His Holiness blesses Tibetans and followers at Tsechu prayer ceremony
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, May 16: His Holiness the Dalai Lama today presided over the Tsechu (10th day) prayer ceremony for the sacred month of Saka Dawa, held at Tsug-lag-Khang, the main temple in McLeod Ganj, Dharamshala.
His Holiness having returned yesterday after a five-day visit to Japan from May 9 – 13, presided over the Tsechu prayer ceremony. Hundreds of Tibetans and non-Tibetan followers gathered to receive his blessings and to contribute in accumulation of collective merit and virtuous deeds.
From the first day of Saka Dawa, Tibetans have been gathering at Tsuglagkhang to recite mantra of Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig) ‘Om mani padme hum’ for the long life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, sustenance of Tibetan Buddhism and for the common cause of Tibet.
The fourth month of the Tibetan calendar, Saka-Dawa, marks Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and Parinirvana (Sanskrit word for nirvana-after-death). All Buddhists, lay or ordained, observes it with the practice of accumulation and purification such as circumambulation of monasteries and stupas, prostrations, reciting mantras and saving lives. All the merits of the virtuous actions done during this month are believed to multiply one hundred million times.
