Hello,

When we see similar characteristics between yourself and your family members, yes, ultimately that is due to karma. From the viewpoint of society, it is because we grew up with our family, shared experiences, pick up each others’ habits, etc, that is the reason for similar characteristics. We learn things such as behaviours, likes and dislikes from our family and they also learn such things from us.

But from the Buddhist viewpoint, what is the reason that we ended up being family anyway? The answer as you already guessed it is karma. Karma is what caused us to take to rebirth into a particular family, hence it is the reason why characteristics are similar between family members.

This applies to life circumstances as well, we had the karma to be born into a family in a specific location, at a specific time, environment, etc. Which means that we would necessarily undergo similar circumstances as well.

Within samsara, or cyclic existence, everything is due to karma. Everything that happens to us, what we say, what we think. Not only is it due to karma, but it also creates more karma. That is why Buddhists always talk about the faults of samsara. The only way to be free of this cycle and karma completely is to become a fully enlightened Buddha. That is why Buddhists aim to become a Buddha themselves. I hope this helps.

Dear Josh,

Thank you for your question. Supernatural abilities such as those you have mentioned definitely do exist. They can come about from a couple of reasons: as gifted by a supernatural being, god, etc, or even simply because we have the karma to have such abilities that have manifested in this life. The other way they can come about is through our own transformation of the mind, where they occur naturally as side effects. In all of these cases, they are known as ‘common attainments’. The reason why they are known as common attainments, because they can be attained by anyone.

Buddhism however, stresses the importance of the ‘supreme attainment’, which is achieving the enlightened mind. Hence, in the Buddhist scriptures it is said that the supreme attainment is what we should strive for.

Now, we cannot advise you in which ways to use the abilities you have mentioned to help beings, because we are not attained enough to guide you in such a manner. You would need the guidance of a highly attained master to be able to guide you in a safe manner.

However, from what you have written, you can use your experiences to further your own spiritual transformation first. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has advised on many occasions that we should not focus too much on abilities we develop, but concentrate on real transformation first. When you have reached a higher state of consciousness, then you will be able to use such abilities properly. The way to achieve this is to follow the path of the Lamrim or the Graduated Stages on the Path to Enlightenment. The text we use in Kechara is known as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. You can get a copy of it here: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/lamrim-liberation-in-the-palm-of-your-hand

There are sections of the Lamrim that deal with the suffering of those in the hell realms, the god realms and all other realms. There are also sections that deal with karma. You can use your experience to help you develop insight into these sections and propel you further along the path of transformation. So, instead of trying to use your abilities now, use the experiences that you have already had to the greatest potential. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Hello,

When engaging in visualisation or any type of meditation, the best is to keep your eyes half open. You are actually looking at the floor, but the line of your sight follows the sides of your nose, you don’t actually focus on the sides of your nose. If you focus on the sides of your nose, it will exert too much effort and you will feel like you are going crosseyed.

So you actually look at the floor, but follow the angle of the sides of your nose. Following this eye positioning is the best because your mind is not too excited or overly stimulated as it would be if you had your eyes fully open, nor is it prone to laziness or falling asleep if you have your eyes closed. This would be the best.

However, some people find it difficult to visualise with their eyes half open. In this case, it is permissible to close your eyes when visualising, as long as you can keep your concentration. Then slowly, over time, once you are familiar with the particular visualisation you are engaged in, you can do it with your eyes half open instead. I hope this helps.

Dear Carolyn,

My apologies, but I do not fully understand your question. Is this in regards to any prayers or texts? In which case, please indicate which prayer or text so we can answer properly.

Thank you

Dear Sandra,

You have asked a very good question, but it’s outside of the scope of this short reply to answer completely. Attachment is when you want something and either your thoughts, speech or actions reflect this want. For example, we can be attached to an object, a type of food, a person, a situation, etc.,. There are varying degrees of the type of attachment you experience towards differing objects or things.

When we have an attachment, we expend energy either mentally, emotionally, through our speech or our actions to get the particular object, keep it and protect it. When we are parted from the object, it creates a lot of emotional suffering. When we are attached, our actions and thoughts keep us bound to cyclic existence, because we simply just create more karma. Attachment is known as one of the Three Poisons.

You can read a short article and watch a teaching by Pastor David Lai about attachment here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-exaggeration-of-attachment.html

In addition, here is an article that deals with the benefits of non-attachment in terms of relationships with others: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/why-non-attachment-is-one-of-the-keys-to-a-happy-life-relationship.html

The opposite of attachment is aversion, the want to stay away from an object of thing, or not experience a particular situation.

Another of the Three Poisons, is actually anger or hostility. This can be the extension of aversion. For example, in past someone said something to you which you didn’t like. So you don’t want to be around this person again. If a situation occurs when you are around this person, you become angry and hostile. You can even play the scenario over and over again in your head and become angry, even when not near the person.

Anger is one of the most destructive of emotions because when you are worked up, it is very hard to remain logical, you simply and quickly act out of emotion, in the heat of the moment. This leads to the creation of negative karma, which you will need experience in the future.

In short, all our negative emotions or behaviours can be subsumed under the Three Poisons – Attachment, Anger and Ignorance. There are many methods in Buddhism to overcome these. One of the most basic, yet extremely powerful is to meditate on impermanence, especially death. While this may seem very morbid, it is actually very liberating and helps us to let go of negative emotions which serve no purpose but to keep us stuck in suffering. You can read a short article about meditation on impermanence here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/supreme-contemplation.html

For a more in-depth explanation of negative emotions and how to overcome them, you can read the Lamrim texts. These give us a step-by-step guide to self-transformation all the way to enlightenment itself. The text we use in Kechara is called Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. You can order a copy online from Vajrasecrets (https://www.vajrasecrets.com/lamrim-liberation-in-the-palm-of-your-hand). Alternatively, you can visit your local bookstore and they should be able to order it in for you. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

PS. You may also find the following links useful:

Dear Eden,

Thank you for your question. Buddha Shakyamuni did not explicitly talk about this subject, simply because the technology to preserve a body for future re-animation did not exist. In fact, even today, we can physically preserve a body using things like cryogenic freezing, however the technology to be able to revive the person is currently only speculative hope. There is no biological evidence that this would even be possible.

That being said, even though the Buddha did not talk about it specifically, the Dharma that the Buddha taught can be applied to any and all situations. So, we can analyze it from multiple angles. I’ll try to do so from two angles due to the scope of this answer.

The first is that death as part of the law of impermanence is a major part of Buddhism. We have had countless lifetimes and at the end of each of those, we have died and then taken rebirth into a new body. That is why cyclic existence is considered to be suffering, because we consistently take a new life, only to die at the end of it, and then take rebirth in a new life once again. The only way to get out of this cycle is to achieve the state of enlightenment.

Some people could argue that if you don’t die because you are re-animated in the future, then this cycle doesn’t really exist. However, from a Buddhist viewpoint everything is still impermanent. Even if you were re-animated and lived for many thousands, millions, or billions of years, eventually the whole universe as we know it will be destroyed. At that point of time, no matter how many times your physical body was revived, you would cease to exist, because everything will be destroyed.

Even from a scientific standpoint, it is said that the universe was created with the Big Bang, and due to that the universe is still expanding at an accelerating rate. Scientists have hypothesized that this will lead to either the Big Rip or the Big Freezer, in which life will no longer be able to exist in the universe in any form. So even from a scientific point of view, the Buddhist law of impermanence still applies.

This brings me to the second angle, the question why we would want to preserve our bodies for future re-animation. The answer to that is simple, it is due to attachment. As you may be aware, within Buddhism, attachment is one of the things that leads us to stay stuck within cyclic existence. Attachment leads to the creation of karma which only lengths our suffering in existence. When we focus on our attachments, we do not live in the moment, we do not truly transform into a better person, we help no one and ultimately we do not help ourselves to become enlightened. I hope this helps. If you have any further questions, please do ask. This is an interesting subject.

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for your lovely message, it’s nice to know that this blog is appreciated. Tsem Rinpoche worked tirelessly to get this resource up and available for everyone. Following Rinpoche’s Dharma teachings on this blog, we can definitely progress on our spiritual journeys. The key is to put what Rinpoche taught into practice. I wish your success in your journey, and if you need help, you are more than welcome to ask further questions here. Thank you.

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for your question. What you have expressed is something that a lot of people go through, because of the accumulation of negative karma from previous lifetimes. What you must remember is that our negative habitual patterns from previous lives are very strong, hence effort is needed in the spiritual path. That is why Joyous Effort is one of the Six Perfections. Karma, our habitual patterns, fear and self-doubt will try to knock us of the path of self-transformation at every turn until we are strong enough to withstand them.

One way to overcome this is to develop strong faith in the Three Jewels, and the way to do this is to engage in the practice of Taking Refuge. I’m not just talking about Talking Refuge at the beginning of formal Dharma practice such as your sadhana or pujas. But actually Taking Refuge remembering the qualities of the Three Jewels. When I first came to Kechara, I had a lot of physical obstacles manifest, a lot of fear and doubt. H.E. Tsem Rinpoche suggested that I read the section of the Lamrim that talks about Taking Refuge, and explains how to do it properly, remembering the qualities of the Three Jewels and the benefits they grant on the spiritual path. When you practice Taking Refuge, you remember these and you contemplate them. Then your faith in the application of the Dharma increases, and your fear, self-doubt, etc, disappear.

When that happens, even if your negative karma and habits try to knock you off the path, you find yourself back on the path. Another thing you must remember is that when we are practicing the Dharma, due to our habits, we will not be perfect at something directly after learning about it. It takes time to train ourselves. That is why the central teaching in the Gelug tradition we practice is called the Lamrim, or the Graded Stages on the Path to Enlightenment. It is step-by-step. It is a process. It is not instant. So you shouldn’t let fear, self-doubt, etc get in the way. Instead calmly apply the antidote to these, which is strong refuge. When you develop strong refuge, you will have faith and confidence in the teachings. When you have these, you will practice the teachings, no matter what happens.

The compassion for yourself and overcoming tough times comes through faith in the Three Jewels and the teachings of self-transformation. I met someone the other day who said self-transformation was not possible for him, but then why did Buddha Shakyamuni and the enlightened beings teach the Dharma? Of course, it is possible, and in order to progress on the spiritual path, you must have faith and conviction. This comes from the simple, yet foundational practice of Taking Refuge. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for your question. Mantras are the form of the enlightened beings in sound. Hence, when you recite mantras they are very powerful. All mantras move the psychic winds in the body. They don’t actually produce physical wind in the body.

The psychic winds move naturally due to the power of the mantras, and only have a beneficial effect on the body. If you are not initiated into the Higher Yoga Tantra practices, any of the common mantras are fine to recite. These include Lama Tsongkhapa’s Migtsema, your Guru’s mantra, Chenrezig, Tara, Manjushri, etc. These will move the winds in your body naturally, so there will be no untoward side effect.

However, mantras of Higher Yoga Tantra deities, such as Yamantaka, Vajra Yogini, Heruka, etc, should only be known and recited by those who have received initiation into the practice and received the commentary to the practice from a qualified guru. These mantras move the psychic winds in the body more forcefully hence can have negative side effects if not done properly.

If you are having any negative effects when reciting mantras, such as coughing, that could be due to a number of other more ordinary reasons, such as reciting too loudly or being out of breath when reciting.

When you are reciting mantras during your sadhana, you should only recite loud enough for yourself to hear, and not disturb others if they are around. If you are in a puja, you follow the puja lead to either recite out aloud or quietly.

If you are getting out of breath, slow down your mantra recitation, or reduce the amount of mantras you are doing until you are used to it. Then you can slowly increase to however many you want to recite.

The main issue is consistency, you should recite mantras as part of your sadhana every day. You can also recite extra mantras throughout the day, but the key is to make sure that you finish your daily sadhana. And you should not rush through your mantra recitation, but recite the mantra clearly. I hope this helps.

Dear Ray,

Thank you for your question. As I am sure you are aware, there are many different types of prayers. Praises are one type of prayer, or commonly included in longer prayers. When we praise the enlightened beings, we generate merit. This is due to the power of the enlightened beings.

Generally speaking these prayers are praises of the qualities of either the enlightened being’s body, speech, mind or benefits derived from their practices. Or the praise can be a combination of these.

The merit generated from praising an enlightened being is immense. Some prayers even have the power to grant certain specific benefits due to the merits generated from the praise. Hence, some prayers even have the benefits listed in them.

So yes, if you recite the praise with strong faith and refuge in the particular enlightened being, you will generate merit which will help to achieve the benefits stated.

On a normal level, you will receive the benefits. On a higher level, you create the merit to achieve the same body, speech, mind and qualities of the enlightened being, meaning you create the causes to be enlightened yourself. I hope this helps.

Dear Eden,

Thank you for your questions.

1. Buddhism does not believe in a 1st life, and the reason being is the Buddhist view of time. Most people think of time and existence as linear. It has a definitive starting point and a certain end point. But Buddhism views time as a cyclic. Hence, our universe as we understand it, will at one point cease to exist, and then a new universe will come into existence. However, even though our current universe will end, due to the force of karma and reincarnation, we will take rebirth into the new universe and have many rebirths there. So in Buddhism we say that we have had “countless” rebirths, as you would never be able to count how many lifetimes you have had. This cycle is vicious and leads us to take rebirth endlessly. The only way to stop this cycle is to transcend it altogether, which is the state of Buddhahood, in which you are completely liberated from the cycle, known as “samsara”.

Also the way in which we think about karma is not linear either. It is not one for one. By this I mean, if you do one negative action, it is not that you will experience only one negative result. You will actually experience many negative results, with differing levels of severity until the karma is exhausted. How you respond to the negative results can lead to either more negative karma, or positive karma. Hence, the law of karma according to the Buddhist view point is much more nuanced then the general understanding of karma that people have these days.

The Buddha explained this process in a teaching known as the 12 Links of Dependent Origination, which is quite complex. If you want to learn more about this teaching, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche gave a very profound teaching on it here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/teaching-on-the-twelve-links-of-dependent-origination.html

Hence, according to Buddhism, the understand of time is a never-ending cycle in which universes are created, destroyed and created again due to the power of karma. Since it is a cycle, there is no “beginning” or “1st life” for sentient beings.

2. In regards to your career pathway, I would suggest you engage in the combined practice of Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden. We have heard of many people who are either stuck in their career or who need to find good jobs, succeed in the their goals after engaging in this practice with a sincere motivation. There is a book available regarding the practice here: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/the-dorje-shugden-handbook. We also have an entire section of this website dedicated to various aspects of the practice, including history, other prayers, etc. (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/category/dorje-shugden).

I hope this helps. Let us know if we can help in any other way.

Dear Lara,

I’m sorry to hear that your family member is going through this. When someone is going through such a difficult time, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche has advised that the person themselves seek qualified medical help as well as engage in the practice of Lama Tsongkhapa, which is well-known to help overcome things like depression. From your side you should be as supportive as possible. Take the time to understand what your family member is going through, and in which ways you can support them to overcome their depression and heal.

You can watch a fantastic teaching about the practice of Lama Tsongkha here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/sayonara-to-depression.html.

The prayer text for the practice can be found here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html#19

However, sometimes family members may not be open to the engaging in the practice themselves. In that case, you can engage in the practice yourself and dedicate the merits for the family member to heal, but this will not be as effective as the family member doing the practice themselves.

Another thing that you can do, it to make abundant offerings or engage in virtuous activities like as helping the less fortunate, and dedicating the merits from those activities to your family member.

You can also have pujas sponsored for your family member. The following two pujas would be excellent:

Medicine Buddha Puja – which is good for healing, both physical and mental (https://www.vajrasecrets.com/medicine-buddha-puja-fund)

Dorje Shugden Puja – to remove obstacles for a swift recovery (https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-wishfulfilling-puja-fund)

These are the various methods in which you can help. You can do just one or a combination of the methods mentioned to generate as much positive energy and merit as possible for your family member. I hope this helps.

Dear Ray,

Thank you for your question. When we engage in purification practices, what we are purifying is our negative karma. If you know about karma, you know that eventually you will need to experience your karma, be this negative or positive.

When you experience your negative karma, then you experience negative situations. This could be something major, like having an accident, to something very minor such as feeling bad if say a loved one says something in a way that you perceive as being negative. Any experience you have that you perceive as negative, is a manifestation of your negative karma.

During purification practices, through your own effort of invoking upon the enlightened beings and practice of the Four Opponent Powers, you are able to purify this negative karma. However, for a negative karma to be fully exhausted, you need to experience it. Say you have a karma to get into an accident, if you don’t purify and exhaust it, then you will need to suffer from it 100%. This could mean getting into a car accident which is very severe and you are hurt badly. If you engage in purification practices then you can purify, let’s say 99% of the karma. But for it to be exhausted fully, you still need to experience it. In this case, maybe you do get into an accident. Since you have purified most of the karma, your car only bumps into another car very softly. You don’t even feel it, the person in the other car doesn’t feel it and you car is not damaged at all.

This is the reason why some people say if you engage in purification practices, bad things will happen. And because of that people are put off doing purification practices. This is wrong thinking because if you do experience negative situations when engaged in purification practices, this could be because:

a) What you experienced is actually the purified karma, rather than the full force of the karma. In this case you should rejoice that through your effort of engaging in the practice, you didn’t experience something much worse.

b) It could just simply be the manifestation of a karma that wasn’t purified. This means, you would have had to go through this experience anyway.

c) Because you are engaged in purification practices, you are thinking of karma a lot. Therefore, when such experiences occur then you attribute it to karma, and then think it is linked to your purification practice. Then you believe that doing purification practices is bad because you have to suffer from such experiences. This is wrong thinking. Perhaps even if you were not doing purification practices, then you would still experience the situation, but you wouldn’t actually think anything of it. You would just go about the rest of your day as usual.

That being said, when you are doing purification practices, there comes a point were certain negative karma is so weak that you need to experience it for it to be exhausted completely. This can and does manifest as negative situations, such as minor illnesses, or even accidents, etc. However, the point to remember is the karma causing these situations have been purified so they are very mild compared to their full form. These negative situations can also be purified/exhausted in dreams, etc. Another way they can be purified is having mental disturbances or emotional ups and downs when actually doing the purification practices. In essence, you will need to feel the effects of your negative karma in some form or another, so better that you experience it in a very mild form right? This is what purification practices helps you to do.

Purification practices are not something to be scared of. In fact, you should rejoice when engaged in purification practices. On a more deeper level, without some form of purification practice it is hard to understand higher aspects of the Dharma. Your negative karma will block you from being able to understand the Dharma and then internalise it. That is why purification practices are emphasised within each and every tradition and are a prerequisite for higher teaching such as tantra.

The benefits of purification practices (such as enabling you to exhaust your negative karma in a very mild form, and preparing your mind for higher teachings) outweighs having to experience a very small negative situation. Therefore think about the benefits of purification practice and contemplate on it. This will help you to develop faith in them and get rid of any doubts or fears that you may have. I hope this helps.

Thank you for your kind message. It is very encouraging for us to read. May you always be blessed by the Three Jewels.

Dear Vikas Baluni,

I am unclear as to the actually meaning of your question but I believe you are asking how to increase and grow your business. According to Buddhism, everything that we go through in life is due to karma, this includes both the good things and the bad things. Therefore, for your business to grow and do well depends on your good karma. Only one type of energy can overcome karma and is always good for your, and that is what we call merit or punya (in sanskrit). So in order to have merit for your business to do well, you have to take actions that generate merit. The main of these is to transform your mind to become a more compassionate and wiser person, to help others less fortunate, to engage in pujas and other such virtuous activities.

There are certain deity practices that are well-known in Buddhism to help increase the energies of wealth and success in our lives. These can help your business to grow. Once such practice is that of Bhagawan Gyenze, you can click here to find out more: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth.html Bhagawan Gyenze will definitely help you to grow your business, if you have a good motivation. If you motivation is only about yourself, then your business will not grow that much. But if you have the motivation help others, then Bhagawan Gyenze will help you even more. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your question. I am really happy to hear that you are engaging in Dzambhala’s practice. It’s extremely beneficial. You are right that Lama Tsongkhapa ignored his dreams of deities, and viewed them as bad signs. But before jumping to conclusions, we must analyse the reasons why Lama Tsongkhapa ignored not only his dreams, also the visions of the deities he received.

The reason that Lama Tsongkhapa did not consider it a positive sign is because as practitioners on the spiritual path, it is all too easy to get carried away with ‘signs’ or advice, visions, dreams from supposed deities. Sometimes if we ‘analyse’ them it can lead us in the wrong direction because of our mistaken understanding. Sometimes, other entities can also enter our dreams and tell us things that we believe, hence we start practising things that are not Dharmic in nature. Lama Tsongkhapa warned against such things, rather Lama Tsongkhapa said that we should rely on the Dharma teachings that are genuine and transmitted to us through an unbroken line through our lineage.

Generally speaking however, these dreams you are having are literally just dreams, so there is nothing to worry about. One category of dreams we have are known as samsaric dreams. These arise from karma and karmic traces in the mind. This can also include emotions, memories, etc. The meaning we find in these dreams are imputed by the dreamer, and not inherent in the dream. This also applies to waking life. We impute meaning onto situations and circumstances, rather than the meaning being inherent to the circumstance. It is like reading a book. Words in the book are just marks on paper, however, because we use our sense of meaning, we make a meaning out of it. However, this is always open to interpretation. For example, if you tell your dream to two people, they can interpret the meaning very differently, even though you told them the exact same details.

When we have dreams such as of our teacher, our practice, the Buddhas, etc., it is still more than likely to be just a samsaric dream. Because we have been engaging in sustained practice, or have imprints from previous lives, these can surface in our dreams hence we have dreams of Buddhas, our teachers, etc.

There is nothing to worry about or to consider overly auspicious or a ‘sign’. Just realise that you have had the dream, do not allow your thoughts to dwell on it, accept it and move on.

However, do take note that you had these dreams and once your Guru is out of retreat, please consult your Guru and inform him/her of these occurances and seek your Guru’s advice if any. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your question. The practice of Dzambhala is actually a Yidam practice, this means that Dzambhala is a meditational deity. When you engage in his practice, as well as bestowing wealth, through his practice you also develop qualities that help you progress towards enlightenment.

In the case of Dzambhala, the primary quality he helps you develop is actually generosity, which is one of the Six Perfections. Therefore, although he is known as a wealth deity, he is much, much more than that. When you engage in his practice, you are actually developing virtuous qualities in your mindstream.

The function of Dharma Protectors however is to remove obstacles and to create conducive conditions so that you can transform your mind. Hence, the function of a meditational deity and a Dharma Protector is different.

That being said, when you engage in Dzambhala’s practice properly, you do gain wealth. Generally, we only consider this wealth to be external wealth, but Dzambhala’s practice is more than that, because through his practice you gain internal wealth which are virtuous qualities. Due to the fact his practice also brings material wealth, he is known as a wealth deity.

When you practice any meditational deity, you will gain some physical benefit as well, which can seem to mirror the effect of Dharma Protectors, but their function is very different. Dzambhala for example grants material wealth, but his actually function is to increase inner wealth.

Another example would be Medicine Buddha, outward he heals our physical body, but inwardly he also helps to heal our minds and develop qualities such as compassion. Dharma Protectors can also help to heal our body, but for real internal change, we need to rely on a meditational deity. I hope this answer helps.

Dear Ray,

Thank you for your question. You are right that traditionally vajras and bells are only used after receiving initiation. However, H.E. Tsem Rinpoche recommended learning how to use the vajra and bell, as a means of creating the causes to receive initiation in the future. That said, there are many dos and don’ts related to using the vajra and bell. You can learn not only how to use them, but also vajra and bell etiquette from one of Kechara’s Pastors. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Sandra,

Yes of course, you may include Tsem Rinpoche’s Guru Yoga as part of your daily sadhana if you wish. This creates a very strong bond with Tsem Rinpoche.

If you are following the Diamond Path sadhana (https://www.vajrasecrets.com/diamond-path), you insert the Guru Yoga after you have completed the Gaden Lhagyama (Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa).

Alternative, if you are using a different prayer text, you insert the Guru Yoga after Gaden Lhagyama, or before any deity prayers that you do such as Manjushri, Tara, etc. After you complete the deity practice section of your sadhana, you continue on to your Dharma protector practice, and finish with your completion dedication. I hope this helps. Do let us know if this is not clear. Thanks.

Dear Sandra,

Yes, of course. Anyone can engage in the preliminary practices, you don’t have to be ordained in order to do so. However for one’s practice to be considered a full preliminary practice, you need to do 100,000 repetitions of whichever practice you are engaged in without break. That means you must engage in at least one session a day, until the count is completed.

10% of the count is also added on top, to make up for any unintentional mistakes. So the figure would actually be 110,000. If you skip a day, that means you have broken your preliminary retreat. If this occurs you can still dedicate the practice you have done so far, and you will still benefit from the merit generated and the purification of negative karma from the practice, but it is not counted as a full preliminary practice.

Also you must adhere to the retreat procedures for the duration of the time it takes you to complete the particular preliminary practice. For example, an altar with daily offerings, retreat seat with swastika, refraining from eating black foods, etc.

This may not be convenient for most people in our day and age. So what you can do is to spend a certain amount of time accumulating a specific figure, for example 10,000 repetitions of a particular practice. Seal the practice at the end with a strong dedication, like the King of Prayers. Later on, you can repeat the procedure more times until you complete 100,000. This method was given by H.E. Tsem Rinpoche for modern-day practitioners who do not have the time to complete 100,000 in one go. While it technically does not constitute a full preliminary retreat, you still gain immense merits and purification from engaging in the practice, even if spaced out. As Rinpoche said, it’s better for you to do mini preliminary retreats than not doing any of the preliminary practices whatsoever.

That being said, if you do have the ability to do a full preliminary retreat and it will not negatively impact you, such as create financial difficulties or strain familial relationships, then of course go ahead! To have the sincere wish to engage in any Dharma practice is wonderful.

You can read more about the individual preliminary practices here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/preliminary-practice.html

You can watch a short teaching on the preliminary practices by H.E. Tsem Rinpoche here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/cosmic-tantra.html