Happy Guru Rinpoche Day!
Beginning today, the day when the Lotus-Born Guru accomplished Vajrakilaya and Yangdak Heruka in Yangleshö, Nekhor will offer a brand-new translation connected with the life of Guru Rinpoche every Tenth Day. We are happy to auspiciously mark the very first in this series with A Bouquet of Uḍumbara Flowers: An Explanation of the Tenth Day.
“Magical Display of the wisdom of the victors throughout the three times,
Excellently born in the heart of a new-sprung lotus within the Sindhu ocean,
Only guide for beings throughout the three realms,
Lake-Born Vajra of Uḍḍiyāna —
From the depths of my heart, I pay homage to you!”
In this remarkable work, written at the request of his American students in California in 1981, Gönpo Tseten Rinpoche (1906–1991) explains the significance and meaning of the Tenth Day, also known as Guru Rinpoche Day. He guides the reader through a life-story of Guru Rinpoche; an explanation of the meaning of the Tenth Day; an explanation of the main practice of that day, gaṇacakra; and a teaching of the inconceivable benefits of practicing on the Tenth Day.
Beginning with the verses above, Gönpo Tseten Rinpoche’s wisdom flows from there, full with the vajra speech of the great masters. The Explanation of the Tenth Day concludes with the benefits of the practice of gaṇacakra, perfectly encapsulated here:
“The blessing that comes with gathering the gaṇacakra on every tenth and twenty-fifth day of every month will purify, without exception, all negativity and evil accumulated with body, speech and mind – and will guarantee that we become, in future lives, a buddha. Inconceivable and unutterable benefits such as these will be ours. ”