Lhabab Düchen: The Buddha’s Return to Earth

Written By Lama Döndrup

November 11, 2025 – the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month in the Tibetan calendar

Each autumn, we celebrate Lhabab Düchen, one of the four great Buddhist festivals marking pivotal moments in the life of Shakyamuni Buddha. It commemorates the Buddha’s return to Earth from the celestial realm of the Thirty-Three (Trayastrimsha), where he had gone to repay his mother’s kindness by offering her and the gods profound teachings of liberation.

The story begins long before this descent.

Seven days after giving birth to Prince Siddhartha, Queen Maya passed away and was reborn in the Tushita Heaven, a realm where highly realized beings abide and receive teachings that prepare them for awakening. Many years later, when Siddhartha attained enlightenment and became Shakyamuni Buddha, he saw that his mother’s journey toward full awakening was not yet complete. Out of gratitude and boundless compassion, he resolved to teach her directly.

To do so, he traveled to Trayastrimsha Heaven, presided over by Indra, and there he offered the Abhidharma, the Buddha’s most subtle and analytical teachings. Queen Maya came from Tushita to receive them, surrounded by celestial beings who likewise gathered to listen. Through these teachings, countless gods were liberated from confusion and inspired toward the path of awakening.

After several months in that realm, the Buddha’s disciples on Earth deeply missed their teacher. The great Maudgalyayana, who was renowned for his miraculous abilities, ascended to Trayastrimsha and respectfully requested the Buddha to return. The Buddha agreed, choosing a time that would benefit beings throughout the three realms.

On the 22nd day of the ninth lunar month, the Buddha began his return. Indra manifested three luminous ladders, each extending from the heavenly realm down to Sankashya in northern India. The central ladder, made of precious jewels, was for the Buddha himself. Indra descended beside him on a golden ladder, and Brahma on one of silver. As the Buddha descended, he revealed the vast interconnection of all realms—devas above, humans in the middle, and beings in the lower realms—allowing all to glimpse one another and aspire to awakening.

This wondrous event, called Lhabab Düchen, which translates as “the great occasion of the descent from heaven”

(lha = god, bab = descent, düchen = great occasion),

reminds us of the Buddha’s endless compassion: he rises to the heavens to teach, and returns to guide beings where they are.

The Descent as an Inner Journey

Lhabab Düchen reminds us that awakening is never far away. The Buddha’s return from the celestial realm is not only a story from long ago but also a mirror for our own inner path. His descent symbolizes the movement of awakened awareness into the world, the meeting of wisdom and compassion with the immediacy of human life.

Each time we turn toward the present moment, letting go of distraction and reactivity, it is as though we too are descending the jeweled ladder, bringing the light of awareness back into embodied experience. We return to this very life, this breath, this relationship, this world, as the field where awakening unfolds.

The Buddha’s gesture of returning to Earth can also be seen as the natural expression of enlightenment itself. Realization does not retreat from the world; it moves toward it, suFusing the ordinary with luminous presence. The Buddha’s descent was motivated by compassion for his mother and all beings. Likewise, when we rest in awareness, compassion naturally descends into action. The wish to benefit others is not something we must generate, it flows spontaneously from awakened presence meeting the conditions of daily life.

Lhabab Düchen invites us to notice the many ways we “ascend” and “descend” in our own experience. We may rise into abstraction, imagination, or idealism, and then return, through mindfulness, through compassion, through humility to the living ground of being. The descent, in this sense, is not downward but inward and all-embracing. It is awareness rejoining the fullness of life just as it is.

As we celebrate this great occasion, we can contemplate: What does it mean for me to descend; to bring wisdom into expression, to let compassion take form, to meet this world as it is with an open heart?

Honoring Lhabab Düchen Today

On this sacred day, the eFects of all virtuous and harmful actions are said to be multiplied 100 million times. It is a time to bring special awareness to our practice and our conduct—every thought, word, and gesture.

We can celebrate by:

  • Offering candles, flowers, food, or incense on our shrine,

  • Dedicating the day to meditation, chanting, or acts of service,

  • Cultivating the Four Boundless Qualities of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity

  • Embodying the Six Paramitas of generosity, ethical discipline, patience, joyful effort, concentration, and wisdom.

  • Offer gratitude to our teachers and communities, whose presence allows the Dharma to flourish in our lives.

As we mark Lhabab Düchen this year, we can dedicate our actions to the continued blossoming of Sukhasiddhi Foundation and the flourishing of Wisdom River Meditation Center, our shared space for practice, connection, and awakening in these turbulent times. In honoring the Buddha’s return, we remember that awakening is not elsewhere or later. It reveals itself in our willingness to return again and again to presence, compassion, and luminous awareness, right here on this very Earth.

Lama Döndrup

Lama Döndrup has been practicing and studying in the Buddhist tradition since the mid-1990’s. After five years of Theravadin Buddhist training, she immersed herself in the teachings and practices of the Shangpa and Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. In 2005, she completed a traditional three-year retreat under the guidance of Lama Palden and Lama Drupgyu with the blessing of her root guru, Bokar Rinpoche and was authorized as a lama. Upon her return to Marin County, she began teaching at Sukhasiddhi Foundation. In January 2020, as Lama Palden’s successor, she stepped into the role of Resident Lama, guiding the Center’s ministerial work. Lama Döndrup’s teaching style is thorough and clear yet with light touch as she supports the natural unfolding of each student’s innate wisdom and compassion. She aims to preserve the authenticity of the tradition while making the teachings and practices relevant and accessible to the lives of 21st century Westerners. In addition to her Buddhist practice, Lama Döndrup trained the Ridhwan School’s Diamond Approach for seven years and has a Masters of Fine Arts degree in piano performance. She is an active classical pianist and teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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