First Light Ceremony 6AM 1 Jan 06
May the poison of malicious enmity
Never arise in the mind of any one of us.
With loving minds, like the meeting of mother and child,
May all the world be filled with peace and happiness.
(From the closing lines of the First Light Prayers.)
Written by H.E. the 12th Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche
This year KTC will be doing a First Light Ceremony on New Year’s Day, January 1 beginning at 6:00 a.m. First Light is a ceremony that has been done at KTD, our parent monastery, and some KTCs worldwide since January of 2000. The ceremony is dedicated to bringing a world of peace. Everyone is welcome to attend, but we request that you make a donation for a butter lamp that will be dedicated to world peace. Butter lamps cost $1.00 per day, so for $30 you can have a butter lamp dedicated to peace on our shrine for a full month, and the prayers from our Sangha will include this intention. KTD has 108 butter lamps as a result of First Light practice. For our first ceremony, we will light lamps at the beginning of the ceremony. The approximate schedule is as follows:
6:00 a.m. Lamp lighting.
6:05 a.m. Chanting of the First Light prayers. There are 3 short prayers. We will chant each prayer 3 times in Tibetan and 3 times in English. This is a plain chant and everyone can participate.
6:30 a.m. Green Tara Puja (You may chant or follow along.)
7:30 a.m. Long life prayers and dedication.
7:45 a.m. Tea and treats
Please RSVP to Marva Bohen. bohen001@umn.edu. Materials need to be prepared for everyone.