Milarepa Guru Yoga with Feast Offering and Songs of Realization

Guru yoga is a key part of Vajrayana Buddhist practice where connection to a living lineage is so important. Through this type of ritual, we connect to the unbroken stream of blessings and inspiration that have been passed down from Buddha Shakyamuni to the present. Saturday, February 24th is the fifteenth day (the full moon) in the first month of the lunar new year. It marks the anniversary of the passing of Marpa the Translator and comes one day after the anniversary of Jetsun Milarepa. Many nunneries and monasteries in our tradition mark this day by chanting Mila’s guru yoga and the entirety of the The Rain of Wisdom, a collection of songs of the lineage.

This year, in place of the full chanting of the Rain of Wisdom text that we have done over the past four years, we will practice the Milarepa guru yoga and chant a selection of songs of realization (spontaneous expressions of awakening) from Milarepa and other practitioners of the Karma and Shangpa Kagyu lineages. We will then return to the guru yoga text for the ganachakra, a ritual feast. This type of practice enhances our accumulation of merit, purifies harmful actions and obscurations, and can repair our sacred connections within a community of dharma siblings and teachers.

We will chant the guru yoga and songs in English. We will be using a different translation by Lama Ngawang Zangpo. We won’t have paper copies available. A PDF will be displayed on the screen at KCC and on Zoom. This PDF will also be shared with all who register before the event and can be downloaded to be viewed on a personal tablet or computer. The songs will be displayed on the Zoom screen and projector—there will not be a downloadable version of these. Many of the songs are from the Rain of Wisdom text, which you can purchase from the KCC bookstore. The Rain of Wisdom text will be available at the event and can also be reserved beforehand on the registration form.

All of the food and drink for the ganachakra will be provided by KCC, so we will not be seeking contributions for this. But please do bring a dish to share for the potluck lunch to follow. Those participating through Zoom can arrange simple food offerings for themselves.

Although there is an empowerment for Milarepa guru yoga which is necessary to receive for ongoing personal practice of this ritual, an empowerment is not necessary to participate in a group event like this one.

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