Bestowed by H.E. Sakya Khöndung Avikrita Rinpoche
Date: Sunday, February 3rd, 2019
Time: 10:00 am
Location: Sakya Monastery Shrine Room
Suggested Donation: $40 Members, $60 Non-Members
Maitreya is the future Buddha prophesied by Shakyamuni to be fifth of the thousand Buddhas of this fortunate era. Even now, Maitreya is said to reside in the celestial realm of Tushita as one of the eight closest sons of the Buddha and the embodiment of all the Buddhas’ immeasurable loving kindness, working to bring happiness to all sentient beings. Rinpoche will bestow the initiation of Maitreya in the lineage that came from the pure vision of the ancient Indian Master Asanga. Through this initiation, disciples will be able to meet Maitreya in the future, purify negativities, develop extraordinary skill in memory and study, and infinite other qualities.
Commitment is to bodhicitta.
His Eminence Khöndung Avikrita Vajra Sakya, the Head Lama of the Sakya Phuntsok Phodrang, was born in Seattle on May 26, 1993, the elder son of H.E. Khöndung Zaya Vajra and Dagmo Lhanze Youden. At the age of six, he began his training in India to follow in the footsteps of his noble Khön forebears. Since that time, he has received an uninterrupted stream of transmissions and teachings from his grandfather His Holiness Jigdal Dagchen Sakya (1929-2016), including the Lamdre Tsogshay, from his paternal grand-uncle His Holiness the Sakya Trichen including the Lamdre Lobshe, and from many high Lamas of the Sakya tradition.
Having mastered the intricate rituals of the Sakya lineage, completed meditation retreats, and presided as Vajra Master of the annual Vajrakilaya ceremony in Ghoom, Darjeeling, H.E. Avikrita Sakya enrolled in 2010 at Dzongsar Institute of Higher Buddhist Philosophy and Research. There he is successfully building on his extensive learning in the BuddhaDharma with a program of study and dialectics to gain proficiency in the classic treatises of the Sakya philosophical tradition. As well, since 2016, he has assumed the role of revision teacher (teaching assistant) at Dzongsar Institute.
For more than eight years, H.E. Avikrita Sakya has been sharing his rich Dharma teachings with warmth, clarity and wisdom around the world.