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Chökhor Düchen, known as the Festival of Turning the Wheel of Dharma, occurs on the fourth day of the sixth Tibetan lunar month. It commemorates Buddha Shakyamuni’s first turning of the Wheel of Dharma, the teaching on the Four Noble Truths, which took place at Deer Park in Sarnath. This year’s Chökhor Düchen according to the Kalachakra Tantra calendar fell on July 6 2019. On this sacred occasion, Tulkus, Khenpos, Lamas and the entire monastic community of Palpung Sherabling gathered in the main shrine hall of Palpung Sherabling Monastic College for a celebration to remember the Buddha’s kindness. The programme began with sacred Dharma activities to celebrate the life and qualities of Buddha Shakyamuni. The students of the Monastic College presented discourses to clarify difficult points in major texts on Sutra and Tantra, and there were discussions on scriptures and reasoning, as well as detailed philosophical examinations. The joyful celebration, virtuous in the beginning, in the middle and at the end, was concluded with changes of staff members who had completed their service along with appointments of some new principals, teachers and workers at the Monastic College and University of Buddhist Sciences, as well as at some other departments of Palpung Sherabling Monastic Seat.
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