Archive Result

1414

20101002GRGRMB3

Hartmut

Welcome to the evening session. Before we go to the questions and answers, we have one more section left in the sadhana and that is about the bodhisattvas, such as Manjushri, Avalokitesvara, Vajrapani, Maitreya, etc. There are 36,000 bodhisattvas. We are making offerings and requests to them. There are no words to be said here. But what I have to say here is:

JAM PÄL KYAB DRÖL CHHAG NA DOR JE SOG

DE SHEG SÄ PO SUM DRI DRUG TONG GI

GYÄL WÄI THUG DAM KÜL ZHING LENG LAN NÄ

DO DEI PHÄN YÖN JI KÄ SUNG PA NAM

DENG DIR DAG LA NGÖN DU GYUR BAR DZÖ

TSANG MA JIGT TEN GYUNG WA NAM

DE PÖ JUNG NE CHU NI TSOG

PHAG PA CHO SUM TSOG NAM LA

JANG TSEN CHÖ GYEN KYAB SU CHI

We are making special prostrations to those 36,000 bodhisattvas, including Manjushri, Avalokitesvara, Vajrapani and so on and also to Indra, Brahma, etc, the powerful worldly gods and all non samsaric dharma protectors.

Now we make the 7 limbed offering to them:

I bow down in body, speech and mind

I offer the best I have to give

Both real and imaged,

To fill the space between us,

I regret and purify all transgressions,

I rejoice in all virtues,

I request you to remain until total enlightenment,

I request wise and compassionate guidance,

I dedicate my merit for the sake of all beings

After that, we say

JIG TEN KYONG WA DE PÖN CHÄ PÄ KYANG

NGÖN TSHE TÖN PÄI CHÄN NGAR ZHÄL GYI ZHIN

DRU DANG NÖ PA NÄ RIM DOG PA DANG

THAB TSÖ KÜN ZHI LÜ SEM DE WA GYÄ

LONG CHÖ WANG CHUG NOR THRU TSHE PEL ZHING

SAM PÄI DÖN NAM YI ZHIN DRUB PA DANG

TAG TU SUNG KYONG YEL WA ME PAR DZÖ

All those worldly dharma protectors, samsaric and non-samsaric, you have committed in the presence of the Buddha to clear obstacles, enemies and obstructions, illnesses and all of those. Also you committed to pacify disagreements and particular bring physical and mental joy and happiness, as well as wealth, power and richness, jewels and food and longevity and also fulfill the practitioners’ wishes, whatever they may be and always remain protecting us.

That is the special requests for the bodhisattvas and dharmapalas.

Next is the mantra: (0:07)

(Rimpoche reads long mantra and short mantra, people repeat)

OM NAMO BHAGAVATE, BEKADZE GURU BEDURYA, TRABHA RADZAYA, TATHAGATAYA, ARAHATE SAMYAKSAM BUDDHAYA, TAYATA, OM BEKADZE BEKADZE, MAHA BEKADZE BEKADZE, RADZASAMUNGATESOHA

TAYATA, OM BEKADZE BEKADZE, MAHA BEKADZE BEKADZE, RADZA SAMUNGATE SOHA

The visualization here is almost completely more or less focusing and praying and concentrating, not radiating light or anything right now. Just keep making single pointed requests to all the 8 Medicine Buddhas, buddhas and bodhisattvas and everybody.

Then say the Padmasattva mantra:

OM PADMASATTVA SAMAYA MANU PALAYA PADMASATTVA TENOPATISHTA

DRIDHO ME BHAVA SUTOSHYO ME BHAVA SUPOSHYO ME BHAVA

ANURAKTO ME BHAVA SARVA SIDDHI ME PRAYACHHA SARVA KARMA SUCHA ME

CHITTAM SHREYAH KURU HUM HA HA HA HA HO BHAGAVAN SARVA TATHAGATA

PADMA MA ME MUNCHA PADMA BHAVA MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA AH HUNG PHAT

So it is simply visualizing that. By making that strong request, the 8 Medicine Buddhas are now very happy with us and radiate tremendous amounts of light from their bodies. That light dissolves to the vase (bumpa). [You see the vase in front of me on the table here] this vase water you can sprinkle. If you have all the time you can do the washing offering like we talked about this morning. Since we did that we don’t have to do it again tonight.

21.42

(Rimpoche sends attendant round with the vase sprinkling each retreat participant and the building from inside, as well as sends them outside to sprinkle the building from outside)

Then we will say:

DAG GI JI NYE SAB PAI GE WA DI

TÄN DANG DRO WA KÜN LÄ GANG PÄN DANG

KYA PAR JE TSÜN LO SANG DRAG PA YI

TÄN PAI NYING PO RING DU SÄL JE SHOG

I dedicate whatever virtues I have ever collected

For the sake of the teachings and of all sentient beings,

and in particular for the essential teachings

of Venerable Lozang Drakpa to shine forever.

PÄN DEN JU WEI NÄ JIR PO

TEN PA YU RING NÄ PA DANG

TEN DZIN KYI BU DAMP PAR NAM

KU ZE ZHÄB PAI DEN GYUR CHIG

CHÖ KYI GYAL PO TSONG KHA PÄ

CHÖ TSÜL NAM PAR PHEL WA LA

GEK KYI TSEN MA ZHI WA DANG

THUN KYEN MA LÜ TSANG WA SHOG

May all conducive conditions arise

and all obstacles be pacified

in order to increase infinitely

the teachings of Dharma King Tsong Khapa

DA DANG SHEN GYI DÜ SUM DANG

DRIL WÄ TSOK NYI LA TEN NÄ

GYAL WA LO ZANG DRAK PA YI

TEN PA YU RING BAR GYUR CHIH

By the merits of the three times

of myself and others, may

the teachings of lama Tsong Khapa

blaze forever

JE TSÜN LAMAY KU TSE RAP TEN CHING

NAM KAR TRIN LEY CHOK CHUR GYE PA DANG

LO SANG TEN PEI DRÖN MEI SA SUM GYI

DRO WEI MÜN SEL TAK TU NE GYUR CHIH

May my venerable Lama’s life be firm

His perfect enlightened actions shine in the ten directions,

And may the torch of Lozang’s teachings,

Dispelling the three world’s beings’ darkness always remain

DE TAR LAM ZANG TON PAY SHE NYEN DANG

TSUL ZHIN DRUP PEL DROK NAM ZHAP TEN CHING

CHI DANG NANG GI BAR DU CHO PEI TSOK

NYE WAR ZHI WAR CHIN GYI LAP TU SOL

Empower me that the masters who have unfolded

the sublime path within me

And the spiritual friends who have inspired me may live long

And that the myriad inner and outer interferences

Be completely and utterly calmed forever.

25:05

Now the purification aspects: Seeking forgiveness for what we didn’t do properly, for broken rituals, or what did wrong by not knowing, by laziness and so on. We seek forgiveness for all of that:

Request for Forgiveness

MA JOR PA DANG NYAM PA DANG

GANG YANG DAG MONG LO YI NI

GYI PA DANG NI GYI TSÄL GANG

DE YANG ZÖ PAR DZÄ PAR DZÄL DU SÖL

DU DEN SEM CHÄN SÖ NAM MÄN

RIG NYÖN MON NGANG DRE PA

PHAG PÄI THUG GONG MA DZOG PA

NGE YANG ZÖ PA DZÄL DU SÖL

SER NÄ WANG GYUR MI KHÄ PÄ

CHHÖ PA NGÄN ZHING SHAM NYE PA

GÖN PO THUG JE CHHE DÄN PA

DE YANG ZÖ PAR DZÄL DU SÖL

PHA MA JÖ LAM MA DAG PEI

DRO LEI JUNG WEI CHO KA GYE

MA JOR TRÜL PA KYI KYE PAR

DE YANG ZÖ PA DZÄL DU SÖL

(that one is not in the FPMT translation)

LHAG PA DANG NI CHHÄ PA DANG

CHHO GÄI YÄN LAG NYAM PA DANG

DAG GI JE NGÄ CHI CHHI PA

DE YANG ZÖ PAR DZÄL DU SÖL

Whatever I have done or caused to be done

That was unprepared or degenerated

Or done with my deluded mind,

Please be patient with all of these.

Whatever the beings of this degenerate age have done

Of lesser merit mixed with ignorant delusions

That did not fulfill the aryas’ wishes,

Please be patient with these as well.

Under the influence of miserliness, lacking in skill,

Having made bad offerings of faulty arrangements,

O protector endowed with great compassion,

Please be patient with these as well.

Whatever was superfluous or left undone,

Degeneration in parts of the ritual,

Or whatever was forgotten,

Please be patient with these as well.

Request to Remain

DIR NE TEN DANG LHÄN CHIG TU

DRO WÄI DÖN DU ZHUG NÄ KYANG

NÄ ME TSE DANG WANG CHUG DANG

CHHOG NAM LEG PAR TSÄL DU SÖL

By remaining here together with this image

For the sake of all migrators,

My you grant us long life without illness,

Power, and supreme attainment.

OM SUPRATISHTHA VAJRA YE SOHA

Gon po thug je rin po nam den pa ji ne

Ta ta sem chen tham che dön dze pa

Le gyi sö sö zhin du tson dru jin

Ko dang gye par zhe du söl

Now: asking them to leave for their own pure land: (auspiciousness)

PHÜN TSHOG CHHOG KYI KHOR LO CHHI ME LAM

LEG PAR GANG WÄI MÄN LÄI LHA YI TSHOG

GA ZHIG CHHU KYE NA TSHOG CHAR WE SHING

LA LA GE LEG TSÖL WÄI LU JANG LEN

ZHÄN DAG DÜ GEG JOM PÄI THRIN LÄ DZÄ

KÜN KYANG KHYE LA KÄL ZANG CHHOG TER BAR

YONG SHE GYI LA RAB DAG KYE CHIG DANG

SHI JÖ DANG NYÄN DAG GI DRAG PAR JA

The host of Medicine Buddha deities

Pervading all directions of the round of space with perfection –

Some raining down multicolored lotuses,

Some singing songs requesting goodness,

Some acting to conquer maras and obstructers,

And all bestowing on you supreme good fortune:

Know this full well and be very joyful

And I shall voice sweet melody expressing auspiciousness.

GANG GI ZHAB SEN NOR BÜI Ö KAR CHÄN

CHI WOR REG PÄ KÄL ZANG KU MU DE

ZHÄ PÄI PÄL TER LHA MII TÖN PA CHHOG

THUB WANG MA WÄI DA WA LA CHHAG TSHÄL

Supreme teacher of humans and gods,

Touching my crown to your feet of jeweled moonlight

Grants the glory of good fortune of kumuda flowers’ blossoming;

To Munindra, moon of expounders, I prostrate.

JAM PÄI JANG DANG KHAN CHHEN ZHI WA TSHO

THRI SONG DE Ü TSÄN JO WO YAB SÄ DANG

GYAL WA NYI PA LO ZANG DRAG PA SÖ

TSA WA GYÜ PÄI PÄI LA LA MA CHHOG NAM LA

LEG TSHOG JI NYE CHHI PÄI TRA SHI DE

KHYE KYI MI THÜN GÜ PA KÜN ZÄ CHING

DE LAG YAR NGÖI DA TAR PHEL GYUR NÄ

PHÜN TSHOG PÄL LA RÖL PÄI TRA SHI SHOG

Manjushri and great abbot Shantarakshita,

Trisong Detsen, Atisha father and sons,

Second conqueror Losang Dragpa, and so on:

Through the auspiciousness of all collected good qualities

Of the supreme root and lineage gurus,

May all negativity and degeneration be ended,

And, bliss and goodness increasing like the waxing moon,

May it be auspicious to enjoy the glory of perfection.

GYÄL WÄI NYI MA ZHÄN GYI MI THÜL WA

GÖN ME NGA GYA THA MÄI DRO WA LA

DEN TSHIG MÖN LAM GYA TSHÖI CHHOG DRUB PA

NYIG MÄÏ GÖ PO DE SHEG DÜN NAM LA

LEG TSHOG JI NYE CHHI PÄ TRA SHE DE

KHYE KYI MI THÜN GÜ PA KÜN ZÄ CHING

DE LAG YAR NGÖI DA TAR PHEL GYUR NÄ

PHÜN TSHOG PÄL LA RÖL PÄI TRA SHI SHOG

Accomplishing a suprme ocean of prayers invoking truth

During the teachings’ decline for protectorless beings

Who were untamed by other sun-like conquerors,

Through the auspiciousness of all collected good qualities

Of those seven sugatas, protectors during degenerate times,

May all negativity and degeneration be ended,

And, bliss and goodness increasing like the waxing moon,

May it be auspicious to enjoy the glory of perfection.

THUB PÄ WANG PÖI JAG YANG PÄ MO LÄ

LEG ONG SHAKYÄI TÄN PÄI THA MAR YANG

MÄ JUNG DRUB NA DRUB PÄI DÜ TSII CHÜ

ZAB DANG GYA CHHE DO DEI GYÄL PO LA

LEG TSHOG JI NYE CHHI PÄI TRA SHI DE

KHYE KYI MU THÜN GÜ PA KÜN ZÄ CHING

DE LAG YAR NGÖI DA TAR PHEL GYUR NÄ

PHÜN TSHOG PÄL LA RÖL PÄ TRA SHI SHOG

Arising well from the broad lotus-like tongue

Of the lord of the able ones,

Especially exalted even in the later days of Shakya’s teachings,

Such that, if performed, one gains

The essence of immortality’s ambrosia:

Through the auspiciousness of all collected good qualities

Of that king of the vast and profound sutra pitaka,

May all negativity and degeneration be ended,

And, bliss and goodness increasing like the waxing moon,

May it be auspicious to enjoy the glory of perfection.

CHHOG CHÜI ZHING NA MÄN PÄI GYÄL PO YI

TSHÄN TSAM DZIN DANG TÖN PA DE SHEG KYI

MÖN LAM KHYÄ PAR GYÄ PÄI DO CHHOG LA

THUG DAM DZÄ PÄI RIG KYI BU NAM LA

LEG TSHOG JI NYE CHHI PÄI TRA SHI DE

KHYE KYI MU THÜN GÜ PA KÜN ZÄ CHING

DE LAG YAR NGÖI DA TAR PHEL GYUR NÄ

PHÜN TSHOG PÄL LA RÖL PÄ TRA SHI SHOG

Through the auspiciousness of all collected good qualities

Of those children of the lineage performing the sutra ritual

By simply reciting the names of the kings of doctors

Of all realms’ ten directions

And through the especially extensive prayers of the teacher Buddha and the sugatas:

May all negativity and degeneration be ended,

And, bliss and goodness increasing like the waxing moon,

May it be auspicious to enjoy the glory of perfection.

DE SHE THUG JE ZUNG MÖ TING DZING DANG

DEN TSHIG GI DRUB RIN CHHEN LÄ DRUB PA

KHAM SUM LÄ DÄ KÖ CHHOG SUM GYI NÄ

DE WA CHÄN DANG TSHUNG PÄI ZHING CHHOG LA

LEG TSHOG JI NYE CHHI PÄI TRA SHI DE

KHYE KYI MU THÜN GÜ PA KÜN ZÄ CHING

DE LAG YAR NGÖI DA TAR PHEL GYUR NÄ

PHÜN TSHOG PÄL LA RÖL PÄ TRA SHI SHOG

Accomplished through the compassion mantra of the sugatas,

Through faith, Samadhi, and words of truth, construction of jewels,

Abode of the Three Jewels beyond the three realms,

Through the auspiciousness of all collected good qualities

Of that supreme Buddha field equal to Sukhavati:

May all negativity and degeneration be ended,

And, bliss and goodness increasing like the waxing moon,

May it be auspicious to enjoy the glory of perfection.

GR reads more from sadhana:

Kun chog sum chen den par na

Sang gye dang jang chub sempa dang……gyur chig

Now I think the last part has been the forgiveness and auspicious and here you don’t have a dissolving system, but you ask the guests to leave. They melt into light and become water, then you sprinkle the water on the inhabitants and the environment and ourselves and then say the forgiveness, auspicious verses and so on. That’s how we concluded. If you want to do it, every sadhana has that. So you can easily take those same verses.

The forgiveness verses basically say that because of our inability and our stinginess and this and that, please forgive. All that is usually there.

That’s it. So we did the practice in 2 sessions and tomorrow it will be easier, because you will have some English language draft, so we can go on that.

Now the second part of this session are the questions. I am sure there are lots of them, because it is a bit confusing.

0:33:09

Audience: This is about the four classes of tantra: if Medicine Buddha is part of kriya tantra, can you briefly explain the difference between the four?

Rimpoche: We did explain this a lot of times. It may not be very appropriate today, but generally, between vajryana and non-vajrayana, what is the difference? The difference is not the subject we study or the object we meditate on. There is not much difference there. The wisdom is the same wisdom, the compassion is the same compassion. Maybe there is a little bit of mandala visualization. But that’s not the major part of the dharma. The major part is love-compassion and wisdom and that is all the same thing between what you study and meditate on.

The difference is in how you meditate. And that is not about how you sit. In vajrayana the special thing is that you will be able to generate yourself, the observer, your mind, in the nature of joy, observing and practicing the dharma you practice with that mind. That is also in terms of who. The nature of the mind of the meditator is changed into the joy nature.

The intensity of joy differs between the four tantras. The example given is the sexual joy.

There is sexual joy of looking at the sexual partner, then laughing with them and exchanging kind words, then touching them and finally actually engaging in sexual activity. The level of joy of ordinary living beings is different for those levels of contact. That much difference is between the four tantras. It is in how intense the joy will be.

The tantras themselves say:

Gö dang tha dang wa kshya ta

Nyi nyi chö dang…..

Looking, laughing, smiling at each other,

touching, hugging and actual sexual engagements….

So the division is in the intensity of the joy nature. I explained that in several vajrayana teachings. It is not the dharma you meditate on, but the meditating mind. And the mind is not in a bit of happiness, joy or anger or attachment or jealousy. If that is so, there is no tantra. There is no vajrayana. That’s what it is.

Audience: Earlier you said we can’t take a piece of something and mix it with something else. What is it that should not be mixed and taken into another practice?

Rimpoche: Each practice we have in vajrayana has come through the Buddha himself taking the form of different yidams in which he spoke the tantras. The tantra describes the environment, the inhabitants, the mantra and the qualities of either transforming hatred-anger or lust or all of those. Very specifically, with specific manifestations, with specific tantras, if you take one and put it on the other, take one from there and put it on there, that will be mixing them. Mixing may not work. That’s what I mean. It is not about how good it looks, or how it makes people feel or how much they enjoy that. That’s not the point. The point is whether the tantra that is taught and given specifically to that practice and using that by the individual. That is the point. The goal should not be to make it look nice and attractive. Then it goes down and down and becomes watered down.

In the beginning, when I first came here, there was a friend in Ann Arbor. He was a very wonderful person, his wife too. They were wonderful and kind. He had built a new place for meditation and he asked me to come and lots of other people too. My job was to represent wisdom and bring the wisdom from the tradition. The way he wanted me to bring wisdom was through the arch angel Raphael. So this is what happens. That is what I mean by mixing. The arch angel angel from the north should bring the wisdom. So I was supposed to walk from the northern side to the center and pour some water or whatever. That may be a good intention and wonderful performance and well rehearsed. It looks beautiful and completely smooth – but that’s what I mean.

Within Buddhism, within varjayana and within maha anu yoga tantra, also we are not supposed to mix things up. The father tantras’ major emphasis is to build the illusion body. The mother tantras’ major emphasis is to build the clear light. So the purpose of emphasizing clear light cannot be put on the father tantra and the father tantra emphasis of illusion body cannot be put on the mother tantra. Mixing of that kind one shouldn’t do. That’s what I mean by mixing.

Since our knowledge is limited, it is better to stick to the format they have given already. It sounds a little conservative, but it is safer.

Audience: If you take an empowerment in a particular deity from one lineage, can you practice the same deity from another lineage?

Rimpoche: I don’t know. My answer is “I don’t know.” It should be okay, but my answer still is: I don’t know. If I remember correctly, His Holiness took read Yamantaka initiation from one of the Sakya masters, the late Chobyen Trichen Rinpoche. His Holiness said in one of the teachings, “I told him that I am going to give this initiation back in the ritual of Khedrub je (one of Tsongkhapa’s disciples).

0:45:19

So, he said, “I asked him if that was okay” and he didn’t answer. He repeated twice, but didn’t say anything. So I don’t know if His Holiness then gave that red Yamantaka through Khedrub je’s text. I did not hear that he did that. So my answer is that I really don’t know. But that doesn’t mean that if you are in one lineage you can’t go to the other lineage taking teachings. But then whatever teachings you take, stick to it.

Audience: If you have the same initiation or empowerment from different gurus who do you consult about how to do the practice?

Rimpoche: Whichever guru is most helpful to you, the one that is closer.

Audience: You said that all the buddhas are the same. Are all the gurus the same in that sense too?

Rimpoche: Sure. For me, all my gurus are the same. They have different personalities, different character, different identification. But in reality it is the same. Remember the moon and its reflections.

Audience: Between Tara and the Medicine Buddha, how to you determine which one to do and when? How do these practices relate and what are their differences in health benefits?

Rimpoche: The health benefits depend on your trust and your focusing and concentrating. Both will work the same. But if you develop doubt, then it doesn’t work. And also in my personal case, just this time, when I am having this horrible sciatica pain, I tried to utilize the Tara practice a little bit and got better. Then I got a massage and it got worse. So it is the mind. Whenever people offer any treatment like massage, and even medicine, I keep on saying “no thank you at this moment.” It is not the question of having doubt, but more so thinking, “Maybe this is better, maybe that will help”. In order to get away from that sharp pain, you want to take any help you can get. But it is reversible. It is also true that the sciatica pain should go down within 75 hours, but still it comes back after 100 hours. Then other people have chronic pain and so forth, so I think that’s how it works.

Audience: One of the Medicine Buddhas, the Buddha Glorious Supreme Free from Sorrow, the fourth Buddha, is the only one that has both hands in concentration mudra. Is there a particular meaning with that?

Rimpoche: When Buddha talks about the manifestations of the 8 different Medicine Buddhas, that is how Buddha describes them. I don’t know that the meaning is. The hand gestures are totally different. It has something to do with their specific commitment and their specific purposes. I don’t know other than that.

Audience: Can more be said about the 7 limbed practice and the Medicine Buddhas?

Rimpoche: Yes, there is much more to say. I couldn’t minimize it enough. There is so much more. The ritual we did today is also available through the 5th Dalai Lama. That is more than 140 pages. That’s about what we did this afternoon. So don’t ask if there is more. There is always more. Tibetan Buddhism is so rich in the ritual activities and explanations, there is no end to it, honestly.

Audience: Are these Buddhas in a lineage with each other?

Rimpoche: Yes. Remember, in the initiation we said that on the crown of the seventh Buddha, there is the 6th Buddha in the form of his guru. On the crown of the 6th Buddha is the 5th Buddha in the form of his guru and so forth. We did say that during the initiations.

Audience: Do all the Medicine Buddhas have magical powers or is it just some of them and could you describe these?

Rimpoche: I don’t think that’s like the stories of magical powers like fire coming from their upper body and water coming from their lower part of body and being able to fly and so on. But each of their commitments, dedications, prayers and goals, for us that becomes magical.

Audience: Where is Buddha Shakyamuni Buddha in the visualization?

Rimpoche: Normally Shakyamuni is drawn as the principal. This tangka we have here doesn’t have Shakyamuni. In one way not having the right picture is a problem. But on the other hand, every artist in the Tibetan tradition of the old times will draw differently at their own artistic digression. Sometimes artists also follow different teachers’ explanation. So even the old, ancient tangkas of Medicine Buddha will show different gestures and everything. Then, modern painters don’t have the traditional painters’ way of painting. So they copy. So whatever original picture they rely on makes a difference, plus the possible liking and freedom of art of expression of the artist all will lead to the problem we are having. Plus, in the tradition artists never used to identify themselves as the artist. Many times we don’t know. We may simply guess, because of some little structure of some famous painting tradition. It is guess work. Nobody who was there at that time can really say: “this person did it, I saw it” or “my father told me”. So it is mostly guess work. This happens. A culture that has so many traditions and systems and even the region the artist comes from has an influence on the physical structure and even the hand implements of the figures.

So some will put Shakyamuni in the center surrounded by the other seven. Some will have Shakyamuni and Medicine Buddha as one person, some don’t have him there at all, but just the 7 Medicine Buddhas. For example, what we did this morning doesn’t have Shakyamuni in there. This happens. But this is a particular Medicine Buddha initiation. That’s why there are 7 Medicine Buddhas. But when you are making offerings, prayers and do the service, then you add up Buddha Shakyamuni and then it becomes 8 Medicine Buddhas. I think I mentioned that this morning. When it is like a lineage and they are all together, then it is only seven. We don’t do the Shakyamuni Buddha within the stack [that we visualized.] He can be surrounding that. Tangkhas are actually meant for visualization.

Audience: How should we visualize the jewel above the crown of the Medicine Buddha and what role does it play?

Rimpoche: I think what we said is that the jewel represents the guru of the Medicine Buddha. It is like crown jewel, like the Queen of England wears the world’s largest diamond which was removed from Muntaj’s tomb in the Sha Jahan’s period. That is supposed to be the most important jewel of the Queen of England. Likewise, this jewel is like the icing on the cake, the crown jewel. That is representing the guru.

Audience: When you look at the tangka, is that the little jewel on the top of the Medicine Buddha’s top knot?

Rimpoche: Right.

Audience: So that can be the root guru of Medicine Buddha. Can that also represent Shakyamuni Buddha?

Rimpoche: For us it can be. But I think when you put the 7 Medicine Buddhas on top of each other and you physically draw that then you put the physical Buddha and when you don’t draw that, then he can be in jewel form – like for example Vajrayogini carries a kathanga, which in reality is Heruka.

1:03:44

Audience: About the mantra, the written mantra is different from what was spoken during the initiation. Is there a reason for that?

Rimpoche: Yes, I speak Tibetan Sanskrit. In Sankrit it would say: TAYATA OM BAISHAJYA, BAISHAJYA MAHA BAISHAJYA RAJA SAMUGATE SOHA.

But Tibetans are in the habit of saying: TAYATA OM BEKANZE BEKANZE MAHA BEKANZE RANZA SAMUNGATE SOHA

That’s the simple reason.

Audience: There was also a difference in the number of words in the mantra between what is printed and what was spoken.

Rimpoche: That depends on who printed it and what was printed. I am looking at the Tibetan commentaries and texts and there are at least three different versions of that mantra. So I went by whatever this particular text reads. The shorter and easier version is: TAYATA OM BEKANZE BEKANZE MAHA BEKANZE RANZA SAMUNGATE SOHA.

Then the longer one is: NAMO BAGHAVATE BEKANDZE GURU BENDURYA…This is more elaborate. I will talk more about the mantra tomorrow because each mantra has its own explanations too. I am trying to not make the mantra a commitment for you to say, but if you want to make it a commitment, you can do that.

Audience: What’s the meaning of the names of the seven buddhas?

Rimpoche: I don’t think I can answer that in the short time we have got now. That will take a little time. If we have time, we will do that tomorrow or Monday morning.

Audience: Do the colors of the 7 buddhas relate to the 5 buddha families?

Rimpoche: I don’t think so. Could be, but I don’t think so?

Audience: What is the significance of each of their colors?

Rimpoche: I don’t know. Honestly, I don’t know.

Audience: Is there a background color in the visualization?

Rimpoche: You can put anything you want as a background. The normal rule for the background is the color of space, light blue, sky- blue. But then some people don’t like blue, so the background doesn’t matter. If you google it, you may get an answer.

Okay, you had a hard day today, so we will stop here. Also we have done our dedications already, so since we said lots of vajrayana things already we may just say the 100 syllable mantra of Vajrasattva three times, which in kriya tantra is the Padmasattva mantra.

OM PADMASATTVA SAMAYA MANU PALAYA PADMASATTVA TENOPATISHTA

DRIDHO ME BHAVA SUTOSHYO ME BHAVA SUPOSHYO ME BHAVA ANURAKTO ME BHAVA SARVA SIDDHI ME PRAYACHHA SARVA KARMA SUCHA ME CHITTAM SHREYAH KURU HUM HA HA HA HA HO BHAGAVAN SARVA TATHAGATA PADMA MA ME MUNCHA PADMA BHAVA MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA AH HUNG PHAT

And the request for forgiveness:

MA NYE YONG SU MA JE DANG

GANG YANG NÖ PA MA JE DAG

DE NE JA WA GANG JE PA

DE KUN KYÖ KYI ZÖ DZAY RIG

LHAG PA DANG NI CHHÄ PA DANG

CHHO GÄI YÄN LAG NYAM PA DANG

DAG GI JE NGÄ CHI CHHI PA

DE YANG ZÖ PAR DZÄL DU SÖL

Whatever was superfluous or left undone,

Degeneration in parts of the ritual,

Or whatever was forgotten,

Please be patient with these as well.

And a few auspicious verses:

1:10

Mi yur lön po ku yi tra shi shok

Yen la drub gyur sung ki tra shi shok

Thak ta drö me thug je tra shi shok

Gyal wai ku sum thug je tra shi shok

Good Night 1:11:12