Today is ལྷ་བབས་དུས་ཆེན་ Lha Bab Düchen: Anniversary when Shakyamuni Buddha returned to Earth from Trāyastriṃśa (Heaven of the Thirty-Three)
Today is Lha bab Düchen, one of the four Great Occasions commemorating events in the life of the Buddha.
Lhabab Duchen celebrates Buddha’s descent from “The Heaven of Thirty-Three” back to earth.
Buddha had left for “The Heaven Of Thirty-Three” (Trayastrimsa) at the age of 41, in order to give teachings to benefit the gods in that desire realm, and to repay the kindness of his mother by teaching her and liberating her from Samsara.
Maudgalyāyana requested that the Buddha return to earth, and after a long debate under a Full Moon the Buddha agreed.
The Buddha returned to earth a week later by a special triple ladder prepared by Vishwakarma, the god of machines, in an event considered to be one of the eight great deeds of the Buddha.
On Lha bab Duchen, the effects of positive or negative actions are multiplied ten million times. It is part of Tibetan Buddhist tradition to engage in virtuous activities and prayer on this day.