Red Saraswati Empowerment and Teachings with Lama Pema Chophel
March 22 - 23 2024
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
RED SARASWATI EMPOWERMENT:
Saturday March 22, 9am - 12pm
(Option to participate in the empowerment only)
RED SARASWATI TEACHINGS & TSHOG:
Saturday March 22, 2 - 4pm (Teachings)
Sunday March 23, 10am - 12pm (Teachings)
Sunday March 23, 2 - 4:30pm (Tshog Offering)
Although it is highly recommended to participate in the full weekend program, participants may choose to attend the empowerment only on Saturday morning. Please select from the registration options below.
REGISTRATION
This program is offered by donation however, pre-registration is required
Limited space - if you would like to attend this event, please register early to secure your space!
This program will NOT be livestreamed
Registration does not include teacher dana/ gift which must be offered in person at the end of the empowerment (if attending the empowerment only) or at the end of the teaching on Sunday (if attending the full program). If you would like to book lunch at Pure Land Farms, please select that from the ‘Optional Items’ section of the registration.
Please select between one of the two options:
All participants will receive print outs of the prayers for the empowerment and the gunkhyer.
Participants who attend the teaching will also receive the sadhana and tshog texts.
ACCOMMODATIONS AT PURE LAND FARMS
Accommodations are available at Pure Land Farms for out of town guests (minimum two night stay). Booking is for the complete accommodation (not a bed), and most accommodations fit two people (please check the room type to see the bed configuration.) If you are coming with a friend or partner, only one of you is required to book the accommodation.
Breakfast may be booked by selecting it from the ‘Optional Items’ section of the registration.
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Lama Pema Chophel will bestow the very rare Chokyi Gocha Red Saraswati empowerment and teachings. Saraswati is worshipped in both Hinduism and Buddhism. She is the daughter of Brahma and the Consort of Manjushri. As such, She is the Goddess of Speech and Melody and is the patron Deity of music, poetry, and art as well as memory, learning and intelligence. In Tibetan Buddhism, Saraswati is worshipped by both Nyingma and Sarma schools, mostly in Her white form. This rarer red form of Saraswati comes from the Yangzab Dechen Palmoi Thugkyi Melong (The Most Profound Mirror of the Mind of the Glorious Lady of Great Bliss) revealed by Pema Thugchog Dorje, a.k.a. Chokyi Gocha, the incarnation of one of Kunkhyen Jigme Lingpa's four Heart-sons, Dola Jigme Kalzang.
Lama Pema Chophel received this terma cycle from Acharya Lama Dawa Chodrak. Having completed the accumulations of all the sadhanas in this cycle and its seal of secrecy, Lama Dawa Chodrak authorized Lama Pema as a lineage-holder of this practice and gave him specific permission to bestow this empowerment and its associated practices.
Participants in this two-day teaching will receive the root Red Saraswati sadhana as well as a short daily gunkhyer.
There will be no practice commitments beyond normal samaya, however, participants must have already taken refuge and the Bodhisattva vow in order to participate.
ABOUT LAMA PEMA CHOPHEL
Born in America as Bob Flaws in 1946, 2020 is Lama Pema has been practicing the dharma for fifty five years. He is a householding ngakpa with wife and family and practiced medicine for 30 years.
His Root Gurus are the late Yogi Sonam Kazi and Acharya Lama Dawa Chodrak. He has also received Dharma from over 60 Teachers – Tibetan, Bhutanese, English, and American.
Although a Nyingmapa, Lama Pema has received teachings from all four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He was given the title Lama by Tulku Sherab Dorje (Sherdor) in recognition of his long, intensive, and persevering practice and was encouraged to teach by Lama Dawa.
For the last 15 years, he has spent the majority of his time in home retreat. He is a lineage holder of Chokyi Gocha’s Red Saraswati terma cycle from Lama Dawa and was the first student to complete Lama Dawa’s multi-year Vajra Armor training. In addition to his personal practice, Lama Pema currently teaches at Boulder Valley Ngakpa House in Lafayette, CO and via Zoom on-line.