Lhabab Duchen is one of the four Buddhist festivals commemorating four events in the life of the Buddha, according to Tibetan tradition. Lhabab Duchen occurs on the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar and is widely celebrated in Tibet, Bhutan, and all the other Himalayan countries. Lhabab Duchen is a Buddhist festival celebrated to observe the Buddha’s descent from Trāyastriṃśa Heaven down to Earth.

According to legend, the Buddha ascended to Trāyastriṃśa Heaven temporarily at the age of 41, in order to give teachings to benefit the gods in that Desire Realm, and to repay the kindness of his mother by liberating her from samsara.

On Lhabab Duchen, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied 10 million times. So because of these opportunities, Ngari Institute of Buddhist Dialectics organized the 100,000-lamp offering under my guidance, starting today, on this very precious day for Buddhists. Here, we would like to give heartfelt thanks to all our supporters, particularly our Dharma brothers and sisters from Singapore, the United States, Denmark, France, and Germany, as well as to all the local Ladakhi devotees.

May this merit free us from the pandemic and give a long life to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama as well as all the great masters in this world!

With prayer,

Geshe Tsewang Dorje, Director

(Edited by Barbara Resch)

Note: Click on the web link to view video of the Lhabab Duchen prayer at Ngari Institute of Buddhist Dialectics:

Video 1: Geshe Tsewang Dorje’s chanting the six-syllable mantra.

Video 2: Geshe Tsewang Dorje and the Ngari students were praying in the main gompa on the Lhabab Duchen day.