Every year we celebrate Buddha’s Enlightenment Day with a traditional fasting purification practice known as Nyungne, using the practice known as Drop of Essential Nectar. During this practice we emphasize compassion, the very heart of enlightenment, by engaging in prostrations to 1,000-armed Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion.

The retreat begins at 7:00am sharp (please arrive at 6:45am) when we take the Mahayana Precepts. During these precepts, we promise not to engage in negative actions of body, speech and mind for the whole day. We limit our intake of food and drink, with the intention of purifying our negative karma. Each of us does this according to our own capacity. Then we engage in three sessions of prayers, prostrations, and mantra recitations. The purification is most powerful if we participate in all three sessions. You are welcome to join in for just part of the retreat; however, to participate in any of the retreat sessions you must take the precepts at 7:00am that day. You can only attend the sessions if you have taken the precepts that morning.