twig. It was the custom to keep it in your mouth a long time and then to brush with it. When the Buddha took the twig out of his mouth, he put it into the ground like planting a tree, and with that action, some 500 miles were covered by fruit trees in an instant. Those who had no food could partake of some. The Buddha was making connections through this act. A number of people who were overwhelmed by the power of ego fixation, pride and arrogance could not appreciate the teachings. They were very critical, so when the teachings were being presented (just as they are being presented now), all they could offer were a lot criticisms. They said that the Buddha could not stand being a king, so he went wandering, and that as a meditator he could not keep up with that, so he came back into the world. They said he knew how to say all of these things because he was prince, a king. And on and on they criticized. These people could not hear or appreciate the teachings; therefore, the Buddha had another style in which the teachings could manifest: the planting of this twig and the miracle that resulted. This got their attention.

On each of the fifteen days the virtue or non-virtuous activity is multiplied by 100,000 times with the exception of the 15^th day, Chotrul Duchen, on which it multiplies by 10 Million times.

This year Losar took place on March 5th.

The following are the principal days in the Tibetan Lunar Calendar and the practices associated with those days:

8th Day- Medicine Buddha Practice

1st Qtr moon – White Tara Practice

10th Day – Guru Rinpoche Day / Shower of Blessings Tsog

15th Day – Amitabha Practice

Full Moon – Practitioner renews their vows and precepts. A time to reaffirm and make confession. So Jong for the Ordained

2nd Qtr Moon – Green Tara Practice

25th Day – Dakini Day, Tsog Feast

29th Day – Dharma Protector Day

30th Day – Shakyamuni Buddha Practice

New Moon – Practitioner renews their vows and precepts. A time to reaffirm and make confession. So Jong for the Ordained.

“From the Vajrayana or tantric point of view, the changes of the Sun and Mon produce a shift or change in the elements. While there is a shift on the more physical or gross level (the physical elements of the body), there is also a shift on a more subtle level – a shift in the wisdom mind (potential enlightened mind). This is sometimes referred to as the wind energy. This subtle system, which is not material or physical, is related to the mind. According to the Vajrayana practice, as we will gradually and eventually learn as we progress on the path, when all the different wind energies are channeled into what is known as the central or life channel, there is the experience of enlightened mind. That is how practitioners enter into the state of indestructible Samadhi and other meditative states. Related to that, on the occasion of the Full Moon, the 15th Moon, the 15th day, the right peripheral wind energy (also known as the white element) moves closest to the central channel. On the day of the New Moon, the wind energy of the left peripheral channel (also known as the red element) comes closest to the central channel. In general then, the lunar calendar is based on the motion of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and there is a definite relation of these cycles to the functioning of our subtle internal system.”

Above quote is from a teaching given by Ven. Khenpo Karthar Rinpoche