Author: Arlette Caenen

Losar, Tibetan New Year

2016 Year of the fire monkeyToday, February 9th, 2016 is Losar, Tibetan New Year.

Losar is celebrated by Tibetan Buddhists and Buddhist center in the whole world. It is an important festival in Tibet, India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam and Korea. The word Losar is derived from two Tibetan words ‘lo’ means ‘year’ and ‘sar’ ‘new’. The days before Losar, everybody is busy cleaning in and around their home, but also cleaning of the mind is done. After this cleaning, preparations start with typical, symbolic Losar objects to welcome the new year. These objects will be placed on the home altar which will bring good luck, good health and prosperity for the upcoming year. Of course also preparation of drinks and food has to be done, chang (Tibetan beer), sweet rice, tea, butter, cookies, sweets and fruit. more…

Bardo, a period between two phases

Wheel of LifeWhat is Bardo? What does it mean? Why this topic?

What is Bardo?
Bardo is a Tibetan word that literally means “between”. For the Tibetans, Bardo is the period between the point of time of dying and rebirth, a moment between the moments. It is a period of 49 days.

What does it mean and what happens?
In this period the spirit takes its time to go through several stages, accompanied by a lot of prayers and ceremonies and at the end to have a good rebirth if he wants to. For the Tibetan people it is very important to accompany the spirit on his way to its next rebirth. For them life and death are part of their daily life, things come and go, which is completely different from our way of thinking and living. We put death far away from us, we do not think about death. For me the kind of how the Tibetans and also the Nepali people look to life and death is a more natural way. They honor the death, they believe in reincarnation, they live by the day. We cannot deny death, it is there, so look at it and integrate it into our daily life. more…