Rinpoche Through My Eyes – Invoking the Buddhas to Come Forth
This photo was taken using a basic film camera back in 2002 when Tsem Rinpoche went to Kechara Paradise to bless a thangka. Tsem Rinpoche is in the white T-shirt on the extreme left. I am the girl in a white T-shirt which is fourth from the left with my hands folded.
Joy has been a student of His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche for over 15 years. Through the years, Joy has witnessed Rinpoche’s compassion and the unconventional methods he uses to benefit others. Some of the short stories she shares will tell interesting miraculous events that Rinpoche will not mention due to his humility. She hopes these stories will serve as an inspiration in your own spiritual journey.
Invoking the Buddhas to come forth
This is not something we get to witness on a daily basis. This is not something we can see with our naked eye. We’ve heard of Lamas and Rinpoches blessing and consecrating holy objects such as images and thangkas of Buddhas; they invoke upon the divine Buddhas to come forth and reside in the object. We know about this theoretically, but to actually witness this happening, one will need to have a third eye. I do not have that ability, but what I experienced and discovered is still quite amazing.
It was just one of those “ordinary” days when Rinpoche suddenly showed up at the dharma shop in SS2 called Kechara Paradise (KP). This was way back in 2002 when we didn’t even have Kechara House yet. There were a few of us in KP and when Rinpoche showed up, one of Rinpoche’s assistant at the time informed Rinpoche that the 15 thangkas of Lama Tsongkhapa’s life story had just arrived. Rinpoche asked for one of the thangkas to be opened up and decided on the spot to consecrate the thangkas. Rinpoche chanted melodiously and started to invoke upon Lama Tsongkhapa and all the Buddhas to bless the thangkas. The energy in the room suddenly changed to something I can’t really describe. All I can remember was when Rinpoche started chanting, all my hairs stood up and the air in the room felt light, like there was some kind of divine presence. It truly was a humbling experience to be there. Rinpoche threw some rice on the thangkas as a blessing and we did a dedication to seal the merits.
H.E. the 25th Tsem Rinpoche’s official portrait taken back in the days when Rinpoche was modelling (click to enlarge)
A few weeks later, pictures of that day’s event were developed and Rinpoche’s then-assistant, Pastor Chia, showed us the image above. What I saw was quite amazing as I had never ever seen it before. I then recalled Rinpoche explaining how the Buddhas will come when you invoke upon them sincerely. Hence, seeing this miraculous stream of light coming from Rinpoche, clearly shows me the power of prayers and that the Buddhas really do come. It was exactly how Rinpoche had described it to us when he taught us on how we should visualise when we invoke upon the particular Buddha. We start with visualising the Guru and the particular Buddha in front of us as one, in this case, Lama Tsongkhapa. Then their size reduce to the size of our thumb, and they come forward towards us to sit on the top of our head facing out, and dissolves into our heart where a lotus sits. From our heart, light streams out to bless the object.
Rinpoche has informed us many times, as long as we are sincere and our samaya (spiritual relationship) with our Guru is clean, when we invoke upon the Buddhas, they will actually come. This also shows us clearly how intact and pure Rinpoche’s samaya is with his Guru, and this is why the blessings of the lineage lamas combined with the Buddhas can come through Rinpoche to bless something or someone. So always ensure your samaya with your Guru is intact, and never underestimate the power of your prayers.
For more interesting information:
- I Witnessed the Compassion of Tsem Rinpoche
- Stories from a Chela – Spiritual Nourishment for All
- Stories from a Chela – Supernatural Protection
- Growing up with Rinpoche: Necessity, not convenience
- Tales With My Lama : Audience With Tsem Rinpoche
- Tales With My Lama : Laugh Away Your Ego
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Wow…… incredible experiences with Rinpoche. I could imagine the joy of witnessing and feeling the powerful energy at that time. We won’nt see this happening often. Reading this article , I understand much better now. Wow….. that’s a miraculous picture , seeing a streaming of lights out from Rinpoche , that was after looking at the photo taken earlier. I am fortunate to see and first time coming across picture of lighting phenomena. Hence visualization in our prayers is very important whether we can see or not do not matter as long as we trust and have faith in our guru in the practice.
(To keep our Samaya clean with our teacher, we will always see our teacher and Buddha as one.)…. I will keep in mind.
Thank you Rinpoche and Joy Kam for this sharing.
Thank you Joy for sharing this amazing experience. I can really imagine how the experience is. Invoking the Buddhas to come forth is not something we get to witness on a daily basis. I truly believe that as long as we are sincere and our spiritual relationship with our Guru is clean, when we invoke upon the Buddhas, they will actually come. Thank you Rinpoche and blog team for sharing this wonderful article and experience.??????
Thank you Joy for sharing with us your experience with Rinpoche over the years. This photo is simply magical. We cannot see supernatural phenomena with our naked eyes but the camera somehow managed to capture it. What we cannot see or perceive does not mean it is not real.
I have read some article on Rinpoche’s blog that explains how if we hold our vows and also keep our Samaya clean we will be able to get the blessings from the Buddha to help us in our practice. With the blessings of the Buddhas, our prayers will become powerful and we will be able to help others.
To keep our Samaya clean with our teacher, we have to see our teacher and Buddha as one. We cannot have wrong views or doubt in our teacher. Apart from that, we must always follow the instruction of our teacher. In Vajrayana practice, it is said that all attainment comes from the teacher. If we see him as a Buddha, he can definitely show us the right path to enlightenment.
Thank you for this article. Invoking the Buddhas to come forth is not something we get to witness on a daily basis. How the Buddhas will come when you invoke? Isn’t it strange? By reading this article, it clearly shows me the power of prayers and that the Buddhas really do come.
It was exactly how Rinpoche had described it to us when he taught us on how we should visualize when we invoke upon the particular Buddha. It is true that as long as we are sincere and our spiritual relationship with our Guru is clean, when we invoke upon the Buddhas, they will actually come.
Thank you, Joy for this inspiring story and the miraculous picture. It is magical to see light streaming out from Rinpoche when Rinpoche is performing consecration of the Buddha images. It is exactly what Rinpoche had described which is light to stream forth from the Buddha in our heart to bless the image.
Rinpoche had taught us many kinds of visualisation during rituals which may sounded far fetched for us because we do not have the ability to see them. However, those who have the 3rd eye will be able to tell us that what Rinpoche described is exactly the same with the reality that they see.
We are able to know that what Rinpoche taught us to visualise is actually what happened whether we see it or not. Buddha’s blessings are real and the effect is real too. It is hard to understand somethings sometimes but we just have to trust in Rinpoche.