Shitro Initiation

H. H. JIGDAL DAGCHEN SAKYA
Sunday, October 11

Time: 10:00 am
Location: Shrine Room
Suggested Contribution: $30 Public, $25 Members
Translator: Dr. Jeffrey Schoening

Shitro refers to peaceful and wrathful deities met in the intermediate state (bardo) following death. It is a Nyingma practice (this version comes from Kunkyen Jigme Lingpa), and is very helpful for people after they have died, even if it has been years since their death.

Tulku Yeshi Gyatso Rinpoche will give a lecture on the Shitro Practice on the day of the initiation at 1:30 pm. Rigdzin Tingkhye will translate for this lecture.

His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya, Head Lama of Sakya Monastery, was born in Tibet in 1929. He continues the great Sakya lineage which began with Khon Konchok Gyalpo (1034—1102). He received teachings of the unbroken Khon lineage, the Sakya Vajrakilaya, the Hevajra and the complete Lamdre Tsogshe, from his father, H.H. Trichen Ngawang Thutop Wangchug, the last Sakya throne holder in Tibet. He also studied with many other great Buddhist teachers, including Dzongsar Khyentse Chökyi and Dingo Khyentse Rabsal Dawa.

In 1960, H.H. J.D. Sakya was invited to work on a University of WA research project on Tibetan civilization which was sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation. At the request of students, he co-founded with H.E. Dezhung Rinpoche the Sakya Tegchen Choling, a center for the study of Tibetan Buddhism and culture. In 1984, the center became the Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism.