Dear Day,

Thank you for your question. In regards to the Five Precepts, you are correct that there is a vow against taking intoxicants. How this is interpreted and what constitutes intoxicants differs between traditions and individual practitioners. Buddhist practitioners usually follow what their teachers instruct them, as such for us in Kechara, we are encouraged not to smoke as it is an intoxicant. In regards to monks and nuns eating meat, someone who is ordained is supposed to eat whatever food is offered to them, to cut their attachment to like and dislike. Therefore, if someone offers a monk or nun meat, then they need to accept the food according to Buddhist tradition. After they have accepted the food offering, it is up to them to actually eat the meat or not. Some may eat the meat because they want to practice not being attached. In some of these cases, you will notices that these monks and nuns eat everything offered to them without either like or dislike. That being said, as Buddhists we believe in ahimsa or non-violence, and that extends to the killing of animals for food. So knowing that there is bad karma involved, it is actually on the lay people who offer the monastic community food, not to offer them meat. The precepts are the same between both Mahayana and Theravada traditions, but one must understand the intricacies of Buddhist practice before making an assumption if the practitioner is sincere.

In the case of Arhat Sivali, as far as I am aware, he was a student of Shariputra, who was one of Buddha Shakyamuni’s main disciples. After practicing the path Sivali became and Arhat and is therefore worthy of veneration as a very high level being on the way to becoming a fully enlightened being. Such beings do have the power and ability to help grant wealth in all if forms, which is more than just materials. You are right that there are many deities who are said to confer wealth upon practitioners. Some of these deities are not actually emanations of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, but beings who either naturally help people or have been oath-bound to help people. Others are fully enlightened beings such as Dzambala and Gyenze, and can help with more than wealth, such as helping us on the spiritual path towards enlightenment. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Al,

Thank you for your question. Buddhists do not believe in a creator God, we do not believe in an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God as other religions do. This is because Buddhists consider all beings that are within existence to be bound by the law of karma, and as such full of emotions and delusions. Existence is cyclic, with no beginning or end, where as other religions believe that God created the universe, therefore it has a beginning. As such, Buddhists do not believe that such a God created the Buddhas, etc. The Buddha arose from his own realisation of the nature of existence, as can we all arise in that state. When we reach that state, known as enlightenment, we transcend existence itself. That is the reason why Tsem Rinpoche does not talk about God, because Buddhists do not believe in such a God, but rather the transformation of our own minds to reach enlightenment. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Wanderer,

Thank you for your very interesting question. It is probably the first time that this question has been raised here. The four major lineages of Tibetan Buddhism (Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug) all emerged after various waves of dissemination of the Buddhist teachings from India into Tibet, or due to new ways of interpreting the teachings and how they apply in practice. By this I mean that different masters placed emphasis on different teachings, scriptures, prayers, and mediation techniques but all with the same ultimate goal – to gain realisations along the spiritual journey and to reach enlightenment.

Despite their differences, all four schools stress the need for a complete and structured presentation of the Buddhist path of practice, from the foundations in the Theravada traditions, the bodhisattva practices of the Mahayana traditions, and the intricate and powerful meditations of the Vajrayana traditions. Similarly all four schools are based on the Madhyamaka School of thought arising from India, though again each school will present this thought in a slightly different manner.

The major differences between each tradition, although based on the same Madhyamaka philosophy, are each school’s presentation of and emphasis on tantra. For example, the Nyingma tradition favours the Great Perfection or Dzogchen view and earlier examples of tantric practice, together with terma or revealed teachings; the Kagyu tradition emphasises the Mahamudra system of meditation stemming from the Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa and the tantric systems of the Guhyasamaja and Heruka Chakrasamvara tantras; the Sakya tradition focuses on the practice of the Hevajra tantra and its associated Lamdre (path and fruit) system of practice; while the Gelug tradition emphasises the Lam Rim (graduated stages of the path) and the Guhyasamaja, Chakrasamvara, and Yamantaka tantras. I have listed out some other distinguishing features of each school below.

Nyingma
Traces its origins back to Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava, and the Abbot of Nalanda Monastery in India, Santarakshita who both arrived in Tibet upon the invitation of King Trisong Detsen. Unlike the other three traditions which classify tantra into four categories, the Nyingma tradition classifies tantra into nine categories. They also have two methods of lineage transmissions, the ‘long’ lineage, stemming from teacher to student in an unbroken tradition tracing back to various masters in India; and the ‘short’ lineage of receiving transmission from termas, or revealed teachings.

Kagyu
Traces its origins back to Marpa, whose teachers were the Indian Mahasiddhas Tilopa and Naropa. Marpa’s student Milarepa taught Gampopa who is credited with founding the tradition. The tradition emphasises the achievement of Mahamudra or the Great Seal through four progressive stages of meditation: (1) development of single pointed concentration, (2) transcending notions of conceptual reality, (3) cultivation of the perspective that all phenomena are of a ‘single taste’, and (4) the fruition of the path, which is beyond all contrived acts of meditation.

Sakya
Tracing its origins back to the Indian Mahasiddha Virupa, the tradition has five founding fathers: Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, Sonam Tsemo, Drakpa Gyaltsen, Sakya Pandita, and Chogyal Pakpa. Two major practices of the tradition include the Hevajra tantra and the Naro Kachoma form of Vajrayogini as stemming from Naropa. They have a distinctive presentation of the teachings, one which is based on sutra for the general public and the other based on tantra which is only taught privately.

Gelug
Traces its origins back to Lama Tsongkhapa, a great Tibetan master that combined the essential teachings from the Kadam lineage, together with Sakya and Kagyu doctrines including a presentation of the Lam Rim or Graduated Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, first espoused by Lama Atisha. These teachings are taken as the basis of practising Highest Yoga Tantra, which emphasises the union of bliss and emptiness. The Kechara Buddhist organisation belongs to this school.

This a very brief overview of the differences between the lineages. You can join any of these lineages. Most people have an affinity with one more than the other, and you should join the one that you are comfortable with, but make sure that you stick with it, and do not keep jumping between traditions. This is because they all present the path to enlightenment in different ways, and your practice can get confused if you switch. Though they all present the path in different ways, they all end up at the very same exact goal, enlightenment. Once you choose which tradition to follow, you should stick with it all the way. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Wanderer,

In regards to finding your root guru, students are advised to see how the guru behaves, if it is in accordance with Buddhist principles or not, if they are wise and compassionate and know how to guide their students to advance their spiritual journey. The qualities of such gurus are described in many text such as Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand by Pabongka Rinpoche and the 50 Verses of Guru Devotion by Ashvagosha. Using these as guidelines, you can check the actions of a guru and if they are in line with Buddhist principles. If they are, then the guru is someone who has put the Buddhist path into practice and transformed their minds to be beneficial as teachers. Similarly the teacher will also check the actions of the student to see if the student is sincere and motivated to transform their own mind according to the teachings of the holy Lord Buddha. Therefore, contrary to what some people believe, the student-teacher relationship is something that goes both ways.

In regards to the second part of your question, there is no overarching “Shugden” view of these Rinpoches and teachers. One would have to analyse the actions and teachers individually to see if they are in line with the Buddhist teachings or not. I do not have personal experience or knowledge about these teachers and their activities to comment on them, apart from Gangchen Rinpoche.

Gangchen Rinpoche is actually one of His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche’s own teachers, therefore we at Kechara regard him as one of our lineage lamas. In fact two of the important practices at Kechara, that of Black Manjushri and Loma Gyonma are due to the kindness of Gangchen Rinpoche bestowing them on Tsem Rinpoche, who has in turn preserved the practices and passed them on to some of his own students. Therefore, from our lineage and practice, Gangchen Rinpoche is an excellent guru, teacher and guide. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Manjushri Devotee,

Each of the four categories of tantric practice classify deities into different groups, often termed families. In the first of these two categories known as Kriya and Charya tantra, there are three Buddha families: the Tathagata family, the Lotus family, and the Vajra family.

Manjushri belongs to the Tathagata family, as does deities such as Buddha Shakyamuni. The Lotus family includes deities such as Amitabha, Avalokiteshvara, and Tara. While the Vajra family includes deities such as Vajrapani and Akshobhya.

The practices associated to the Tathagata family of deities primarily seek to transform ignorance and generate wisdom; practices associated with the Lotus family seek to transform desire and generate compassion; while practices associated with the Vajra family seek to transform anger and hatred and generate strong spiritual power. I hope this short explanation helps. Thank you.

Dear Drolma,

Thank you for asking such an interesting question. The current relic pills are either made from relics that have been kept preserved, or from using previous relic pills. Eventually over time these will as you rightly say run out. However the preciousness and efficacy of a relic pills comes through the blessings of the pill itself, the prayers and recitations done during their creation, as well as the small amounts of relics contained in them. Even so you are right, these holy pills are quite rare indeed.

There are some pills that there are millions of, these are made from previous pills, or usually when the pills are made, all the relics are not used. Someone very large pills are made at the beginning and then each of these larger pills are mixed with more ingredients, to create the thousands of smaller relic pills. Therefore, usually the monasteries have a store of these larger pills that they use to create more pills from.

There are holy Dorje Shugden pills, which are available here: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-holy-rilbu

These actually contain: Relics of Lama Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelugpa school of Tibetan Buddhism; Hair and clothes of H.H. the 10th Panchen Lama, who is considered to be an emanation of Amitabha Buddha; Relics of H.H. Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, who is considered to be an emanation of Heruka Chakrasamvara; Relics of H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, who is considered to be an emanation of Vajrayogini; Relics of H.E. Domo Geshe Rinpoche, who is considered to be an emanation of Lama Tsongkhapa; Hair and clothes of H.E. Denma Gonsa Rinpoche; Relics of the great master Trehor Chopon Rinpoche; Tantric water blessed by H.H. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche during his retreat; Ritual tormas from an extensive Dorje Shugden retreat; Water from holy places in India, Tibet and China; and many other holy and blessed items from lineage masters. Not only were these pilled highly blessed during the time of their creation, but they were again blessed with a Soongdrup ritual conducted at Kechara Forest Retreat by senior members of the Sangha as well. I hope this helps answer your question. Thank you.

Dear Li,

Thank you for your question. White Mahakala or more correctly 6-Armed White Mahakala is an emanation of Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion. As such you cannot go wrong when practicing White Mahakala. Though it is safe to practice White Mahakala without initiation, some prayer may require you to have some form on initiation or the actually initiation into the White Mahakala practice itself. It would be best to check with your Guru if you have one, as he or she will best know which of the prayers that you should recite. However, you can recite the mantra of White Mahakala without worry, in fact it is a very beneficial mantra. The mantra is: OM GURU MAHAKALA HARI NI SA SIDDHI DZA.

As you may already know, since you are asking about White Mahakala, the mantra and practice is extremely effective for gaining material and spiritual wealth, purifying the karma for experiencing poverty, and removing obstacles that block the flow of prosperity. The practice and manta also bestows powerful protection, increases positive energies, and help you to overcome life’s many challenges. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Tara,

Thank you for your very interesting question. There is a difference between these two deities. Varahi is the Hindu goddess who is part of the seven Matrikas mother goddess. She is considered the Shakti or consort of the Varaha or boar headed avatar of the god Vishnu. Therefore she is an emanation of Vishnu’s consort called Lakshmi, commonly referred to as the goddess of wealth and good fortune. More commonly, she is depicted holding the implements associated with either Vishnu or Lakshmi such as the discus, trident, sword, lotus, etc. She has the head of a sow.

Vajravarahi on the other hand is a form of Vajrayogini, and the consort of Heruka Chakrasamvara. Both are actually emanations of Buddha Shakyamuni. You can read more about the story of how they arose here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/twenty-four-holy-places-eight-great-charnel-grounds.html Rather than have a sow’s head, Vajravarahi has a human head, with a sow’s head coming out from the side of her head.

Although both Varahi and Vajravarahi may look similar, they are indeed very different. From a Buddhist perspective, one is a goddess (Varahi) and the other an enlightened being (Vajravarahi). They arose independently for different purposes, and the benefits of worshiping them are different as well. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Dongho,

As an emanation of Saraswati, Palden Lhamo is completed enlightened, therefore she knows what we are doing and thinking. Since you have received the Chod empowerment and practice, part of which is to make offerings to beings of the six realms including local deities, she will not ward them off or terrify them into running away. Even though Palden Lhamo ordinarily will grant practitioners protection from such beings if they are negative and intend harm, she will let them through during the Chod practice, and even make sure that they cannot harm you during the process. There is no reason to give up either of the practice, they do not conflict with each other in any way whatsoever, in fact they are very much complimentary to each other. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Jeffrey Morrison,

I am very sorry to read that you have been diagnosed with lung cancer. Yes, there are many healing practices with Tibetan Buddhism that may be able to help. There are many cases where people have been healed on their various physical illness due to the practice of Dorje Shugden, and it has extended their lives. Within Buddhism, everything that happens to us is based on our own karma whether positive or negative, therefore Buddhist practices overcome this by purifying the negative karma cause our ailments or by generating immense amounts of merits. The energy of this merit is able to hold back the force of negative karma from ripening completely until we can purify the negative karma in a more controlled manner through further practice. All Buddhist practice necessary involves these two aspects, the purification of negative karma and the accumulation of merit.

One of the five forms of Dorje Shugden is Shize, and is considered the emanation of the Dorje Shugden’s peaceful activity. This form of Dorje Shugden is well known as a healing deity and one that can extend your life. You can find a very informative post about the deity here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/dorje-shugden/shize-a-practice-for-healing-and-long-life.html The post also includes information on how to practise Shize Dorje Shugden and the prayers and visualisations to engage in. I have heard many people who have engaged in the practice have had good results.

Another excellent practice to engage in is the practice of Medicine Buddha if you feel an affinity with this practice. This is another excellent practice for healing and wellbeing. You can find the practice here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/medicine-buddha-practice.html

If you would like, you can also sponsor the Medicine Buddha puja here: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/medicine-buddha-puja-fund which can be dedicated towards your good health.

If you engage in the Shize practice sincere and with effort, you will begin to see things working out for your health, and even things like medical treatment becoming easier and obstacle free, depending on your karma. The enlightened energies of the Buddhas will definitely benefit you in many different ways, but is dependent on your karma. Therefore, as well as engaging in the practice, you should also strive to transform your mind to become a more compassionate person, and learn more of the Dharma. When you do this, the deity practices you engage in will be much more beneficial. I hope this helps, and I wish you luck in your medical treatment.

Dear Thorim,

Thank you for your question. Although I do not have a literally translation for the six-syllable White Manjushri mantra, it is one that is known to be extremely efficacious. Its six syllables are said to release you from rebirth in the six unfortunate realms or samsara, so in essence, can lead you to enlightenment. As it is a mantra of Manjushri, it helps to clear our delusions, ignorance, and helps us to gain the seven types of wisdom, which lead us out of suffering. Once we develop wisdom, it allows us to see how things really are, and how we create our own sufferings. When we are able to see and understand this, we are able better understand and have the drive to overcome the creation of this suffering, which is to follow the paths of wisdom and compassion taught by the enlightened beings. The mantra is also known to keep away demons, provide protection, and accomplish spiritual realisations. The mantra is associated with White Manjushri, who is also known as the Lord of Speech. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Tanja,

Thank you your question. As far as I am aware Jesus Christ is not mentioned in any of the classical Buddhist texts. That being said, if looking at the life and works of Jesus Christ, spreading the message of love, compassion, and acceptance, from a Buddhist point of view, he was a great being. I hope this helps.

Here are some links to articles on this blog that you may find interesting to read and watch:

https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/jesus-christ-and-gautama-buddha-similarities-and-differences.html

https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/a-vegetarian-jesus.html

https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/jesus-was-a-buddhist-monk-bbc-documentary.html

Thank you.

Dear Gary King,

Thank you for your question, and thank you for educating the next generation who will influence the world. The text book you have cited is somewhat in correct, and actually deals with one of the significant differences between the two world religions. While Hindu’s believe that the highest spiritual achievement is to re-unite with what the textbook calls “Great World Soul” or Brahman. This is basically the concept that the individual soul or “atman” is part of a greater whole and the goal of Hindu spiritual life is to re-unite with this greater whole. Therefore Hindu’s believe in an eternity of the soul or self. Buddhists, however, do not have this concept of the eternity of the soul. Rather Buddhists believe in transcending existence altogether, which is known as complete enlightenment.

Hindus also worship gods and goddesses who are believed to be the embodiments of the concept of this “Great World Soul”. On the other hand, even though the Buddha did not explicitly deny the existence of such gods and goddesses, the Buddha preached that it is futile to search for or seek something which an individual is not even aware of.

Experiencing the world after having been extremely sheltered for the majority of his life by his father, the king, Prince Siddhartha became disillusioned and sought the truth. After undergoing many austerities and meditation, the prince discovered the truth and became enlightened. Thereafter he was forever known as the Buddha or awakened one. The Buddha went on to preach that life is full of many types of sorrows and the only way that one can overcome these is to attain the state of nirvana or enlightenment which transcends existence itself. This is in contrast to the belief that in Hinduism that one unites with Brahman.

Though both religions believe in karma, or the theory that good actions with good motivations lead to positive states of being, while bad actions with bad motivation lead to negative states of being, there have differences. In Buddhism karma can only truly be negated once you have attained enlightenment, whereas in Hinduism it is attained through unification with Brahman.

The Hindu path is marked by various forms of yoga and meditation aimed at a union with a particular god, and demand fulfilling the duties of your position in the human world and culture, prayer, devotion and knowledge. The Buddhist path is marked by the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Noble Path, and the Six Paramitas, the understanding that existences is permeated with suffering, that these sufferings are due to desires, that the search for eternity only worsens human suffering and that in order to attain nirvana once must overcome the mistake desires.

In essence Hindu’s believe in the concept of an eternal soul and the “Great World Soul” as the text book you mention labels it, whereas Buddhism denies the existence of an eternal soul. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Hello,

Thank you for your question. This is really a tough question for sure. In my opinion, if you were to condense everything into one instruction this would be the Six Paramitas or the Six Perfections. These are the development of (1) generosity, (2) discipline, (3) patience, (4) joyous effort, (5) meditative concentration, and (6) wisdom. Even teachings as comprehensive of the Buddhist path such as Lam Rim (Graduated Stages on the Path to Enlightenment) focus on the development of these six qualities, which are emphasised on the Mahayana path again and again.

In fact, the importance of the development of these qualities are emphasised in the previous lives of Buddha Shakyamuni. These stories are recorded down as the Jataka Tales and portray how Buddha Shakyamuni cultivated these qualities over three countless aeons. Knowing the stories of Buddha Shakyamuni’s previous lives are meant to show us the importance of these qualities in our own spiritual paths. But I am sure if you were to ask someone else, their answer may be different and equally as valid. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Marcel,

Thank you for your very interesting question. I am very happy to read that you would like to pray to Vajrayogini. In fact, in praying to and making offerings to Vajrayogini, you not only gain tremendous amounts of merit as she is a fully enlightened being, but also create a strong connection with Vajrayogini. This connection can even lead you to receiving her practice in the future and also accomplishing spiritual attainments through her practice.

His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche has given a very powerful teaching on Vajrayogini practice for those who do not have initiation, which you can find here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/starting-on-vajra-yogini-now.html. It is especially for those who want to create a stronger connection with Vajrayogini and is very powerful. There is another post here https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/vajrayogini-the-powerful-divine-red-lady.html which gives a lot more information about Vajrayogini and her practice and is intended for those without initiation.

There is also a tea offerings to Vajrayogini available here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/tea-offering-to-vajrayogini-for-the-1st-time.html. And also a very potent aspiration prayer to Vajrayogini available here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/tsarchen-losal-gyatso-lineage-holder-of-vajrayoginis-tantra.html. These two last prayers are also very potent in creating a strong connection with Vajrayogini, which can create the causes of receiving her practice in the future.

All of the above posts contain prayers or praises that you can engage daily to create this connection with Vajrayogini without initiation. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Thorim,

Thank you for your question, it is good to see you here again. All Manjushri practices help to improve one’s memory. Yes, you are right about Manjushri’s practice. In fact any form of Manjushri is excellent for clearing our delusions and ignorance, and for gaining wisdom. Improving one’s memory is another benefit of Manjushri’s practice in any of his forms. The improvement of one’s memory and also of our intelligence occurs on many levels, including the highest spiritual level. At the highest level Manjushri helps us to develop penetrative insight which allows us to understand our current situation in samsara and how we continually perpetuate this situation throughout all our lifetimes, and ultimate how to overcome this situation so that we can evolve spiritually and attain enlightenment. There are many posts about Manjushri on this blog, I have included some links where you can learn more below:

Here is the sadhana of White Manjushri, https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/white-manjushri-sadhana.html

Here is a sadhana of Orange Manjushri, which was originally composed by His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/orange-manjushri-a-meditation-by-the-5th-dalai-lama.html

And here is a very comprehensive article on Manjushri https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/all-about-manjushri.html

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Johnny,

Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear that your friend is sick, but he is very lucky to have a friend like you who can share these immensely powerful practices with him. The aspect of visualisation can be very frustrating for beginners, especially with practices like the 35 Confessional Buddhas simply because there is so much visualisation involved.

Within Buddhism for a practice to be the most beneficial, one needs to engage what are known as the ‘three doors’ – these are one’s body, speech and mind. In order to engage the body, traditionally you sit in full lotus meditation posture, however this may not always be possible due to physical difficulties, especially is the person is suffering from illness. In this case, the best way to engage the body is to sit as comfortably but alert as possible in a quiet place, preferably in front of an altar or image of any of the enlightened beings. In order to engage the speech, one simply recites the prayers, and in order to engage the mind, one engages in the accompanying visualisations. However since your friend has difficulty visualising at the moment, he should just do the recitation. Even that in itself has great benefit. If appropriate your friend should get an image or statue of Chenrezig, and an image of the 35 Confessional Buddhas. You can find free downloadable pictures of deities here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/downloads/buddha-images.html. Ask you friend to find the picture(s) that are most attractive to him. He can focus on the image when reciting the prayers instead of visualising for now. The Buddhas operate from enlightened compassion, therefore if one has the correct motivation and is sincere, this creates a connection so that their energies can flow into our lives.

Visualisation itself is a form of meditation, and as with all forms of meditation, as the practice seeks to calm the mind, obstacles will arise. This is even more so when a person is sick, as you mentioned. I would like to suggest that your friend still continue reciting the mantras and prayers, but not to force the visualisation too much for now. It can be very difficult at first and one can only get used to through repeated effort and practice.

Instead, I would like to suggestion that your friend engage in the Nine Round Breathing Mediation before reciting the prayers. This will help calm your friends mind in general, and also help in your friend’s healing process as it helps to purify the body as well. I have include His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche’s instructions on the basic breathing meditation below. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Basic Nine Round Breathing Meditation

Have your eyes either open a little bit or closed, whichever is better for you.

Relax your shoulders, have your hands on your lap with the right on top of the left; two thumbs touching; arms slightly away from your sides, hanging loosely by your sides.

Your mouth and jaw should be relaxed. Chine tucked in a little bit. Place the tongue on the roof of the mouth behind the upper teeth and breathe normally with a natural, steady rhythm.

Now let’s start the nine round breathing meditation.

Using your right hand, your right index finger blocks off the left nostril while you are breathing in through the right nostril.

Just let your breath come in slowly and steadily, pause for a moment, then block off the right nostril and breathe out the left nostril. Do this slowly and steadily three times, in through the right and out through the left.

Focus completely on the breathing, on the sensation of the nostrils as you are breathing in and out.

For the next three breaths keep your right nostril blocked and breathe in through the left and then move your finger to block off the left and breathe out through the right. So breath in through the left and out through the right, three times.

For the last three breaths bring your hands back to your lap and breathe through both nostrils evenly, slowly and gently.

Pause for a moment and then exhale through both nostrils, keeping your mind fully focused on the breath, on the sensations, as you breathe in and out. Continue to breath normally and bring into your mind a positive motivation for doing the meditation.

Think “I am going to do this meditation in order to work on my mind, to be a more positive, beneficial person for others, for the world. May this meditation bring more peace and happiness to others, to the world.’

Once you have generated a positive motivation bring your awareness back to your breathing and just be aware of each inhalation and exhalation of breath.

Let your attention ride or float on the breath similar to the way you would float on the surface of the ocean where there are gentle waves coming and going. Stay floating on the surface flowing with the wave, coming and going, flowing in and out, just let your attention rest or float on the gentle rolling rhythm of the breathing.

Now move your attention away from the breathing to the mind itself, that which is aware of breathing. In other words instead of being aware of the breath, which is the object of your mind, the object of your awareness, become aware of the mind itself, the awareness itself, that which is observing the breath, experiencing the breath.

The mind is like space or like sky, completely clear, not solid, and vast, spacious and unlimited. Try to get a sense of how your mind is like that, like this clear, vast and spacious sky.

The things that we are aware of, the thoughts, images, memories and so on, are similar to the clouds that pass through the sky, they’re not always there but they appear and after a while they disappear.

If there are thoughts appearing in your mind while you are sitting here doing this mediation, thoughts, memories, images, or if you hear sounds or feel sensations in your body, think that these are just like clouds, passing through this space or clear sky of your mind.

Let them come and let them go, realise that they are only momentary and not solid, they just come and go. Let them go and return your awareness to the mind itself, which is like the clear spacious sky. See if you can get a sense of identifying with this clear space-like nature of the mind. In other words feel, “this is the real me, this is my real nature, who I really am”.

Rather than identifying yourself with the temporary clouds of thoughts and emotions that passed through your mind, see if you can realise those as mental events, things that come and go in the mind.

They are not you and not who you really are. Let them go and identify with the clear space-like nature of your mind, your awareness, so that you are the sky, not the clouds.

Before opening your eyes mentally dedicate the merit or positive energy for doing this meditation. In the same way you motivated at the beginning, may this mediation be beneficial for others, may it bring greater peace, happiness, and benefit to other beings, to the world.

So dedicate the effort that you made and the positive energy you have created from doing the meditation to that goal.

Hello Kunga Dhondup,

It is good to see you here again, you ask good questions. The difference between a refuge lama and a root guru, is due to the role that the label is associated with. A refuge lama, is the lama that you took your original refuge vows from, where as your root guru is the guru that you consider the most important in your life and is usually the one who has given you the most teachings.

For most people who become Buddhist, this is usually the same person. For example, in my own case His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche is my refuge lama because I received my Buddhist refuge from him, and also my root guru because he is the guru that has given me the most Dharma teachings and practices.

However, in the cases when a person has more than one guru, the role may be different. For example, I have a friend who took refuge with a lama many years ago when she was a teenager, but then didn’t practice much during that time. Later in life, her refuge lama introduced her to another guru, who ended up becoming her root guru because she received most of her Dharma, practices and knowledge from him.

It is not necessary to spend 12 years with your lama before receiving empowerment. In fact this is not a practice that is commonly followed these days. However, this was a guideline given by practitioners of the past to ensure the student was sure that they wanted to create a close spiritual bond with this master and to ensure that this master was actually practicing the Dharma without other motivations. In essence, if you have watched the activities of your teacher well over time, and have come to a firm decisions after having known the Dharma and how a practitioners should behave and what they do, then you can request to become a student of the lama. It is during this period as well, that the lama will also check the student to see if they are ready for such a relationship as well.

Since you have taken refuge already within the Sakya Ngor tradition, you should contact your lama’s centre to find out more information on guru devotion, and to ensure that what you are practicing matches what you guru suggests for you. I hope this helps.

Thank you

Dear Bryan,

You have asked a very interesting question, thank you. I am very sorry to read about your wallet being stolen, I know how difficult that can be. There is no negative sign in this whatsoever, and there will be no negative effect for you either. The Buddhas, or enlightened beings, operate from the highest form of compassion, so there is no danger or anything bad happening because of this. There is no negative effect because the enlightened beings, such as Dzambhala do not punish people.

You see, the Buddhas do not have emotions like we do so they do not get angry or sad like we do to punish people. Neither is there a karmic law in which you will be punished or suffer because someone stole it from you or that it got lost.

In fact, even though it may seem negative, you should turn it around to be positive. The person who stole your wallet now has something very holy. When they see the images and touch the holy items, even if they do not keep them, good imprints will be planted in their mindstream. Later in this life or future lives, these imprints will open up so they will practice the Dharma and benefit others. So you see this is not negative, you should think of it as positive. Because even though the act itself was negative, ultimately it will have a positive impact. I hope this helps.

Thank you

Dear Thorim,

Thank you for your question. Depending on which sadhana of Chenrezig you practicing, the visualisation will differ. You should check with the guru who gave you the practice, or if you do not have empowerment and are using a general sadhana, you should check with the centre that you got the sadhana from.

However, if you are just reciting a general prayer to Chenrezig with his mantra, you can use the following visualisation which His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche used to do when he was younger. As you recite the prayer and mantra you visualise Chenrezig smiling lovingly at you. When you look at him, from our side, his left hand holds a mala, right hand a lotus, and two hands folded at his heart level holding a wishfulfilling jewel in between. His black hair flows down over his shoulders, and the other half is tied up on his head which is adorned with a jewelled crown.

He wears the robes of an Indian prince, made of silk, which covers part of his upper body, and a silk skirt. He sits in full lotus position atop a bright pink lotus. His body is white like snow, and shines with a brilliant light. Millions of light rays shine from his body and fill your body and the environment. You feel peaceful and at harmony with the environment, your body, your emotions and your mind. Holding this visualisation you recite as many Om Mani Peme Hung mantras as you like.

You can couple this with the meditation known as Tonglen, which means “taking and giving”. In this practice, we generate the motivation to take on the sufferings of others and given them back happiness and compassion. This is when you visualise all the pain and suffering of sentient beings coming into your body when you breathe in. And when you breathe out compassionate and positive energy shines out of your body and reaches all sentient beings.

To begin with you can do the practice and focus on someone you care about or wish to help that are going through a difficult time. Then extend to those you love. Then you can extend it to someone you see on the street, or at work. And then finally you can do it for those you consider to be your enemy as well. In all these cases, the people are freed from all their sufferings and you visualise that they receive the compassion and positive energy.

These two are very general visualisations and techniques you can use. However, as I mentioned earlier, depending on the sadhana of Chenrezig you are practicing, you should follow the visualisation associated with that particular practice. I hope this helps.

Thank you