Dear Demian,

Thank you for your question. Concentration during one’s daily prayers is an important factor. Within Buddhism, we believe that there are three ways in which a person interacts with the world, these are the body, speech and mind. In order to receive the full benefit of the practice you engage in, you should ensure that all three of these are used. For the body, this is by sitting down to engage in your daily practice without getting distracted. The best posture for this is the meditation position known as the seven-point Vairochana position, this is described in detail in the text Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand. For your speech, you engage in reciting the prayers and the mantra recitation. And for the mind, you concentrate in the various visualisations associated with the practice you are engaging in.

Even though you have been praying without the use of concentration, it has still been effective since Saraswati is an enlightened being. She has full compassion, and will definitely bestow her energies and love to those who invoke upon her with a pure heart and good motivation. However, if you do concentrate on both your visualisation and the mantra recitation, the practice will be more effective and you will see a heightened improvement in your life.

In regards to the visualisation of Saraswati according to the praise by Jamyang Khyentse Chokyi Lodro, this actually belongs to the practice of another lineage, therefore I cannot comment on its validity, as I don’t belong to the lineage to have studied its origins and how it differs from the praise presented here on Rinpoche’s blog. That being said, each lineage has its own version of the visualisation of deities, and this in inherently linked to the particular praise. Therefore if you were to recite one particular praise or practice, you should keep the visualisation to the one that corresponds with it.

The 8 offerings can be placed on the altar as physical offerings, but should also be visualised. The reason why we place the actually offerings on the altar is to make a physical offering with our body, as well as a reminder that we make these offerings during our visualisations. If you are not able to make the physical offerings on your altar for whatever reason, this is ok. However you should try your best to have these offerings since it is a way for you to generate merit. The last offering of sound, is usually represented by the conch shell but can be anything that resembles sound, such as any instrument. For example, I know people who represent sound with a miniature flute or even a miniature guitar on their altars.

In regards to the Nam Myoho Renge Khyo mantra, this is central to all forms of Nichiren Buddhism, which developed in Japan but is now practiced all over the world. It is said this mantra embodies the entire Lotus Sutra, which in itself explains what enlightenment is and the path to reach enlightenment, following Nichiren’s particular practice. Therefore this mantra is all encompassing, and central to the Nichiren tradition. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Anonymous,

You seem to have fallen into a common misconception in regards to tantric practice. The first is that you seem to be mixing different tantric traditions, the Buddhist practice of tantra and secondly, what is classified as ‘tantra’ within a misunderstanding of various Indian practices surrounding copulation. Buddhist tantra is not straight or gay per se, but uses male and female imagery in order to represent various energies in the body.

In regards to tantric practice, it is not the actual act of copulation that leads to enlightenment but the movement of the psychic winds or energies in the body that the act can induce, and the various mediations to do with these energies in the body.

The Buddha taught these practices himself, in various forms, such as Vajradhara. While it may seem to the casual observer that this does not accord to prevalent Buddhist practice, it is actually based on the Mahayana tenets and is a part of the Mahayana school.

In regards to different lineages having different practices for the same deity, actually this is important. The reason for is that the blessings of the enlightened beings, and therefore the power of the teaching to be successful in leading to higher states of mind and ultimately enlightenment, flows through the unbroken lineage that exists between a teacher and student. Over time, as various enlightened teachers clarified the tantras, there developed a variation in how the tantra was practiced between different traditions. Therefore a practitioner of lineage A, would not practice as described in lineage B, because that practitioner would not have received the teachings or blessings of the lineage B. This may sound odd, but in fact adheres to all other Buddhist practices regarding vows. For example, in Mahayana monastic ordination there are three traditions: Mahasamgika, Dharmagupta and Sarvastivadin. Those who have taken ordination in the Dharmagupta tradition would not practice the vinaya, study the commentaries, etc. according to the Sarvastivadin, as they would have received the living vows from the Dharmagupta tradition. The vows and blessings, and practice, would need an unbroken link back to Buddha Shakyamuni to be authentic Buddhist ordination vows. Therefore not mixing traditions, is something that is extremely important, not only in tantric practice but for all practices, such as the pratimoksha vows.

The next question you asked is about desire, and what desiring to look at a sunset would cause. While on the outer level this desire seems simple and does not involve harm towards others, therefore will not accrue heavy negative karma, this simple desire reinforces your suffering on the subtle levels in the mind. This is because it reinforces our ignorance of the very nature of reality. Our desire to see a sunset is due our mistaken concept of the non-existent ‘I’ wanting something. This ‘I’ does not in fact exist in the manner we think about or operate from. This was the crux of Buddha’s teaching and when you realise this, you are said to have realised the emptiness of non-inherent existence.

Guru Rinpoche did not have four consorts, but five. They are named Yeshe Tsogyal, Mandarava, Shakyadevi, Kalasiddhi and Tashi Khyidren. He in no way used these holy consorts, who were emanations of the enlightened beings, as prostitutes. In fact they aided him in his enlightened works to preserve and spread the Dharma, while compassionately helping others. They showed that any type of person can achieve the enlightened state. On another note, what you class as holy, and what is actually holy are two different things. Here you use the word prostitute with an extremely negative connotation, but this shows that you have not understood the Buddha’s message of love and compassion, and the same equal ability that we all have to achieve enlightenment, no matter who we are.

In regards to the iconography of Ganapati, you are disgusted because a) you do not understand the meaning behind the iconography and b) because you are caught up in your own preconceived notions of what is good and bad, which the Buddha advised against as you will not understand the true nature of reality and ultimately attain enlightenment. Perhaps from your culture, this sort of deity is not worshipped, but in many cultures around the world, especially the older ones, this sort of imagery is not uncommon.

Vajrayana is in no way ‘messed up’ as you have put it. In fact it is because people do not take the time to understand it before passing judgement, and based on their mistaken concepts, that it is judged exactly as you have judged it. By the way, Vajrayogini is a form of Buddha Shakyamuni himself. To say that Buddha Shakyamuni would never arise in such a form, or teach such a practice is to limit the compassion of an enlightened being. You cannot possibly ascribe your own views onto a being that has limitless compassion and is ready to help all sentient beings in any number of ways.

As I mentioned earlier, Vajrayana is based on the Mahayana school, which is necessarily based on the Theravada school. Therefore you cannot possibly say that one is better than the other. Within the Mahayana school, the Vajrayana path is said to expedite the spiritual journey to enlightenment, but attacking and using the afflictive emotions that bind us to samsara. This is one of the reasons that tantric imagery is full of what can be mistakenly labeled as desire, violence, etc. You state that these other schools have vows, but what you forget is that tantra is based on these very same vows. Whilst Mahayana practitioners take the refuge and bodhisattva vows, tantric practice is even stricter as there is another entire set of vows that one needs to keep in addition to those previously mentioned.

In fact the use of physical consort is not necessary in tantric practice to achieve enlightenment in this life. You can visual a consort (ideal for monastics who practice tantra) or achieve the same exact movement of the winds through the practice of inner heat meditation. In fact, engaging in physical consort practice is restricted to those who are not monastics, and who have received the appropriate Highest Yoga Tantra initiation, and who are of the sharpest intellect with an excellent understand of the sutric path and who have practiced it, and who are known to have meditative stabilization and control over their desire. If these requirements are not met, the practice rather than being beneficial on the spiritual path, will deteriorate and bind the person further to samsara. This is one of the reasons that tantric practice is kept secret, even though it has the potential to lead a practitioner to enlightenment, it also has the potential to bind a person further to samsara. That is the reason why the teachings are not freely given.

Lama Tsongkhapa the founder of the Gelugpa lineage, himself a very holy monk and master of sutra, was also a very accomplished tantric practitioner. He advocated for the monastic community to adhere to their vows, so was against engaging in tantra using a physical consort for non-lay practitioners. Instead he focused on the other methods of achieving the same results. Therefore your statement that the other schools are better than Vajrayana is somewhat mistaken.

Both enlightened beings and non-enlightened beings have mantras. I’m not sure where you read that only enlightened beings have mantras. However, if the statement is amended, then it becomes true – only enlightened beings have mantras that can bring you to enlightenment yourself. Unenlightened beings have mantras that are used to invoke their energies for other aspects of life, such as bringing material resources for survival and sustenance, or for clearing obstacles for the actual practice of the Buddha’s teachings. I hope this clarified any misunderstanding you may have had. Thank you.

Dear Demian,

Thank you for your question. Buddhist practice is not about keeping oneself spiritual ‘pure’, but is more about doing good things and lessening bad actions. The transformation in daily life revolves around two things, as does the path to ultimate enlightenment. This is the development of both compassion and wisdom. When you engage in these two, you necessarily purify negative karma that you have accumulated and generate good karma or merits at the same time.

To do this, one follows the path of the Dharma, coupled with deity practices. The emphasis here is not on deity practice (although it is an integral part), but actual transformation in one’s life. It can be boiled down to this: helps others and learn more. When we make this real transformation in life, and face whatever challenges that may come our way (as they are the results of our negative karma), we become spiritually ‘pure’.

This path of transformation is set out in the book called Liberation in the Palm of Your Hands, which you can find at book shops that have a large section on Buddhism, otherwise it is available online here: http://www.vajrasecrets.com/lamrim-liberation-in-the-palm-of-your-hand. This book is a little technical for beginners, so a more accessible option would be the book called Joyful Path to Good Fortune, which is a simplified version.

Two very powerful practices that you can engage in everyday, coupled with the transformation mentioned above, are Vajrasattva (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=60113) and the 35 Confessional Buddhas (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/?p=105819), to purify the negative karma you collect on a daily basis and whatever negative karma you have collected in the past. You do not need to engage in both, but concentrate on one.

When on the Buddhist path, you should follow one teacher and one tradition. This is to ensure you do not have a misunderstanding of the teachings and do not get confused. Therefore you should choose which teacher/teachings to follow. The link you have provided to the Saraswati practice belongs to another tradition, one that I have not studied, and neither am I familiar with it. Therefore I cannot possibly comment on it. However, in Buddhist practice, all authentic lineages must trace back to the Buddha or other enlightened beings. You should do some research to make sure that the practice does indeed trace back to the enlightened beings and is therefore an authentic practice. Rather than practice too many things, you should research yourself and then choose a tradition/lineage to follow all the way until you are enlightened. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear James,
Buddha has never talked about a creator God in the same way Christianity preaches. However, he did mention a type of existence in which we can take rebirth in, where we have absolute power and pleasure – the deva/god realm. However, this realm is not permanent and one who has taken rebirth there can still perish and take rebirth elsewhere as one is still bound by cyclic existence of death and rebirth.

Buddhists believe that for those who experience near death experience see an angel, Jesus Christ, Buddha, father, mother, loved one or God that comes at end of the tunnel is really a manifestation of our subtle mind. It is not real but a mental process that happens upon death and we are about to enter into the bardo or the intermediate state between death and rebirth. After that, it is our pulling karma that propels us to take our next rebirth.

Karma is the result of our actions and that is what creates all of the experiences we go through in this and future lives. The only way to save ourselves is to change our actions right now and to do this, we have to transform our mind. Hence, the Buddha gave detailed explanations and teachings of how to do this. There is no miracle quick fixes in Buddhism but there are very powerful and effective methods to purify karma and transform our mind.

I cannot comment on what some people perceive upon conducting certain rituals as the experience is uniquely their own but as human beings, we are prone to interpret what we see according to our views instead of what it really is. I hope this explanation helped you.

Thank you.

Dear Sherab,
I do not have Saraswati’s sadhana but there is a praise and mantra that you can recite as a sadhana in the prayers and sadhana section of Rinpoche’s blog. You can search there if you are interested. (Click here – https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html ) The mantra from our tradition is OM SARASIDDHI HRING HRING and it depends which authentic tradition of Saraswati you want to get connected to.

An example of Saraswati is Lama Tsongkhapa who received her initiation and practiced her sadhana devotedly. He had constant visions of her as a result of his practice. If you want to seek out the initiation and practice of Saraswati, it would be good to get in contact a center with a proper lineage master and not just an online resource. You can contact a Tibetan monastery in India or a centre that is headed by an authentic lineage master and closest to you for more information.

Otherwise, you can just connect with Saraswati using the prayer and mantra offered here in the prayers and sadhana section. The proper visualization would depend on the sadhana and lineage you are practicing. Do not mix and match visualizations and mantras from across various traditions because each complete sadhana is designed to achieve a certain result and mixing them up will put you in danger of having no result from your practice.

Abortion is considered an act of killing a being. In the Buddhist view, the mind has already entered and taken rebirth upon conception and purposely aborting the foetus is tantamount to killing the unborn baby. Hence, there is heavy karmic repercussions but there are circumstances in which abortion is required in which the birth will create serious problems for the parent and these and other cases where there can be an exception and abortion is required. It really depends on the circumstances of the abortion.

With regards to Methar and unenlightened deities, its not that they are bad but as Buddhist, we do not take refuge in them because they themselves have not reached enlightenment and cannot guide us in that sense. The practice of Methar is not meant for people to have him as a sole practice or worship but as something that supplements our current protector practice of Dorje Shugden. Just to give you an idea of what that means – Sometimes, we don’t go to the minister (Dorje Shugden) to solve our smaller day-to-day worries, we go to one of his subordinates (Methar).

Hindu enlightenment is called Moksha, a liberation from death and rebirth. In the Buddhist tradition, there is Nirvana with a similar definition. However, there are technical differences in the views between the 2 traditions, mainly stemming from the Hindu belief of the soul (atman) and the Buddhist rejection of it. Anyway, Nirvana or cessation is not the final destination for Buddhists, it is actually complete Enlightenment or it is sometimes called the Union of No More Learning in which we have overcome the 2 obscurations and have completely realized Bodhichitta and Emptiness. There is no equivalent in Hinduism. I hope this explanation helps you.

Thank you.

Dear Johnson,

Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear about the situation between yourself and your friend. All situations we go through in life come about and are caused by the effects of our karma, whether positive or negative. This karma has been accumulated from actions we have done in the past, either in this life or in previous lives. Mantras or prayers work on two levels, the first is that they purify this negative karma, and also generate merit, which is a tremendous force of positive energy. Combined, these can reverse negative situations we are facing and increase the positive and beneficial energy within our lives.

In this situation I would like to suggest that you engage in the joint practice of Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden. Lama Tsongkhapa is known as the emanation of Manjushri, the Buddha of wisdom; Chenrezig, the Buddha of compassion; and Vajrapani, the Buddha of spiritual power. As such his practice is extremely beneficial, calming the mind and increasing harmony within your life and your relationships. Dorje Shugden, is a Dharma protector, whose practice helps to overcome obstacles you may be facing. This can include being on bad terms with people, and as long as beings friends with this person will be a positive thing for you, the practice can help. The practice is available here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden.

When you engage in the prayers, you should set a good motivation that the karma that has led to this situation is purified and merit is generated. You should also make strong dedications at the end of the prayers. When you do this, even though you are engaging in this for your own relationship with your friend, you should meditate on the fact that other people also face this same sort of situation or even worse. You should develop the thought that you engage in this practice so that all other sentient beings can be free of such situations as well. That way you transform the practice from something that focuses on the self (your relationship with your friend) to something that focuses on others (that they never face the same situation). This may be hard to do at first, but focusing out will help the purification of negative karma.

Coupled with this, you can help this process by engaging in actions that counter the original situation. For example, at the moment, you are on bad terms with your friend, most probably due to misunderstanding causing disharmony. Therefore, you should endeavor to bring others in your life that are going through the same type of situation together. As you heal the rift between people, you generate the good karma to have harmonious relationships yourself. However, don’t go out to find situations, look at the people in your life and make the relationships between people stronger. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Sharab,

Thank you for your extensive questions.

You are right that some lists of the 21 Taras (depending on which lineage and tradition) include both Ushnisha Vijaya and Saraswati. In this case, are both considered to be part of Tara. Though they appear in different forms, to aid practitioners in different ways along their spiritual path, they are both enlightened beings. In fact all the Buddhas, whatever their form are the same in their nature, they are all enlightened. The difference is that they emanate in various forms to help practitioners, because sentient beings have differing karma and afflictions. The Buddhas emanate in different form to help sentient beings in the ways they need help the most.

Saraswati is indeed a very good practice to engage in for a student and for learning music. These are two areas that the practice of Sarawati is particular suited. However, the part you wrote about enemies does not accord to Buddhist practice. The two major areas that you need to train in to reach enlightenment are wisdom and compassion. No matter what how much you train in one, without the other enlightenment is impossible. Therefore, to ‘deal’ with enemies on a deeper level, means to examine and transform your own mind, so that you can forgive any harm that has been inflicted on you and move on. Rather you should develop compassion for them. Saraswati’s practice can you in this way, as her practice can help you increase wisdom, which you can use to transform your own mind. Dorje Shugden’s practice is beneficial to remove obstacles in both your secular and spiritual life. As an emanation of Manjushri, you will have the added benefit of increasing wisdom, but Dorje Shugden’s practice is more geared towards the removal of obstacles. Saraswati’s practice is more geared towards study, music and composition.

While Palden Lhamo is an emanation of Saraswati, her form and function is different. Therefore the benefits of the practice are also different. I’ve already mentioned Saraswati’s benefits, Palden Lhamo on the other hand is a Dharma protector just like Dorje Shugden. Therefore her practice is also geared towards the removal of obstacles. Therefore it is the benefits you receive from the practice in your spiritual journey that is different.

In regards to making offerings, yes you are right. When you make offerings to Manjushri, you are making offerings to all the forms of Manjushri. For example if you make offerings to Manjushri, you are making offerings to Lama Tsongkhapa and also Yamantaka as they are emanations of Manjushri. In essence they are all the same being, and by extension of being a Buddha, the same in nature of all enlightened beings. Therefore no matter what your personal practices are, it is extremely beneficial to make offerings to any enlightened being.

Someone asked about Chinnamasta and Vajrayogini recently here as well. You are right that one form of Vajrayogini is the headless form of Vajrayogini, who is known as Chinnamasta. Overtime, her form became incorporated into the Hindu pantheon of goddess as a form of Shakti, the consort of the god Shiva. When referring to the mantras of deities, one needs to check the lineage and where it comes from. Whereas I know that the Vajrayogini mantra comes from the Buddha through an unbroken lineage of enlightened masters, I do not know this about the Hindu mantra. Therefore I can only say that the Buddhist mantra is the mantra of Vajrayogini.

In regards to the Hindu form of Chinnamasta, she is considered to be a goddess, and not a Buddha. Whereas in Buddhism she is known as a Buddha rather than a goddess. The practices in each religion would subsequently differ. This would go to show that the Hindu form of Chinnamasta and subsequently the various other forms of the gods and goddesses are not the Hindu forms of the Buddhas. Gods/goddesses are always defined as such and Buddhas are always identified as Buddhas. It is entirely up to you and your spiritual practice if you want to recite the Hindu mantras of these deities. From a Buddhist perspective there is nothing wrong with this, but you will not reach the goal that Buddhists aim for, which is enlightenment, because the functions of the mantra differ.

Shiva is indeed a god and not a Buddha. As mentioned, when Chinnamasta was integrated into, as a goddess and not a Buddha, she became the consort of Shiva within Hinduism. Therefore in Hinduism, both Chinnamasta and her consort are not enlightened beings, but are the from the highest realm of the gods.

In regards to the Vajrayogini mantra, since her practice belongs to the Highest Yoga Tantra class of deities, her mantra is not shared with those who have not received the empowerment for many reasons. Therefore I cannot comment on what Vajrayogini’s mantra is.

The best practices for those in middle school and high school, would be Manjushri, Saraswati and Dorje Shugden. These practice are extremely beneficial for students, the first two are specifically aimed at increasing wisdom and doing well in study, when Dorje Shugden’s practice is for the removal of obstacles, which important for students, especially during exam time,etc. You can find a short prayer to Manjushri here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/gangloma.html and a short prayer to Saraswati here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html#16. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Hing,

Thank you for your interesting question. Kapala’s are ceremonial skull-cups used to hold offerings during tantric rituals to the various Buddha deities and Dharma protectors. The consecrated liquid inside a kapala is known as the ‘inner offering’. It is consecrated through meditation, transforming it into a special substances used as an offering. Generally speaking the kapala used in ritual is a symbolic support for various visualisations and meditations in the tantric path. Most commonly, only one kapala is used.

A men-rak kapala is actually a set of two kapalas. In some traditions and lineages the use of a kapala may differ within the same ritual, therefore two are required instead of one. The ‘men kapala’ symbolises nectar and is representative of the male energies and compassion, whereas the ‘rakta kapala’ symbolises blood and is representative of female energies and wisdom. The substances used in each kapala differ, as do the pills that are put into them before consecration. During the ceremony, the inner offering from each will be used at different times for different purposes. If you are sitting at your puja table, the men kapala would be placed on the right side, while the rakta kapala would be placed on your left side. When both the men and rakta kapalas are mentioned in a pair, they are known as a ‘men-rak kapala’ set. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Hello,

Thank you for your question. I am sorry to hear about your situation, but I am happy to read that you are pursuing a career in medicine. This will help alleviate a lot of people’s suffering if you go all the way with your plans.

In regards to your situation, I understand that it is a difficult one. If I may, there are two suggestions that I would like to offer you. The first is to complete your premed course, and then find a job, earn enough money to pay back your debt and then continue on to the medical school of your choice. The second, is to see if you can support yourself financially and pay back your debt, while you are at the medical school of your choice. You should contact them and ask them if this is a possibility. These are just some suggestions. You should think about the situation clearly and then start finding various ways that could help the situation.

While you are doing this you can engage in the practice of a Dharma protector such as Dorje Shugden. Dharma protectors help to alleviate problems we may be facing so that we can pursue virtuous work, such as spiritual transformation or in your case, studying medicine. If done with a very good motivation, and we put effort into our work, then it will have a very beneficial impact in your life. You can find information about the practice here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden.

As you are studying medicine, you can also pray to Medicine Buddha, who is a very well-known healing Buddha. His energy will support your studies and when you have finished getting your qualifications, will help to ensure that your diagnosis and treatments are successful in healing the patient’s disease: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/medicine-buddha-practice.html. I hope this helps.

Dear David,

Thank you for your question. The meaning of the word ‘chintau’ may be ‘wish-fulfilling’. That being said I am not 100% sure, as the main Shize mantras used in Kechara are ‘OM BENZA WIKI BITANA SHANTI SIDDHI HUNG’ and ‘OM BENZA WIKI BITANA AYU SIDDHI HUNG’. Therefore I have not studied the meaning of the third variation of the Shize mantra in details to give you an extensive definition. Thank you.

Dear Sameer,

I’m sorry to hear that your friend’s sister is suffering from Schizophrenia. The best course of action here would be to try and persuade her back to taking the medications she was prescribed, and make her understand, in a loving way, that even though she thought she had felt ok for a while, it was because the medications were working, however for this recovery to continue, she needs to be taking the medication. You should consult a qualified psychologist, if you have not already done so.

From a Buddhist perspective, all situations we go through in life is due to karma created either earlier in this life or from countless previous lives. Depending on how powerful this karma is, certain pujas and practices can be beneficial, but only if we put in the effort into improving the situation ourselves.

You can certainly engage in pujas that can help, but the energies of the enlightened beings need to flow through into our lives, and this is done through our own efforts. Therefore the pujas will definitely work as long as there is active effort in improving her situation and following the advice of qualified medical professionals in her treatment.

Pujas that you can engage in and dedicate to your friend include Dorje Shugden (to remove obstacles in her treatment, you can sponsor here: http://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-wishfulfilling-puja-fund), Medicine Buddha puja (to help the effectiveness of treatment, available to sponsor here: http://www.vajrasecrets.com/medicine-buddha-puja-fund), alternatively you can have a Guru Puja performed (to create an immense force of merit for your friend, http://www.vajrasecrets.com/lama-chopa-puja-fund). These are all pujas you can have sponsored for your friend to help the situation.

Alternative, you yourself can engage in the daily practice of any deity and dedicate the merits from the practice to your friend. The best thing however, would be for your friend to engage in practices herself if she is willing to. This will benefit her spiritually and help to alleviate obstacles she is facing. One such practice she can engage in is Shize (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/dorje-shugden/shize-a-practice-for-healing-and-long-life.html), who is the peaceful and healing form of Dorje Shugden. The other I can recommend is Medicine Buddha (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/medicine-buddha-practice.html). I hope this helps.

Dear Tom,

Thank you for your question. A monk within the Buddhist tradition is called a Bhikshu in Sanskrit, this work roughly translates as ‘one who begs’. Therefore their means of physical survival depends on receiving sponsorship from others. While the central scripture of the monastic vows is known as the Pratimoksha Sutra, there are many other scriptures and commentaries in the Vinaya basket of teachings.
The vows you are referring to, actually state that a monk should not accept money themselves. In the past, monks had lay attendants who took care of their needs, or if they were in the monastery, their needs would be taken care of by the collective sangha. These days, this may not always be possible, therefore monks would need to take care of their own needs. This would necessarily include asking for sponsorship on an individual basis.

In regards to donating to individual monks, this is actually allowed, as long as the sponsor is willing to do so and the money is spent on something that is positive for the monk, and not something that would contradict his vows.

Leaving aside the topic of survival through materials needs, such as food, robes, shelter, etc. There are other areas in which a monk may ask for donations towards a specific project. For example, if the monk is helping in the construction of a monastic building, and asks for sponsorship, it is very good to give, because this will benefit people. If the monk requests for sponsorship towards Dharma items, such as printing of scriptures or making of Buddha statues, this is also a beneficial act. If a monk is travelling for Dharma purposes, this is also a good event to sponsor, since people will benefit from it.
That being said, the monk asking for sponsorship should be extremely humble when asking and should not be demand and persisting. They should follow the Vinaya rules well, to the best of their ability. If they are demanding this for their own personal trip, for non-Dharma purposes or for a reason that directly contradicts the monastic precepts, this is not in accord with the Dharma. If a monk asks or demands specific gifts from a sponsor, or asks for sponsorship which the sponsor originally intended for the sangha community at large, this contradicts the vows you have mentioned. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Ashwajeet Gawai,

Thank you for your question. Since you are working, this would mean you have less time, therefore cannot finish your studies. In this case from a practical point of view if you lessen the time that you are working then you could spend more time on studying.

However, I am not aware of your situation, so you may require the money you make working to pay for your studies. In this case you may have two options, the first is to talk to your boss and explain your situation. Your boss may be open to shortening the time that you work so that you can study. You will never know unless you ask, and there is no harm in doing so. You should not be afraid to do this. The second option, if you need the money to complete your studies, is to work and save up your money to pay for your education.

Any situation in life that we face depends on our karma collected from earlier in this life and also from countless previous lives. Therefore the only way to improve our situation is to engage in actions that purify our negative karma. These include positive actions that benefit others and also engaging in spiritual purification practices such as Vajrasattva’s mantra (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/an-important-purification-practice.html) recitation or the 35 Confessional Buddhas (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-35-confessional-buddhas.html).

Since you are studying, you can engage in the practice of Manjushri, the Buddha of wisdom. This practice will aid you greatly in helping with studies and increasing your wisdom (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/all-about-manjushri.html).

If you are facing difficulties and obstacles, you can also engage in the practice of Dorje Shugden. Since you are both working and studying I would suggest the practice of Gyenze, which is the ‘increase’ form of Dorje Shugden (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth.html). This practice not only increases you wealth, health and merits, but because Dorje Shugden is the emanation of Manjushri, you also have the added benefit of the indirect increase of your wisdom as well.

Have a read through the various practices, and if you would like to, please start engaging in one of them. It is not necessary for you to engage in all of them, just one. They are all extremely beneficial but you should only concentrate on one particular practice, whichever you find that you have the most affinity to, the one you like the most.

Any of these practices will help you in your situation, if you develop enough faith in the practice, and the enlightened beings. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Sherab,

Thank you for your questions. I’ve posted about the 5 Dhyani Buddhas, their consorts and associated elements as answers to questions that I believe you have seen. The reasons why there can be discrepancies is due to differences in practices. The 5 Dhyani buddhas as actually very important in Highest Yoga Tantra (HYT) systems, and as the way the teachings or path differs between the HYT systems, there are can also be slight differences in the deities and their associated elements. It depends on the system a person is referencing. In general, the list that I had provided is the standard.

The 5 Dhyani Buddhas are not associated with an individual sect, but all of them. They exist in all Tibetan Buddhist traditions, especially in the practice of tantra. As tantric practice is kept private, that might be a reason why you may not have come across them before, apart from Amitabha whose practice is well known.

In regards to concentrating on one particular practice, this is advisable. There is an old saying from Tibet, that Tibetans practice so many deities but do not achieve the realisations of any, whereas in ancient India, they concentrated on one deity practice and they achieved the realisations of all the deities. If we concentrate on one particular deity strongly, we create a very strong connection with them, that allows their enlightened energy to flow into our lives. There is nothing wrong with praying to all these Buddhas, but you should focus on one strongly. Similtaneously, you can engage in the practice of a Dharma protector, such as a Dorje Shugden. This is because a Dharma protector has the special benefit of ensuring you have the necessary material and spiritual resources to concentrate on you main practice, thereby increasing the enlightened energy and benefits in your life. I hope this helps. Please do ask more if you need clarification.

Thank you.

Dear Anonymous 1,
There is no mantra that will bring samsaric love. However, there are a lot of mantras than can help you to generate loving kindness towards all beings and that includes the person you said you love such as Chenrezig’s mantra – Om Mani Padme Hum, Migtsema and so forth. However, I think that the root of the problem lies not in a mantra but in the actual reason why you fell out of love.

It could be because you realize something of her past or her character that you didn’t like or that you had grown tired of her company? Whatever is the reason, it does not really matter. It will be more important to examine your reasons for loving her and see if things can be made to work out. I hope this helps you.

Dear Bazir,

Thank you for your question. Within Buddhism there is a strong belief in varying levels of spiritual achievement, ranging all the way to complete enlightenment, which is outside of samsaric or cyclic existence. There are many such ways of categorising such spiritual progress, one of these is the ten-level system of the Bodhisattva. Beings on these levels necessarily help and assist beings in their own spiritual journeys. This mirrors the belief that ascended masters also help people in their spiritual journeys.

Since these systems of differing spiritual levels exist within Buddhism, beings such as the ascended masters may very well exist. However, it is difficult to tell with any degree of certainty for two reasons. The first is that the theory of ascended masters is based on the western Theosophy teachings. How the ascended masters are described in these teachings do not have a direct counterpart from a Buddhist perspective, as they are based on two very different perspectives of reality, existence and divinity. Secondly, in Buddhism it is believed that only beings of the same level can judge the spiritual attainments of another being of the same level or lower. Unfortunately, I am not highly attained, therefore I cannot judge another being even slightly more spiritually attained than myself. However, you can judge the actions of the ascended masters, if they are beneficial, harmful or neutral. If they are beneficial, than that is ok, but if neutral or bad we should try not to associate with them, as such beings can drag us down in our spiritual journey.

On another note, here is a list of 84 Mahasiddhas, who represent all those beings who attained a direct realisation of the Buddha’s teachings. You may find their stories interesting: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/vajradhara-and-84-mahasiddhas.html.

I hope this helps.

Dear Lhamo,
You have a lot of questions and it will be answered one-by-one.

Whenever I’m chanting or meditating, I often have this goosebumps feeling as though something is rising out of me and there is a presence. Is this normal?
– When we engage in our chanting and meditations, ethereal beings like spirits would sometimes be attracted to the energy and this is normal as they are everywhere. As long as we hold our vows and commitments as Buddhist, the spirits would not be able to harm us. In fact, we can even bless them by the recitation of our mantras especially if we generate compassion for them. Just getting goosebumps does not necessarily mean there is presence but there is a high chance it might be one. Whatever it is, it is not necessary to focus on this

I found a website on Vajrakilaya, and his mantras. Are these correct?
– We belong to the Gelug tradition and we are unfamiliar with the mantras and practices of the Nyingma tradition. You could write in to the site to ask for the source of their prayers and mantras. If it is from a lama or tulku that is reputable in the Nyingma lineage, then it should be alright.

When visualizing our consciousness rising out of our body, do we have to visualize Amitayus or can we visualize other Buddhas like Guru Rinpoche?
– It is not clear what practice or meditation you are referring to with this question. Generally, visualizing the yidam and our lama as one is one of the most effective method to tap into the blessings of the yidam.

When there is a mantra to reveal past, present, and future, is it to be recited while scrying or through dreams?
– If you are talking about developing clairvoyance, Kyabje Gangchen Rinpoche who is one of Tsem Rinpoche’s teachers said that one can develop it with any forms of Manjushri. That means we have to engage in its retreat of 100,000 at the very least and it would be preferable to receive the initiation prior to engaging in deep retreats of the yidam.

Does this mean that nearly all the deities like Dhumavati, Kali, Brahma, Vishnu, and so on are Buddhas? Is Siddhartha Gautama(aka. Shakyamuni Buddha) an incarnation of Vishnu? – No, the yidams are enlightened beings that take on the form that is similar to worldly deities but their nature is vastly different. If we rely on enlightened beings, they can lead us directly and indirectly to enlightenment while worldly beings can benefit us but they are unable to bring us to enlightenment because they are not enlightened themselves.

As for the Buddha Shakyamuni, Buddhists do not believed him to be an incarnation of a God. He is merely a man who have discovered the truth and became the awakened one. In fact, the Buddha was asked if he was a god and he said no. He is merely awakened.

Is Kali really the mother of the universe? According to this video, it debunks Abrahamic religions and claims that Kali is the mother – In Buddhism, we do not believe in a creator being who created the universe. We believe it is our karma the result of our previous actions that creating our current existence and experience.

Is Vajrayogini the goddess Chinnamasta? In one of the articles here, it showed Vajrayogini to be an identical figure to the Hindu goddess Chinnamasta.
– Yes, one form of Vajrayogini is the headless Vajrayogini or Chinnamasta. Somehow, her form was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon just like how Buddha Shakyamuni was incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as well.

Why would a person sacrifice their own flesh to deities and demons in Chod practice?
– This is tantric visualization and it is purely symbolic in nature. We sacrifice our body because it symbolize our greatest attachment and self-grasping, which is the self-cherishing ‘I’ and it is the source of all our delusions and sufferings. Chod practice directly counters this deep seated self-cherishing ‘I’ by offering our body up as an offering to nourish deities and demons. This offering is done by visualization to purify karma and accumulate tremendous amounts of merits. There is more to this and you need to receive the initiation and read the commentary to know the full meaning but what is explained here is just the general meaning. Hope these answers helped you. Thank you.

Dear Thorim,

Thank you for your question, it is good to see you again here. You are very keen on developing compassion which is very beneficial and will take you a long way on your spiritual journey.

In the Lam Rim, or graduated stages of the path to enlightenment, teachings there are listed many ways to develop compassion. When we engage on meditations such as Tonglen or the sadhana of Chenresig, we may find that we do not feel like we are generating compassion. In this case, what we can do is employ the meditations as listed in the Lam Rim to supplement these, which will definitely see compassion arise in your mind if engaged in properly.

In the text entitled Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand, Pabongka Rinpoche explains the path to enlightenment step by step. In fact this text is an experiential handbook that leads to enlightenment. It is important to note, that these instructions are to be practiced in sequence. Therefore if you have not already been practising or meditating on the earlier instructions, then the development of compassion will not come easily. Therefore one should start from the beginning of the path to enlightenment, or continually reinforce the earlier points in order to build a strong understanding and practice the higher aspects of the path.

In the chapters entitled Day 16 and Day 17, two particular meditation methods are listed to aid in the development of compassion. These are (1) developing compassion through the cause-and-effect instruction and (2) the seven-point mind training. These two methods heighten the development of compassion because one is able to meditate and contemplate on compassion on deeper levels. I’ll highlight some of the points of these two methods below.

Developing compassion through the cause-and-effect instruction.
This was the meditation that masters such as Archarya Chandakirti, Chandragomin, Shantarakshita used to develop compassion. In this system there are eight sections to this, which are followed in sequence in order to develop compassion:

1. Immeasurable equanimity
2. Understanding all sentient beings to be your mother
3. Remembering their kindness
4. Repaying their kindness
5. Love through the force of attraction
6. Compassion
7. Altruism
8. Bodichitta.

The seven point mind-training
This is another powerful meditation technique and was the system used by the great Shantideva. If follows a system of seven instructions:

1. Preliminaries on which the instructions depend
2. Training the mind on Bodhicitta
3. Converting unfortunate circumstances into a path to enlightenment
4. A practice to be applied for the whole of our lives
5. The criteria of having trained the mind
6. Commitments of mind-training practice
7. Advice for the mind-training practice

Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand explains both these methods in detail and even describes a method to merge both teachings together so they are more effective. You should read more about these techniques as they are definitely needed in combination to what you have been doing already for compassion to arise. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Tom,

Thank you for asking such an interesting question. As you may know, the mind ‘rides’ on the various ‘winds’ or psychic energies within our bodies. During waking states these winds circulate throughout our bodies but are most active near our sense organs, and form what is known as the various sense awarenesses. Therefore, rather than where the mind abides during sleep, it is more the question with what sort of mind that sleeping is, because our mind pervades our whole being, apart from at the time of death, which it gathers at the heart chakra before leaving the body.

On a deeper level sleep is actually the physical and subtle manifestation of our delusion called dullness and it imprints. This delusion and imprints serves the function of drawing the multiple sense awareness inwards, allowing the body time to rest and harmonises the elements within the body. This leads to a rejuvenated existence and prolongs our lives.

Sleep is a subtle mind, and as such when it becomes manifest daily in our lives, the gross (waking) minds become non-manifest. It is because of this that the various sense awareness become non-manifest as well.

For normal practitioners, attachment to sleep can lead to laziness, but for a practitioner of tantra and sleep yoga, they can use this time sleep to meditate and gain high spiritual attainments. In fact within tantric practice, sleep, dreaming and the waking states relate to the process of death, bardo or intermediate state and rebirth. Sleep similar to death, dreaming is similar to the bardo and waking states are similar to rebirth. These three states are therefore used by a tantric practitioner to understand the process of existence within samsara and overcome it. I hope this helps.

Thank you.