Question asked by Le Nhat Khang
Hello Pastors!
I have a questions that:
I have a wish to do Kangso at home because we don't have Tibetan temples here to be able to attend Kangso monthly, is it Ok to do Kangso at home?
During my home quite small and therefore, how can i set up small altar for Kangso?
Because only 8 bows of water, 5 substances and Serkyem is full for my altar or do i need extra offering for Kangso?
In one of the Kangso that I saw one part of pratice to Yamantaka.
During i haven't recieve Maha Anuttarayoga Tantra and do i can reciting or chant this part before starting Kangso? Or after Guru Yoga that can i directly to recite Kangso?
Thank you so much.
Dear Le Nhat Khang,
Traditionally, a Kangso is not done individually. In fact, even with the monastic setting it is never done alone, always in the main prayer hall and it is only done once a month, unless there is a need for it (for example someone sponsors it due to a serious issue).
The Kangso set up is very extensive and requires all of these to be done. There are many rows of sensory offerings, wrathful offerings, torma offerings, etc. It not feasible to do this puja at home.
The Kangso must have a tantric part to it at the beginning. In our tradition, this is Yamantaka. You must have initiation to do this, or permission from your Guru to simply recite this section during Kangso puja only. Here at Kechara, we have this permission, so anyone who joins can recite this part. Reciting this section outside of this once a month puja environment can create problems for you if you don’t have the initiation. For example, your Dharma practice will degenerate and it will create obstacles for you to receive teachings and actual deity initiation in the future.
For home practice, it is best to stick to the Diamond Path sadhana as these prayers do not require initiation. You can make extensive offerings on the altar to generate more merit, and concentrate on Dorje Shugden’s mantra recitation. This will be very good and is something that can easily be done in a home environment. I hope this helps.