Trashi Ganden Choepel Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre

30/05/2026

Scenes from the nyung-ne retreat, joining Dhargyey Buddhist Centre online.

30/05/2026

June Programme

Mon, 1/Jun, Nyung-ne retreat ends
8:00am - Avalokitesvara sadhana concluding session

Wed 3/Jun, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 7/Jun, 10:00am - Parnashavari sadhana practice

Wed 10/Jun, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Sun 14/Jun, 10:00am - Teaching review: Wisdom chapter part 1/5

Wed 17/Jun, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 21/Jun, 10:00am - Padmasambhava guru yoga

Wed 24/Jun, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Sun 28/Jun, 10:00am - Teaching review: Wisdom chapter part 2/5

Please check our calendar for details of events: trashiganden.org/events

Dear friends in the dharma,

We are currently in the middle of our nyung-ne retreat being held on the sacred occasion of the Vaishaka full moon weekend. We hope many of you will be able to join us in celebrating Buddha Shakyamuni's life on the actual full moon day (31 May) with the special prayers and extensive offerings starting at 10am.

Looking at the months ahead, we will start a new teaching review series based on the wisdom chapter of A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life. Za Choeje Rinpoche gave these teachings over five sessions in 2023.

We have tentative dates for this year's 100,000 Ganachakra Offerings Ceremony (Maha Guru Boomtsog.) To honour Guru Rinpoche's birthday, we hope to hold the event from 24 - 26 July. We will update you once details are confirmed.

We are also planning on making a day trip to Jam Tse Dhargyey Ling in Whangarei in the near future to congratulate Geshe Karma Gyasey on his recent geshe graduation. If you are interested in joining us, please let us know so we can keep you informed.

Check out our events calendar for programme details.

02/05/2026

May Programme

Sun 3/May, 10:30am - Teaching review: Refuge part 4 of 4

Wed 6/May, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 10/May, 10:00am - Recitation of "The Wheel of Sharp Weapons" mind training

Tue 12/May, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Wed 13/May, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 17/May, 10:00am - Medicine Buddha puja

Wed 20/May, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 24/May, 10:00am - Four mandala offerings to Tara ceremony

Tue 26/May, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Wed 27/May, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sat 30/May, Nyung-ne retreat begins:
6:30am - taking the eight Mahayana precepts (please contact us if taking for the first time)
8:00am - Avalokitesvara sadhana session 1
4:00pm - Avalokitesvara sadhana session 2

Sun, 31/May, Buddha's birth, awakening, and passing anniversary
7:00am - taking the eight Mahayana precepts and Avalokitesvara sadhana session 3
10:00am - special prayers and Buddha bathing ceremony in honour of Shakyamuni Buddha
12:00pm - Avalokitesvara sadhana session 4
4:00pm - Avalokitesvara sadhana session 5

Mon, 1/Jun, Nyung-ne retreat ends
8:00am - Avalokitesvara sadhana concluding session

Please check our calendar for details of events: trashiganden.org/events

Dear friends in the dharma,

As May brings a refreshing coolness to the air, we look forward to celebrating the most sacred Vaishakha month (Saga Dawa) which begins on the 17th and culminates with the full moon day on the 31st. This full moon day marks three important milestones in the Buddha's life, namely his birth, his awakening at the age of 35, and his passing at the age of 80.

We encourage you to join the united Buddhist community celebrations of this sacred month on Saturday 16th May at Tsi Ming Temple in Greenlane. The ceremonies begin at 9am. More details can be found on the NZ Sangha Fellowship website.

This year the sacred full moon day fortuitously falls on the Sunday of King's Birthday long weekend. Therefore, in addition to our usual prayers and bathing ceremony in honour of Shakyamuni Buddha, the centre will also conduct the two day nyung-ne fasting retreat over that weekend. The nyung-ne fasting retreat focuses on the yoga method of Avalokitesvara to enhance our experience of great compassion by taking on the sufferings of the lower realms. On the first day, practitioners observe the eight precepts and take one meal in the morning. On the second day, no food or drinks are consumed, and silence is observed with the exception of prayers. The fast is broken on the third day during the final dawn practice session. You are welcome to drop in for any or all of the nyung-ne sessions without following the fasting restrictions. For those who would like to complete the full retreat, please email us to make arrangements.

Check out our events calendar for programme details.

31/03/2026

April Programme

Wed 1/Apr, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Wed 8/Apr, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 12/Apr, 10:00am - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Wed 15/Apr, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 19/Apr, 10:00am - Teaching review: Refuge part 3 of 4

Wed 22/Apr, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 26/Apr, 11:00am - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Wed 29/Apr, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Dear friends in the dharma,

With two long holiday weekends in April, we hope you can find time to rest and recover from the busyness of daily life. Especially in these times when our collective merits are declining, we encourage you in your virtuous endeavours for the benefit of sentient beings. Please note there is no programme on Sunday the 5th (also when daylight savings ends,) and the Guru puja on Sunday the 26th will start later than usual at 11am.

For details of events, please see our website's calendar:

Check out our events calendar for programme details.

03/03/2026

Tonight we offered special prayers to celebrate the final, full moon day of the Festival of Miracles. This period of time between the first new moon and full moon of the year marked a major event in the Buddha's life. On each of those fifteen days Buddha Shakyamuni manifested a great miracle to inspire spiritual progress in millions of beings. As such, the karmic effects of actions performed during this time are said to be multiplied by either 10 or 100 million depending on the source. A total lunar eclipse will also commence shortly, further amplifying the karmic effects by another 700,000 times. You can find details of each of the miracles here: https://sravastiabbey.org/15-days-of-buddhas-miracles/

We are also pleased to share that our roof cleaning project is off to a good start, with thanks to the donors who made it possible.

03/03/2026

March Programme

Sun 1/Mar, 10:00am - Teaching review: Refuge part 2 of 4

Tue 3/Mar, 7:30pm - Festival of Miracles special prayers

Wed 4/Mar, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 8/Mar, 10:00am - Live Zoom teaching "afflictive mind arises as wisdom" part 1

Wed 11/Mar, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Fri 13/Mar, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Sun 15/Mar, 10:00am - Recorded Zoom teaching "afflictive mind arises as wisdom" part 2

Wed 18/Mar, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 22/Mar, 10:00am - Padmasambhava guru yoga and prayers to dispel obstacles

Wed 25/Mar, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 29/Mar, 10:00am - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Dear friends in the dharma,

We would like to pass on Za Choeje Rinpoche's greetings for the Fire Horse year: "Losar Tashi Delek! Happy Tibetan New Year (2153 Fire Horse year in 2026.) Sending many wishes and prayers for peace, health, and prosperity."

For more details of our programme, please check our website's calendar:

Check out our events calendar for programme details.

18/02/2026

We wish our dharma friends wellbeing and happiness this Fire Horse year.

06/02/2026

February Programme

Sun 8/Feb, 10:00am - Working bee

Wed 11/Feb, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Sun 15/Feb, 10:00am - Working bee

Wed 18/Feb, Tibetan new year
4:00am - Palden Lhamo ceremony
8:30am - Smoke offering ceremony and raising prayer flags
7:30pm - Open meditation

Sun 22/Feb, 10:00am - Teaching review: Refuge part 1 of 4

Wed 25/Feb, 7:30pm - Open meditation

Thu 26/Feb, 7:30pm - Guru puja with ganachakra offering

Please check our calendar for details:

Check out our events calendar for programme details.

05/01/2026

January Programme

Thu 1/Jan, 10am - Vajrapani sadhana

Tue 13/Jan, 7:30pm - Guru puja with Vajrayogini ganachakra offering

Wed 28/Jan, 7:30pm - Guru puja with Chakrasamvara ganachakra offering

Please check our website for details: www.trashiganden.org/events

Dear friends in the dharma,

Our regular Wednesday meditations and Sunday sessions will resume in mid-February. In accordance with the wishes of our late founder Geshe Palden Tsering and current spiritual director Za Choeje Rinpoche, we will continue to perform ganachakra offerings on the traditional lunar dates during our summer break.

If you would like to make a private visit outside of our scheduled programming times, please get in touch.

Check out our events calendar for programme details.

01/01/2026

We would like to convey Za Choeje Rinpoche's wish that 2026 brings more happiness and peacefulness to all our dharma friends.