Empowerment for the practice of Avalokiteshvara — Chenrezig in 4-Armed Form as Buddha of Compassion — together with mantra lung from the most Venerable Zasep Tulku Rinpoche, Spiritual Head of Gaden for the West Centres around the world.
- Read our interviews with Venerable Zasep Rinpoche here>>
- For a full feature on Avalokiteshvara, see, Chenrezig: the many faces of Avalokiteshvara’s compassion — sometimes we need a father or mother, sometimes a friend, sometimes a warrior>>
The Empowerment will be via Zoom, hosted by Gaden Choling in Toronto.
Avalokiteshvara — also known as Guanyin or Chenrezig — is perhaps the best known of the Compassionate Deities in Buddhism.
Empowerment was Requested by Students
The empowerment was requested by many students after Rinpoche requested people make offerings to the Nagas — which begins with Chenrezig’s sadhana. Rinpoche wrote to the Sangha:
“We are facing global warming, devastating forest fires and smoke on the west coast of Canada and the U.S. … There are lots of people who wish to do Naga Pujas. I recently gave the loong of the mantra Naga King to the 21 Tara group. It will be much more effective if they have received Avalokiteshvara-Chenrezig empowerment.
I have decided to offer Avalokiteshvara-Chenrezig empowerment for everyone, not only as preparation for initiation of Naga Puja, but one can take it for the purpose of meditation on loving kindness and so on. Right after the mantras loong of Chenrezig, I will give the loong of Naga King Mantra. I will give both mantra loongs during the empowerment August 14th. I am including the updated Naga sadhana below for you and you can share with others.”
Chenrezig appearing in four-armed form.
Registration
During the Medicine Buddha intiation. Right H.E. Zasep Rinpoche, background left teacher Theodore Tsousiddis. Medicine Buddha Toronto event. Photo: Skycave Media.
About Venerable Zasep Rinpoche
Zasep Tulku Rinpoche.
H.E. Venerable Zasep Tulku is the spiritual head of a number of Buddhist Centers, including Gaden Tashi Choling Retreat Centre in Nelson, BC, Canada, Vancouver, BC, Calgary, Alberta, Toronto, ON, Ottawa, ON, Thunder Bay, ON, Seattle, WA, Moscow, ID, Kalamazoo, MI, and Tasmania, Australia.
The Venerable Acharya Zasep Tulku Rinpoche — a highly realized and internationally respected teacher of Gelugpa Buddhism — was born in Tibet in the province of Kham in 1948. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche was recognized as the 13th incarnation of Lama Konchog Tenzin of Zuru Monastery. In 1959, during the Chinese invasion, he escaped from Tibet and continued his education for sixteen years in India under the tutelage of many of the greatest teachers of Mahayana Buddhism. In 1975, Zasep Rinpoche left India to study in Thailand where he joined the monks of a forest monastery. For eighteen months he studied and practiced with them. He then traveled to Australia and translated for Tibetan speaking Lamas for a number of years.
Since 1976 he has taught western Dharma students in Australia, Canada, and the United States and has developed Dharma centres in each of these countries. Rinpoche regularly visits these centres and offers extensive teachings, initiations and retreats which his many students enthusiastically attend. Zasep Rinpoche now resides in Nelson, BC, close to the Gaden for the West retreat centre (Gaden Tashi Choling Retreat).
In 1999, Rinpoche and his students created the Gaden for the West umbrella organization to more effectively support and nourish the study of Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhism in the West. He supports a number of Buddhist projects in Tibet, Mongolia, and India through the non-profit society Gaden Relief.
About Gaden Choling Toronto
Zasep Rinpoche:
“Gaden Choling is a very old centre. I can share a few interesting stories. I came here in the autumn of 1981. When I arrived here, there was an auspicious event, something that had not happened before. Three great lamas arrived in Toronto at the same year.
H.H. the Dalai Lama came in October to Toronto for the first time. Then, H.H. the 16th Karmapa arrived in November. Then, my teacher, H.H. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche, he also arrived in November. All these things happened in the fall of 1981 in Toronto. When I arrived here, we were so energized by these great lamas, that a group of dharma students of the Gelug tradition told me they were thinking of setting up a meditation centre here. They had been thinking about it for a couple of years.
When H.H. Kyabje Ling Rinpoche arrived in November, we asked Rinpoche to give us a name. He gave the name Gaden Choling. Gaden Choling means joyful dharma land.”
From the Gaden Choling website:
“Gaden Choling Mahayana Buddhist Meditation Centre is a refuge of teaching, study and practice of Buddhism in the Tibetan Gelug school of Lama Tsongkapa. It is one of the oldest Tibetan Buddhist centres in Canada, first established by H.E Kyabje Yongdzin Ling Rinpoche.
The centre is a registered charitable organization and offers a friendly and supportive atmosphere for meditation and study, open to all regardless of religious affiliation, ethnicity or gender. Teachings, initiations, weekend retreats, courses and specialized group meditation practices are held frequently. Our Spiritual Director is Zasep Jamseng Rinpoche, a traditionally trained and fully qualified master of the tradition with decades of experience presenting the Gelug tradition in the West. Please see Rinpoche’s bio and Guidelines for Students for more info.
In addition to teachings from Zasep Jamseng Rinpoche, we also host teachings and retreats run by senior students regularly throughout the year.
Gaden Choling follows the advice of Zasep Rinpoche to continually try and become socially engaged Buddhists, and fundraisers for relief work and other charitable causes are a common element in our programming. A major and long-standing affiliate of our centre is Gaden Relief, which has a long and celebrated history of doing health and cultural reconstruction work in Tibet, India, and Mongolia. Gaden Choling itself is a charitable organization, run entirely by volunteers, and is able to exist based solely upon the kind donations of those who benefit from the centre. A special way that people do this is by becoming members of the community, which provides a regular and dependable source of income for the centre and is a crucial and wonderful way of supporting it’s continued existence. Please visit our membership/membership/page.”
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Lee Kane
Author | Buddha Weekly
Lee Kane is the editor of Buddha Weekly, since 2007. His main focuses as a writer are mindfulness techniques, meditation, Dharma and Sutra commentaries, Buddhist practices, international perspectives and traditions, Vajrayana, Mahayana, Zen. He also covers various events.
Lee also contributes as a writer to various other online magazines and blogs.
