LOSAR 2025
Celebrating Losar
As February draws to a close, Tibetan Bön and Buddhist communities worldwide welcome the Tibetan New Year, known as Losar. This ancient celebration, deeply rooted in Tibetan culture and spirituality, offers practitioners and community members a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the past year while setting intentions for the one ahead.
Understanding Losar
Losar translates to “new year” in Tibetan and is traditionally celebrated over three days. The festivities begin with thorough preparations on the second-to-final day of the current year, known as Gu tor (February 27, 2025), followed by the main celebration, from February 28 through March 2, 2025 this year.
The preparation period holds significant cultural importance. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to symbolically remove obstacles from the previous year, creating space for new blessings and opportunities. This cleaning represents both physical purification and spiritual renewal.
For those living near a gompa (meditation hall), the first day of Losar involves visiting the temple to pay respects to the lama, circumambulating the sacred space, and making offerings. Tibetans traditionally bring flowers, butter lamps, or cookies for tea with the lama. In return, they receive blessings for success in all endeavors of the coming year. Many also raise prayer flags at their homes, sending prayers and good wishes into the world with each flutter in the wind.
The Significance of Losar Rituals
The rituals performed during Losar hold deep meaning for all Tibetan traditions. Two important aspects are: the Sang Chöd fire ritual, featured at several locations this year, which is a purification ceremony that cleanses negative energies and creates merit;. prayer flags raised during Losar carry mantras and prayers for peace, compassion, and wisdom into the world.
It is also a common practice to share traditional foods, particularly dresil (sweet rice with butter, nuts, and dried fruits), symbolizing the sweetness and abundance hoped for in the new year. Community gatherings strengthen connections among practitioners and create a collective energy of positivity and intention.
Ligmincha Programs Worldwide
This year, Ligmincha International and its centers across the globe have organized various events to celebrate Losar, making the tradition accessible to practitioners worldwide. Some of the events below are in person, some are online, and others are both in person and online.
For more information and additional events or updates, visit your local Ligmincha center’s website: https://ligmincha.org/countries/
United States
Ligmincha Texas
February 28, 2025, 7:00 p.m. EST / 6:00 p.m. CST
Ransom ceremony with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen – only in person
Details: https://ligminchatexas.org/event/ransom-ceremony-2025/
Ligmincha International
March 1, 2025, 1:00 p.m. EST
New Year wishes for the Sangha with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Tsering
Online on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tenzinwangyalrinpoche
Ligmincha Texas
March 1, 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST / 11:00 a.m. CST
Sang Chöd fire ritual in Galveston with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen – only in person
Details: https://ligminchatexas.org/event/sang-chod-smoke-offering-ceremony-2025/
Serenity Ridge Retreat Center
March 1, 2025
10:00 a.m. Sang Chӧd (smoke offering ritual), the raising of prayer flags
11:00 a.m. Tour, Socializing with Tea and Snacks
11:00 a.m. Bookstore will be open
12:00 noon Potluck Lunch
1:00 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. – Livestream with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Khandro Tsering Khymsar
Mexico
Ligmincha Mexico
March 1, 2025, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Yang Drub Ceremony with Lama Yungdrung Lodoe and Lama Kalsang Nyima
Available in-person and online in Spanish
Registration: https://forms.gle/76oQBTkYfRVqzszu9
Poland
Ligmincha Poland – Chamma Ling Center, Wilga
February 28 – March 2, 2025
Losar Tibetan New Year Rituals with Lama Sangye Monlam
In-person only
Details: https://ligmincha.pl/event/losar-2025/?event_date=2025-02-28
Ligmincha Poland – Poznań
March 2, 2025, 2:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. CET
Losar Tibetan New Year Festival at Tram Driver’s House
In-person only
Details: https://ligmincha.pl/event/losarpoznan/?event_date=2025-03-02
Joining the Celebration
Whether you’re a long-time practitioner of Tibetan spiritual traditions or simply curious about this rich cultural celebration, Ligmincha centers worldwide offer accessible entry points to experience Losar. Some events are available online, allowing participation regardless of location, while in-person gatherings provide the full sensory experience of this vibrant tradition.
As we enter the Tibetan Wood Snake Year, may all beings find peace, prosperity, and spiritual growth in the months ahead. Tashi Delek!
International news
Experience the Power of Giving
Fundraiser dinner – June 23, 2023
Just one day before the summer retreat, Serenity Ridge Retreat Center organized and hosted a fundraiser dinner to support the orphans and semi-orphans of the Bön Children Welfare Center (BCWC) in Dolanji, India. His Holiness, the 34th Menri Trizin, the spiritual leader of Bön and the abbot of Menri Monastery in Dolanji, India, Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Ligmincha International’s resident lamas also attended to support the cause.
About the Bön Children’s Welfare Center
The Bön Children’s Welfare Center (“BCWC”) is a Tibetan boarding school for orphans, and disadvantaged children in Dholanji, India. The Center was established in the 1970s by His Holiness the 33rd Menri Trizin Lungtok Tenpai Nyima Rinpoche, and his tireless efforts are now continued by His Holiness 34th Menri Trizin 34th spiritual head of the Bon Buddhist tradition of Tibet.
BCWC is run under the Yungdrung Bon Monastic Centre Society and is registered in India as a society under the Himachal Pradesh Societies Registration Act 2006. This society is run through donations by generous people from all over the world. BCWC’s mission is to provide food, clothing, shelter and education, school supplies, healthcare and medicine, and other essentials to children, who are typically arriving to the center from the poorest villages. Currently, there are at least 89 boys studying in the center, who are from the remote areas of Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and India.
Thank you for your donation!
Our sangha and guests raised over $11,000! We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to everybody who supported the cause. This amount will cover the most essential needs – such as food, clothing, education, and medical care – for many students.
We will continue to collect funds for them through August. If you would like to donate to support the orphans, you can still do so:
Donate now to BCWC
Forty-Three Trainings for an Enlightened Mind – New Book Translated by Raven Cypress Wood
The newest publication from Sacred Sky Press is now available through Ligmincha Store: Forty-Three Trainings for an Enlightened Mind and Other Divine Writings, by Kundun Sonam Lodro, the 22nd Menri Trizin, translated by Raven Cypress Wood.
The book presents four short texts by the 22nd Menri Trizin (1784-1835) and a series of appendices by the translator that offer valuable context, background and explication for the reader. The main text, the Forty-Three Mind Trainings, outlines in a clear and quintessential way the conditions necessary to experience and realize one’s own nature of mind, the methods for developing and expanding it, and the fruit of practice.
Through his boundless wisdom and compassion, Kundun Sonam Lodro’s teachings reflect the views of sutra, tantra and dzogchen all at once. He teaches the paths of renunciation, transformation and of leaving it as it is. As such, his verses are not easy to paraphrase or summarize. Almost every verse can stand alone and merits reflection.
Consider Verse 4: Attachment to friends and relatives is like boiling water. Hatred towards enemies is like a blazing fire. Designating what to accept and what to reject is like being enveloped in the darkness of close-mindedness. By abandoning the homeland, the root of virtue is established.
Here we see advice to turn away from worldly attachment in the first sentence, in keeping with sutric teachings. In the second sentence he warns about the poison of anger and aversion, but also brings in a tantric viewpoint, transforming that energy into bodhicitta, or unbounded compassion. Abandoning what to accept and what to reject, we move toward the nonduality of the dzogchen view. Finally we are advised to abandon our homeland. This can be read as a method of renouncing outer obstacles of home and place, or of allowing one’s own naked awareness to become empty and rootless, similar to the advice found in the Invocation of Tapihritsa. Every verse of this text is equally rich and worthy of contemplation.
Without exception, suffering and misery arise from desiring happiness for only myself. A perfect buddha arises from a mind that benefits others. Because of that, I will develop the doubtless ability to exchange my happiness with the suffering of others.
Forty-Three Trainings, page 22
While Forty-Three Trainings for an Enlightened Mind is a largely analytic text, guiding us to see and understand the causes of suffering and the path that leads from it, it is followed by three more experiential prayers that lead us to contemplate our own suffering and its causes and to seek dharma as the medicine. The first is a meditation on the causes of worldly suffering and a prayer to the root lama to lead us to great bliss. The second is a prayer to the lama to remove the obstacles along the spiritual path that lead to suffering or block realization.
The third and longest of the prayers begins with a supplication to Kuntu Zangpo and the ultimate state of one’s own realized mind. This is the goal of practice. Taking refuge in all worthy beings and objects, it then guides us to purify our mindstream by experientially encountering the enlightened wisdom of the buddhas in each of the six lokas and chakras of the subtle body, and then realizing the inseparability of all the buddhas from one’s own awakened awareness. Finally, His Holiness the 22nd Menri Trizin reveals how awakened awareness manifests. This beautifully translated prayer can inspire one to a deeper place of devotion, connection and commitment to practice and benefit others.
Forty Three Trainings for an Enlightened Mind is a very short text, with 27 of its 92 pages the Tibetan language version of the four translated texts. Following the Tibetan texts, the translator provides four explanatory appendices and a glossary of terms. But in that space it unpacks all aspects of practice, from what is needed to practice successfully in the first place, to the outer conduct and meditations that will tame our mindstream, to all the inner signs of realization. One would be hard pressed to find a more clear, concise or beautifully rendered description of the path of practice.
His Holiness’ Visit and Serenity Ridge’s Summer Retreat
We are honored to welcome His Holiness, the 34th Gyalwa Menri Trizin Rinpoche, spiritual head of the Bön tradition, back to Serenity Ridge. He will be with us for the full two weeks of our summer retreat, June 24 – July 8 2023.
Registration is now open, and you can join for one or both weeks in person or online.
- Week 1: June 24 – July 1
- Week 2: July 2 – July 8
His Holiness was last at Serenity Ridge for the 2019 Summer Retreat while on his worldwide tour after being enthroned in early 2018. This summer, he will be with us for the full two weeks of the summer retreat. His Holiness and Rinpoche will teach separately each day on different topics.
Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will teach Tummo, Inner Fire of Realization, Part 3, third in a four part series. Tummo refers to inner heat, and its teachings are designed to burn away subtle obscurations and cultivate bliss. Rinpoche will teach from the text Ku Sum Rang Shar (Spontaneous Arising of the Three Kayas), written by Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen Rinpoche, a Bon master who attained the body of light (rainbow body) in 1934.
His Holiness will teach from the Twenty-Four Masters, and will give the oral transmissions (lung) of the chapters from the Bon Mother Tantra on Dream Yoga, Elements, Chod, Powa, Bardo and Sleep Yoga. In addition, His Holiness also will offer the Sherap Chamma initiation (wang) on Saturday, July 1.
You may attend one or both weeks of the retreat. New students are welcome to attend, and the retreat is open to everyone. If only able to join for one week, Rinpoche advises those new to these teachings to come to week one.
We hope you can join us!
Learn more/register for onsite retreat at Serenity Ridge
Learn more/register for online retreat on Zoom
Online Retreat on Silence Open to All
After much discussion and the desire not to increase the risk of exposure to the coronavirus for Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche or retreat attendees, the Spring Retreat previously scheduled at Serenity Ridge has been moved online. Everyone is welcome to attend the three-day live retreat on “Discovering the Melody of Silence,” now being offered through Zoom April 3–5.
An Important Letter from Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche
Following is a letter from Geshe Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche to the Ligmincha International sangha related to the cancellation of his retreats scheduled in a number of European countries this spring. All of these retreats will be rescheduled in 2021. Rinpoche had previously announced plans for a yearlong sabbatical in 2021. Instead, he will be taking six months off in 2020 and six months in 2021.
Next 24-Hour Full Moon Practice of Sherap Chamma Starts March 9
On March 9, 2020, and each subsequent full moon of 2020, join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche online for meditation followed by a 24-hour mantra recitation session. This is a precious opportunity to engage in the healing practice of Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love. You can join any time during the 24-hour period. Advance registration is required.
Ligmincha Learning Ngöndro Begins March 7
Ligmincha Learning will offer an online course with Geshe Denma Gyaltsen, resident lama for Ligmincha Texas, and John Jackson, mentor for many Ligmincha Learning courses, on “Ngöndro: The Foundational Practices” from March 7–December 31, 2020.
A New Translation of the Invocation of Yéshe Walmo
As part of a long-term project to standardize the prayers and translations used throughout the many Ligmincha International centers, a translation of the standard version of the Invocation of Yéshe Walmo is now being introduced. Yéshe Walmo is an enlightened deity within the Yungdrung Bön tradition who acts to protect the religious tradition and its practitioners.
Ligmincha Celebrates Losar (Tibetan New Year) February 23
Ligmincha will hold its annual Losar webcast on Sunday, February 23, at 10 a.m. New York time. The event will be livestreamed from Ligmincha’s Facebook page. Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will have a message for us, and he will be joined by many of our resident lamas.
Full Moon Meditations on Sherap Chamma Begin February 9
In a special 40-minute Facebook Live broadcast on the day of the February 9 full moon, 1 p.m. New York time, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche will guide a deep, healing meditation on Sherap Chamma, Mother of Wisdom and Love. Rinpoche also will introduce a series of 24-hour meditation and mantra recitation sessions, which will take place online via Zoom during each subsequent full moon of 2020.
Starting in February: Ligmincha Learning’s Sherap Chamma and Treasures of Bön
Ligmincha Learning is pleased to offer two courses starting in February. “Sherap Chamma” with senior teacher Marcy Vaugh begins February 1. “Treasures of Bön” with Ligmincha Texas resident lama Geshe Denma Gyaltsen and course mentor and teacher John Jackson begins February 29.
Join Us Online January 26 for Events Honoring H.E. Yongdzin Rinpoche
Join Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and Ligmincha sangha members worldwide this Saturday, January 26, on Facebook Live to celebrate the life and work of His Eminence Yongdzin Lopon Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche. The schedule for both the US and Europe is listed below.
New 3 Doors Course on Creativity with Marcy Vaughn Starts January 24
The 3 Doors is pleased to announce a new online course starting in January. Join 3 Doors senior teacher Marcy Vaughn for Igniting the Fire of Creativity from January 24–March 6, 2020.
Are you living an inspired life? Participants will explore meditation practices that support having a vital relationship with your inherent creativity, to care well for yourself and others, and to awaken the inspiration to express your life fully.