An Eternal Blessing
How does one secure these four indispensable supports of financial resources, spiritual partners, Dharma, and site? By making offerings. If one knows how to make Great Offering, these four conditions will arise. If one does not know how to or chooses to neglect making offerings, one will have difficulties in securing these conditions. I have made so many Great Offerings in this lifetime that I can choose, if I want to, to be born in my next life as a king. This is one way I could keep on helping to liberate sentient beings. A king is very rich! Why am I so confident that I will surely be born as a king in my next lifetime? Because I have learned to make the true kind of offering in this life time. I have learned to make offerings with my whose heart and beings, and I can transform all my offerings into treasures as vast as those of the devas'. When one is in possession of such wealth, one can acquire a vast land, gather spiritual partners from among the vast population of sentient beings, and rule with the great number of Dharma practices. When one becomes a king, financial resources, spiritual partners, Dharmas, and sites of power within the county will all be accessible to him.
In spiritual cultivation, if one truly learns to make the Great Offerings, one can become a king in a future life. Many Buddhist monks and Tantric masters know how to make Great Offerings to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In fact, many kings and presidents in the world were once monks who made Great Offerings in their previous lives.
I hope you will learn to do the Great Offerings well and will be able to obtain sufficient resources for doing cultivation in this life. In your next life, you could become a wealthy person or be born into the families of the Deva Kings. Or, with more resources accumulated, you might even become a Treasure Deva king. Therefore, the practice of the Great Offering is very important. I have divulged the main idea behind the practice of Great Offering, which is: when offerings are made to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and these offerings cause delight, they will bestow blessings and resources (money, partners, Dharmas, and sites) to help facilitate one's spiritual cultivation. [Grand Master rings the bell.]
The Fourfold Refuge
The next step in the liturgy is the Fourfold Refuge Practice, which also employs mantra, mudra, and visualization. Please note that this practice is the source of the power of reliance. Through relying on one's guru, who transmits to one the lineage, one obtains this power of reliance. The mantra to recite is: Namo Guru bei, Namo Buddha ye, Namo Dharma ye, Namo Sangha ye. Before this mantra is recited, one visualizes the guru, Triple Jewels, and scriptures to appear in the space before and above one, swirling to transform into a beam of great white light which pours down on oneself. The guru, Triple Jewels, and all of the scriptures combine to form the great white light which enters through the crown of the practitioner, so one's body is filled with a luminous, white nectar. This is followed by the expulsion of black vapor from one's skin pores. The empowerment of the light causes the obscurations within one's being to be expelled through the skin pores. After this visualization, one then proceeds to recite three times,
"Namo Guru bei, Namo Buddha ye, Namo Dharma ye, Namo Sangha ye."
This Fourfold Refuge Practice is, in itself, the power of reliance. One's root guru plays an extremely crucial role because all the practices in cultivation are transmitted to one by the root guru.
The Nyingmapa Lineage
I would like to speak about my own gurus. When I was living at Ballard (Washington) and cultivating there, Padmasambhava appeared to me out of the spiritual realm and brought me to a place called Pon-je-pu in Nepal. I don't know if you have heard of the place, but it was there that he gave me teachings and empowerments in many practices. He still continues to teach me. That is why Padmasambhava is equivalent to my guru in the Nyingmapa lineage.
The Gelugpa Lineage
Regarding my Gelugpa lineage, I have taken refuge in Guru Thubten Taerchi. He recently gave me two tokens, a vajra and a bell made of gold. He told me, "This vajra and bell represent my empowerment to you of the Highest Tantra Practice." These two tokens are now upstairs in my office. In addition, my guru from the Gelugpa lineage, or your grand-guru, has personally scribed a verse in calligraphy which is now on display in the dining area. The name "Thubten Chi-ju" appears on it, too. Thubten Chi-ju is the refuge name given to me by Guru Thubten Taerchi, and it represents the lineage of Lama Thubten of the Gelugpa school.
The Origin of Thubten Chi-ju
There was a period in the past when I called myself Thubten Ch'i-mo because, at the beginning, my guru gave me a note with the word "Thubten" on it and asked me to pick from another list a word to create my refuge name At that time, a group of his students started their refuge names with the word Ch'i and I liked the word Mo because it reminded me of Maha, so I became Thubten Ch'i-mo. Later, while I was in Hong Kong for another visit, my guru told me that many of his students were not very good. Well, how should I describe this? He sometimes likes to use rather coarse words. [audience laughter] He was commenting that the students whose refuge names began with Ch'i were not very good, well, I won't say anymore, as I was also one of them. [audience laughter] Anyway, he said he was going to annul the discipleship of all students with names that began with Ch'i. Then he suddenly wrote the verse with the name Thubten Chi-ju and showed it to me as my new refuge name There was nothing I could do but to accept the new name [audience laughter] In the verse he added "True Master Lianhsiang" (Mrs. Lu) behind my name Perhaps she is the true master, while I am just the assistant. [audience laughter] Anyway, this new name of mine, Chi-ju, means self-mastery and freedom, so I don't really care who is the head and who is the assistant head. After all, my name is written before her name [audience laughter]
So, after writing this verse, which has "Thubten Chi-ju" and "True Master Lian-hsiang" in it, he asked the students in the Hong Kong chapter to have it mounted and framed. Then he hung up the calligraphy and asked Master Lian-hsiang and I to stand in front of it to have a picture taken. This really made him happy. I guess my guru is somewhat eccentric. [audience laughter] I shouldn't have said that! [audience uproar of laughter]
The Sakyapa Lineage
You all know that my guru from the Sakyapa lineage is Sakya Cheng-kung, who is also an old master. After I met him, he gave me many empowerments including the Acharya Empowerment. Padmasambhava also gave me the Acharya Empowerment. Guru Thubten Taerchi gave me the Highest Tantra Empowerment.
The Kagyu Lineage
When I met the sixteenth Karmapa, he gave me the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment, which is the highest empowerment — even higher than the Acharya Empowerment. If one knows about Tantric Dharma, one will understand that the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment or the Supreme Buddha Crown Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment is the pinnacle of all empowerments. In this empowerment, one of the Buddhas stands above one's head, one in front of one's brow, a Buddha at each ear, and one Buddha at the back of one's head. The only Buddha greater than the Five Dhyani Buddhas is the Adi Buddha — the Primordial Buddha — or Pu Hsien Wang Tathagata [Samantabhadra Buddha]. He, however, is a Dharma Body, a Vajra Dharani, whose manifestation is the Five Dhyani Buddhas. Therefore, the Supreme Buddha Crown Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment is, indeed, the greatest empowerment. The Five Buddhas are: to the north the Buddha that formed from the merging of Buddha Shakyamuni and Amoghasiddhi; to the east Akshobya Buddha, who is also known as the Immovable Buddha; to the south Ratnasambhava; to the west Amitabha Buddha, and in the center Mahavairocana.
Thus it is rather strange that, upon meeting me, the Sixteenth Karmapa would give me the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment. Perhaps it was a mistake. [audience laughter] Anyway, I had requested the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment and he bestowed it. Therefore, this empowerment is the greatest, even greater than the Acharya Empowerment.
There are as many levels of empowerment or initiation as there are levels of practice: external, internal, esoteric, and inner-esoteric. There are also many other kinds of empowerments such as the Vase Empowerment, Vajra Empowerment, Bell Empowerment, Crown Empowerment, and Name Empowerment. All these are related to higher level practices.
Respecting Teachers
At the beginning, Mr.Three-Peaks-Nine-States taught me many kinds of mudras and I was brought to the realm of the spirits by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They brought me to visit the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. The Taoist Hermit of Purity (Taoist Ching Chen), also known as the Monk Liao Ming, taught me many Taoist and Tantric practices. When I was at the Jade Emperor Temple in Taiwan, I met the blue-robed lady, Ms. Chi 0, whom we now call Aunt Chi O. She asked me to join my palms and kneel down and, as soon as I did this, I immediately achieved Oneness with the Universe and obtained the Divine Eyesight. I have met many teachers in the past and, even now, my heart is full of reverence for every one of them. In the end, Ms. Chi O also took refuge in the True Buddha School, and that is why she often talks about how a teacher helps a student and then the student turns around to help the teacher.
For three years my invisible teacher from the spirit realm, Mr.Three-Peaks-Nine-States, taught me many detailed practices. Someone has commented that they found it curious that I should address him as Mister rather than Master. Actually, in ancient China, Mister is the most revered title one could use to address an honored person. The person who made that comment had a poor knowledge of Chinese culture and was unaware of the traditional connotation. In modern times, Mister has become a very ordinary form of address. For example, when someone now writes "Mr. Sheng-yen Lu," it is meant to be a common form of address. But, in ancient China, only extraordinary personalities who were very lofty and who had attained realization were referred to as "Mister." That is why my spirit teacher refers to himself as Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine- States. There is another Great Being from whom I frequently received teachings, who calls himself Mr. Ancient Lotus. Very great Buddhas have come to teach me. All these happenings are authentic. The lineages transmitted to me are also authentic.
Criticism — A Form of Blessing
To be very honest with you, in this life, I have no fear of criticizing anyone. After all, when I criticize someone, I am actually blessing that person. So, what does it matter! [audience laughter]
When a Buddha criticizes a sentient being, it is motivated by love. Why would I even bother unless I cared about the individual? Isn't this true? I only scold people for whom I care and wish the best to happen. That is why such criticism is also a kind of love, a kind of empowerment from my inner being.
I have taken a lot of criticism from many of my own gurus. Guru Thubten Taerchi frequently criticizes me, but I take it very well. In the past, Sakya Cheng-kung also scolded me severely, but I never answered him back, nor any of my gurus for that matter. After all, a disciple is supposed to be empowered by his guru, not the other way around! [audience laughter] I feel that it is entirely appropriate for my guru to empower me through criticism. I am completely accepting because it shows that my guru cares and thinks about me. When one's guru stops criticizing one, it could be that the guru no longer thinks of one or there is no longer any kind of gurudisciple relationship between them. It is worthwhile to be scolded by one's guru, as it shows that the guru cares and loves and thinks about one.
My guru loves to scold me, and he does it all the time. Yet, whenever I visit, instead of criticism, I get a big hug from him. I have heard of my guru's criticism of me, and I still go to pay homage to him This pleases him tremendously, as he feels that I am a good disciple who thinks about him and who will not be turned away by criticism.
Basics [7]. More to come.....
Readers can write to asklotuschef@gmail.com for a .pdf or .doc copy of this book.
Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hom
Lama Lotuschef
How does one secure these four indispensable supports of financial resources, spiritual partners, Dharma, and site? By making offerings. If one knows how to make Great Offering, these four conditions will arise. If one does not know how to or chooses to neglect making offerings, one will have difficulties in securing these conditions. I have made so many Great Offerings in this lifetime that I can choose, if I want to, to be born in my next life as a king. This is one way I could keep on helping to liberate sentient beings. A king is very rich! Why am I so confident that I will surely be born as a king in my next lifetime? Because I have learned to make the true kind of offering in this life time. I have learned to make offerings with my whose heart and beings, and I can transform all my offerings into treasures as vast as those of the devas'. When one is in possession of such wealth, one can acquire a vast land, gather spiritual partners from among the vast population of sentient beings, and rule with the great number of Dharma practices. When one becomes a king, financial resources, spiritual partners, Dharmas, and sites of power within the county will all be accessible to him.
In spiritual cultivation, if one truly learns to make the Great Offerings, one can become a king in a future life. Many Buddhist monks and Tantric masters know how to make Great Offerings to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. In fact, many kings and presidents in the world were once monks who made Great Offerings in their previous lives.
I hope you will learn to do the Great Offerings well and will be able to obtain sufficient resources for doing cultivation in this life. In your next life, you could become a wealthy person or be born into the families of the Deva Kings. Or, with more resources accumulated, you might even become a Treasure Deva king. Therefore, the practice of the Great Offering is very important. I have divulged the main idea behind the practice of Great Offering, which is: when offerings are made to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and these offerings cause delight, they will bestow blessings and resources (money, partners, Dharmas, and sites) to help facilitate one's spiritual cultivation. [Grand Master rings the bell.]
The Fourfold Refuge
The next step in the liturgy is the Fourfold Refuge Practice, which also employs mantra, mudra, and visualization. Please note that this practice is the source of the power of reliance. Through relying on one's guru, who transmits to one the lineage, one obtains this power of reliance. The mantra to recite is: Namo Guru bei, Namo Buddha ye, Namo Dharma ye, Namo Sangha ye. Before this mantra is recited, one visualizes the guru, Triple Jewels, and scriptures to appear in the space before and above one, swirling to transform into a beam of great white light which pours down on oneself. The guru, Triple Jewels, and all of the scriptures combine to form the great white light which enters through the crown of the practitioner, so one's body is filled with a luminous, white nectar. This is followed by the expulsion of black vapor from one's skin pores. The empowerment of the light causes the obscurations within one's being to be expelled through the skin pores. After this visualization, one then proceeds to recite three times,
"Namo Guru bei, Namo Buddha ye, Namo Dharma ye, Namo Sangha ye."
This Fourfold Refuge Practice is, in itself, the power of reliance. One's root guru plays an extremely crucial role because all the practices in cultivation are transmitted to one by the root guru.
The Nyingmapa Lineage
I would like to speak about my own gurus. When I was living at Ballard (Washington) and cultivating there, Padmasambhava appeared to me out of the spiritual realm and brought me to a place called Pon-je-pu in Nepal. I don't know if you have heard of the place, but it was there that he gave me teachings and empowerments in many practices. He still continues to teach me. That is why Padmasambhava is equivalent to my guru in the Nyingmapa lineage.
The Gelugpa Lineage
Regarding my Gelugpa lineage, I have taken refuge in Guru Thubten Taerchi. He recently gave me two tokens, a vajra and a bell made of gold. He told me, "This vajra and bell represent my empowerment to you of the Highest Tantra Practice." These two tokens are now upstairs in my office. In addition, my guru from the Gelugpa lineage, or your grand-guru, has personally scribed a verse in calligraphy which is now on display in the dining area. The name "Thubten Chi-ju" appears on it, too. Thubten Chi-ju is the refuge name given to me by Guru Thubten Taerchi, and it represents the lineage of Lama Thubten of the Gelugpa school.
The Origin of Thubten Chi-ju
There was a period in the past when I called myself Thubten Ch'i-mo because, at the beginning, my guru gave me a note with the word "Thubten" on it and asked me to pick from another list a word to create my refuge name At that time, a group of his students started their refuge names with the word Ch'i and I liked the word Mo because it reminded me of Maha, so I became Thubten Ch'i-mo. Later, while I was in Hong Kong for another visit, my guru told me that many of his students were not very good. Well, how should I describe this? He sometimes likes to use rather coarse words. [audience laughter] He was commenting that the students whose refuge names began with Ch'i were not very good, well, I won't say anymore, as I was also one of them. [audience laughter] Anyway, he said he was going to annul the discipleship of all students with names that began with Ch'i. Then he suddenly wrote the verse with the name Thubten Chi-ju and showed it to me as my new refuge name There was nothing I could do but to accept the new name [audience laughter] In the verse he added "True Master Lianhsiang" (Mrs. Lu) behind my name Perhaps she is the true master, while I am just the assistant. [audience laughter] Anyway, this new name of mine, Chi-ju, means self-mastery and freedom, so I don't really care who is the head and who is the assistant head. After all, my name is written before her name [audience laughter]
So, after writing this verse, which has "Thubten Chi-ju" and "True Master Lian-hsiang" in it, he asked the students in the Hong Kong chapter to have it mounted and framed. Then he hung up the calligraphy and asked Master Lian-hsiang and I to stand in front of it to have a picture taken. This really made him happy. I guess my guru is somewhat eccentric. [audience laughter] I shouldn't have said that! [audience uproar of laughter]
The Sakyapa Lineage
You all know that my guru from the Sakyapa lineage is Sakya Cheng-kung, who is also an old master. After I met him, he gave me many empowerments including the Acharya Empowerment. Padmasambhava also gave me the Acharya Empowerment. Guru Thubten Taerchi gave me the Highest Tantra Empowerment.
The Kagyu Lineage
When I met the sixteenth Karmapa, he gave me the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment, which is the highest empowerment — even higher than the Acharya Empowerment. If one knows about Tantric Dharma, one will understand that the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment or the Supreme Buddha Crown Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment is the pinnacle of all empowerments. In this empowerment, one of the Buddhas stands above one's head, one in front of one's brow, a Buddha at each ear, and one Buddha at the back of one's head. The only Buddha greater than the Five Dhyani Buddhas is the Adi Buddha — the Primordial Buddha — or Pu Hsien Wang Tathagata [Samantabhadra Buddha]. He, however, is a Dharma Body, a Vajra Dharani, whose manifestation is the Five Dhyani Buddhas. Therefore, the Supreme Buddha Crown Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment is, indeed, the greatest empowerment. The Five Buddhas are: to the north the Buddha that formed from the merging of Buddha Shakyamuni and Amoghasiddhi; to the east Akshobya Buddha, who is also known as the Immovable Buddha; to the south Ratnasambhava; to the west Amitabha Buddha, and in the center Mahavairocana.
Thus it is rather strange that, upon meeting me, the Sixteenth Karmapa would give me the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment. Perhaps it was a mistake. [audience laughter] Anyway, I had requested the Five Dhyani Buddhas Empowerment and he bestowed it. Therefore, this empowerment is the greatest, even greater than the Acharya Empowerment.
There are as many levels of empowerment or initiation as there are levels of practice: external, internal, esoteric, and inner-esoteric. There are also many other kinds of empowerments such as the Vase Empowerment, Vajra Empowerment, Bell Empowerment, Crown Empowerment, and Name Empowerment. All these are related to higher level practices.
Respecting Teachers
At the beginning, Mr.Three-Peaks-Nine-States taught me many kinds of mudras and I was brought to the realm of the spirits by the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. They brought me to visit the Maha Twin Lotus Ponds. The Taoist Hermit of Purity (Taoist Ching Chen), also known as the Monk Liao Ming, taught me many Taoist and Tantric practices. When I was at the Jade Emperor Temple in Taiwan, I met the blue-robed lady, Ms. Chi 0, whom we now call Aunt Chi O. She asked me to join my palms and kneel down and, as soon as I did this, I immediately achieved Oneness with the Universe and obtained the Divine Eyesight. I have met many teachers in the past and, even now, my heart is full of reverence for every one of them. In the end, Ms. Chi O also took refuge in the True Buddha School, and that is why she often talks about how a teacher helps a student and then the student turns around to help the teacher.
For three years my invisible teacher from the spirit realm, Mr.Three-Peaks-Nine-States, taught me many detailed practices. Someone has commented that they found it curious that I should address him as Mister rather than Master. Actually, in ancient China, Mister is the most revered title one could use to address an honored person. The person who made that comment had a poor knowledge of Chinese culture and was unaware of the traditional connotation. In modern times, Mister has become a very ordinary form of address. For example, when someone now writes "Mr. Sheng-yen Lu," it is meant to be a common form of address. But, in ancient China, only extraordinary personalities who were very lofty and who had attained realization were referred to as "Mister." That is why my spirit teacher refers to himself as Mr. Three-Peaks-Nine- States. There is another Great Being from whom I frequently received teachings, who calls himself Mr. Ancient Lotus. Very great Buddhas have come to teach me. All these happenings are authentic. The lineages transmitted to me are also authentic.
Criticism — A Form of Blessing
To be very honest with you, in this life, I have no fear of criticizing anyone. After all, when I criticize someone, I am actually blessing that person. So, what does it matter! [audience laughter]
When a Buddha criticizes a sentient being, it is motivated by love. Why would I even bother unless I cared about the individual? Isn't this true? I only scold people for whom I care and wish the best to happen. That is why such criticism is also a kind of love, a kind of empowerment from my inner being.
I have taken a lot of criticism from many of my own gurus. Guru Thubten Taerchi frequently criticizes me, but I take it very well. In the past, Sakya Cheng-kung also scolded me severely, but I never answered him back, nor any of my gurus for that matter. After all, a disciple is supposed to be empowered by his guru, not the other way around! [audience laughter] I feel that it is entirely appropriate for my guru to empower me through criticism. I am completely accepting because it shows that my guru cares and thinks about me. When one's guru stops criticizing one, it could be that the guru no longer thinks of one or there is no longer any kind of gurudisciple relationship between them. It is worthwhile to be scolded by one's guru, as it shows that the guru cares and loves and thinks about one.
My guru loves to scold me, and he does it all the time. Yet, whenever I visit, instead of criticism, I get a big hug from him. I have heard of my guru's criticism of me, and I still go to pay homage to him This pleases him tremendously, as he feels that I am a good disciple who thinks about him and who will not be turned away by criticism.
Basics [7]. More to come.....
Readers can write to asklotuschef@gmail.com for a .pdf or .doc copy of this book.
Om Guru Lian Sheng Siddhi Hom
Lama Lotuschef
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