On Tuesday 2 June, the Chokgyur Lingpa Foundation (CGLF) will be organizing a candlelight vigil for all those affected by the recent devastating earthquakes in Nepal. All students and affiliated centers, groups, and individuals worldwide are invited to conduct their own vigils at the same time as the main event, which will take place at 8 p.m. Nepal time (+5.45GMT) at the Great Stupa of Boudhanath in Kathmandu, at the organization’s mother monastery of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, and in all the mountain villages where monks and nuns from the monastery have been delivering aid. As well as offerings of lights and incense, prayers and sadhanas will be recited throughout the night.
From samyedharma.org
2 June is the full moon of the fourth lunar month in the Tibetan calendar, which marks the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni. Called “Saga Dawa Düchen,” it is considered the holiest day in the Tibetan calendar, when the positive effects of beneficial actions are multiplied by 100,000.
The CGLF was founded in 2006 in the USA by His Eminence Tsikey Chokling Rinpoche and his son Kyabgön Phakchok Rinpoche. The organization, which has been actively involved in relief efforts following the first earthquake on 25 April, has now expanded to centers in Nepal and Hong Kong. By organizing the vigil, it aspires to bring together the sangha to “commemorate the dead and uplift the spirits of those who have survived the earthquakes” (samyedharma.org).
Since the first devastating earthquake, which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale, Nepal has suffered repeated aftershocks, including another intense quake measuring 7.3 on 12 May. The earthquake on 25 April was one of the biggest in Nepal’s history, with over 8,500 fatalities and more than 21,000 casualties. Numerous historical buildings were also razed to the ground.
Phakchok Rinpoche has requested that if possible, participants gather in a group to conduct their vigils. He has also suggested that people recite the Refuge and Bodhichitta prayers and the Lamp Aspiration prayers from the Rangjung Yeshe chant book (the text can also be found at the samyedharma.org link below). Rinpoche hopes that people will “dedicate the merits . . . from this vigil to the rejuvenation and improvement of life in earthquake-stricken areas and that those who have been affected will have much more beautiful and harmonious lives” (samyedharma.org).
An earlier candlelight vigil was held in Kathmandu in the evening of 25 May, marking a month since the first quake hit the capital. Approximately 200 people attended the event, which took place at the Brikutimandap grounds and included a minute of silence and the signing of special messages. In the afternoon, 400 people formed a human chain around the site where the Dharahara tower, which was built in 1832, once stood. Five dozen people were affected when it collapsed.
Vigils for Nepal have also been held in Canberra, Shanghai, Berkeley, London, and various other cities across the globe.