Happy Saga Dawa Düchen – Tibetan Buddhism’s Holiest Day

[updated and reposted from June 2014]

Saga Dawa is the fourth lunar month of the Tibetan calendar, this year falling between May 18 and June 16. It is the holiest time of the year for Tibetan Buddhists. The middle of the month, the full moon day, is the most important. On that day the fruits of one’s karma (actions) are said to increase one billion (1,000,000,000) times or more. It is the day that Tibetan Buddhists celebrate the birth, awakening, and death of the Buddha.

That day, known as Saga Dawa Düchen, is today, Tuesday, June 2, 2015.

So it’s very important to do at least a little more good today than bad!

It’s also a good time to renew and rededicate one’s devotion to the path. For those who are helped by this with images of the Buddha, practitioners, and holy sites, I offer a few of my own, collected over the years. Click on them and you should get the high-resolution version which you can download, edit if you wish, print, frame, share, etc.

Buddha Shakyamuni - Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya, India — Buddha Shakyamuni – Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya India (fall 2010) This is the Buddha image inside the heart of the temple.

Tibetan Buddhist Boys awaiting the 17th Karmapa, Bodh Gaya, India. A version of this image was selected for a show by Freedom House Images of Repression and Freedom Auction, 2013.

Tibetan Monks at the Bodhi Tree, Mahabodhi Temple, India (2010)

Tibetan Nuns await the arrival of the 17th Karmapa at Tergar Monastery in Bodhgaya India (2010)

East Asian nuns chant at the base of the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodhgaya India (2010)

Brass Buddha at the Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) (2011)

Seated Buddha at Sukhothai, Thailand (2012)

Lying Buddha, detail, Sukhothai, Thailand (2012)

Theravadin monks at Pragbodhi Cave, Bihar, India (2014)

Tergar Monastery, Bodhgaya, India (2014)

Great Buddha Statue at Daijokyo Buddhist Temple, Bodhgaya, India (2014)

Monks chanting at The Rajgir Vishwa Shanti Stupa/World Peace Pagoda, Bihar India (2014)

Enjoy. Share (buttons below).

One more – in case the heat of India, Burma, and Thailand isn’t your thing, here’s a snowy winter pic from the Garden of 1000 Buddhas in beautiful Arlee, Montana.

Happy Saga Dawa Düchen – Tibetan Buddhism’s holiest day