H.E. Chöje Ayang Rinpoche’s Cremation Stupa

 

Dear Sangha, We invite all of H.E Chöje Ayang Rinpoche's students to participate in the Cremation Ceremony of at Thupten Shedrub Jangchubling Monastery in Bylakuppe, South India on July 18, 2026, in person or by live streaming. Following is a schedule for the day. Updates will be posted here. 7.00 AM (India) or 6:30 PM July 17 in California *Here is a time zone converter. His Eminence Gyangkhang Rinpoche, the head of Namdroling Monastery, and Lama Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche, along with the other Namdroling lamas performing the cremation ritual, will arrive at Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling Monastery with a traditional welcome by all the sangha members and lay people. 8.00 AM (India) or 7:30 PM July 17 in California H.E Choeje Ayang Rinpoche’s Kudung (an honorific term for the mortal remains of a realized master) will be carried out from the shrine hall, led by a ceremonial procession of golden parasols and accompanied by skeletal dakas and dakinis. While circumambulating the old and the new temple with the sacred kudung, the monks will chant the prayer melody from “Drangchar Zimbu Mei Gur Yang (sbrang mchar zim bu mei mgur dbyang) from the songs of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon’s prayer to the Lineage masters. Upon the holy kudung reaching the cremation stupa, notable Rinpoches, Khenpos, and other dignitaries will offer scarves. On placing the kudung inside the Purkhang (cremation stupa), the Jinsek (fire offering rituals) will begin simultaneously, each of them led by an eminent Buddhist master in the four directions: East- H.E Kyabje Gyangkhang Rinpoche presides over the Jinsek of Dorsem (Buddha Vajrasattva), North- Venerable Lapchi Dorzin Thundup Palden presides over the Jinsek of Dorje Phagmo ( Buddha Vajravarahi), West – His Eminence Palchen Galo Rinpoche presides over the Jinsek of Oepakme (Buddha Amitabha), and South – Venerable Lama Sonam Gyatso Rinpoche presides over the jinsek of Shitro (100 peaceful and wrathful deities)   Download the full schedule, July 16 – July 20, 2026. For those of you unable to attend in person, the ceremony will be live streamed on Facebook. This is the Facebook page where you can access the live stream and find photos of the preparations.

We invite you to make an auspicious connection to the ceremony with a tax-deductible offering to help complete Rinpoche’s stupa and to support the cremation ceremonies. Please click below or send your check in USD to: Amitabha Foundation, P. O. Box 2572, Aptos, CA 95001.

Donate

Rinpoche's Cremation Ceremony July 18, 2026

Ayang Rinpoche’s Ku-Dung (holy body)

at Thupten Shedrub Jangchub Ling Monastery in India

 

 

H.H. Palchen Galo Rinpoche, True Lhamo and the staff at Ayang Rinpoche's monastery are planning the activities surrounding the cremation of Chöje Ayang Rinpoche's ku-dung (holy body) on July 18, 2026. Visitors are welcome. If you are planning to attend, and have not already let someone in your own country know, please send us an email so that we can notify the monastery. Please see this guide to travel to Bylakuppe and accommodations in the area. For updates visit our website. To be able to stay within the Tibetan Settlement of Bylakuppe, attendees will need to have a PAP, Protected Area Permit. Please enter "Dickyi Larsoe Tibetan Settlement, P.O. Bylakuppe-571104, Mysore, Karnataka" as the place proposed to visit. Note that it can take a month or longer to get the PAP approved. After the cremation, Rinpoche's holy relics will be placed into a new stupa being constructed at his monastery. We invite you to make a tax-deductible offering to help complete Rinpoche's stupa and to support the cremation ceremonies. Please click below or send your check in USD to: Amitabha Foundation P. O. Box 2572 Aptos, CA 95001

With sincere thanks, Your Dharma friends at Amitabha Foundation

 

 

Happy New Year! Start it off right with some mental rejuvenation and a healthy dose of equanimity, and join us for our ongoing group meditation series. As announced in our recent newsletter, John Halpern will be guiding us in the first Shiné—Calm Abiding—meditation session of 2026 this Saturday, 01/10 at 2pm. The next date this month will be on Sunday, January 18th. See below for registration info and more details: We are pleased to announce that the popular Calm Abiding Meditation series with John Halpern continues at the Big Indian Sanctuary, Thinley Khachod Ling, this Saturday, January 10th at 2pm Eastern time. It will now be hybrid: accessible both in person (weather permitting)* and online. Calm Abiding is a method based on Tibetan Buddhist Tradition.  Beginner & all meditation levels are invited. Also known as Shiné in Tibetan and Shamatha in Sanskrit, this is the foundation of all meditation. It develops the capacity to rest the mind on a singular point of focus and sustain a state of tremendous relaxation and evenness.  The ongoing workshops Include: Three Aspects of Calm Abiding or Shiné Practice 1. Gazing at a stable object (External) 2. Focusing upon a luminous sphere within (Inner) 3. Formless Immersion (Secret ) These three aspects will be broken up into several discrete sessions, and elaborated upon as the series continues over time. The 3rd aspect also opens the doorway to vivid flashes of insight(lhatong or vipassana): liberating glimpses of emptiness and openness.  Explanation and practice of breathwork, mindful relaxation, and tonglen healing will also be explored. *If the weather forecast the morning of a scheduled session indicates it may be dangerous to travel, we will conduct the session soley via Zoom, so stay tuned once you register.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

John Halpern embarked on the profound path of Tibetan Buddhist training and study in 1982 with His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche, the first Supreme Head of the Nyingma lineage, who was a living terton or treasure revealer. He continued his studies with H.H. Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche until Rinpoche’s parinirvana in 2017.  At H.H. Shenphen Dawa Rinpoche’s request, in 2009, John began leading meditation instruction at Yeshe Nyingpo, the Dudjom Tersar lineage Temple in New York. Since then, John has led retreats and Naked Mind - a weekly meditation class, in Union Square, New York.    John is an international, award winning artist and independent filmmaker of over 50 years, known for large-scale, interactive, public art, cultural activism – socially engaged practice, and theatrically released art films. John established the Institute for Cultural Activism International, a 501(c)3 art organization based in Delhi, NY, with his wife Emily Harris in 2022.