Question asked by Luke
Hi pastors
Before finding Rinpoche many years ago now I was learning in the Mahayana school and was a Pure land Buddhist, the Vajrayana also is apart of Mahayana as far as I know.
I'm just curious as I live remotely I'll probably never receive any tantric Initiation and will be doing Lama Tsongkhpas practice till the day I die, in the practice of Dorje shugden, palden lhamo and Lama Tsongkhpa is there any chance that these practices will take me to a pure land where one can escape the never ending nightmare of Samsara?
In Chinese Buddhism there is the Pure land of Amitabha where people make a simple vow to be reborn there and will escape samsara and learn dharma there, does Lama Tsongkhpas practice have guarantee like that ?
It seems only Vajrayogini Initiation can take a person out of Samsara.
Dear Luke,
Yes, many of the Buddhas have purelands. When you practice those deities strongly to create a connection with them, practice the Dharma to transform your mind and also generate merit, you can take rebirth there.
Lama Tsongkhapa’s practice is a great example. It includes a practice known as Powa (Mind Transference). This is where, through practice, the consciousness is guided to take rebirth in a pure land. While almost all Powa practices require tantric initiation. Lama Tsongkhapa’s Powa does not require initiation and can be practiced by everyone. This practice allows you to take rebirth in Gaden Heaven (also known as Tushita). The current ruler of Gaden Heaven is the Buddha Maitreya.
The following video teachings may be of interest to you:
A Brief Explanation of Tantra and Pure Lands https://youtu.be/hFxKXLKdQoU
Yes! We Can Go To Pure Land While Still Having Negative Karma
https://youtu.be/v6nRFYNF0MA
The practice of any Buddha can take us out of samsara. But what makes higher tantric practices such as Vajra Yogini special is that this can be achieved in this very lifetime. Other practices, depending on how much effort you put in to your practice and transformation take longer, meaning it can take many lifetimes. However, this is also the case with Vajra Yogini practice. If you don’t put in the practice and mind transformation, it is not guaranteed that you will transcend samsara in one lifetime.
Also, in the case of being reborn in a pureland. That itself does not mean you are out of samsara either. Pure lands are manifested by the enlightened beings within samsara. They are not outside of samsara. Even if you get to a pure land, you have to receive teachings and then actually put them into practice. While a pureland is special however is that everything is geared towards the practice of the Dharma. There are no distractions, and we can spend 100% of our time and ability to putting the teachings into practice and transforming our mind. I hope that helps.