Chenrezig Practices
Rinpoche gave the following practice advice to a nun.
First recite one of the various Chenrezig prayers:
Prayer of Chenrezig by Songtsem Gampo
Prayer to the Six-Syllable Great Compassionate One
Request to the Supreme Compassionate One
There is also a Chenrezig meditation text.
Begin your session with one of these prayers, then recite the longest Chenrezig dharani three times. [There is an MP3 file of Rinpoche chanting this dharani, if you would like to listen.]
Then do one mala of the long mantra, as in the nyung-nä text.
Then do ten malas of OM MANI PADME HUM. During the first five malas concentrate on purifying yourself; you then become Chenrezig and with the last five malas you concentrate on purifying others. At the end of each mala, think that all sentient beings have become Chenrezig.
After your mantras do the requesting prayer from the nyung-nä:
(Kneel down on your right knee and) request your desired goals by repeating the following with great fervor:
O Arya Avalokiteshvara, treasure of compassion
Together with your retinue, please pay attention to me.
Please quickly free me and all mother and father sentient
Beings of the six realms from the ocean of cyclic existence.
Please enable the profound and extensive peerless
Bodhicitta to quickly grow in our mindstreams.
Please quickly cleanse our delusions and actions accumulated
Since beginningless time, with the water of compassion
And, with your compassionate hand, lead me
And all migrators to the blissful pure land.
May Amitabha and Avalokiteshvara act
As our spiritual friends in all lifetimes,
Show us the excellent unmistaken path, and
Quickly place us in the state of buddhahood.
Then dedicate with:
Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and all sentient beings, may bodhicitta be generated in the hearts of all the six realm sentient beings, especially in the hearts of the sentient beings in this world and especially in the hearts of the FPMT students, myself and my family members without delay for even a second. May the bodhicitta which has already been generated in the hearts of others be developed more and more.
Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and all sentient beings, in all our lifetimes may Lama Tsongkhapa be my direct Mahayana guru and may I never be separate from the pure path admired by all the buddhas. May I be able to meet Lama Tsongkhapa’s teaching, which is to live in pure morality and develop the brave heart doing the extensive deeds for sentient beings and generate the yoga of the two stages whose essence is the transcendental wisdom of non-dual bliss and voidness.
In all my lifetimes may I be like Lama Tsongkhapa, who offered extensive benefit to sentient beings and the teachings of Buddha. May I become like you, the glorified Guru. Whatever your body, your entourage, whatever your holy name and pure land, may I become only like that. Without effort and zeal may my wishes be auspicious and may they be fulfilled like a wish-granting jewel or a wish-granting tree to fulfill sentient beings' wishes and hopes.
Due to the three time merits of myself, sentient beings and buddhas, which exist in mere name but are totally empty from their own side, may the I, which exists but is totally empty from its own side, achieve the full enlightenment of Chenrezig, which exists but is totally empty from its own side, and lead all sentient beings, who exist but are totally empty from their own side, to Chenrezig’s full enlightenment, which exists but is totally empty from its own side, by myself alone, which exists but is totally empty from its own side.
Then dedicate with:
JANG CHHUB SEM CHHOG RIN PO CHHE
May the supreme jewel bodhicitta
MA KYE PA NAM KYE GYUR CHIG
That has not arisen, arise and grow;
KYE WA NYAM PA ME PA YANG
And may that which has arisen not diminish
GONG NÄ GONG DU PHEL WAR SHOG
But increase more and more.
JAM PÄL PA WÖ JI TAR KHYEN PA DANG
Just as the brave Manjushri and Samantabhadra, too,
KÜN TU ZANG PO DE YANG DE ZHIN TE
Realized things as they are,
DE DAG KÜN GYI JE SU DAG LOB CHHIR
I, too, dedicate all these merits in the best way,
GE WA DI DAG THAM CHÄ RAB TU NGO
That I may follow their perfect example.
At the end of the last session of the day also do His Holiness’ long-life prayer and the Prayer that Spontaneously Fulfills all Wishes:
GANG RI RA WÄ KOR WÄI ZHING KHAM DIR
In the land encircled by snow mountains
PHÄN DANG DE WA MA LÜ JUNG WÄI NÄ
You are the source of all happiness and good;
CHÄN RÄ ZIG WANG TÄN DZIN GYA TSHO YI
All-powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso,
ZHAB PÄ SI THÄI BAR DU TÄN GYUR CHIG
Please remain until samsara ends.
TONG NYI NYING JE ZUNG DU JUG PAI LAM
Savior of the Snow Land Teachings and transmigratory beings,
CHE CHER SÄL DZÄ GANG CHÄN TÄN DRÖI GÖN
Who extensively clarifies the path that unifies emptiness and compassion,
CHAG NA PÄ MO TÄN DZIN GYA TSO LA
To the Lotus in the Hand, Lord Tenzin Gyatso, I beseech —
SOL WA DEB SO ZHE DÖN LHÜN DRUB SHOG
May all your holy wishes be fulfilled!
It is also good to do the Medicine Buddha sadhana. [This is available as a free pdf file, or you can purchase a hard copy or e-book from FPMT Foundation Store.]
Generating as a Deity
[posted Oct 2009]
Rinpoche discussed how to generate correctly as the deity.
We were talking last night about how much a meditator who just completed a three-year retreat has changed. He used to get quite angry, now he is becoming soft like cotton. He is a very good practitioner. I wish all people who did retreat changed like that, from doing all those prayers.
If you don’t purify in emptiness when you generate as the deity, then the ordinary body becomes a wrathful one. If you don’t know how to generate as the deity correctly, then your physical body changes.
There was a man in Hong Kong who worked on ships, and he had a meditation room in the ship. Years ago he received the Yamantaka initiation. He didn’t know how to practice, did millions and millions of mantras, and his eyes became big, very big.
Deity Connection
[posted Oct 2009]
A student wrote the following about connections with deities. His letter and Rinpoche’s response are printed below.
Student: A few years ago, I asked one of my gurus to check what deity I had a karmic connection with and he said Vajrayogini. My question is that when I get up and throughout the day (when I remember), natural awareness habitually comes with Yamantaka, probably because I do most of the practice from Guru Puja with protectors based on Yamantaka. I find it difficult to generate with Vajrayogini. Does Rinpoche have any suggestions?
Rinpoche’s reply:
My dear Bob,
If your guru has given this advice about your deity then you can’t change it.
My suggestion is you do both: Visualize half of yourself as Vajrayogini and the other half as Yamantaka. This will be something that no one has practiced before, it will be a new tradition that you are starting. I’m joking, of course.
But it is difficult. Once you have asked your guru, you can’t really change. What you can try is this: Visualize all deities as one and this is the Guru. Outside you can visualize yourself as Yamantaka, but remember this is also Vajrayogini. Integrate what you feel and what your guru has said.
Much love and prayer...
Which Deity Practice
[posted May 2007]
Rinpoche gave the following advice to a student who had asked him which deity practice he should focus on.
My very dear Harold,
Thank you very much for your kind letter, sorry for the delay in replying.
It seems best for you to pursue getting the Cittamani Tara initiation and learning about this; it is a little easier. Focus on that more, learning and practicing the meditations.
It is very good that you have been practicing Kalachakra, you are very fortunate, that means you can be reborn in Shambhala and come back as a bodhisattva warrior to protect the world in the degenerating age. According to the text it says that the army from Shambhala will ride on horses with weapons and conquer all the barbarians, then they will change in aspect and give teachings, so in that way the Dharma will last for another 100 years in this world.
Maybe you can prepare for this by taking all the violent people in this world to Shambhala pure land, to achieve enlightenment. Do you like this idea? Isn’t this a very inspiring project for you? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
So, life is short and death can happen at any time, so it is very important to practice Dharma. Thinking in this way stops you doing non-virtuous things and makes you do virtuous things; also you can get many practices done. If your mind is full of compassion for all beings then everything you do (with this thought) becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment and then you are really able to benefit sentient beings.
Live your life in this way all the time. In your break time (which means your rest time, not break from practicing Dharma), then everything becomes meaningful and you create the cause for happiness in your future lives, liberation from samsara, and enlightenment, and every day you destroy the causes of samsara: ignorance.
Try to achieve the lam-rim realizations, that is the MOST important thing, by meditating on the lam-rim step by step, renouncing this life’s happiness, renouncing future lives’ happiness, generating bodhicitta, and meditating on emptiness, every day. Then, on top of that, perform tantric practice.
Also, it is important in your daily life do all your actions with the motivation of bodhicitta. In this way, you use all the actions to collect merit and purify negative karma. That means when you eat, drink coffee, work, sleep, talk to people, etc. When you talk to people, talk about compassion to help others to also collect merits, in that way bringing other people little by little to enlightenment.
Try to realize renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness. Recite the Three Principles of the Path by Lama Tsongkhapa, meditating on each step of the lam-rim.
It would also be very good for you to recite one evening the King of Prayers and then the next evening to recite Losang Gyeltenma by Lama Tsongkhapa.
With much love and prayers...
Ksitigarbha Mantra and Practice
[posted May 2007]
Rinpoche gave the following Ksitigarbha mantra practice for students.
Begin the practice with:
Refuge and Bodhicitta Prayers:
I go for refuge until I am enlightened
To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly.
By the merits I create through practicing generosity and so forth
May I become a buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings.
The Four Immeasurables Prayer:
How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were to abide in equanimity, free from hatred and attachment.
May they abide in equanimity.
I myself will cause them to abide in equanimity.
Please, guru-buddha, grant me blessings to be able to do this.
How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings had happiness and the causes of happiness.
May they have happiness and its causes.
I myself will cause them to have happiness and its causes.
Please, guru-buddha, grant me blessings to be able to do this.
How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were free of suffering and its causes.
May they be free of suffering and its causes.
I myself will cause them to be free of suffering and its causes.
Please, guru-buddha, grant me blessings to be able to do this.
How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were never separated from the happiness of higher rebirth and liberation.
May they never be separated from these.
I myself will cause them never to be separated from these.
Please, guru-buddha, grant me blessings to be able to do this.
Generate the following motivation:
The purpose of my life is to free all sentient beings, who are the origin of all my past, present, and future happiness, from the oceans of suffering and its causes—the delusions—and lead them to the peerless happiness of full enlightenment. Therefore, I must attain enlightenment, and therefore I must recite the great mantra of the Unchangeable Wheel Essence to protect the country and to bring great peace and happiness to everyone.
The Bhagavan, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha (Destroyer Qualified Gone Beyond), told Deva Garbha that in the future, in order to protect the pure country, this land of the Buddha, established with its king and kings’ dynasty, he must recite the great mantra of the Unchangeable Wheel Essence. By the power of the words and the glory of the great mantra of the Unchangeable Wheel Essence, the entire country would be protected. Then, in future times in this land of the Buddha, all enemies will not harm the king, the kings’ dynasty, and all their virtues. They will be protected so as to never be separate from the Buddha and to be within the entourage of the Buddha.
From then on Deva Garbha, the great Perfected One, expressed the words of the great mantra of the Unchangeable Wheel Essence in order to protect the entire country.
Recitation of the Mantra:
TAYATA MUNI MORE / MUNI GHA BHE / MUNI KI LI DHA YE / MUNI ROGI BA TSA LE / MUNI HALI DE / MUNI GHA ME SHE BHA KHYE / MIRLA BHAG / KHE BHAA LA LA BHAG KHYE / SO RI KIRTA / TOR NA KIR TSA LE / BHA TAG SHA KIR TE / KU KU LA MIR LE / AVA SHYA SA RE / ER HA KI LI BHA / MUNI BHAA THABA SVAHA
The Great Perfected One, Deva Garbha, expressed and requested to Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, the Destroyer Qualified Gone Beyond One, with many entourages, to please rejoice in the expression of the great mantra by men.
At that time, Guru Shakyamuni Buddha (Destroyer Qualified Gone Beyond One) said to the great Mugalyana (one of the heart disciples of the Buddha) and to the bodhisattvas and mahasattvas, Maitreya, and so forth: “A son of the race must memorize and should hold these words of the great mantra called the Unchangeable Wheel Essence offered by the Great Perfected One, Deva Garbha, in order to protect the country with the mantra.”
The Buddha explained elaborately to all the king’s race and to all the virtuous kings, “In the future, in this world, due to this cause and condition, the king’s race and the virtuous kings with their entourage and all the people living in the country will receive benefit and happiness. They will always turn the wheel of Dharma and be extremely far-famed and highly glorified. Evil views will be destroyed and the right view will be established. Beings will have the Dharma eye and will cause the Triple Gem’s existence to continue unceasingly. Limitless sentient beings minds’ will be completely ripened and devotion to the Mahayana will be strongly stabilized. Beings will abide in the meditation of the Six Perfections, cut all defilements, and will come to quickly abide beyond the limits of defilement (abide in full enlightenment).
Dedication:
May the supreme jewel bodhicitta
That has not arisen, arise and grow;
And may that which has arisen not diminish
But increase more and more.
May the loving compassionate thought of bodhicitta
be generated within the minds of everyone in Nepal and in my family.
May sickness, famine, fighting, and dispute never arise.
May harm from earth, water, fire, and wind never occur.
May we continually enjoy the peace and happiness of the holy Dharma
like the rising of the sun.
May all the father and mother sentient beings have happiness.
May all the lower realms become empty forever.
May all the bodhisattvas, whoever or wherever they are,
May all their prayers be actualized immediately.
Through the merits of these virtuous actions
May I quickly attain the state of a guru-buddha
And lead all living beings, without exception,
Into that enlightened state.
Just as the brave Manjushri and Samantabhadra, too,
Realized things as they are,
I, too, dedicate all these merits in the best way,
That I may follow their perfect example.
Deepening Practice
[posted May 2007]
Rinpoche gave the following advice to a student who had cared for Lama Yeshe before he passed away. She had a sash from Lama Yeshe, and said it had healing qualities. She asked if she could use it for others. Then she asked how to make her Vajrayogini practice more in depth.
My very dear Nanette,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. It is true we haven’t met for a long time. Yes, I remember that you took care of Lama Yeshe, that you were one of the nurses. Thank you very much for all the help you have given in the past.
There is no problem regarding the sash. You can use it to help others whenever you feel that is useful – that is completely OK.
I am living with my friend diabetes; it has not become very bad. I was going to go to New York to receive His Holiness’s teachings, but then I started receiving unbelievable teachings on the Tantric Grounds and Paths from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche at Vajrapani Center. People are so amazed by the teachings, their minds are being blown away, and people are enjoying it so much. So, then I changed my plans to stay and complete these teachings and also to receive private teachings and rare oral transmissions from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche.
Regarding your question on how to make your Vajrayogini practice more in-depth, what you need is guru devotion, renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness. The more lam-rim you practice, the more profound your Vajrayogini practice will become and through this it becomes the quickest path to enlightenment. It is very important for you to practice Vajrayogini with renunciation, bodhicitta, right view, method, and wisdom.
Also, you should study the various commentaries on Vajrayogini and every day do some meditation on the lam-rim and read the lam-rim. If you haven’t read Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, that may be easier for you to read. You should study it from the beginning to the end, also Lama Tsongkhapa’s Lam-rim Chen-mo. Maybe the part on emptiness is too elaborate for you, but you can still read it, even if you don’t understand it. It still leaves very positive imprints on your mind, and sooner or later, from the imprints, you can realize emptiness by eliminating all the defilements and negative imprints. When you achieve enlightenment you will be able to do perfect work for sentient beings.
After you have read these lam-rim books, you should start from the beginning again, read a little every day, with mindfulness, and relate it to your own life. In this way, it becomes meditation. Also, you can study the different Vajrayogini commentaries a little every day and practice the meditations.
In case you are not doing this already, you should recite one lam-rim prayer every day. If you are not already reciting one, then when you do your six session guru yoga you can insert a lam-rim prayer in it, before the guru absorbs into you. If you are doing Lama Tsongkhapa guru yoga, then it has a lam-rim prayer in it. Reciting a lam-rim prayer every day prepares your mind, planting seeds in your mental continuum to achieve the whole path to enlightenment. Read the lam-rim prayers mindfully and relate them to your own life. This is the very very best, this is what makes your life meaningful, and is better than even reciting 100 million “Om Mani Padme Hum’s.” Then, also you should do purification practice in the evening, recite 21 long Vajrasattva mantras, with the four powers, or 28 short mantras. Or you can recite 21 long mantras and the rest short mantras.
Please continue to make your life most beneficial with bodhicitta and wisdom.
With much love and prayers...
Padmasambhava Prayer
[posted May 2007]
Rinpoche translated the following short prayer to Padmasambhava for a student who had a strong connection with Padmasambhava and who was being harmed by black magic.
Short Prayer of Padmasambhava
Hung! At the border of the North-west Orgyen country
On the trunk of the lotus stem
The wonderful sublime attainment is found.
It is known as originator from the lotus surrounded by circles of so many skygoers.
For me to be able to follow you and to become you
Please descend here in order to bless me for that.
Precious guru, the three time buddhas,
The great bliss, the originator of all realizations,
Eliminating obstacles, in the act of wrathful actions subduing the maras,
I request, please grant common and sublime realizations.
Please bless to pacify the outer, inner, and secret obstacles,
And may all my wishes succeed immediately.
OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA SIDDHI HUM
OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADMA THOD THRENG TSÄL VAJRA SAMAYA JAH SIDDHI PHALA HUM AH
Generate strong faith that Padmasambhava is right in front of you, or on your crown. Think that Padmasambhava's omniscient mind can see you, understand your request, and think that there is no place that Padmasambhava's holy body, speech, and mind does not cover. Think that Padmasambhava, radiant, glorious, magnificent one, looks at you with a compassionate smile and loving eyes.
This short prayer combines both prayers of Padmasambhava (Illuminating the Obstacles and Accomplishing the Wishes).
Notes on Black Manjushri Practice
[posted May 2007]
Rinpoche made the following comments on Black Manjushri Practice.
If a person has a lot of superstition or paranoia, then manifest in the wrathful aspect of Black Manjushri, whose appearance is similar to Vajrapani, standing with his right leg bent and left leg stretched out. His hair is raised up and he is wearing a tiger skin. His left hand at his heart is holding a lotus, on which rests the Prajñaparamita text.
At dawn, before opening the door of the house, face to the east. Keep your back straight and breathe in from the right nostril and out from the left.
Visualizing yourself as a deity, meditate that the guru in the form of Wrathful Black Manjushri is above your crown and recite the mantra:
OM TRA SÖ CHU SÖ TUR TA SÖ TUR MI SÖ NYING GO LA CHÖ KHA LA JAH KAM SHAM TRAM BÄ PHAT SVAHA
(1000 or 21 times)
The best time to recite this mantra is early in the morning.
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