What is the most precious support when someone close passes away?

March 7, 2025Rigpa

What is the most precious thing we, as Buddhist practitioners, have to offer our family, sangha friends and others close to us at the time of their death? It is to practise for them and sponsor practices on their behalf. At this crucial moment, there is nothing of greater importance than to pray for their liberation or at least a better rebirth.

Every day of the year, there are practices happening in Rigpa led by experienced practitioners that are specifically dedicated to praying for those who have passed away.

The most recent addition to this collection of practices is new specialist groups of practitioners performing Narak Kong Shak for the deceased five days each week.

“The most powerful time to do spiritual practice for someone who has died is during the forty-nine days of the bardo of becoming, placing special emphasis on the first twenty-one days. It is during these first three weeks that the dead have a stronger link with this life, which makes them more accessible to our help. So it is then that spiritual practice has a far greater possibility of influencing their future, and of affecting their chances for liberation, or at least a better rebirth.” The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

What practices are performed for the deceased?

According to the practice lineage we follow in Rigpa, the three main practices we do for the deceased are Narak Kong Shak, Riwo Sangchö and Dukngal Rangdrol.

Narak Kong Shak is known as one of the most powerful and important methods or practices of confession, where we invoke the wisdom and healing power of the hundred peaceful and wrathful deities as well as the vidyadhara master, the dakinis, and the Dharma protectors and guardians. It’s a particularly powerful practice for those who have died or are ill.

Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche explained that one of the special features of the Narak Dongtruk Tantra (which Narak Kong Shak comes from) is that it enables us to purify any kind of breakage, regardless of how much time has elapsed, and not only by the one who committed the action, but also by somebody practising on his or her behalf.

Riwo Sangchö, literally ‘Mountain Smoke Offering’, is a practice of offering and of purification of obscurations, using the element of fire. It is one of the most powerful practices for benefiting both the living and the deceased because, in this practice, we make offerings to everyone with whom we have a karmic connection, alive or dead. By making offerings—both real and imagined—we satisfy the needs of all beings and thereby purify any damage caused over many lifetimes to ourselves and others, thereby removing obstacles to our health and life, healing our connections with others and setting them onto the path to enlightenment.

Dukngal Rangdrol, literally 'The Natural Liberation of Suffering’ is the Sadhana of the ‘Great Compassionate One’ Avalokiteshvara from the Longchen Nyingtik cycle. Traditionally in Tibet, this practice is performed every seventh day after death, or if the family can afford it, for each of the forty-nine days. Lamas and monks are invited to do this practice, lights are offered and prayers recited continuously, especially until the time the body is taken out of the house. These practices on behalf of the dead person are considered essential, since the mental body in the bardo of becoming undergoes the experience of death every week, on the same day.

Rigpa’s practice groups are here to support you

Every day there are practices being performed dedicated to the deceased—be it Riwo Sangchö, Narak Kong Shak or Dukngal Rangdrol. These practices are held by experienced Rigpa practitioners around the world - in Lerab Ling, in small practice groups in different countries, and online. For example, Narak Kong Shak is practiced by groups in the USA, Germany, Australia, Sukhavati (near Berlin, Germany), and Dzogchen Beara—each group practising on a different day throughout the week.

These dedicated groups come together with the specific purpose of practising for the deceased. They thoughtfully read out the name or project the picture of each individual whose name has been offered for prayers, dedicating the practice to them. Following the customs of Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, practising during forty-nine days after the passing is a well established and important tradition to help the deceased in their process to their next incarnation as well as to alleviate the suffering of those who are left behind.

How to request prayers for someone who has died

If you wish to request prayers for a sangha member or someone close to you who has passed away, recently or in the past, you simply follow the usual Prayer Request system:

Visit the Prayer Requests webpage.
Select ‘For the deceased (Riwo Sangchö, Narak Kong Shak and Dukngal Rangdrol)’.
The specialist practice groups receive an up-to-date list each day of those who have passed away.
The names of the deceased will be read out or their pictures projected on the screen for the traditional 49 days following their passing.
The names of the deceased will also be sent bi-weekly to several monasteries in the East.

It’s thanks to your donations that we can offer and uphold this prayer request service. Following the tradition reaching back to the times of the Buddha, donations support the Lerab Ling practitioners, as well as the temple and its sacred environment. A part of your contribution is also used to support the related monasteries and ceremonies in the East.

We also thank all the group of practitioners who, with great commitment and love, meet regularly to practise for the deceased and dedicate all these practices for sangha members, their families and friends who have passed away, and we pray for the continuation of these precious practices that have been handed down to this generation of Dharma practitioners.

Can I join these practices?

It’s possible for Vajrayana students to participate in some of these practices:

Riwo Sangchö is streamed on Prajna daily
Dukngal Rangdrol is practised in-person in Lerab Ling weekly (a Dukngal Rangdrol empowerment is required)

We’re looking for two more groups who can make a commitment to practice Narak Kong Shak one day per week so that Narak Kong Shak is practised daily. If you are familiar with the practice and like to be part of these small practising groups, please contact gabriele.maass@rigpa.org.