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195 People Attend Tibetan Buddhist Puja Ceremony!
 Unity North's Friendship Hall was overflowing Wednesday, Nov. 29th when 195 people joined the Tibetan Buddhist Monks of the Drepung Loesling Monastery for a Puja ceremony. A Puja invokesinvokes the blessings of enlightened masters for personal, communal, and environmental healing.
Everyone brought offerings of flowers or food, which were shared with the audience and blessed by the Monks. There was a wonderful hour-plus of chanting and cultural music, which led most of us intoa very deep meditation. Notably, the children there, of all ages, were perfectly quiet for the entire hour!
Unity North is committed to exploring other cultures and beliefs on our journey. We would like to thank the Monk's team at Unity North, led by Kathleen Rieter. Their commitment to excellence made this event a true joy!
Below is some additional background on the particular Puja prayer ceremony we experienced. More detailed information may be found at:
http://www.berzinarchives.com/prayer/guru_puja_lama_chopa.html
Lama Chopa
An offering ceremony to the spiritual masters
A Buddhist Tantric Celebration
Lama Chopa is perhaps the most popular practice in Tibetan Tantric world. It is traditionally performed on auspicious occasions for invoking the blessings of the enlightened masters for healing.
This practice was composed by the First Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chokyi Gyaltsen. The First Panchen Lama was the guru of the Fifth Dalai Lama, and perhaps the singularly most popular figure in seventeenth century Tibet. His Lama Chopa achieved an almost instantaneous renown, replacing all similar pieces in the monasteries of Central Asia. Today it is perhaps even more popular than ever, serving as something of a symbol of the endangered Tibetan civilization.
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