Artist: Michele Cavin

Losar Tashi Delek! Happy Tibetan New Year!

Losar means New Year in Tibetan. It is the first day of the first month of the Tibetan lunar calendar. For Tibetans, Losar celebration is one the most festive periods of the year observed with a lot of religious, cultural and merrymaking events.

The first fifteen days of the year commemorate the special time when Guru Shakyamuni Buddha showed miraculous powers in order to subdue the Six Founders, who lacked faith in him, and to inspire more faith in his followers. It culminates on the full moon, the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar, which is called Chotrul Duchen.

The Fifteen Days of Miracles are also a time for intensive Dharma practice. All fifteen days are merit-multiplying days, when the merit of virtuous actions performed on these days is multiplied by 100 million, as cited by Lama Zopa Rinpoche from the vinaya text Treasure of Quotations and Logic.

Recommended practices include:

• Taking the eight Mahayana precepts.
• Reciting the Sutra Remembering the Three Jewels.
• Reciting sutras.
• Reciting prayers and making offerings.
• Performing the Shakyamuni Buddha puja.
• Reciting mantras like Vajrasattva, Chenrezig, and Tara.
• Meditating on emptiness and dependent arising.
• Meditating on bodhicitta.
• Practicing tonglen.

We also want to thank all the artists who submitted images for the Tibetan New Year cards. Below are the images that were submitted. Click on the image to enlarge.