Ven. Rangrig Dorje Rinpoche has mentioned that starting today is Rishi Char which is a traditional holy day. Once each year in the eighth lunar month, Tibetans believe “a special astrological constellation causes the natural water sources to be transformed into healing nectar-like liquids”. It is most auspicious to bathe in natural sources of water during this moon and recite the prayer attached below. Rinpoche mentioned that due to the upcoming arrival of His Holiness there is no
time for the annual trip to the lakeshore but Rinpoche has encouraged us to take a shower in the evening or have a shower outside. With both recite the prayer before you start
All the best.
Healing Power of Rishi Stars Sep 09-15 : According to Tibetan and Vedic astrology, there are a cluster of seven
stars, called the ‘Rishi’ stars, that ‘appear’ once a year – usually
in Sept. This year (according to Tibetan astrology) the Rishi stars
will be ‘out’ from Sept. 9-15.
Typically, Tibetan doctors and healers would place buckets of water outside during this time, then use this water for making their medicines. Lama Dawa remembers how His Holiness Matrul Rinpcoche – a great Tibetan physician – would then
boil this water down, thus concentrating it, then use this water to
make the herbal medicinal pills, and also to consecrate the water with healing mantras. Another way of benefiting from this healing water is to bathe in pools, ponds or rivers during this time. Or, collect water in buckets and use that for bathing. Any water – whether it is ocean, river, stream, or water in pools, is imbued with the healing qualities of the stars.
Rangrig Dorje Rinpoche offers this prayer and mantra to be said while taking a bath outside under these stars:
Prayer:
JI-TAR TAM-PA TSAM-KYE NI
LHA-NAM KYE-NI TUE-SOL DZING
LHA-YI CHU-NE DAG-PA TE
DHE-DZIN DAG-GE TUE-GYE WO!
Mantra:
OM SARWA TAT’HAGATA AA BHIKHEE KATA SAMAYA SHIRI YE HUNG
Aspiration prayer:
DI-NI TUE-CHOK PAL-DANG DEN
T’HUK-JE CHU-NE LHA-NA MED
JIN-LAB YEE-SEE CHU-YE NI
CHI-DOD NGO-DRUB TSOL-WAR DZOD!
