DorjeShugden.net is pleased to share these pictures of Achok Rinpoche giving teachings and oral transmission of Lama Tsongkapa and his two disciples at Serpom Monastery in India, in conjunction with the month of Saga Dawa.

Celebrated throughout the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, Saga Dawa is the threefold festival that celebrates the birth, death and nirvana of Lord Buddha and is considered the most important time of the year for Buddhist practice.

It is said that the month of Saga Dawa is so sacred that any merit accumulated through the performance of a good deed or religious practice is doubled during this time. The middle of the month, the full moon day, is the most important and on this day, merit from worthy acts is said to increase by 100,000 times.

Such worthy acts may include going on pilgrimage to sacred places, making offerings, circumambulating and prostrating around Buddhist monuments, or engaging in retreat. In the monasteries, the monks engage in the reading of sutras, Cham dance rituals and other auspicious practices. Saga Dawa is also a particularly auspicious time for the giving and receiving of teachings, such as in the case of Achok Rinpoche.

Born in eastern India in 1976, Ven. Achok Rinpoche was recognized as the 4th reincarnation of Achok Rinpoche of Lithang in Tibet. Until 10, he focused on the memorization of basic ritual texts. From the age of 11, he began his formal education in Buddhist philosophical studies including Madhyamic, Abhidharma, Paramana and Vinaya all based on the works of Lama Tsongkapa and his disciples, under the personal guidance of his Spiritual Guide, Kyabje Yongyal Rinpoche.

In 1998, at the age of 22, Achok Rinpoche sat for the examinations of the Gelugpa Cultural Society and obtained the Geshe Lharampa degree with the highest honor, making him the youngest monk to obtain such a high honor outside of Tibet.

An erudite young lama of the Gelugpa tradition, Achok Rinpoche currently lives in the USA and gives regular teachings at the Gadenpa Buddhist Center in New York. We at DorjeShugden.net rejoice that Achok Rinpoche is turning the Wheel of Dharma in Serpom Monastery, and pray for the growth of Rinpoche’s dharma activities and the flourishing of Je Tsongkapa’s lineage.