IRON MOUSE

YEAR 2147
Tibetan Calendar 2020
DEAR READER

This calendar is meant specifically for practitioners of Tibetan

Buddhism. It shows the cycle of twelve months according to
the Tibetan lunar calendar together with the corresponding
months and days of the Western calendar.

The Tibetan astrology is a combination of Buddhist astrology

from Kalachakra-Tantra, Hindu astrology from Shiva-Tantra
and ancient Chinese astrology. Due to the synchronisation
of solar day, lunar month, and zodiac year in Tibetan
astrology you will see that a day can be lost or doubled.

The regular holy days as well as special days of Tibetan

and Buddhist festivals are indicated. Although every day of
the year is a special day for the practice of Dharma, the
selection made here is on the bases of giving priority to the
most important ones.

The 8th Moon, Full Moon, New Moon and eclipse days
are special days for any wholesome action. For the lay
practitioners these days are especially recommended for
taking the Eight Vows. The 10th and 25th of the Tibetan
calendar are days for Ganachakra or Tsok-Rituals of Tantra.
They are especially recommended for performing Guru-
Pujas. Sojong or Upposotha days twice a month are for
confession of monastic communities.

We wish you good physical and spiritual health for this year,
and may you spend each day of this year in a wholesome
way.
 THE MEANING OF BUDDHISM
by Geshe Rabten
Buddhism is neither a strange tradition
peculiar to certain foreign lands, nor a
collection of dry words contained in books
and libraries. Such opinions fail to discern
what in fact Buddhism is.
All creatures in this world, whether human
or animal, are constantly motivated by the
same basic aims: the achievement of happiness and the removal
of suffering. But although our entire existence is lived in pursuit
of these goals we never fully achieve them. The real, lasting
happiness we desire eludes us and in the depths of our minds
we continue to suffer. In our search for satisfaction we construct
roads, schools, hospitals and so forth. Although these afford us
some relief they are unable to remove the very roots of physical
and mental pain. On the contrary, we observe how mental unrest
tends to increase with technological progress. But why, despite
our enormous efforts, should this be the case?
We generally consider the source of all our problems to be
external to ourselves. We then try to overcome and manipulate
these conditions. Of course, external conditions affect our lives
and cause us to suffer, but it has to be recognised that the root
cause for our painful experiences is deeply embedded within
our own minds. The external situations are only contributing
circumstances. In this light it becomes clear that no matter how
much we change the external world we will never arrive at a truly
satisfactory solution.
But what is it within us that causes us to continually suffer? It is
self-concern, the attitude of cherishing oneself while disregarding
others. In dependence upon self-concern attachment to one’s own
interest and resentment to the interests of others arise. Upon this
basis all conflicts ensue. If, however, self-concern were absent,
no conflicts could ever occur. As long as the mind is dominated
by self-concern we shall never be satisfied. Even if our situation
is pleasant there will always be a restless longing for something
else, which prevents any lasting peace and happiness from finding
its way into our lives.
However, if this self-concern is decreased, hatred and attachment
will likewise diminish in strength. And to the degree in which these
factors are reduced we will notice an increase in our concern for
others, as well as an increase in our own contentment and peace
of mind.
Where can the means be found to transform the mind in this way?
They can be found in the Buddha’s teachings. Thus the methods
shown by the Buddha are extremely valuable for anyone truly
seeking happiness, whether Buddhist or not. Buddhism should
therefore be understood as a method for overcoming mental
suffering and for increasing the sense of well-being for both self
and others.
We all know how much we appreciate being treated kindly by
others. In the same way it should be realised that others too
experience much joy upon being treated kindly by us. When
concern for others grows strong, self-concern, hatred and
attachment will diminish, one’s mind will experience calmness
and joy, and others will receive true benefit. All conflicts between
individuals, groups of people, and even nations will be resolved as
soon as concern for others takes the place of concern for oneself.
Concern for others is therefore the source of all individual and
collective well-being, both secular and religious. To achieve this is
the essence of Buddhism.
With these words the activities of the Rabten Choeling monastery
were announced in 1977 by the Venerable Geshe Rabten
Rinpoche. And with this objective the activities of all the Rabten
monasteries and study centres, as well as the Edition Rabten
publishing service have been carried on since then.
If you see a true benefit in such efforts for today’s society and
would like to support these aims, please be assured that your help
is greatly appreciated.
DHARMA FESTIVALS ་་་་་ ASTROLOGICAL YEAR-SIGNS AND DAYS
་་ ་་ ་་་་་་་་་་
 Chotrul Duechen: Day of Buddha Shakyamuni‘s Great Miracles
In Tibetan astrology the days of the week are classified into
harmonious and disharmonious days according to an individual‘s
 Saga Dawa: This means ‚Month of Saga‘, which is the fourth year of birth. So-called Luck-days and Life-days are harmonious.
month of the lunar calendar. On the full moon day of this month,
These days are generally considered as particularly suitable for
Buddha Shakyamuni showed his deed of taking birth,
attaining enlightenment, and going into Parinirvana. starting projects and celebrating auspicious events. Anti-days, or
disharmonious days, are generally considered as unsuitable for
 Choekor Duechen: Buddha Shakyamuni turned the Wheel such events. It is something to be considered in case of choice.
of Dharma for the first time.
 Lha Bab Duechen: Buddha Shakyamuni‘s return from the Year of birth: 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953
་་ 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
realm of the devas. 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977
 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Gaden Ngamchoe: Day of Je Tsongkhapa‘s Parinirvana.
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
 Parinirvana days: The days of passing away. Year-sign: Mouse
་་ Bull
་ Tiger
་ Rabbit
་ Dragon
་ Snake
་
་་
 Trungkar days: Birthdays of masters. Luck-day Wed Sat Thu Thu Sun Tue
་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་
Those days are very special days for the practice of Dharma. Life-day Tue Wed Sat Sat Wed Fri
Any positive or negative actions performed on these days ་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་
have a strong multiplying effect.
Anti-day Sat Thu Fri Fri Thu Wed
་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་
TIBETAN FESTIVALS ་་་་་
 Losar: Tibetan New Year. First day of the lunar calendar. It is Year of birth: 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
་་ 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971
celebrated in every auspicious and joyous way. 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
 Zam Ling Chi Sang: Day of the Sang-Offering (ritual 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
smoke-offering) to all the Protectors.
 Sangpo Chuzom: The Day of the Ten Good Omens. Year-sign: Horse
་ Sheep
་ Monkey
་ Rooster
་ Dog
་ Boar
་
་་
This is a day for transforming all inauspicious situations into
auspicious ones. Special day for merrymaking. Luck-day Tue Fri Fri Fri Mon Wed
་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་
SPECIAL DAYS ་་་་་་ Life-day Fri Mon Thu Thu Wed Tue
་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་
་་ Rishi-Star: This special astrological constellation causes the natural
water-sources on earth to be transformed into nectar-like liquids. Anti-day Wed Thu Tue Tue Thu Sat
་་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་ ་
It is therefore particularly beneficial to take baths on these days.
SYMBOLS ་་་་ ELEMENT COMBINATIONS

 Earth-Earth: Auspicious. The double encounter of earth brings
Full Moon ་
power together. Power lets all wishes be achieved.
 ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
Half Moon ་

 Water-Water: Auspicious. The double encounter of water brings
New or Black Moon ་ nectar together. Nectar increases life‘s force.
 ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
Total eclipse of the sun ་་་་

 Earth-Water: Auspicious. The encounter of earth with water brings
Partial eclipse of the sun ་་་་ youth together. Youth brings great happiness.
 ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
Total eclipse of the moon ་་་་ 
 Fire-Fire: Auspicious. The double encounter of fire brings increase
Partial eclipse of the moon ་་་་ together. This will increase food and wealth.
་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
 Monastic Sojong or Confession ་་ 
 Wind-Wind: Auspicious. The double encounter of wind brings
Guru-Puja and Tsok-Rituals ་་་་ perfection together. Perfection brings quick accomplishment of
one‘s wishes.
 Dharma festivals ་་་་ ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
 Tibetan festivals

Fire-Wind: Auspicious. The encounter of fire and wind brings
་་་་
strength together. Strength brings all good omens.
་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
THE ENERGY OF ELEMENTS ་་་་ 
Earth-Wind: Inauspicious. The encounter of earth and wind
 ་ brings incompatibility. Incompatibility exhausts food and wealth.
Earth ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
 ་
Water 
 Water-Wind: Inauspicious. The encounter of water and wind
Fire
་ brings disharmony together. Disharmony separates friends.
 ་ ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
Wind

Earth-Fire: Inauspicious. The encounter of earth and fire brings
burning together. Burning creates suffering.
In Tibetan astrology the energies of the four elements, earth, water, fire and ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
wind, are described to influence our days. It is either the double strength 
of one element or the union of two elements that predominates. According Fire-Water: Inauspicious. The encounter of fire and water brings
to the compatible or incompatible nature of the elements the days will be death. Death robs life away.
auspicious or inauspicious for particular activities. It is something to be ་་་་་་།༐་་་་་་།
considered in case of choice.
 ་་་།    6
1 Wed Ten Good Omens
  7
2 Thu
   8
3 Fri
January 2020

  9
4 Sat
   10
5 Sun
  11
6 Mon Epiphany
  12
7 Tue
  13
8 Wed
   14
9 Thu
   15
10 Fri
  16
11 Sat
  17
12 Sun
  18
13 Mon
་།    19
14 Tue Jetsun Choegi Gyaltsen Parinirvana
  20
15 Wed
  21
16 Thu
  22
17 Fri
  24
18 Sat
   25
19 Sun
  26
20 Mon
  27
21 Tue

       
  28
22 Wed
   29
23 Thu
   30
24 Fri
  1
25 Sat
  2
26 Sun
  3
27 Mon
  4
28 Tue
  5
29 Wed
  5
30 Thu
  6
31 Fri
   7
1 Sat
   8
2 Sun
  9
3 Mon
February 2020

   10
4 Tue
  11
5 Wed
  12
6 Thu
   13
7 Fri
  14
8 Sat
   15
9 Sun
  16
10 Mon
  17
11 Tue
  19
12 Wed
  20
13 Thu
  21
14 Fri
  22
15 Sat
  23
16 Sun
  24
17 Mon
   25
18 Tue
  26
19 Wed
  27
20 Thu

       
  28
21 Fri
་།    29
22 Sat Thanksgiving to Dharma-Protectors
   30
23 Sun
་།    1
24 Mon Tibetan New Year
  2
25 Tue
  3
26 Wed
  4
27 Thu
  5
28 Fri
  6
29 Sat
   7
1 Sun
   8
2 Mon
  9
3 Tue
March 2020

   10
4 Wed
  11
5 Thu
  12
6 Fri
  13
7 Sat
  14
8 Sun
་་་།    15
9 Mon Buddha’s Great Miracles
  16
10 Tue
  17
11 Wed
་་་    18
12 Thu Kyabje Rabten Parinirvana
  19
13 Fri
  20
14 Sat
  21
15 Sun
  22
16 Mon
  24
17 Tue
   25
18 Wed
  26
19 Thu
  27
20 Fri
  27
21 Sat
  28
22 Sun

       
   29
23 Mon
   30
24 Tue
  1
25 Wed
  2
26 Thu
  3
27 Fri
  4
28 Sat
  5
29 Sun
  6
30 Mon
  7
31 Tue
    8
1 Wed
  9
2 Thu
   10
3 Fri
April 2020

  11
4 Sat
  12
5 Sun
  13
6 Mon
   14
7 Tue
   15
8 Wed
  17
9 Thu
  18
10 Fri Good Friday
  19
11 Sat
  20
12 Sun Easter
  21
13 Mon
  22
14 Tue
  23
15 Wed
  24
16 Thu
   25
17 Fri
  26
18 Sat
  27
19 Sun

       
  28
20 Mon
  29
21 Tue
   30
22 Wed
  1
23 Thu
  2
24 Fri
  2
25 Sat
  3
26 Sun
  4
27 Mon
  5
28 Tue
  6
29 Wed
  7
30 Thu
    8
1 Fri
  9
2 Sat
   11
3 Sun
May 2020

  12
4 Mon
  13
5 Tue
  14
6 Wed
   15
7 Thu
  16
8 Fri
  17
9 Sat
  18
10 Sun
  19
11 Mon
  20
12 Tue
  21
13 Wed
  22
14 Thu
  23
15 Fri
  24
16 Sat
   25
17 Sun
  26
18 Mon
  27
19 Tue
  28
20 Wed

       
   29
21 Thu
   30
22 Fri
  1
23 Sat
  2
24 Sun
  3
25 Mon
  4
26 Tue
  5
27 Wed
  6
28 Thu
  7
29 Fri
   8
30 Sat
  9
31 Sun Whitsun
    10
1 Mon
  11
2 Tue
  12
3 Wed
June 2020

  14
4 Thu
་་་།    15
5 Fri Buddha’s Birth, Enlightenment, Parinirvana
  16
6 Sat
  17
7 Sun
  18
8 Mon
  19
9 Tue
  20
10 Wed
  21
11 Thu
  22
12 Fri
  23
13 Sat
  24
14 Sun
   25
15 Mon
  26
16 Tue
  27
17 Wed
  27
18 Thu
  28

       
19 Fri
   29
20 Sat
   30
21 Sun
  1
22 Mon
  2
23 Tue
  3
24 Wed
  4
25 Thu
  5
26 Fri
  7
27 Sat
   8
28 Sun
  9
29 Mon
   10
30 Tue
   11
1 Wed
  12
2 Thu
  13
3 Fri
July 2020

  14
4 Sat
་་་།    15
5 Sun Offering to all Protectors
  16
6 Mon
  17
7 Tue
  18
8 Wed
  19
9 Thu
  20
10 Fri
  21
11 Sat
  22
12 Sun
  23
13 Mon
  24
14 Tue
   25
15 Wed
  26
16 Thu
  27
17 Fri

       
  28
18 Sat
   29
19 Sun
   30
20 Mon
  1
21 Tue
  2
22 Wed
  3
23 Thu
་་་།    4
24 Fri Buddha’s first turning of the Dharma-Wheel
  5
25 Sat
  6
26 Sun
  7
27 Mon
   8
28 Tue
   10
29 Wed
  11
30 Thu
  12
31 Fri
   13
1 Sat
  14
2 Sun
   15
3 Mon
August 2020

  16
4 Tue
  17
5 Wed
  18
6 Thu
  19
7 Fri
  20
8 Sat
  21
9 Sun
  22
10 Mon
  23
11 Tue
  23
12 Wed
  24
13 Thu
   25
14 Fri
  26
15 Sat
  27
16 Sun

       
  28
17 Mon
   29
18 Tue
   30
19 Wed
  1
20 Thu
  3
21 Fri
  4
22 Sat
  5
23 Sun
  6
24 Mon
  7
25 Tue
   8
26 Wed
  9
27 Thu
   10
28 Fri
  11
29 Sat
  12
30 Sun
  13
31 Mon
   14
1 Tue
   15
2 Wed
  16
3 Thu
September 2020

  17
4 Fri
  18
5 Sat
  19
6 Sun
  20
7 Mon
  21
8 Tue
   22
9 Wed Rishi-Star
  23
10 Thu *
  24
11 Fri *
   25
12 Sat *
  26
13 Sun *
  27
14 Mon *

       
  28
15 Tue *
   29
16 Wed
   30
17 Thu
  1
18 Fri
  2
19 Sat
  3
20 Sun
  4
21 Mon
  6
22 Tue
  7
23 Wed
   8
24 Thu
  9
25 Fri
   10
26 Sat
  11
27 Sun
  12
28 Mon
  13
29 Tue
  14
30 Wed
    15
1 Thu
  16
2 Fri
  17
3 Sat
October 2020

  18
4 Sun
  19
5 Mon
  19
6 Tue
  20
7 Wed
  21
8 Thu
  22
9 Fri
  23
10 Sat
  24
11 Sun
   25
12 Mon
  26
13 Tue

       
  27
14 Wed
   29
15 Thu Trijang Choktul Birthday
   30
16 Fri
  1
17 Sat
  2
18 Sun
  3
19 Mon
  4
20 Tue
  5
21 Wed
  6
22 Thu
  7
23 Fri
   8
24 Sat
  9
25 Sun
   10
26 Mon
  11
27 Tue
་་་།    12
28 Wed Kyabje Trijang Parinirvana
  13
29 Thu
  14
30 Fri
   15
31 Sat
   16
1 Sun All Saints
  17
2 Mon
  18
3 Tue
November 2020

   19
4 Wed Rabten Choktul Birthday
  20
5 Thu
  21
6 Fri
་་་།    22
7 Sat Buddha’s return from deva-land
  23
8 Sun
  24
9 Mon
   25
10 Tue
  26
11 Wed
  27
12 Thu
  28

       
13 Fri
   29
14 Sat
   30
15 Sun
  1
16 Mon
  3
17 Tue
   4
18 Wed Ling Choktul Birthday
  5
19 Thu
  6
20 Fri
  7
21 Sat
   8
22 Sun
  9
23 Mon
   10
24 Tue
  11
25 Wed
  12
26 Thu
  13
27 Fri
  13
28 Sat
   14
29 Sun
   15
30 Mon
   16
1 Tue
  17
2 Wed
  18
3 Thu
December 2020

  19
4 Fri
  20
5 Sat
་་།    21
6 Sun Kyabje Ling Parinirvana
  22
7 Mon
  23
8 Tue
  24
9 Wed
་་་།    25
10 Thu Je Tsongkhapa Parinirvana
  27
11 Fri

       
  28
12 Sat
  29
13 Sun
   30
14 Mon
  1
15 Tue
  2
16 Wed
  3
17 Thu
  4
18 Fri
  5
19 Sat
་་་།    6
20 Sun Ten Good Omens
  7
21 Mon
   8
22 Tue
  9
23 Wed
   10
24 Thu
  11
25 Fri Christmas Day
  12
26 Sat
  13
27 Sun
  14
28 Mon
   15
29 Tue
  16
30 Wed
  17
31 Thu
   18
1 Fri New Year
་།    19
2 Sat Jetsun Choegi Gyaltsen Parinirvana
  20
3 Sun
January 2021

  21
4 Mon
  22
5 Tue
  23
6 Wed Epiphany
  24
7 Thu
   25
8 Fri
  26
9 Sat
  27
10 Sun

       
  28
11 Mon
   29
12 Tue
   30
13 Wed
  2
14 Thu
  3
15 Fri
  4
16 Sat
  5
17 Sun
  5
18 Mon
  6
19 Tue
  7
20 Wed
   8
21 Thu
  9
22 Fri
   10
23 Sat
  11
24 Sun
  12
25 Mon
  13
26 Tue
   14
27 Wed
   15
28 Thu
  16
29 Fri
  17
30 Sat
  18
31 Sun
   19
1 Mon
  20
2 Tue
  21
3 Wed
February 2021

  22
4 Thu
  23
5 Fri
  24
6 Sat
   26
7 Sun
  27
8 Mon

       
  28
9 Tue
་།    29
10 Wed Thanksgiving to Dharma-Protectors
   30
11 Thu
་།    1
12 Fri Tibetan New Year
  2
13 Sat
  3
14 Sun
  4
15 Mon
  5
16 Tue
  6
17 Wed
  7
18 Thu
   8
19 Fri
  8
20 Sat
  9
21 Sun
   10
22 Mon
  11
23 Tue
  12
24 Wed
  13
25 Thu
  14
26 Fri
་་་།    15
27 Sat Buddha’s Great Miracles
  16
28 Sun
   17
1 Mon
་་་    18
2 Tue Kyabje Rabten Parinirvana
  20
3 Wed
March 2021

  21
4 Thu
  22
5 Fri
  23
6 Sat
  24
7 Sun
   25
8 Mon
  26
9 Tue
  27
10 Wed
  28
11 Thu

       
  29
12 Fri
   30
13 Sat
  1
14 Sun
  2
15 Mon
  3
16 Tue
  4
17 Wed
  5
18 Thu
  6
19 Fri
  7
20 Sat
   8
21 Sun
  9
22 Mon
   10
23 Tue
  11
24 Wed
  12
25 Thu
  13
26 Fri
  14
27 Sat
   15
28 Sun
  16
29 Mon
  17
30 Tue
  18
31 Wed
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Püntsok Rabten European
München, Germany Rabten Buddhist Institute
Frundsbergstr. 31 Lumbini, Nepal, West Monastic Zone-9
D-80634 München Tel: +977 9841307670, +977 71580013
Tel: +49 89 160020 • puntsok@rabten.eu lumbini@rabten.eu

Rabten Jigme Ling Sinhalese

Den Haag, The Netherlands Rabten Dhamma Centre
Stationsweg 95-C, 2515 BK Den Haag Ashokapura, Kannattiya, Mihintale, Sri Lanka
Tel: +31 70 380 02 73, +31 6 38 75 71 16 Tel: +94 (77) 266 5366
denhaag@rabten.eu ashokapura@rabten.eu
www.rabten.eu