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Homage to the teacher Buddha Shakyamuni!
Homage to the wisdom warrior Manjushri!
Homage to the entire loving lineage masters!
The unsurpassed, profound, and wonderful Dharma,
Is difficult to meet for hundreds and thousands million eons.
Now that I get the chance to see, hear, receive and practice it,
May I understand the ultimate meaning of the Tathagata.
In order to liberate all sentient beings, Please generate the supreme bodhichitta!
Now we will continue our lesson on the merit of the seven-line prayer.
Previously, I gave a concise commentary on the Sadhana of Seven-Line Prayer
a treasure text revealed by Kongtrul Rinpoche.
Today, we will move on to
the merit of the seven-line prayer as it is recorded in many treasure texts
of great tertons of history
as well as its history, its extraordinary power of blessing and many other contents.
What is it said here?
These are the words used by many Dakinis
to invite Padmasambhava to attend the sacred feast.
Also,
there were five hundred upholders of non-Buddhist views who excelled at logic and language
They came to Nalanda, intending to put an end to Buddhism.
There were five hundred Buddhist panditas,
but their arguments were weak.
All the panditas had the same dream that night,
Now there are two sayings here:
one is that when they were helpless,
suddenly a Dakini came to them
and gave them a solution.
Another saying is that
all these panditas had the same dream at the same time.
What was the dream?
Dakini Supreme Peace prophesied: How can YOU refute the non-Buddhists?
thus she asked them.
How can you refute them if you don﹑t invite my brother
who lives in the Dark charnel field, among corpses and in complete darkness.
His name is Th?treng Tsal.
In fact, Dorje Th?treng Tsal is one of the eight manifestations of Guru Padmasambhava.
If you don﹑t invite him Buddha Dharma will be destroyed. ,00:03:29:03 00:03:32:19 At that time, the Dakini made such a prophecy. ,00:03:32:19 00:03:40:14 Then the panditas told the Dakini
It is very difficult for ordinary beings to go to Darkness charnel field 00:03:49:24 00:03:53:14 So there is no way make the invitation.
Then the Dakini said, If you prepare a great offerings on the roof of the temple,
burn wonderful incense and play instruments
and with utmost devotion
recite the seven-line prayer in one voice
then my brother Padmasambhava might arrive.
Then she taught them how to recite the seven-line prayer.
All panditas followed the Dakini﹑s instruction
and set out copious offerings on the roof of their temple,
and accompanied by the sound of music they started to pray.
As soon as they started praying, Padmasambhava appeared instantly from mid-air
and took the position as the leader of the five hundred great panditas.
Through scriptural authority he debated with the five hundred non-Buddhists.
This resulted in the complete failure of the non-Buddhists and the victory of Buddha Dharma.
Then, the non-Buddhists performed different kinds of miraculous transformations.
Then, through the power of mantra,
and by using a jeweled coffer that Vajravarahi gave to him to conquer the heretics
Padmasambhava followed her instruction
He made hailstones fall from the sky and showed many other miraculous transformations.
In some historical documents, it is said that
Padmasambhava pointed his vajra towards the non-Buddhists with the threatening gesture.
while shouting ﹒Hum Hum‧ to the non-Buddhists.
ll the non-Buddhists fell to the ground and were defeated.
So the mudra, vajra and body of Padmasambhava
have extraordinary power of conquering
non-Buddhists, demons and evil spirits.
At that time, he defeated all the obstinate non-Buddhists.
The rest of the non-Buddhists converted to Buddhism.
From then on, the seven-line prayer spread far and wide
in countries such as India, the continent of copper, which is the present day Sri Lanka and Pakistan and so on.
In the past, even before it was popular in Tibet, the seven-line prayer enjoyed its prosperity indeed.
Over there, people were particularly fond of reciting the seven-line prayer.
I think in Tibet, ordained monks, nuns, or laypersons,
with the exception of the young people nowadays,
in the past, everybody would recite the seven-line prayer together.
When people encounter obstacles or hindrances, they would join their palms together and pray
through this seven-line prayer.
Many cases in history tells us
when we encounter difficulties in our Dharma practice or when our Dharma practice is failing
for example, when I wanted to be ordained as a monk, for quite a while
I realized that I encountered various kinds of obstacles.
It seemed like I wasn﹑t going to successfully receive ordination, so I spent a period of time just to recite the seven-line prayer.
Although I didn﹑t know much about the sadhanas here,
through the oral transmission of some old people and Lamas,
I learned that entreating Guru Rinpoche through reciting this seven-line prayer
can meet all our needs and fulfill all our wishes.
So I dedicated a period of time on praying.
Even today, when I look back, I feel that many obstacles of that time 00:08:30:11 00:08:36:12 seemed to have miraculously disappeared. They couldn﹑t have their way.
I really feel that the blessing of Padmasambhava is unfathomable.
If we tell this to non-Buddhists or people holding wrongful views,
they might think that we are boasting
that we are overstating.
But actually, all these years of practicing the Dharma and praying
have generated great power.
So when our fellow Dharma practitioners
encounter various kinds of obstacles during Dharma practice, disturbing emotions,
when these things happen it is very important to supplicate Padmasambhava.
﹒Entreat Padmasambhava intensely, and you will definitely not be swayed by obstacles.‧
said Guma Wangpo Tenzin Norbu, the author of the Sastra of Praising Precepts.
Our spiritual teacher Lama Yizhin Norbu(H.H. Jigme Phuntsok) often quoted this phrase
He did more than quoting. In many occasions
whenever hindrances happen to his retinue or to our institute, he would
often pray like this.
After praying, in this time of turbidities,
whether it is spreading Buddha Dharma or personal spiritual cultivation, there are significant effects.
Therefore, those who are here
sometimes really want to become a good Dharma practitioner.
But, if we don﹑t have a powerful force behind us
without such a strong support, it is very difficult.
Dharma practice in the time of turbidities is like a cloudy day﹑s sun,
sometimes it is clouded by demonic forces sometimes by karmic hindrances
sometimes our motivations are wavered by misleading doctrines or teachers.
So I﹑ve always felt that if you want your Dharma practice to reach a certain standard,
for example, for an ordained person, if you always keep your precepts pure,
if you want to turn yourself into a true monk or a true nun.
then constantly pray to Padmasambhava, he will protect us at any time and place.
With such a shield of protection, we can smoothly overcome all kinds of obstacles.
If a lay practitioner finds himself in a horrible situation,
to start and finish his Dharma practice smoothly,
nowadays it is extremely difficult, he will meet with many difficulties.
To get rid of all hindrances, and attain enlightenment also requires the blessings of the Three Jewels.
Through the above-mentioned story, we should be aware
that as long as we are entreating him single-pointedly, and with conviction and devotion,
then Padmasambhava will appear in front of us instantaneously.
All our difficulties and pain
can be disburdened through his unfathomable power.
If we don﹑t supplicate, we don﹑t call for him
however incredible his blessings are, he might not come to you.
For example, the magnifying glass we use to kindle a fire, if it﹑s not pointed towards the sun,
although this glass has the ability to focus the sunlight,
if you don﹑t point it to the sun, the sun will never pass through the glass.
But if you point the glass towards the sun although the sun is very far from us,
like a magical trick, its sunshine will
directly pass through your magnifying glass and spark a fire.
So supplication and everyday practice are indeed very important.
Some people often say that observing your mind alone is sufficient,
there﹑s no need for reciting mantras or prayers, these are all superfluous.
This might be good for the people with superior innate capacities, as it is written in sutras.
Abide in a natural state of being, and all merits will be perfected. This happened with very few people.
But most of us ordinary people must recite prayers and mantras.
And through doing so, we build a connection with Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Nowadays, some Lamas say reciting prayers and mantras is like a receiving device,
some say reciting mantras is like making a phone call
But to compare reciting mantras with making phone calls
sometimes I think that this metaphor is not very appropriate.
When you make a phone call, if the person you call changed his number, then you will not be able to reach him.
But the names of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will never change.
It﹑s not like Padmasambhava used seven-line prayer before,
and in the 21st century, he﹑s not using it anymore.
So I think making a telephone call might not work as a metaphor.
But in a way it works,
in the sense of building a connection with the other person.
Anyway,
for example, when you recite mantras, normally, your mind will find a certain peacefulness.
You can﹑t generate great wrath
while reciting mantras. This won﹑t work.
Generating strong desire while reciting mantras won﹑t work either.
So generally speaking, when we see a Dharma practitioner,
at least when he is doing his chanting,
at least during that time, his state of mind is relatively pure.
Sometimes, a few thoughts might surface to very few people when they chant.
But when he is reciting mantras, his mind will be very calm.
Some Buddhist masters of history
recited hundreds of millions of mantras throughout their whole life.
In fact, in their everyday lives, these great masters
are not particularly troubled by the trivial matters of the mundane world.
They wholehearted consider reciting mantras as a very important business.
Therefore, for most of the time, their minds remain very calm.
In our lives, you can also see that
those who often recite mantras
would have fewer disturbing emotions in their lives.
So we must know here that
this prayer to Padmasambhava is extremely beneficial.
Also, when Padmasambhava came to Tibet,
and brought Buddha Dharma with him, he gave this seven-line prayer to
kings and subjects with whom he had good karmic affinities, like King Trisong Detsen and Vairotsana and so on
and the future disciples.
You will find this seven-line prayer in every single treasure text.
Like the hundred great tertons of the history of Tibetan Buddhism,
I don﹑t know whether they have it in Chinese,
but the biographies of these one hundred great tertons are translated into English.
They were compiled into a very thick volume.
In the future, I think
it is necessary to give you a teaching regarding treasure texts.
This is a practice particular to Tibetan Buddhism.
Although as I said before, this practice exists in sutras,
it was documented in a very obscure, and brief way.
Especially in the teachings of Padmasambhava.
Actually, I think we will get to know more about
Padmasambhava﹑s Sadhana, and the teachings of these
excellent treasure texts revealed by every tertons in the future.
Because in Tibet, there are many treasure texts.
In every treasure text,
you will find some extraordinary sadhanas to practice and recite the seven-line prayer,
including Padmasambhava﹑s deeds, his life stories.
Actually there are many biographies about Padmasambhava in history.
Some say there are about 4900 biographies
Different tertons gave different descriptions and different sadhanas.
Of course, nowadays, there are many kinds of Guru yoga.
Up until now, it has always been
a great treasury of blessing and accomplishment that gives you signs of realization.
So far the blessings have been indeed very incredible.
If one often practices this seven-line prayer,
then his practice will progress without a hitch, he will experience various meditative states
his inner and outer evil influences will naturally disappear
the blessing, wisdom and accomplishments of lineage masters will swiftly drench into the heart.
The seven-line prayer is the constant companion of many of you here.
I know that many people here have never stopped
reciting 100 times the seven-line prayer every day over the years.
Then they recite around 1000 times the Vajra Guru mantra.
I saw many Dharma brothers including some Chinese practitioners who do this.
I think that if you persevere in this practice,
then you will disperse many obstacles of your Dharma practice.
so that our mind and body will mingle more easily with Dharma.
If your minds mingle with Dharma, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will constantly bless us.
Then our faith for the Three Jewels will naturally become stronger and stronger.
Then, to realize the ultimate truth of all phenomena will not be hard at all.
If our minds cannot mingle with Dharma,
then Guru, Bodhisattva, Dakas and Dharma protectors cannot constantly bless us,
then our Dharma practice
though through our own feeble power, we can be diligent,
but eventually the result will not be so ideal.
Therefore, such a treasure, a very powerful text of blessing
should be carried with us all the time.
For example, a person who is very sick
would carry an effective medicine with him at all times,
Every one of us has negative emotions, hindrances and obstacles,
we know it very well, only some of us don﹑t say it.
In fact, many people think that
I have very strong negative emotions and very serious obstacles
Why does my Dharma practice fail all the time?
Look at my friends who wake up early in the morning and recite volumes after volumes of texts,
and they seem to be trouble-free in the life.
Whereas me, either I fall sick all the time, or I suffer from emotional pain.
When this happens, though it is not apparent to our eyes,
but many non-humans and spirits might be causing you harm.
When this happens, you should recite
a most powerful mantra or a prayer. This is very important.
This is why, many successful masters of the past
carried this text on them in a place that﹑s not visible to others
They have many ﹐secrets﹑. And these secrets might be no other than
a Guru Rinpoche﹑s Sadhana, or some prayers.
They rely on these prayers their whole life.
In their final years, they also know
Oh, in my life,
I am so lucky to have encountered the blessing of the Three Jewels, so that I was not wavered by karmic hindrances.
I think I have mentioned it before
in Mipham Rinpoche﹑s Song of Happiness.
Although we live in a dark age,
we are very fortunate to have encountered the teachings of Guru Rinpoche.
So whatever happens
we will be blissful day and night.
So I think, although those of you here
were born into such a time of five turbidities, a time of darkness,
a time when evil spirits and demonic forces prevail,
we are so lucky to have encountered true Dharma, which we do not need to question at all
and the teachings of Padmasambhava which bestows incredible blessing.
I am not just singing the songs of praise here.
I often think from the bottom of my heart that in such a dark age,
the fact that I have met such a wonderful spiritual teacher and such wonderful Dharma
is the result of accumulating positive karma through kalpas after kalpas, a true privilege.
Such thoughts come to me very often.
Maybe you have the same feeling.
Now, I will give you a very concise explanation on the meaning of the seven-line prayer.
A part of it is an explanation of the outer meaning of the prayer.
I plan to give a complete commentary of this part.
The inner explanation of the hidden meanings of the vajra words
the meaning according to the path of liberation or according to the path of skillful means.
regarding these contents, I think for most of you
it might require empowerment first and preliminary practices.
Therefore, although I have already translated\this part, I decided not to teach it.
The last part is a compilation of graded path of meditation instructions
So the whole text is divided into these three sections.
The meditation instruction is also a Guru yoga of Padmasambhava.
I will teach this section.
So I will skip the second section, and talk about the first and the last section.
First of all, we﹑ll talk about the outer explanation of the literal meaning of the prayer.
Seven-Line Prayer
hum orgyen yul gyi nubjang tsam pema gesar dongpo la
yatsen chok gi ng?drub ny用 pema jungn用 shy用 su drak
khor du khandro mangp? kor khy用 kyi jesu dak drub kyi
jingyi lab chir shek su sol Guru pema siddhi hum
This is the seven-line prayer in Tibetan. In English it﹑s as following:
Hum! In the north-west of the land of Oddiyana, In the heart of a lotus flower,
Endowed with the most marvelous attainments, You are renowned as the ﹐Lotus Born﹑,
Surrounded by many hosts of dakinis. Following in your footsteps,
I pray to you: Come, inspire me with your blessing! Guru pema siddhi hum.
The first line talks about Padmasambhava﹑s place of birth.
The second line talks about onto what kind of throne he was born.
Or, the manner in which he was born.
The third line talks about the extraordinary merit of Padmasambhava, or his rare benefit.
The fourth line is the name of Padmasambhava, the fifth his extraordinary retinue,
The sixth line talks about our devotion his follower also means the one who makes the invocation.
I devote my body and mind to follow you Padmasambhava.
The seventh line entreats Padmasambhava to grant us accomplishments and blessings.
Finally, it is sealed with mantra.
Now let﹑s look at the root text.
﹒I, the master of Oddiyana, the embodiment of all the Buddhas of the three times,
am indivisible from Samantabhadra, the self-arisen primordial Dharmakaya, who, from the very beginning, is utterly liberated.‧
Firstly, Orgyen Padmasambhava
in the primordial expanse, is no different from Samantabhadra.
Within the Dharmakaya expanse, I am naturally and spontaneously present as the Sambhogakaya in five lineages.
Just now we were talking about Dharmakaya, now it﹑s Sambhogakaya, the body of enjoyment, which has five certainties.
﹒And the natural radiance of the Sambhogakaya manifests as the inconceivable display of the Nirmanakaya.‧
Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya
﹒This is the sphere of Buddhas and of no one else.‧
The various displays of the Guru﹑s three kayas,
his state of realization and the way he benefits sentient beings
is the state of Buddhas, and not ordinary human beings.
So people would talk of Padmasambhava
in front of ordinary beings, he is a mere yogi,
an extraordinary person.
Actually, his true existence is by no means fathomable by ordinary people.
He is indivisibly one with Amitabha or Avalokiteshvara.
I quoted the vajra words
of a short biography of Padmasambhava before.
Amitabha, the Buddha of Limitless Light from Buddha-field of Ultimate Bliss Protector Avalokiteshvara from Potala
Padmasambhava of Dhanakosha
Externally they manifest in three different kayas, In reality they are indivisible.
In other words, Amitabha of the Land of Bliss,
Potala﹑s Avalokiteshvara, and Dhanakosha﹑s Padmasambhava
in appearance, they are three different entities,
one is Amitabha, one is Avalokiteshvara,
and one is Padmasambhava,
although they appear to be different actually they are the same entity.
Also, the content of this Short Biography of Padmasambhava,
is the same as Mipham Rinpoche﹑s writing,
regarding the three kayas being indivisible.
King Samantabhadra of primordial expanse Vajardhara of Akanishtha,
Buddha Shakyamuni of Bodhgaya Are no different from me, Padmasambhava.
This verse says in the primordial expanse, Dharmakaya Buddha Samantabhadra
is Sambhogakaya Buddha Vajradhara of Akanishtha.
In Buddha Shakyamuni of our Jambudvipa, or the Saha World
These three are no different from Padmasambhava.
These two phrases are taken from
Sangye Lingpa﹑s A Short Biography of Padmasambhava.
In fact, there are many biographies of Padmasambhava in Tibet.
Like Choying Dorje﹑s Short Biography Sangye Lingpa﹑s Short Biography,
Orgyen Lingpa﹑s Short Biography,
My mistake, the biography I was talking about is written by Orgyen Lingpa.
Orgyen Lingpa is one of the hundred great tertons.
He had over 20 treasure texts, that is very prolific.
As recorded in its history, he is a great holy being.
I used to copy it. I still have the copy.
When I was very young.
I read the work of Choying Dorje. A while ago, I said
the text I was reading while herding yaks is this Short Biography. I can recite it.
But I can﹑t quite recite Orgyen Lingpa﹑s Short Biography.
But I can remember some verses from it very clearly.
In Tibet, there is a longer Biography of Padmasambhava,
At home, if you make offerings to them or place them on your altar,
then many obstructions will be eliminated.
Those who don﹑t believe in Buddha Dharma might not believe what I have just said.
But for those who have faith
when it comes to removing evil influences Padmasambhava has uncommon power.
So, some people believe that they are under the influences of evil spirits.
Some think there is a very strong obstructing force working against them.
I﹑ve always been like this.
When I ask them to recite the mantra of Padmasambhava,
some people ask me whether I have any extra-sensory powers,
if not, how do I know that they should recite this mantra?
Although I have no extra-sensory abilities,
I have quite some knowledge in this area.
Take medicine for example,
for a medical specialist, sometimes
when you visit him for a consultation, he will examine your pulse or so,
especially some doctors of Chinese medicine,
sometimes his only method would be to ask you to open your mouth, then he takes a look at it
and say, Ah, Oh, right, you﹑re short in Qi.
The doctors of Chinese medicine all say I don﹑t have enough Qi.
So, when I look at you, based on the years I﹑ve studied Buddhism,
I would know what mantra you should recite in general.
You lack in Qi, or your pulse isn﹑t strong or you lack in something else, 00:33:44:03 00:33:46:20 I also can tell. I don﹑t need extra-sensory abilities.
Sometimes when you want to know what others are thinking,
you need the extra-sensory ability to read minds. Otherwise, you won﹑t know.
But when it comes to ordinary things, I think I can still have some understanding.
So, when it comes to removing obstacles,
the Vajra Guru mantra truly has an incredible power.
As it was mentioned earlier,
the dances of the three kayas of Padmasambhava are limitless.
As far as this land is concerned,
including a hundred million Saha worlds of all directions,
thirty-six levels of existence, and their respective six realms.
according to Longchenpa﹑s Wish-granting Treasury
and other teachings of the Venerable Longchenpa,
in the 36 levels of worlds of Vairocana Buddha
Padmasambhava also displayed many different manifestations to benefit sentient beings.
Then among the sentient beings of the six realms,
if you have some knowledge about Liberation upon Hearing, you will know,
Oh, Padmasambhava is no different from Shakyamuni.
He also benefits sentient beings with different emanation bodies.
He displays different dances, with different names and bodies.
For our Jambudvipa,
he also displayed a body, eight names, 20 magical transformations,
thus he spread Buddha Dharma with such wonderful emanations.
In this world we live in,
Padmasambhava has eight names which belong to eight different manifestations.
In the future, we can have a look
at the thangka of these eight manifestations.
In this thangka,
in the middle, you will find the Padmasambhava that we know.
Surrounding him, there are different manifestations.
Do I have it? I think I do.
there are eight different manifestations of Padmasambhava.
The first one is Tsokye Dorje. Why is he called Tsokye Dorje?
Because at the beginning, Amitabha emanated a letter Hum from his heart center,
into the lake Dhanakosha of Uddiyana. From this lake,
Padmasambhava appeared as an 8 year old boy on a lotus blossom.
At that time, the King of Uddiyana Indrabhuti had no son.
He prayed to the Three Jewels, made offerings and gave alms, then he set out for a treasure hunt on the sea.
When he returned, his minister Krishnadhara made the discovery.
He generated great faith towards Padmasambhava
and invited him to the royal palace.
This is why people called him Tsokye Dorje , and the Lotus-Born.
This is how he got his first name.
Later, Padmasambhava subdued the son of a treacherous minister.
In different charnel fields,
he taught wonderful Dharma to humans and non-human beings with fortunate karma.
For those unfortunate evil spirits, who held wrongful views against Dharma, he subjugated them all
in the wrathful form so he was called Guru Vajra Drollo.
Then in Bodhgaya, India, Padmasambhava said,
﹒I am a self-appeared Buddha‧, so he said to the people.
Many people slandered him. In order to guide these people to attain liberation,
he received ordination from his master Prabhahasti.
He then was called Shakya Sengye.
He received teachings of sutra and tantra
in front of Sri Singha, Sangye Sangwa and many Gurus,
He understood these scriptures the moment they were taught
whether it is sutra or tantra.
He was later given the name Loden Chogsey.
It means love and compassion.
Then he came to Zahor and displayed magical transformations.
At that time, the King of Zahor did not acknowledge signs of his accomplishment.
He and his ministers piled firewoods outside.
They put Padmasambhava on top of the firewood, ready to burn him.
Padmasambhava displayed various forms,
he turned his surrounding into a lake.
and displayed many dances in the flames.
That place later became a lotus lake.
When H.H. Jigme Phuntsok went to India, there was a lotus lake.
He composed a brief biography based sadhana by the lake.
This Padmasambhava is called Padma Thotreng tsal, Thotreng tsal means powerful garland of skulls.
The reason he﹑s called Thotreng tsal is because at that time, Padmasambhava
decorated his body with skulls in order to inspire the king﹑s faith. This is a manifestation.
After this, the king of Zahor, his retinue including his ministers,
all generated extremely strong conviction towards him, and made offerings to him for 13 years.
The King and his subjects were very delighted.
He took a lotus hat from his treasury and offered it to him
as well as many other extremely precious clothes.
He then is called Pema Gyalpo, the Lotus King.
Padmasambhava wore a lotus hat, and was then called Pema Gyalpo.
Later, he went to the Bodies﹑ End charnel field and engaged in the conduct of yogic discipline.
He conquered some demonic spirits and gave them wonderful Dharma teachings.
Then he showed many magical displays on the rays of sun.
He was then called Guru Nyima Odzer Light Rays of the Sun.
Later, he came to Bodhgaya and debated against five hundred non-Buddhists and contended with them over magical transformations.
All the non-Buddhists surrendered.
He is then called Senge Dradrok, the Lion﹑s Roar.
How many are there already?
I think there﹑s still one missing. Let me have a look
when it﹑s convenient.
So Padmasambhava is surrounded by his eight emanations.
For example, Sange Dradrok, Lion﹑s Roar Padmasambhava,
this wrathful Padmasambhava rides a tiger.
He went to Paro Taktsang of Bhutan to assume different wrathful forms.
Anyway, every form that Guru Rinpoche assumed has its own specific prayer.
When you have the opportunity, you will find it in the Prayer in Seven Chapters.
There are some disagreements over the eight different manifestations of Padmasambhava.
In a treasure text containing a short biography of Padmasambhava, 00:43:15:07 00:43:19:06 its content is generally identical, with some differences in the middle.
Padmasambhava﹑s image and context that each terton
depicted are slightly different. That﹑s all.
This is how we should understand it.
Now, the three kayas of Padmasambhava are abiding in the three levels of the Lotus Light Palace
in the Copper-Colored Mountain at the center of Chamara continent.
Now Padmasambhava has left for rakshasa﹑s continent.
There is a glorious Copper-Colored Mountain at rakshasa﹑s continent, where there is a lotus palace, a lotus pure land.
In fact, this Lotus Light Palace is also called the Copper-Colored Palace.
Now many monasteries are building theirs in this style, maybe you didn﹑t pay attention.
If you did, you would notice that it has three floors, some even thirteen floors.
But generally it has 3 floors.
Many monasteries in Serta are building it in this style, including Derge and Pelyul
A while ago, I went to Qinghai, many monasteries of Nyingma lineage are building it.
Now Padmasambhava is in Chamara continent.
The Tibetan word Zangdok Palri is translated as Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain.
This glorious palace is being built by many monasteries.
In this palace, Padmasambhava is
abiding in three different kayas.
In each of the twenty-one rakshasa﹑s continents,
he also assumes a different emanation, with different names and bodies.
I read it in the first Dudjom Rinpoche﹑s biography that
Dudjom Rinpoche visited rashasa﹑s land once,
and saw Padmasambhava surrounded by
numerous emanations of Padmasambhava.
When you have the chance, take a look.
But he is a yogi, so
he could see this because of his untainted wisdom. This might not be the case with us.
But each tertons gave a different description in their respective treasure texts.
In rakshasa﹑s continent, there are many different sub-continents.
It﹑s like a country has many different provinces.
Like USA has 50 provinces. Do we have Americans here? Ask them.
At that time, rakshasa﹑s continent has many smaller sub-continents.
Padmasambhava benefitted sentient beings with various means.
So these examples illustrate that
his activities are as vast as the primordial expanse.
He once existed during the time of past Buddhas.
During Buddha Shakyamuni﹑s teaching this time,
many Indian scholars and mahasiddhas were his manifestation.
In the secret biography of Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal
it is said that Padampa Sangye was a reincarnation of Padmasambhava.
Many Indian masters were his manifestation.
He conferred blessings and accepted many holders of Dharma.
In places like India, China, Shambhala, and Sri Lanka
he benefitted sentient beings with his miraculous deeds.
There are many emanation bodies of Padmasambhava
in India and also in China
as well as Shambhala, Sri Lanka and Chamara.
Some in the form of human beings, some in the form of animals,
and many different forms, sometimes even in the form of
to benefit sentient beings with his emanation bodies.
So some people think that Padmasambhava seems more like an ordinary layperson.
They criticize Padmasambhava﹑s teachings.
Sometimes when I talk about these antipathetic people
besides laughing at them, I don﹑t feel like justifying them with an answer.
It﹑s like in Chinese Buddhism, if some individuals say
how bad Buddha Amitabha is
or how Zen Buddhism doesn﹑t make sense
those who understand Buddhism will think that the problem is with the person who criticize.
So they might think that these people do not merit a direct reply.
Especially in the Chinese Buddhism nowadays,
in the past, because of language and cultural differences,
they remain completely ignorant of Tibetan Buddhism, especially Pamasambhava﹑s
Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya,
and the story of him spreading Dharma and benefitting sentient beings
in Buddhist countries such as India, China and Tibet.
If this happens, then seeds of wrongful view might sow in the mental continuums of sentient beings.
So you shouldn﹑t see him as a mantrika with hair.
This is a very scary thought, very ridiculous.
So I think it is necessary for us to learn about this seven-line prayer.
Tibetan tantric Buddhism is truly profound.
The teachings of Padmasambhava has incredible power and blessing
over the whole humanity, and the entire world.
It does not just belong to Tibet.
How many countries and regions has Tibetan Buddhism influenced?
A wise person would know.
In such a dark age,
without such a powerful light of blessing,
the darkness of our age will not be dispelled.
So we should be aware of the fact that the manifestations of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas
cannot be judged carelessly by our conceptual thoughts.
Padmasambhava traversed the length and breadth of Tibet.
whether it is U-tsang or Do-kham, everywhere,
take Lhasa for example,
the 25 sacred sites that Padmasambhava has personally consecrated,
In Amdo and Kham, there are 25 places like this respectively.
These sacred places all over Tibet
that were blessed by Padmasambhava through
various transformations and forms
have not been occupied by non-Buddhists or evil doctrines in the ages to come.
This is very necessary.
So certain monasteries or places that have been visited by the Buddhist masters of the past
are different from ordinary places.
But this happens in the mundane world.
For example, a star came to a hospital,
then this hospital will forever hang the picture of this star
to show that certain somebody has visited.
It﹑s not certain whether his visit brings blessings.
Generally, a hospital is a place to treat diseases, it should be beneficial to sentient beings.
If someone who can really sing well visits a hospital,
then it﹑s not sure whether his songs will benefit sentient beings.
The only sure thing is his fame.
I visited some hospitals,
people tell me, oh, this star came here once, that movie actor visited,
so and so government officer came.
Then they keep all their photos.
Padmasambhava visited many places then, but regretfully, no pictures were left.
But the image of Padmasambhava can be found all over Tibet.
I hope in Dharma centers or personal altars
even in cars, you should hang some images of Padmasambhava.
This will give you great blessing.
Some people say, ﹒My spiritual teacher is great!‧ They put the photos of their spiritual teacher in the car.
Their spiritual teachers might be great.
But anyhow, Padmasambhava is the embodiment of all Gurus.
So I think
maybe Shakyamuni and Padmasambhava can give you stronger blessings.
I strongly agree with hanging the images of Padmasambhava.
Sometimes I see some Dharma friends who hang the image of Padmasambhava in their cars,
then I really feel that
they are bound to receive the powerful blessings of Padmasambhava.
Sometimes I saw people hang my photo,
I﹑m not just saying this, I really do think that
Ay, this person is really lost, what﹑s the use of hanging a photo of me?
It is not going to be helpful. What﹑s the meaning of this? It harms both you and me.
But the image of true Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are meritorious.
I hope in the future, you can learn how to tell right from wrong.
Although you owe a great deal to your Dharma teachers in terms of studying the Buddha Dharma,
and you are very grateful towards your spiritual teacher,
Buddhist scriptures also say that your spiritual teacher is the Buddha himself.
Through such extensive reasoning and through doctrinal evidence and reasoning, we can prove that,
the spiritual teacher is the Buddha. This line of reasoning exist.
But in order to establish it
lengthy debates are unavoidable.
And sometimes you will find that your spiritual teacher﹑s actions are beyond your comprehension.
You will then think, how can a Buddha do something bad?
As a result, some people start questioning this ﹒Buddha‧.
But Padmasambhava is not like this. Nor is the Buddha.
There is no discrepancy in that. So when you hang these statues
in your car, on your altar, or wear it as a protection,
I think it is very good.
Here it is mentioned that many profound treasure texts were concealed,
and the time they were to be revealed was prophesied too.
All the evil spirits subdued, the vows they took,
the time they are to be uncovered‥
who will uncover them, all of these information was documented explicitly.
Once uncovered, the manner in which they are to be used, some pith and secret instructions were very explicitly stated.
During the process,
the demonic forces and non-Buddhists who create hindrances were taken care of.
These were very clearly stated.
In Padmasambhava﹑s own words, he promised that
as long as the Buddha Dharma still exists in this world, he will always protect the people of Tibet with his emanation body.
He also told the twelve tenma goddesses, 21 genyen, ‥
and 13 gurlha
In some translations, it﹑s 12 gurlha.
Anyway, he conquered many evil spirits.
Those who read Padmasambhava﹑s biography might know that
when he came to Tibet, the land was full of evil spirits.
they objected the idea of spreading Buddha Dharma in this land, which is beneficial to sentient beings.
Later, when Shantarakshita and King Trisong Detsen were helpless,
the mighty Guru Rinpoche
laid the foundation for Samye Monastery through the power of his secret mantra.
The present day historians say that the foundation of Samye was laid many times.
The third time was by Padmasambhava.
I think a Ph.D said so.
The historians don﹑t always agree with us practitioners.
Sometimes they do, sometimes they don﹑t.
They approach it from a completely academic perspective.
What year did Padmasambhava come,
and what year did he encounter King Trisong Detsen.
Their research is limited to this level all the time.
But we should let Padmasambhava﹑s blessing of the body, speech and mind dissolve into our hearts.
So, Padmasambhava entrusted to these Dharma protectors the
task of protecting the whole region. They still do until today.
Many Dharma practitioners in Tibet rely on the 12 tenma goddesses as well.
There are sadhanas and prayers of the 12 tenma goddesses.
During the cultural revolution, H.H. Jigme Phuntsok composed a prayer
which says, twelve tenma goddesses,
how did you make your promise in front of Guru Rinpoche?
Look what Tibet has turned into.
Have you fallen asleep? Where have you gone?
Later, I saw a Buddhist master in India who also composed a prayer.
But its contents are roughly the same.
Not long after that, Buddhism prospered again.
Sometimes, you really need to entreat the Dharma protectors.
This is just like when a volunteer gets tired of his volunteer work,
when they are no longer motivated, sometimes a scolding will do the trick.
A scolding will sometimes remind them of their original motivation.
Oh right, I was supposed to do this.
Then they go on with their volunteer work.
So for a while, the twelve tenma goddesses
were not doing a very good job
but eventually they were effective.
Especially today, they are doing a very good job protecting Dharma.
In Tibet, non-Buddhist missionaries have always had difficulties building their churches.
When they tried to build their shrines,
they could never manage it. They encountered all kinds of obstacles.
Later, some large-scale organized cults tried to penetrate Tibet
but all their efforts were futile in the end.
This has been very obvious so far.
In short, Padmasambhava﹑s blessing
is very incredible.
This is not because of Tibetans﹑ fondness for Padmasambhava. 00:59:37:21 00:59:44:06 Actually, Padmasambhava is not even a Tibetan. He was born in the swat-valley, which is in present-day Pakistan.
But, wherever you﹑re from,
you should constantly entreat Padmasambhava
You can see that many great Buddhist masters also have very strong faith towards Padmasambhava.
and so did the enlightened beings of the past.
If you do so, your personal practice is bound to succeed.
I often think
if a person is especially devoted to Padmasambhava,
then this person﹑s Dharma practice will succeed.
I just naturally have this conceptual thought.
Although it is a conceptual thought, I think there are deep scriptural authority behind it.
Only it is not apparent.
That﹑s it for today.