WOOD-HORSE YEAR 2141 Tibetan Calendar 2014 DEAR READER,
This calendar is meant specifically for practitioners of Tibetan BOUTIQUE Buddhism. It shows the cycle of twelve months according to the Tibetan lunar calendar together with the corresponding months TIBET and days of the Western calendar. BOOKS • FOTOS • OBJECTS • CD The Tibetan astrology is a combination of Buddhist astrology from Kalachakra-Tantra, Hindu astrology from Shiva-Tantra and CH-1801 LE MONT-PÈLERIN ancient Chinese astrology. Due to the synchronisation of solar TEL +41 / 21 9217881, FAX +41 / 21 9217890 day, lunar month, and zodiac year in Tibetan astrology you will e-mail: [email protected] • www.rabten.eu see that a day can be lost or doubled. The regular holy days as well as special days of Tibetan and Buddhist festivals are indicated. Although every day of the year is a special day for the practice of Dharma, the selection made iPhone/iPad App: free here is on the bases of giving priority to the most important ones. Tibetan Buddhist Calendar The 8th Moon, Full Moon, New Moon and eclipse days are This calendar ist also available as a free application for iPho- special days for any wholesome action. For the lay practitioners ne and iPad. The calendar displays all the Dharma teachings these days are especially recommended for taking the Eight of the Rabten centres, selectable by language. The data Vows. The 10th and 25th of the Tibetan calendar are days is automatically kept up-to-date also in case of short-term for Ganachakra or Tsok-Rituals of Tantra. They are especially changes in schedules. recommended for performing Guru-Pujas. Sojong or Upposotha days twice a month are for confession of monastic communities. iPhone/iPad App: free We wish you good physical and spiritual health for this year, and Dharma Treasure may you spend each day of this year in a wholesome way. This app is the door to many electronic publications of Rabten Foundation. A collection of over 300 Tibetan Dharma- May the Teachings of the Buddha, the true source of peace and scriptures is available for free. New eBooks in English (and happiness for all, spread throughout the world. soon other languages) can also be downloaded for a fee. May the Holders of the Teachings live long and may their activities flourish. iPhone/iPad App: € 7.99 May all hunger, thirst, disease, and conflict - may all suffering Tibetan Up-to-Date perish and all beings experience harmony and peace of mind. This App has been designed to reflect all our experience in transmitting the precious Tibetan language. Over 600 sound- files will help you to learn the pronunciation. May Compassion and Wisdom grow everywhere! THE MEANING OF BUDDHISM is pleasant there will always be a restless longing for something by Geshe Rabten else, which prevents any lasting peace and happiness from finding its way into our lives. However, if this self-concern is decreased, hatred and attachment Buddhism is neither a strange tradition will likewise diminish in strength. And to the degree in which these peculiar to certain foreign lands, nor a factors are reduced we will notice an increase in our concern for collection of dry words contained in books others, as well as an increase in our own contentment and peace and libraries. Such opinions fail to discern of mind. what in fact Buddhism is. Where can the means be found to transform the mind in this way? All creatures in this world, whether human or animal, are constantly They can be found in the Buddha’s teachings. Thus the methods motivated by the same basic aims: the achievement of happiness shown by the Buddha are extremely valuable for anyone truly and the removal of suffering. But although our entire existence is seeking happiness, whether Buddhist or not. Buddhism should lived in pursuit of these goals we never fully achieve them. The therefore be understood as a method for overcoming mental real, lasting happiness we desire eludes us and in the depths of suffering and for increasing the sense of well-being for both self our minds we continue to suffer. In our search for satisfaction we and others. construct roads, schools, hospitals and so forth. Although these afford us some relief they are unable to remove the very roots We all know how much we appreciate being treated kindly by of physical and mental pain. On the contrary, we observe how others. In the same way it should be realised that others too mental unrest tends to increase with technological progress. But experience much joy upon being treated kindly by us. When why, despite our enormous efforts, should this be the case? concern for others grows strong, self-concern, hatred and attachment will diminish, one’s mind will experience calmness We generally consider the source of all our problems to be and joy, and others will receive true benefit. All conflicts between external to ourselves. We then try to overcome and manipulate individuals, groups of people, and even nations will be resolved as these conditions. Of course, external conditions affect our lives soon as concern for others takes the place of concern for oneself. and cause us to suffer, but it has to be recognised that the root cause for our painful experiences is deeply embedded within Concern for others is therefore the source of all individual and our own minds. The external situations are only contributing collective well-being, both secular and religious. To achieve this is circumstances. In this light it becomes clear that no matter how the essence of Buddhism. much we change the external world we will never arrive at a truly satisfactory solution. With these words the activities of the Rabten Choeling monastery But what is it within us that causes us to continually suffer? It is were announced in 1977 by the Venerable Geshe Rabten self-concern, the attitude of cherishing oneself while disregarding Rinpoche. And with this objective the activities of all the Rabten others. In dependence upon self-concern attachment to one’s own monasteries and study centres, as well as the Edition Rabten interest and resentment to the interests of others arise. Upon this publishing service have been carried on since then. basis all conflicts ensue. If, however, self-concern were absent, If you see a true benefit in such efforts for today’s society and no conflicts could ever occur. As long as the mind is dominated would like to support these aims, please be assured that your help by self-concern we shall never be satisfied. Even if our situation is greatly appreciated. DHARMA FESTIVALS ་་་་་ ASTROLOGICAL YEAR-SIGNS AND DAYS ་་ ་་ ་་་་་་་་་་ Chotrul Duechen: Day of Buddha Shakyamuni‘s Great Miracles In Tibetan astrology the days of the week are classified into harmonious and disharmonious days according to an individual‘s Saga Dawa: This means ‚Month of Saga‘, which is the fourth year of birth. So-called Luck-days and Life-days are harmonious. month of the lunar calendar. On the full moon day of this month, These days are generally considered as particularly suitable for Buddha Shakyamuni showed his deed of taking birth, attaining enlightenment, and going into Parinirvana. starting projects and celebrating auspicious events. Anti-days, or disharmonious days, are generally considered as unsuitable for Choekor Duechen: Buddha Shakyamuni turned the Wheel such events. It is something to be considered in case of choice. of Dharma for the first time. Lha Bab Duechen: Buddha Shakyamuni‘s return from the Year of birth: 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 ་་ 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 realm of the devas. 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 Gaden Ngamchoe: Day of Je Tsongkhapa‘s Parinirvana. 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Mouse Bull Tiger Rabbit Dragon Snake Parinirvana days: The days of passing away. Year-sign: ་་ ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ Trungkar days: Birthdays of masters. Luck-day Wed Sat Thu Thu Sun Tue ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ Those days are very special days for the practice of Dharma. Life-day Tue Wed Sat Sat Wed Fri Any positive or negative actions performed on these days ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ have a strong multiplying effect. Anti-day Sat Thu Fri Fri Thu Wed ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ TIBETAN FESTIVALS ་་་་་ Year of birth: 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Losar: Tibetan New Year. First day of the lunar calendar. It is ་་ 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 celebrated in every auspicious and joyous way. 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 Zam Ling Chi Sang: Day of the Sang-Offering (ritual 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 smoke-offering) to all the Protectors. Sangpo Chuzom: The Day of the Ten Good Omens. Year-sign: Horse Sheep Monkey Rooster Dog Boar This is a day for transforming all inauspicious situations into ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ auspicious ones. Special day for merrymaking. Luck-day Tue Fri Fri Fri Mon Wed ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ SPECIAL DAYS Life-day Fri Mon Thu Thu Wed Tue ་་་་་་ ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ Rishi-Star: This special astrological constellation causes the natural ་་ water-sources on earth to be transformed into nectar-like liquids. Anti-day Wed Thu Tue Tue Thu Sat It is therefore particularly beneficial to take baths on these days. ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ SYMBOLS ་་་་ ELEMENT COMBINATIONS Earth-Earth: Auspicious. The double encounter of earth brings Full Moon ་ power together. Power lets all wishes be achieved. Half Moon ་ ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Water-Water: Auspicious. The double encounter of water brings New or Black Moon ་ nectar together. Nectar increases life‘s force. ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Total eclipse of the sun ་་་་ Earth-Water: Auspicious. The encounter of earth with water brings Partial eclipse of the sun ་་་་ youth together. Youth brings great happiness. ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Total eclipse of the moon ་་་་ Fire-Fire: Auspicious. The double encounter of fire brings increase Partial eclipse of the moon ་་་་ together. This will increase food and wealth. ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Monastic Sojong or Confession ་་ Wind-Wind: Auspicious. The double encounter of wind brings Guru-Puja and Tsok-Rituals ་་་་ perfection together. Perfection brings quick accomplishment of one‘s wishes. Dharma festivals ་་་་ ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Tibetan festivals ་་་་ Fire-Wind: Auspicious. The encounter of fire and wind brings strength together. Strength brings all good omens. ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། THE ENERGY OF ELEMENTS ་་་་ Earth-Wind: Inauspicious. The encounter of earth and wind brings incompatibility. Incompatibility exhausts food and wealth. Earth ་ ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Water ་ Water-Wind: Inauspicious. The encounter of water and wind Fire ་ brings disharmony together. Disharmony separates friends. ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། Wind ་ Earth-Fire: Inauspicious. The encounter of earth and fire brings burning together. Burning creates suffering. In Tibetan astrology the energies of the four elements, earth, water, fireand wind, are described to influence our days. It is either the double strength ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། of one element or the union of two elements that predominates. According Fire-Water: Inauspicious. The encounter of fire and water brings to the compatible or incompatible nature of the elements the days will be death. Death robs life away. auspicious or inauspicious for particular activities. It is something to be considered in case of choice. ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་། January 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Ten GoodOmens New Year
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30 14 13 12 11 10 29 27 26 24 23 22 20 19 18 17 16 30 25 21 16 15 5 3 2 1 7 9 8 6 1
February 2014
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Thanksgiving to Dharma-Protectors Thanksgiving to
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10 28 27 26 24 23 22 21 19 18 17 16 14 13 12 11 25 20 15 29 9 7 6 5 4 3 2 8
March 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Kyabje RabtenParinirvana Buddha’s GreatMiracles TibetanNew Year
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30 14 13 12 11 10 15 17 16 18 29 28 26 24 23 22 21 20 19 30 25 7 7 6 5 3 2 9 8 1 1
April 2014
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Easter Good Friday
30 10 29 28 27 26 24 23 22 20 19 18 17 13 12 12 11 25 16 15 14 9 7 6 5 4 2 8 3 1
May 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu
10 29 28 27 24 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 14 12 11 30 26 23 15 13 7 6 5 4 3 2 9 8 3 2 1
- June 2014
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Buddha’s Birth,Enlightenment,Parinirvana Whitsun
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10 12 14 13 11 29 28 27 24 23 22 21 20 19 17 16 30 26 25 15 9 7 6 6 4 8 5 2 1 3
- July 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Buddha’s firstturning oftheDharma-Wheel Offering toallProtectors
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10 14 13 12 11 29 28 27 26 24 23 22 21 19 18 17 16 30 25 15 9 7 6 5 4 8 3 3 2 1 4
- August 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri
10 29 28 27 26 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 14 12 11 30 25 15 7 6 5 9 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
- September 2014
30 29 28 27 26 25 10 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Wed Tue Tue Mon Mon Sun Sun Sat Sat Fri Fri Thu Thu Wed Wed Tue Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Mon Thu Rishi-Star ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽ ✽
10 23 22 21 20 19 17 14 13 12 11 24 18 15 29 28 27 26 30 29 25 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
- October 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Trijang ChoktulBirthday
30 10 21 20 19 18 17 14 13 12 11 16 15 22 23 28 27 26 24 29 25 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 8 7 8
- November 2014
30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Ling ChoktulBirthday Buddha’s returnfromdeva-land Kyabje TrijangParinirvana All Saints
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10 14 11 12 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 22 24 23 23 25 26 27 28 30 29 9 9 7 4 3 2 1 8 5
- December 2014
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Ten GoodOmens Christmas Day Je TsongkhapaParinirvana Kyabje LingParinirvana
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10 20 18 16 14 13 12 11 19 17 15 24 23 22 21 25 26 29 28 27 30 10 5 4 3 2 1 9 7 8 6
- January 2015
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Epiphany New Year
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- February 2015
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun TibetanNew Year Thanksgiving to Dharma-Protectors Thanksgiving to
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- March 2015
31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 10 11 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Sat Fri Thu Wed Tue Mon Sun Kyabje RabtenParinirvana Buddha’s GreatMiracles
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Geshe Rabten Geshe Rabten The Life of The Mind and a Tibetan Monk its Functions
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