Happy lo gsar

ལོ་གསར།
This is new year's eve in the Tibetan calendar, so happy ལོ་གསར་ lo gsar (lo sar).
ལོ། lo means year, and གསར། gsar means new, so now some of you know three new words! This is a nice, simple word for anyone learning the Tibetan alphabet, too. The Tibetan calendar is based on the moon (lunar calendar), so hence the place of new year is based on the lunar state. Another important times are full moon, no moon, and the state transitions from waxing to waning. As the new moon starts tomorrow, the calendar month/year, starts, too. By the way, if you use Google calendar you could add a lunar calendar that shows the lunar states. Believe it or not, full moon is an interesting day/night.

Another online calendar good to consult is the FPMT dharma dates web site. This lists all the important dharma dates related to the Tibetan calender and the lunar positions. As you could see there, a lot of activities happen during full moon.

Anyway, harmonious wishes for the next year and in the future to everyone reading this blog. And to copy from the ལོ་གསར། message from Lama Zopa Rinpoche just sent out:

"The most happy thing in my life, the most fulfilling thing is to work for and to benefit sentient beings. Even just the mere thought to cause happiness to sentient beings, to benefit them, to free them from suffering - this is the BEST offering to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, this is the best offering, the best puja, this is what pleases their holy minds the most."
–Lama Zopa Rinpoche