Saga Dawa - 2023

Saga Dawa 19 May - 18 June

Saga Dawa is the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar. It is considered to be the most important month of the year for practice since Buddha's birth, enlightenment and parinirvana all fall within this period. The first 15 days of the month are considered especially important. Rigpa Australia will mark this period with a feast of study and practice.

Our focus this year is Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment.

In today’s uncertain world where fear and anxiety are so prevalent, there are profound meditation teachings which offer everyone a way to take difficulties of life onto their path of spiritual development. One such teaching, by the third Dodrupchen Rinpoche, Jikmé Tenpé Nyima, a renowned Tibetan meditation master of the mid-1800s, provides essential instruction on bringing the difficulties of life and challenges in spiritual practice into the path to enlightenment. His classic text Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment brings together the most essential instructions in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition on training our mind in wisdom and compassion.

For the month of Saga Dawa, we will offer a range of events focused on studying and deepening this text. 

The main event will be a weekend teaching on 3-4 June with Jan Van der Breggen, suitable for new and experienced students. You can join at Rigpa’s National Centre in Sydney or online. There is a separate fee for this event and you can register for the weekend here.

The weekend retreat will be complemented by a rich program of activities that anyone can attend simply by registering for our Saga Dawa program and making a donation towards Rigpa Australia.

This year, our Saga Dawa program will include:

• Daily practice sessions for everyone with shamatha, compassion, Ngondro and sadhana practices all on offer
• A program of eight teaching sessions (each an hour long) presenting a selection of gems from teachings on Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment - including teachings by Sogyal Rinpoche, Patrick Gaffney, Khandro Rinpoche, Ringu Tulku Rinpoche, Elisabeth Mattis Namgyel and Ian Ives. This sessions will not provide comprehensive coverage of the text, but rather offer us all an inspiring glimpse of the riches this text has to offer. These will be offered at 10am and 7pm each Monday and Thursday during Saga Dawa.
• Sunday 11 June: Melbourne Sangha Gathering - our Melbourne centre is generously throwing open their (virtual) doors to invite everyone in Rigpa to join with their sangha
• Saturday 17 June Movie Night Precious Guru - Journey into the Wild Heart of the Second Buddha. People who register and donate for our Saga Dawa celebration will be able to see this movie at their local centre or from home
• You will receive Alan Wilson’s recording of Turning Suffering and Happiness into Enlightenment.

When we first began to hold a nation-wide Saga Dawa celebration coming together online was new and novel. Now three years on we take it a little for granted, but please consider that Saga Dawa is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together across Australia and New Zealand and celebrate the preciousness of our sangha connections.