Question asked by confuses
Take depression as an example. There are many types of medication to treat depression. However, let's say the patient suffers from high blood pressure and depression. Because of their HBP, they cannot take certain medications for depression so the doctor has to assess the patient's condition, and prescribe the right medication which does not interfere with their blood pressure.
So think that the Dharma and the Buddhas are like the medicines that come in many different types, the teacher is the doctor and the student is the patient.
The Buddhas are so varied because the practitioners who rely upon them are so varied. Every student has their own delusions to deal with and their own karmic dispositions, which the teacher (as the doctor) assesses and then prescribes the Buddha and practice which is most effective for removing their delusions and furthering their practice.
If someone is always sick, then they should practise Medicine Buddha. If their minds always go up and down, and they suffer from illnesses like depression, Lama Tsongkhapa is excellent. If someone is very slow and dull, they should practise Manjushri for quickness and sharpness of the mind. If someone is very angersome, they should focus on Chenrezig / Avalokiteshvara. If someone suffers from tremendous ignorance, they should rely on Yamantaka. If someone has great desire, then Vajrayogini is their girl.
So there is a pantheon of Buddhist deities because every single sentient being is different. What suits you, won't necessarily suit me.
How does the lama assess a person's karmic affinity with the Buddhas? According to Rinpoche, it's nothing mystical. The lama assesses the student themselves, and the behaviours they manifest. Because our delusions have been developed and reinforced over countless lifetimes, they are very strong in us and it takes very little for such delusions to manifest in our actions and speech.
Can you practise Vajrayogini to develop Manjushri's wisdom? Chenrezig to gain Dzambala's wealth? Yamantaka to gain healing in the way of Medicine Buddha? Of course you can because the enlightened mind is all the same; all of the Buddhas are compassionate and practising any of them will lead to the same eventual goal. BUT the actual practices help us to focus on different aspects, and are therefore that much faster in developing that one quality within us. So to practise Vajrayogini to develop Manjushri's wisdom IS possible, but it'll be slower because that's not what her practice, visualisations and prayers are focused on.
So why do we focus on one Buddha then? Because that is the delusion that's strongest within us, that presents the greatest obstacle to our Enlightenment.
Now i would like to ask if our yidam is white tara, and our strongest problem is financial difficulties should we throw away white tara and focus on dzambhala? as most of our problems and strongest delusion were not permenant and always changing, so thus this mean we also need to always change our yidam from time to time? or do both which means yidam and a side practice? if so then it will be troublesome because at the same time it is hard to identify our strongest problem, as if like sometimes all problems that we experiencing literally have the similar level, all like same strong and all were like interconected…. so if like that we literally need to do all deities that were available, and this may confuses us at the time of death, as we do not know which yidam to depend on. For example lets say i see that i have 84000 afflictive emotions and all were similar strong, and i put the effort to rely on 84000 thousand varied buddhas to antidote my mind, now at the time of death which buddha shall i recite? should consistently switch my visualization of the buddhas too? as you said So to practise Vajrayogini to develop Manjushri's wisdom IS possible, but it'll be slower because that's not what her practice, visualisations and prayers are focused on. So now how?
Dear Confuses,
You have asked a very good question. When the Guru assigns a particular yidam for a practitioner, as you have rightly mentioned he/she will have judged a person’s characteristics and temperament. This is not done on a surface level. A Guru is a person trained in the various scriptures and practices that deal with the mind, which is what Buddhism is all about, therefore the Guru can see a person’s afflictions on a deeper level. If the Guru is a high level being, or emanation of a Buddha, this is even more so since they would have clairvoyance to see which practice would benefit the person the most. There is other forms of deciding which Yidam to practice, such as through the various forms of divination.
That being said people who are mostly angery and therefore assigned Chenresig as their personal Yidam, will obviously have other afflictions such as jealousy, desire, ignorance etc. However the main affliction is still anger. Therefore it makes sense that the path is practiced to cut this anger, and through this same process the other afflictions will also be overcome. For example, even though you are dealing with anger, you realise that this is due to attachment or aversion to something, then you begin to understand what causes this attachment/aversion and so on…ultimately this will lead to the understanding of emptiness. Therefore it is better to practice one Yidam strongly.
For example, if we think of enlightenment as the destination and the various practices as the roads leading to that destination, it would make sense to find a road and then travel down that road without deviating to reach our destination. This is the same as practicing one Yidam strongly. On the other hand, if we were to continuously switch between roads, then it would take a longer time to reach the destination and we may even end up getting somewhat lost and confused along the way. This is the same as switching between various Yidam practices.
The ultimate goal of all Yidam practices, or any practice within Buddhism for that matter, is the same – to reach enlightenment. Even though there are so many methods it is better to stick with one particular form since practicing many will lead to confusion. All the practices aim to ultimately deal with the highest realisations which are the understanding of emptiness and compassion which cause us to attain enlightenment. Therefore even if the path is different, the destination is the same. Think of two roads leading to the same place, one can go through the city while the other can go through the countryside. Different practices concentrate on different aspects of our delusions but end up with the attainment of enlightenment. There is a famous saying that in Tibet practitioners practice many deities but do not achieve even one, but in India practitioners practice only one and achieve all the deities. This basically means that if we do not concentrate on one particular practice it, we will not be able to accomplish the highest possible result which is enlightenment, or commonly known as ‘achieving’ the same qualities as the deity in question.
I just wanted to clarify one point, the purpose of practicing a particular Yidam is to achieve the highest potential of enlightenment. The qualities that can be developed using these practices are supposed to be aids in this process. Some people think that you just practice Manjushri to gain wisdom in and of itself, but this wisdom gained is supposed to lead you to enlightenment. Take another example, Chenresig is good for those who are angry and can affectively deal with this problem, but the real practice leads to a selfless motivation to benefit all sentient beings, thereby generating compassion, which is then used to achieve enlightenment.
However, in life there are time where we may need help for other reasons, this is when the role of Dharma protectors and Pujas comes into play. For example, we may be practicing Manjushri as our Yidam, but we may encounter spirit harm in which case we can engage in the practice of a Dharma protector such as Trakze (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/trakze-to-dispel-black-magic-spirits.html) to counter this so that we can continue in our practice of Manjushri without hindrance. In fact certain practices have Dharma protectors who specially aid to help remove outer obstacles and create conducive conditions for the actual practice of the Yidam, so that the practitioner can transform their minds. For example Cittapati (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/dharma-protectors-of-tibetan-buddhism.html).
Pujas can also play an important role. For example if we are having financial difficulties, but our Yidam is Chenresig, we can engage in or sponsor Gyenze or Dzambala pujas, which can purify the negative karma causing our difficulties. However, here our main practice is still Chenresig which we engage in to transform our minds. We simple use pujas to overcome a particular situation we are facing during that period.
Therefore, it is better to practice one particular Yidam all the way to achieve enlightenment. I hope this explanation helps.
Thank you.