Day of Miracles (Chotrul Duchen)
March 14, 2025
All merit accumulated is multiplied 100 million times!
The 15 days between Losar and Chotrul Duchen are are called the “Days of Miracles”

The Day of Miracles is one of the four holy days in the Tibetan Buddhist calendar. It celebrates the time when a group of ascetics challenged the Buddha to a contest of miracle powers at Sravasti.
Although the Buddha did not want to show his miraculous powers, as this was the only way to subdue these ascetics and help them to develop faith in the Buddhadharma, he performed magnificent miracles each day for 15 days, outshining all opponents. The whole story is described in this post from 2022.
As a result, the ascetics as well as a huge assembly of devas and humans adopted the Buddhist doctrine, practiced it, and gained spiritual attainments. Subsequent generations continue to be inspired by the Buddha’s demonstration of his extraordinary qualities.
The merit generated during these days is multiplied tremendously in this time. Ven. Sangye Khadro explains in this short video, How to Multiply Your Merit.
Video teachings
- Ven. Sangye Khadro talks about the Buddha’s miraculous powers and the merit-multiplying days in this 2020 talk and this brief 2024 talk.
- Ven. Sangye Khadro tells the Day of Miracles story in a talk from 2019.
- Ven. Thubten Chodron explains the historical background of the Day of Miracles in this 2013 talk
- Ven. Thubten Chodron tells several stories about the Day of Miracles in this short talk from 2009.
- Ven. Thubten Chodron reminds us to follow the Buddha’s example to overcome afflictions, in this brief video.
- Ven. Thubten Chodron talks about taking refuge in the Three Jewels in this talk from 2015.
How to celebrate the Day of Miracles and create merit
- Take and keep the Eight Mahayana Precepts for 24 hours.
- Do the Shakyamuni Buddha meditation, either guiding yourself or listening to a meditation led by Ven. Chodron.
- Study and reflect on the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha by watching some of the video teachings from the Refuge playlist.
- Make many offerings to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, especially light offerings. You can do the beautiful Extensive Offering Practice to increase your offerings. The text is here and an explanation is here.
- Make offerings to your teachers and Dharma centers. Go here to include Sravasti Abbey in your offerings.
Think about how the Buddha’s teachings affect your life, rejoice in your fortune, and dedicate the merit for your own awakening and for all sentient beings!
