The History of the Nangchö Mönlam

by Lopön Jampa Norgyal, 1 October, 2022.

The Praise to the Buddha says:

In the three realms of existence, with your incomparable qualities,
Where there is cruelty, you display great miracles.
Gods, humans and all beings honor you,
To the one who spreads the teachings, I bow down.

In the noble land of India, when the Buddha Shakyamuni was alive, the Tīrthika masters Pūraṇakāśyapa, Maskarīgośalīputra, Sañjayīvairaḍīputra, Ajitakeśakambala, Kakudakātyāyana, Nirgranthojñātiputra and others with their retinue were defeated in the city of Srāvastī by way of debates and display of miracles. This special time of the year became known as the ‘Celebration of Miracles” (usually translated as ‘Festival of Miracles’).

From that day on in India the successive Dharma kings honored and popularised the festival by making prostrations and great offerings.

In Tibet the Great Prayer Festival of Miracles initially developed in this way:

At the time of the Dharma King Songtsen Gampo the teachings of the Buddha were introduced. During the reign of the king Trisong Detsen, the trio — the king, the scholar and the master — met and the teachings of the sutras and tantras could effectively be established.

This festival fell on the 1st to 15th day of the Tibetan calendar. Accordingly, the successive Dharma kings celebrated these holy days by making prostrations and offering in a few locations not connected with a particular school. However, it seems that this tradition did not widespread then.

Later, in 1409, the great protector Lama Tsong Khapa established the Prayer Festival of Miracles in the Jokhang temple in Lhassa. The Tibetans used to call it the “Offerings and Miracles Festival of the Fifteen”.

Among the successive incarnations of the supreme Victorious, it is said that Gyalwa Gendün Gyatso [the second Dalai Lama] presided over the Festival of Miracles. From the time the government house (ganden podrang) was founded, during the life of the Great Supreme Victorious Fifth [Dalai Lama, in 1642] and onwards, the Prayer Festival of Miracles was sponsored by the Tibetan government itself. At that time twenty to thirty thousand monks would gather during the festival.

Later on, it progressively grew and each of the schools —the Sakyas, Geluks, Kagyus and Nyingmas — organised great gatherings in connection with this celebration. During these gatherings, virtuous aspirational prayers (mönlams) were and still are offered in holy places such as the eminent Bodhgaya. They are clearly a great field of accumulation of merits for beings.

The first Nangchö Mönlam —the Buddhist Prayer Festival— took place during three days, from 19 to 21 August 2022, in Dharma City, Patrul Rinpoche’s Dharma centre established in Belgium. The gathering was attended by many women and man, ordained and lay, in a non-sectarian spirit. Food and accommodation was provided free of charge.

The reason for organising the Nangchö Mönlam Festival is to gather Buddhists, especially Tibetans living in Belgium, for prayers and celebration. It is important for Buddhists residing in their countries or abroad, and primarily Tibetans living in Belgium, to pray for all creatures on earth and for all human beings to be in good physical and mental health, also to pacify epidemics, wars, hunger and so on, for rain to fall on time, for agriculture to flourish etc.

Since there are quite a few Tibetans currently living in Belgium, no doubt the number of participants will grow year after year. Thereby one of the objectives of the Mönlam, the long-term benefit for the mental well-being of humanity, will be attained.