Question asked by Ernest
Dear Pastor, I believe these are the common issues happening in Malaysia. There are many people who rushed to initiation from some Gurus without knowing the actual requirements as mentioned in the 50 stanzas of Guru Devotion, perhaps when some of them learned the 50 stanzas of Guru Devotion it might be too late for them due to the 'Guru Disciples' relationship has been created . My question is what if some of them might hardly understand their Guru's teaching, etc., or whether the teaching is genuine, traditional, etc.. thus, in this case, what should a person do? Can he or she look from other teachings from other centres while still consider their first guru, whom they meet respectfully?
May I know is the four preliminary practices are fixed as 100,000 times of prostration, mandala offering, Vajrasattva, and refuge?
*Does it mean that whenever we recite the mandala offering prayer from the prayer, such as the 'Diamond Path', the 'Six Sessions of Guru Yoga', etc., are being calculated as well? Can one recite the mandala prayer and make the offering from Mala(does it calculate as well)?
*Can anyone chan and replace the Vajrasatta 100 syllable prayer with its mantra?
*The 100,000 is full prostration, or short /medium prostration?
*What if one is only able to complete 3/4 of the preliminary practices in their life, will it caused any negative impact in their rebirth?
May I know can I keep the Buddha statue or tsa tsa inside the books cabinet or hide it with something else such as books due to my wife being a Christian? There will be a conflict if I put the statue or Tsa Tsa in a conspicuous place. Will it cause offence or inappropriate to do so?
May I know if one plans to do a hundred water offerings at one time, can you advise the method (my concern is the same water jug might not be sufficient to pour the water to the hundreds cup at once).
Thank you
Dear Ernest,
Thank you for your message. This reply will be a little long, so I have placed the answers in sections.
Guru Devotion:
You are indeed right about people not understanding about the guru-disciple relationship, especially when they have received tantric initiation (at which stage guru devotion is even more important). If a person has received intiation from a guru, without knowing about their guru or understanding and practising guru devotion, it is a bit late. Since they have already received it, there is a connection there. So they should learn more and try to generate guru devotion and keep the vows, commitments and practices given at the time of intiaition if any. The person should try to understand the teachings as taught by that lama and understand more about the lama and their lineage. This is the best possible scenario.
In Kechara, we have a protocol for following the principles of Guru Devotion, which you can find here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-guru-protocol-a-guide-to-knowing-who-your-guru-is.html You can read this article to understand more about how a person should progress in such circumstances. Please pay close attention to point 5 in the article, as it will apply to your question.
Preliminary Practices
Within the Gelug lineage there are more than four preliminary practices. You should engage in those as prescribed by your guru. In other lineages the practice is fixed as four, within the Gelug tradition (depending on advice from your guru) there are more than can be done.
All preliminary practices are fixed at the count of 100,000 plus 10% extra to make up for mistakes. Sometimes that guru will ask you to do a little more, so you reach 111,111. However the guru may ask you to do more of a particular preliminary.
Mandala Offering in Daily Sadhanas
The mandala offering within a particular daily deity sadhana such as the Diamond Path is not calculated as part of the preliminary practice. For the mandala offering preliminary, you have a very specific motivation/intention for the retreat, etc. The prayers are also a little different from the daily sadhana and you focus intensely on making mandala offerings.
This also applies to the Six Session Guru Yoga, in which physical mandala offerings are not made, they are visualised. Six Session Guru Yoga is only done by those who have Higher Tantric Yoga initiations. Those without such initiations should not be engaging in Six Session Guru Yoga.
Vajrasattva mantra
I’m not completely sure regarding the meaning of your question. Anyone can recite Vajrasattva’s mantra. In relation to the Vajrasattva preliminary practice, you need to recite the mantra as the part of the prayers for Vajrasattva preliminary practice.
Prostrations
For the prostration preliminary practice, it is full prostrations. Half or short prostrations do not count. The practice is done in combination with the practice of the 35 Confessional Buddhas.
Not completing preliminary practices
There is no negative impact whatsoever. In fact, no matter how much you do, there will only be benefit. If you need to cut your preliminary practice short rather than 100,000, immediately seal the retreat as quickly as you can. You will still have purified a lot of negative karma and generated a lot of merit, but it will not be counted as having compelted that particular preliminary.
Buddha statues/images
Having images within a cabinet is acceptable, but you should not mix the images with other non-Dharma items. If keeping together with books, these should be Dharma books. And all the items in the cabinet should be placed properly and cleaned well. When engaging in your practice, just open the cabinet door, and when finished, you can close it again. That is acceptable. But if the cabinet has multiple shelves, the images and Dharma books should be kept on the highest shelf.
Having Dharma items on a cabinet is not offensive or inappropriate. It depends on your sitauation, but all items should be kept clean and respectfully.
Water Offerings
Usually when making multiple water offerings, use a clean bucket filled with water that you take to your altar. Then use a jug to make the water offerings. You can clear the water offerings into the same bucket when clearing. You should only use that bucket for making and clearing water offerings, nothing else.
When making multiple water offerings, do it in batches, so once you fill up a number of bowls and run out of water, simple go back to and get more water and continue where you left off.
I hope these answers help. Thank you.