This year, from 11th to 19 th January, our Vajra Master Chokling Rinpoche and his brother, Tulku Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche, led the nuns of Nagi Gompa in the annual nine-day Ngakso ("Ocean of Amrita Mantric-mending") Drubchen. This 'Great Accomplishment' puja, held during the 12th month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, is a group practice that evokes the blessings of Guru Rinpoche, Lord Chenrezig, Lord Amitayus and the hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities of the bardo state. The practice, carried out both day and night continuously for a period of 9 days, is especially effective for restoring broken samaya (tantric pledges), dispelling obstacles that might arise in the forthcoming New Year and helping one gain spiritual accomplishment.

The Ngakso Sadhana [practice] is a terma, or hidden treasure, which was discovered by the renowned tertön, or treasure-finder, Chokgyur Dechen Lingpa more than 150 years ago. He arranged the profound practice in accordance with instructions he personally received in a vision from Padmasambhava. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, the great-grandson of Chokgyur Lingpa, was one of the chief lineage-holders of the Chokling Tersar and revived the tradition of the Ngakso Puja. Therefore, it is performed with much enthusiasim at least once every month at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Boudhanath. Moreover, since 1979, the uninterrupted 9-day assembly drubchen has been performed annually at both Nagi Gompa Hermitage and at Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery.

In addition, throughout the year, Ngakso pujas are often sponsored for the benefit of a recently-deceased person. Because the puja has been translated into English, since 1998 the Ngakso puja has been performed at least one day a year by Western sangha at our Dharma centers in the Europe and America.

During the 9-day drubchen, the blessings of the main deities are invoked again and again by means of intense chanting of prayers and mantra recitation. It is hoped that their powerful blessings will descend and permeate the ritual articles that have been placed by the Vajra Master inside the temple's special mandala on Day One. In this way, the powerful blessings are said to transform the sacred ritual articles into sacraments or "samaya-mending substances."
 
This year, amid an atmosphere of heartfelt joy and inspiration, a few fortunate members of our international Sangha were able to once more participate in the ceremony entirely or in part. It was moving to see all our Dharma brothers and sisters practicing side-by-side under the guidance of our Gurus. To carry out a Ngakso Drubchen, no less than 108 participants must be present in the shrineroom for the whole nine days.  Our assembly included about 100 nuns, both young and old, a number of monks and tulkus from Ka-Nying, about 20 local Nepali and Newari lay sangha as well as a handful of Dharma brothers and sisters from Malaysia, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, Germany, Russia, Brazil, Mexico and the USA. All practiced as one while embraced by the kindness and blessing of our two precious Gurus
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For the first eight days, each morning the main practice began at 6:00am and continued until about 8:00pm, with two short morning and afternoon breaks as well as a 90-minute lunch-break. The profound liturgy and melodious chants were truly inspiring, deeply touching and, after nine days of puja were accomplished, not one of the 200+ practitioners in the temple remained unaffected. Collective practice of such a profound text engenders in each participant intensely positive experiences accompanied by powerful, deep and lasting imprints that loosen our habitually rigid perceptions.

On the 9th and final day of drubchen, the puja began at 3:00am with everyone in attendance. At about 7:00am, the thoroughly consecrated sacraments in the form of ornamental long-life vases, Buddha statues, ritual phurbas, ceremonial long-life arrows, long-life pills, amrita and so forth were finally taken out of the colorful tiered mandala receptacle. Our high Lamas distributed these blessings first to the participants in the main temple and then to the crowd of several hundred people who had gathered filling the courtyard outside. A light rain fell throughout the morning; Tibetans regard this kind of timely weather phenomena as auspicious and refer to it as a "shower of blessings".