3Day Retreat and Tibetan ew Year (Losar) Celebration at Drikung Kyobpa Choling Tibetan Meditation Center in Escondido 1600 Sheridan Place 92027 February 19 – 22 nd

Day One & Two: Feb. 19 th - 20 th 10am -5pm Milarepa Teachings, meditation, practice and Vajra Song Tsok offering with Drupon Samten Rinpoche at DKC. Evening Dharma protector’s practice at 7pm. Suggested donation: $50/day

Day Three Feb. 21st Achi Chokyi Drolma empowerment 10am – 1pm with Drupon Samten Rinpoche. Special Buddhist relics blessing offering ceremony 3pm – 5pm . Evening Dharma protector’s practice 7pm. Suggested donation: $50/day

Relics Blessing Ceremony exhibition after the Achi Empowerment. We are very fortunate to have these rare and precious items given by various teachers and by students offered to Drupon. We are happy to share these blessings with everyone for the first time at DKC.

• Powerful Guru Rinpoche statue from Tibet • Other precious items from Tibet • Buddha’s increasing relics • Tsa tsa made from 108 Stupas • Special 200 year old Buddha’s image certified by the Ecological Institute in Thailand. It was made from many old sutras by a Thailand master who is said to have achieved arhat in one life time. • Especially Buddha Kassapa’s hair that is magnificent. This hair is still moving. It says that when Buddha’s hair stops moving his teachings will come to an end.

Day Four: Losar (Tibetan New Year) Celebration Sunday Feb. 22nd at DKC. Experience the Ancient Tibetan culture celebrated at Losar . You are welcome to arrive for the early morning sessions if you can. 5am – 6am Preparation Dharma Protectors ceremony in the shrine room. 6am --7am breakfast. 7am Raising the prayer flags and Tsongs (incense) offering outside. 8am Kata (white scarf) offering for HH Dalai Lama’s throne and Guru Yoga practice with Tsok (food) offering. 10am Sacred Tantric Lama Dances outside for the benefit of the environment and world peace. Followed by a potluck lunch and Tibetan cultural dancing and singing celebration. Suggested donation: $20 .

We will also have a SILIENT AUCTION as part of our annual fundraising during Sunday’s program.

Contact us at 909-625-5955 or 760-738-0089 email: [email protected] and www.drikungkc.org Please bring your lunch during the retreat days or plan to go out or share in the potluck lunch. For Sunday we will have a potluck lunch. Coffee, tea and cookies will be provided. Please carpool if possible. Detailed Descriptions

Milarepa teachings and practice: According to a blessing Milarepa uttered towards the end of his life, anyone who but hears the name Milarepa, even once, attracts an instant blessing and will not take rebirth in a lower state for existence during seven consecutive lifetimes. Milarepa is one of the most widely known Tibetan Saints. In a superhuman effort, he rose above the miseries of his younger life and with the help of his Guru, Marpa the Translator, took to a solitary life of meditation until he had achieved the pinnacle of the enlightened state, never to be born again into the Samsara (whirlpool of life and death) of worldly existence. Out of compassion for humanity, he undertook the most rigid asceticism to reach the Buddhist state of enlightenment and to pass his accomplishments on to the rest of humanity. His spiritual lineage was passed along to his chief disciples, Gampopa and Rechungpa. It was Rechungpa who recorded in detail the incidents of Milarepa's life for posterity. The narrative of his life has thus been passed down through almost a millennium of time and has become an integral part of Tibetan culture. In addition to Rechungpa's narrative of his life, Milarepa extemporaneously composed innumerable vajra songs throughout his life relevant to the dramatic turns of events of himself and his disciples in accordance with an art form that was in practice at the time. These songs have been widely sung and studied in Tibet ever since and have been recorded as the Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa. His faithful devotion, boundless religious zeal, monumental forbearance, superhuman perseverance, and ultimate final attainment are a great inspiration today for all. His auspicious life illumined the Buddhist faith and brought the light of wisdom to sentient beings everywhere.

Achi Chokyi Drolma empowerment : Achi is the emanation of Vajra Yogini who is the embodiment of the wisdom and compassion of all the Buddhas. She is the divine mother of the Buddhas and manifested out of compassion in the form of the Dakinis of the Five Buddha families. To benefit the beings in samsara, she displays a limitless number of manifestations at different times and in different space dimensions. Achi was the great grandmother of Lord Jigton Sumgon, founder of the Drikung Lineage. To this day she remains a great dharma protector of the Buddha's teachings. Although Achi has a particular commitment to protect the Drikung Kagyu, she is recognized and practiced by all lineages of Tibetan Buddhism including His Holiness the Dalai Lama. As a protectress, Achi is visualized on her blue wisdom horse to symbolize the swiftness of her enlightened activities, and she holds a wish-fulfilling jewel to symbolize her ability to bestow everything needed and desired when asked. She vowed to protect the Drikung Kagyu lineage and its practitioners, removing inner and outer obstacles to practice and laying the groundwork for circumstances best suited to our progress along the path. Those who practice her meditation and recite her mantra are sure to be protected from obstacles and hindrances. This is the first time this empowerment is being offered by Drupon Samten.

Losar: Is the Tibetan New Year (of the Wood Sheep) celebration including the ancient Tibetan Buddhist tradition of “Lama Dances” as performed annually for centuries in India , Ladakh and Tibet in the monasteries and temples. Our monks and nuns who have come here from the Himalayas have the knowledge and skills to perform these special ceremonies and sacred Tantric dances of the deities. You are welcome to bring your friends and family to directly experience this amazing traditional Tibetan cultural celebration.

We will also have a fantastic Silent Auction this year with many rare and precious Dharma items to bid on. Please help us get the word out and invite others who may be interested to participate. This event is one of our primary annual fundraisers to help support the center and our resident monks and nuns, and your contributions are deeply appreciated.

There will also be a Tsong-chod (small fire puja) offering in the morning to cleanse the negative energy for all sentient beings and the environment. It is an offering to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, Bodhisattvas, Yidams. Making this specific supplication offering also clears obstacles and restores positive energy and brings peace and happiness to all.

Sacred Tantric Lama Dances: These intriguing ritual dances have been continually performed unchanged in the Himalayas, Ladakh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Tibet for centuries with the intention of pacifying unfavorable conditions in the world and bringing peace of mind . The performances, referred to as “Lama Dances” or “Tantric Dances”, with their beautifully adorned masks and colorful brocade costumes, are a sight to behold for Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. This program will be of special interest to anyone who enjoys different types of ethnic dancing and music, and you are welcome to bring your friends and family to this event.