Shenpen ÖselThe Clear Light of the Buddha’s Teachings Which Benefits All Beings

June 2000Volume 4, Number 1

Through cultivating the stages of the practice of the Medicine Buddha—the generation stage and the completion stage—we not only achievebenefit for ourselves, but we are actually cultivating the potential tobenefit others. And by doing these practices we actually bless the

environment and all the beings in that environment.

2 SHENPEN ÖSEL

The Clear Light of the Buddha’s Teachings Which Benefits All Beings

ContentContentContentContentContentsssss

This issue of Shenpen Ösel is devoted to a series of teachings on the Medicine Buddha Sadhanagiven by the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche in the Cascade Mountains in Washing-ton state in June of 1999. In addition to the translated, transcribed, edited text of the teachings,we have published the text that was the subject of Rinpoche’s commentary.

33333 IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

66666 The Medicine Buddha SadhanaThe Medicine Buddha SadhanaThe Medicine Buddha SadhanaThe Medicine Buddha SadhanaThe Medicine Buddha Sadhana6 A Practice That Is Extremely Effective in the Removal of Sickness

13 The Great King of Medicine Is Active in Pacifying the Suffering of Beings23 The Visualization Uncovers the Inherent Purity of Phenomena33 Because of Its Vastness, Offering the Entire Universe Produces Great Merit42 On the Origin of Auspiciousness in the Substances and Symbols

5353535353 Medicine Buddha Sadhana in EnglishMedicine Buddha Sadhana in EnglishMedicine Buddha Sadhana in EnglishMedicine Buddha Sadhana in EnglishMedicine Buddha Sadhana in English

7272727272 TTTTThe Vhe Vhe Vhe Vhe Very Essence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Sufficient Pery Essence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Sufficient Pery Essence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Sufficient Pery Essence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Sufficient Pery Essence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Sufficient Pathathathathath

7474747474 TTTTTenga Renga Renga Renga Renga Rinpoche’s Commentinpoche’s Commentinpoche’s Commentinpoche’s Commentinpoche’s Commentary on the Mahamudra of the Vary on the Mahamudra of the Vary on the Mahamudra of the Vary on the Mahamudra of the Vary on the Mahamudra of the Venerable Gampopa,enerable Gampopa,enerable Gampopa,enerable Gampopa,enerable Gampopa,the One Sufficient Paththe One Sufficient Paththe One Sufficient Paththe One Sufficient Paththe One Sufficient Path

88888 99999 Re-eRe-eRe-eRe-eRe-estststststablishing the Dharma in Tablishing the Dharma in Tablishing the Dharma in Tablishing the Dharma in Tablishing the Dharma in Tibetibetibetibetibet

Volume 4 Number 1

Editorial policEditorial policEditorial policEditorial policEditorial policyyyyyShenpen Ösel is a tri-annual publication of KagyuShenpen Ösel Chöling (KSOC), a center for thestudy and practice of Tibetan vajrayana Buddhismlocated in Seattle, Washington. The magazineseeks to present the teachings of recognized andfully qualified lamas and teachers, with anemphasis on the Karma Kagyu and the ShangpaKagyu lineages. The contents are derived in largepart from transcripts of teachings hosted by ourcenter. Shenpen Ösel is produced and mailedexclusively through volunteer labor and does notmake a profit. (Your subscriptions and donationsare greatly appreciated.) We publish with theaspiration to present the clear light of theBuddha’s teachings. May it bring benefit and mayall be auspicious. May all beings be inspired andassisted in uncovering their own true nature.

Photo creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto creditPhoto credits this issue:s this issue:s this issue:s this issue:s this issue: David Karchmer, pages 6, 13,23, 33, 42, 72, back cover.

StStStStStaffaffaffaffaff

EditorEditorEditorEditorEditorLama Tashi Namgyal

Copy editors, TCopy editors, TCopy editors, TCopy editors, TCopy editors, Transcribers,ranscribers,ranscribers,ranscribers,ranscribers,RecordersRecordersRecordersRecordersRecordersGlen Avantaggio, Peter Borodin, AlanCastle, Anita Castle, Ken DeSure, DavidDuBois, Ryszard K. Frackiewicz, MarciaGlover, Denise Glover, Wolfgang Hirsch,Candace Kielbiski, Judy Knapp, DonaldLashley, Linda Lewis, Edmund Liong, EdMacArthur, Yahm Paradox, Chris Payne,Rose Peeps, Elisabeth Talsky, Mark Voss

DatDatDatDatDatabase managerabase managerabase managerabase managerabase managerMarcia Glover

Mailing coordinatorMailing coordinatorMailing coordinatorMailing coordinatorMailing coordinatorMark Suver

Mailing crewMailing crewMailing crewMailing crewMailing crewMembers of the Seattle sangha

Shenpen Ösel

SHENPEN ÖSEL 3

IntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroductionIntroduction

All of the Buddha’s teachings can be subsumed under the two categories ofshamatha and vipashyana—calm abiding and insight. In the hinayana traditions ofBuddhism the intention of the vipashyana teachings is to establish the lack of true

existence of the individual—sometimes called one-fold egolessness, the selflesssness ofthe individual, the identitylessness of the individual—and the lack of true existence ofgross phenomena or things. The intention of the vipashyana teachings of the first half ofthe mahayana teachings—the second turning of the wheel of dharma—is to extend thisunderstanding to include the lack of true existence even of the most subtle phenomenon,including atoms and subatomic matter and energy, time, and all forms of consciousnessitself. These two understandings together are referred to as two-fold egolessness, theselflessness of the individual and the selflessness of phenomena, and are both included inthe terms sunyata or emptiness.

The second half of the mahayana teachings—the third turning of the wheel ofdharma—goes on to teach that emptiness is not simply a mere nothingness, nor merely theother side of the coin of interdependence, nor even simply a state beyond all conceptuality.The third turning teaches that this emptiness—while lacking any limiting characteristics,such as color, shape, size, location, substance, or gender, and being empty of all cognitiveand emotional obscurrations—is not empty of its own nature, the radiant clarity of mindand reality, which we refer to as clear light, in which all the positive qualities of intelli-gence, wisdom, compassion, skillful means, devotion, confidence, etc., inhere as oneundifferentiable quality. Various manifestations of this quality arise out of the clear lightnature in the form of the deities of the vajrayana tradition such as the Medicine Buddha,Vajrayogini, Tara, or Chenrezig. And although it is said from the standpoint of relativetruth that these deities actually do exist as individual beings who can be supplicated, theyexist as such because, and only because, the qualities that they embody were alreadyinherent in the clear light nature, the buddha nature, of their own minds when they wereconfused sentient beings, just as they inherently exist today in the minds of all confusedbeings.

The essential nature of all deities can be better understood by understanding theessential nature of their body, speech, and mind. The body of the deity is the union ofappearance and emptiness and emerges in the practitioner’s experience when the experi-ence of perceiver and perceived is purified. What is it purified of? Grasping and fixation.Grasping or clinging to a self, and fixating on an other. In the words of Guru Rinpoche,“Perceiver and perceived when purified are the body of the deity, clear emptiness.”

The speech of the deity is the union of sound and emptiness. We all know that sound isintangible, but sounds without the experience of their emptiness have tremendous power

4 SHENPEN ÖSEL

to hurt us, to insult us, to exalt us, to exhilarate us, etc. But when sounds and verbalcommunications are experienced as mere sounds, as the union of sound and emptiness,their power over us dissolves and we experience perfect equanimity.

The mind of the deity is the union of awareness and emptiness. The experiences of thefive sense consciousnesses and of the mental consciousness give rise to a constantly chang-ing kaleidoscope of thoughts, mental afflictions, and subtle dualistic perceptions whichhave the power, in the absence of the experiential understanding of their emptiness, toinvolve us in the most outrageous, outlandish, though sometimes very subtle, melodramasof the mind. But when their essential emptiness is recognized, and one ceases to welcomeand reject, they dissolve or are self-liberated in their own place, the space of empty aware-ness. All deities share these three aspects of the essential nature—which we also callmahamudra or dzogchen—and all practitioners who practice deity meditation with suffi-cient diligence and perseverance will come to realize this very same nature—the body,speech, and mind of the deity—in themselves as they become the deity.

At the same time, each deity has its own particular relative blessing. If one meditateson Chenrezig, ultimately one will realize mahamudra or dzogchen, and attain buddhahood.But in the short run, one will experience a strengthening of one’s loving kindness andcompassion. If one meditates on Green Tara, ultimately one will attain enlightenment, butin the short run, one will experience freedom from fear and mental paralysis, the in-creased ability to accomplish one’s objectives, and an increase in active compassion. If onemeditates on Manjushri, in the end one will attain enlightenment, but in the short run onewill experience an increase in intelligence, insight, and wisdom. If one meditates on theMedicine Buddha, one will eventually attain enlightenment, but in the meantime one willexperience an increase in healing powers both for oneself and others and a decrease inphysical and mental illness and suffering. Whether or not we have a very strong motive toattain buddhahood, we all desire these sorts of relative objectives, so deity meditationprovides tremendous incentive for the practice of dharma.

And yet deity meditation is just another version of shamatha and vipashyana. Whenone meditates on the form, the attire and other attributes, the entourage and environ-ment, and the internal mandala of a deity, and when one recites the deity’s mantra, one ispracticing shamatha; and when one realizes that all that one is meditating on is mereempty appearance, one is practicing vipashyana. But because meditation on the deity andon the union of the deity and one’s own root lama instantly connects one with the emptyclear light nature—which is the essence of the deity, the guru, and the lineage, as well asbeing one’s own essential nature—the power of this form of shamatha to purify the mind ofthe practitioner of the mental obscurations blocking his or her insight is immeasurablygreater than that of ordinary tranquillity meditation on mundane objects like the breathor a flower or a candle flame. And since the forms upon which one is meditating are meremental fabrications, their emptiness is more immediately apparent than, say, the empti-ness of something like the Jefferson Memorial or the Washington Monument.

This is all possible because of the special quality of the vajrayana, which takes enlight-enment as the path, rather than seeing it merely as a goal. Through the three processes ofabhisheka, which ripens the mental continuum; oral transmission, which supports one’spractice; and the teachings, which liberate, one is connected directly to the enlightenedstate transmitted by the guru and the lineage. Thereafter, when one practices or merelybrings to mind those teachings, one is instantly reconnected with that compassionate

SHENPEN ÖSEL 5

primordial awareness, and this constant reconnecting then becomes one’s path, bring-ing with it the rapid purification of mental defilements and the rapid accumulation ofmerit and wisdom. The recognition of this connection is the uncovering of one’s ownwisdom. If it goes unrecognized, it still exists in the practitioner’s mental continuum asa seed, which will gradually ripen according to conditions.

The teachings on the Medicine Buddha in this issue of Shenpen Ösel present thestages of practice of the Medicine Buddha Sadhana. In it the Very Venerable KhenchenThrangu Rinpoche elucidates not only the details of this particular practice, but alsomany of the basic principles of tantric theory and practice in general: the notion ofdeities and buddha realms, the principles of samayasattva and jnanasattva, the prin-ciples of emanating and gathering, and the use of offerings to cultivate qualities, tomention a few. For anyone engaged in any vajrayana practice, this teaching is veryuseful in understanding the foundations of tantric practice, and a garden of delights.

Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachings on the Medicine Buddha Sutra—the next seventeachings in this series—will be carried in the next issue of Shenpen Ösel.

❁ ❁ ❁

The reader will notice that most of the deities in this particular mandala are male.One should not conclude therefrom that this is typical of tantric mandalas. There

are some mandalas—such at Arya Tara, Vajrayogini, and Chöd—in which the deitiesare virtually all female, others that are balanced, and others that vary slightly moreone way than the other.

❁ ❁ ❁

Also included in this issue is a remarkable teaching on mahamudra by Gampopa,elucidated by the Very Venerable Tenga Rinpoche. It will be of notable interest to

anyone who thinks that they are getting somewhere or anyone who actually is gettingsomewhere with their mahamudra practice. In five short sentences, Gampopa de-scribes the stages one must accomplish on the path to buddhahood.

❁ ❁ ❁

Finally, one will find an update on the activities at Kala Rongo, the women’s monas-tery in eastern Tibet, and on the other activities of Lama Norlha and Kagyu

Thubten Chöling in eastern Tibet.

—Lama Tashi Namgyal

6 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Medicine Buddha

A Practice That Is Extremely EffectiveIn the Removal of Sickness

In the Cascade Mountains in Washington, in June of 1999, the Very VenerableKhenchen Thrangu Rinpoche led an eight-day retreat to teach the MedicineBuddha Sadhana and Medicine Buddha Sutra. Rinpoche gave the teachings inTibetan; they were orally translated by Lama Yeshe Gyamtso. The following isan edited transcript.

I would like to begin by welcoming all of you here today and thanking youall for coming. I am delighted to have this opportunity to meet with you, tostudy the Medicine Buddha practice together with you, and to talk with

you about dharma. As usual, we are going to begin by reciting the lineage sup-plication. While doing so, please generate strong devotion for the root guru andthe other gurus of the lineage, such as Vajradhara, Tilopa, Naropa, and so forth.

[Recitation of lineage supplication.]First, in order to listen to the teachings properly, please generate the atti-

tude of bodhicitta, which is necessary for the practice of dharma in general, and

TTTTThe Vhe Vhe Vhe Vhe Very Very Very Very Very Venerable Khenchen Tenerable Khenchen Tenerable Khenchen Tenerable Khenchen Tenerable Khenchen Thrangu Rhrangu Rhrangu Rhrangu Rhrangu Rinpocheinpocheinpocheinpocheinpoche

SHENPEN ÖSEL 7

particularly for the practice of something likethe Medicine Buddha. While listening to theteachings, please think that you are listening tothem and will practice them in order to be of thegreatest possible benefit to all beings.

We might think that there issomething of a contradictionbetween the motivation withwhich we might practice theMedicine Buddha and the moti-vation of bodhicitta. We mightthink that fundamentally we arepracticing the Medicine Buddhain order to benefit our ownbodies, whereas the motivationof bodhicitta is the wish to ben-efit all beings. But in fact thereis no contradiction, because, inorder to be effective in benefitingother beings, we need to accom-plish an excellent samadhi ormeditative absorption; and inorder to accomplish that, to-gether with the insight andrealization that it brings, we need to have astable practice. In order to have a stable andprofound practice, we need to be physically andmentally healthy or comfortable, because bybeing comfortable in our body, and comfortablein our mind, we will be free of obstacles to dili-gence in practice and free of obstacles to thecultivation of meditative absorption. So there-fore, we are practicing the Medicine Buddha inorder to attain states of mental and physicalhealth or balance, not merely for our own ben-efit, but for the benefit of others as well.

There is, therefore, no contradiction betweenthe motivation you might have for practicing theMedicine Buddha and your motivation for prac-ticing dharma in general. We practice dharma inorder to attain buddhahood, and we practice theMedicine Buddha in order to attain that samegoal. We may be practicing it specifically inorder to attain a state of mental and physicalhealth in this life, but when we practice theMedicine Buddha in this way, we are not reallylimiting our motivation to our attainment of

mental and physical health, because by means ofthat practice we can accomplish great benefit forourselves and others; and we can successfullycomplete our practice of dharma in the sense ofattaining buddhahood.

Furthermore, by practicingthe Medicine Buddha, we notonly achieve health in this lifebut we cause ourselves to beblessed by the Medicine Buddhathroughout all future lives aswell. And through cultivating thestages of the practice of theMedicine Buddha—the genera-tion stage and the completionstage—we not only achievebenefit for ourselves, but we areactually cultivating the potentialto benefit others. And by doingthese practices we actually blessthe environment and all thebeings in that environment.

The practice of the MedicineBuddha is fundamentally a

mental practice, a practice of meditation. Now,you might wonder how something you are doingprimarily with your mind could affect your body.How could practicing the Medicine Buddhapreserve your physical health or alleviate physi-cal sickness? You might think that the mind andbody are fundamentally unrelated, and thattherefore the practice of meditation cannotaffect our bodies. In fact, our bodies and mindsare extremely interrelated. The body supportsor is the container for our mind, but the body isalso based upon or supported by the mind.Therefore, the practice of meditation does affectyour body and your physical state. Specifically,in the meditation practice of the Medicine Bud-dha, in addition to visualizing the MedicineBuddha in front of you, you are also visualizingyour own body as the body of the MedicineBuddha. These and other visualizations, and therecitation of the mantra and so forth, whichinitially or primarily seem only to affect themind, do, therefore, eventually affect the body aswell.

We are practicingthe MedicineBuddha in orderto attain statesof mental andphysical health orbalance, notmerely for ourown benefit, butfor the benefit ofothers as well

8 SHENPEN ÖSEL

We practice fundamentally with our minds,but this practice does affect and benefit both themind and the body. As is generally taught, whatwe identify as our mind consists of eight differ-ent consciousnesses, or functions of conscious-ness. These arise the way they do because of theconnection between body and mind. For ex-ample, one of the eight consciousnesses is theeye consciousness, the visual consciousness. Thisconsciousness is a function of three things: itsobject, which is visible forms; its organic sup-port, which is the eye as an organ of vision; andthe consciousness, which is the mind functioningin connection with these two. Now, the point ofthis is that the visual consciousness never arisesin isolation from an object and an organic sup-port. It arises because the organic support iscapable of detecting its appropriate object—inthis case, visible form. Therefore, because theobject, the organ, and the consciousness are sointimately interrelated or inter-connected, the transformation ofany one of these will necessarilyaffect the aspect or manner of theother two. Therefore, just aswhen an object is changed, thataffects the visual consciousness ofthat object in dependence uponthe organ; and when the organ ischanged, that affects the visualconsciousness and therefore theperceived objects; in the sameway, when the consciousness istransformed, as it is through thepractice of meditation, thataffects the perception of objectsand the organic support itself.

In the same way, our othersenses arise as consciousnesses inconnection with their objects and their organicsupports. Based upon the organ of the ear, therearises what is called the ear consciousness orhearing, which experiences its object, audiblesounds. In dependence upon the organic supportof the nose, there arises the nose consciousness,which detects smells. In dependence upon theorgan of the tongue, there arises the tongue

consciousness, which detects tastes. And independence on the organic support of the bodyand the nerves of the body, there arises the bodyconsciousness, which detects or experiencestactile sensations. All of these consciousnessesarise or are generated by the presence of anobject which is encountered by its appropriateorgan. Sometimes they arise based upon theorgan itself experiencing the sensation, but inany case, the sensations of the five senses thatwe experience are functions of the organs andthe objects experienced by these organs, whichgenerate appropriate consciousnesses. Becausethe consciousness pervades the experience of itsobject and the experience of the organ itself, ifthe consciousness is transformed, or one’s modeof experience of consciousness is transformed,into pure appearance, then the appearances ofthe objects, and also of the organs themselves,will become pure or sacred. It is in this way that

the practice of this form ofmeditation can benefit not onlyyour mind but also your body.

In addition to the five senseconsciousnesses, the sixthconsciousness, which is themental consciousness, alsoarises in connection with physi-cal experience. Now, accordingto the abhidharma, the mentalconsciousness does not relyexclusively upon a specificphysical organ support the waythe five sense consciousnessesdo. The condition that leads tothe arising of the mental con-sciousness is the previousmoment of that consciousnessitself. Generally speaking, this

arises to some extent on the impressions pro-duced by the physical experience of the senses.So, indirectly, we could say that the organ sup-port for the mental consciousness is the momen-tum of all of the consciousnesses connected withsense experience. But the mental consciousnessitself is that which generates and experiences allof the varieties of emotion and thought that we

When theconsciousness istransformed, as itis through thepractice ofmeditation, thataffects theperception ofobjects andthe organicsupport itself

SHENPEN ÖSEL 9

know—attachment, aversion, bewilderment,apathy, pride, jealousy, feelings of joy and de-light, feelings of sadness, feelings of faith andcompassion, etc.—all of these different emo-tional states and all of the thoughts connectedwith them are varieties of experiences of thesixth or mental consciousness. Now, as thesevarious thoughts and emotionspass through our minds, theytransform and influence thatconsciousness itself. But not onlythat—they also affect the fivesense consciousnesses. For ex-ample, when you are very sadand you look at something, youwill perceive it as sad, or asunpleasant. If you look at theidentical object when you arehappy, you will see the samething as pleasant. And if you lookat it when you are angry, you willsee, again, the same object asentirely different. This is a verysimple example of how the men-tal consciousness in particularand our mind in general affectsour experience of sense objectsand the sense consciousnessesand the sense organs themselves.

Of the eight consciousnesses,the most evident in our experience are these sixconsciousnesses, or six functions: the five senseconsciousnesses and the mental consciousness.But there are, in addition to these, two otherfunctions of mind, which are called stable orunderlying consciousnesses or functions. Theseare the seventh consciousness, which is thesubtle mental affliction, and the eighth con-sciousness, which is called the all-basis. Theseventh consciousness, the consciousness whichis the root of mental affliction, refers to thesubtle, fundamental misapprehension of anexistent self, the fixation on a self. This fixationis itself the root of samsara. It is not, however,regarded as an unvirtuous or negative thing initself. It is morally neutral. But because it isignorance and the basis of further ignorance, it

is regarded as the most fundamental and impor-tant thing to be abandoned or relinquished. Infact, we could say that the teachings ofbuddhadharma are mainly about how to abandonthis fixation on self. It is for that reason thatthere is so much emphasis in buddhadharma onthe meditations on selflessness, emptiness, and

so forth. Through these medita-tions one can realize selfless-ness, through which one relin-quishes the kleshas, throughwhich one attains liberation.

The meditation upon self-lessness, however, and specifi-cally the meditation upon thelack of true existence of thepersonal self,* does not consistof trying to imagine or convinceyourself that you are nothingwhatsoever. It is done, espe-cially in the visualization prac-tices of the generation stage oftantra, by replacing your solidsense of your own existence withsomething else. In the case ofthe Medicine Buddha practice,you relinquish the thought, “Iam me, I am the person I think Iam,” and replace it with thethought, “I am the Medicine

Buddha.” The primary technique in the medita-tion consists of imagining yourself to be theMedicine Buddha, conceiving of yourself as theMedicine Buddha. By replacing the thought ofyourself as yourself with the thought of yourselfas the Medicine Buddha, you gradually counter-act and remove the fixation on your personalself. And as that fixation is removed, the powerof the seventh consciousness is reduced. And asit is reduced, the kleshas or mental afflictionsare gradually weakened, which causes you toexperience greater and greater well-being inboth body and mind.

By replacing thethought ofyourself asyourself with thethought ofyourself as theMedicineBuddha, yougraduallycounteract andremove thefixation on yourpersonal self

*Editor’s note: The meditation on selflessness is tradition-ally divided into realizing the lack of true existence of apersonal self, what we usually think of as the self, andrealizing the lack of true existence of phenomena.

10 SHENPEN ÖSEL

The eighth consciousness is the all-basisconsciousness, so called because it is the groundon which habits, both good and bad, accrue. Weexperience things the way we do because of thehabits we have accumulated. Aswe accumulate good habits wehave positive experiences, and aswe accumulate bad habits wehave negative experiences. Thefundamental reason for ourimmersion in samsara is theaccumulation of bad habits, somemore virulent than others. Theprocess of getting ourselves outof samsara consists of graduallyweakening the bad habits andstrengthening the good habits.For example, when we begin topractice, we have no confidencewhatsoever that we really are theMedicine Buddha. We have a strong negativehabit of regarding ourselves as whomever weregard ourselves to be. But through cultivatingthe technique and attitude of regarding our-selves as possessing the body, the speech, themind, the qualities, and the blessings of theMedicine Buddha, then these natural qualitieswithin us will increase.

The main practice in vajrayana consists of thegeneration stage, the cultivation of the

practice of regarding oneself as a deity. From anordinary point of view, we might regard this asuseless. We would think, “Well, I am not a deity.What use is there in my pretending to be adeity?” But in fact, the root of samsara is thehabit of impure perception. By regarding oneselfas a deity one gradually purifies, weakens, andremoves that habit and replaces it with thepositive habit of pure perception. It is for thisreason that the meditation upon oneself as adeity is considered so important.

In most religious traditions, the deities ofthat tradition, when they are related to or imag-ined, are imagined in front of one. Then, visualiz-ing the deity or deities as being present in frontof one, one prays to them, and by doing so hope-

fully one receives their blessing, which benefitsone in some way. In the vajrayana tradition,however, we regard the blessing and the powerand the qualities of the deities as being innate,

as being within one’s own mind.This innate presence of thewisdom and blessings of thedeities in our own minds iscalled the unity of the expanseand wisdom, or the unity ofspace and wisdom. Of course, itis true that when we look at ourminds, we have mental afflic-tions, we have thoughts, wehave all kinds of suffering andproblems. But at the same timewe always have the innatepotential to transcend these.And the reason why we havethis innate potential is that the

nature of the mind and the nature of everythingthat arises in the mind is emptiness. Regardlessof what is passing through your mind, your mindis always a boundless space of emptiness.

The innate potential of our minds lies in thevery fact that our minds are empty. Because ourminds are empty, all of the problems and suffer-ings and defects that arise in our minds can beremoved or purified, because they too are empty.This emptiness of the mind is not absolutenothingness; it is not a static or dead or neutralemptiness, because, while emptiness is indeedthe nature of the mind, the nature of that empti-ness is wisdom—it is the innate potential for thearising of all qualities. In Buddhist scripturesthis innate potential is called buddha nature.

Now, the process of working with our lifesituation through practice in tantric Buddhismconsists first of acknowledging that one’s ownbasic nature is that potential, that buddha na-ture, and then of meditating upon its presencewithin one by regarding oneself as a deity. Theform of the deity is the embodiment or expres-sion of that potential, that unity of emptinessand wisdom, within one. It is through regardingoneself as the deity that defects are graduallyeradicated and qualities gradually revealed. The

The process ofgetting ourselvesout of samsaraconsists ofgraduallyweakening thebad habits andstrengtheningthe good habits

SHENPEN ÖSEL 11

The primarytechnique ofvisualization isto visualizeourselves as thedeity, becausethe potential totranscend ourproblems isinnate ratherthan externalto us

primary technique of visualization is to visual-ize ourselves as the deity, because the potentialto transcend our problems is innate rather thanexternal to us. Therefore, our main practice inmeditation upon deities is the self-generation ofthe deity, visualizing oneself as the deity.

If you ask is this the only way in which wework with deities, the answer isno. We also visualize deities infront of us. Now, in the commontradition* of Buddhism, as isfound in the scriptures of theTheravadin tradition and so on—which I cannot read in the Palibut have read in Tibetan transla-tion—we find an extensive pre-sentation by the Buddha thatthere is no external deity to berelied upon, that the path con-sists fundamentally of eradicat-ing one’s own kleshas, therebyeventually attaining the state ofan arhat or arhati without re-mainder. Thus in the sutras ofthe common vehicle, the state ofliberation is presented as free-dom from all kleshas, limitations,and attachment, but not particu-larly as an abiding wisdom.

However, in the sutras of the mahayana, andespecially in the teachings of the vajrayana, it isclearly taught that once someone attains fullliberation and buddhahood, they do not becomenothing. The process of purification finallyreveals, and therefore there remains, an endur-ing wisdom that is of the nature of nonconcep-tual compassion. The attainment ofbuddhahood, the path through which it is at-tained, really begins with the generation ofbodhicitta, which is the intention to attainliberation so that one can bring all beings to thesame state. Because that is the motivation withwhich the path is begun, when the result, which

is buddhahood, is attained, the result of thatpath is naturally spontaneous, impartial, andnonconceptual compassion. Therefore, we regardbuddhas as having an awareness that is respon-sive to the needs of beings, and therefore asbeing open and accessible to our prayers andsupplication. For that reason, while we prima-

rily visualize ourselves as dei-ties, we also visualize the deitiesas present in front of us.

We supplement the visualiza-tion of ourselves as the deitywith visualizations such asimagining the actual wisdomdeities themselves dissolvinginto ourselves again and again,by means of which we receivetheir blessing. Sometimes wevisualize the deity in front of us,separate from ourselves, think-ing that rays of light from thedeity’s heart engulf and pervadeus, granting the blessing of thedeity. And sometimes we visual-ize that rays of light, whichembody the blessing of thatdeity in front of us, strike allbeings, removing their obstacles,

increasing their longevity, wisdom, and so on. Allof these visualizations are methods by which wearouse the compassion of all buddhas and causetheir blessings to enter into ourselves and oth-ers.

All the yidams and deities used in meditationhave the same fundamental nature and areutterly pure. Nevertheless they have differentappearances, which reflect the different activi-ties that they embody and engage in. Thesedifferent activities are primarily determined bythe individual aspirations they made at the timeof their initial generation of bodhicitta. Forexample, in the case of the Medicine Buddha,there is a specific set of aspirations, as there isin the case of the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara orthe bodhisattva Arya Tara. It is primarily for thisreason that deities manifest in their variedappearances— sometimes appearing as male, in

*Editor’s note: “The common tradition” is a way of referringto those teachings held in common by all traditions ofBuddhism, which are the teachings on personal liberation ofthe hinayana or lesser vehicle.

12 SHENPEN ÖSEL

lineage of the practice which serves to conse-crate or bless your practice in the form of sound.Because the lineage has been transmitted as thesound of the words of its transmission, when thereading transmission is given to you, you simplylisten to the sound and think that by doing soyou receive the blessing of the lineage.

Today I will give the reading transmission,the lung, for the Medicine Buddha practice. Theempowerment for the practice, I will give onSunday. With regard to the empowerment, youshould understand that the Medicine Buddhapractice is not solely a vajrayana practice. Likethe practice of mahamudra, it is a combination ofvajrayana [tantra] and sutra. For example, whilewe could say that mahamudra is primarilytaught in the vajrayana, it is also found in certainsutras, such as the Samadhiraja Sutra, and soforth. In the same way, this practice of the Medi-cine Buddha is a combination of what the Bud-dha taught about the Medicine Buddha in thesutras of the Medicine Buddha and in varioustantras. Because it is connected with vajrayana,it is most appropriate to receive the empower-ment to enhance the practice; but because it isalso connected with the sutras, it is acceptable todo the practice without the empowerment aswell. As you are receiving the reading transmis-sion today, there is no particular visualizationyou need to do. Maintain the motivation ofbodhicitta for receiving the transmission, andthink that simply by hearing the sounds of thewords as I read them you receive the transmis-sion or blessing of the lineage of this practice.

[Rinpoche gives the reading transmission.]To give you a support for your visualization of

the Medicine Buddha when doing the practice, Iam going to give each of you a small image of theMedicine Buddha. So please, in order to receiveit, come up.

[Rinpoche hands out cards.]

which case they primarily embody upaya ormethod; sometimes appearing as female, inwhich case they primarily embody prajna orwisdom; sometimes appearing as peaceful,sometimes appearing as wrathful, and so on. Inthe case of the Medicine Buddha, at the time ofhis initial generation of bodhicitta—with whichact he began the path that culminated in hisattainment of buddhahood—his primary motiva-tion was to remove all suffering of beings ingeneral, but especially to remove the physicaland mental sufferings of beings caused throughthe imbalance of the elements, which we know ofas mental and physical illness. This was hisprimary motivation or aspiration throughout thethree periods of innumerable eons during whichhe gathered the accumulations of merit andwisdom that culminated in his attainment ofbuddhahood as the Medicine Buddha. Therefore,as the Medicine Buddha, he possesses extraordi-nary ability and engages in extraordinary activ-ity to pacify sickness. Whether you access thisactivity through visualizing yourself as theMedicine Buddha, or through arousing thecompassion and activity of the Medicine Buddhaas conceived of as external to yourself, in eithercase, the practice of the Medicine Buddha issupremely effective in the removal of sickness.

The practice of the Medicine Buddha comesprimarily from the uncommon tradition of

the vajrayana, which means that the transmis-sion of the practice is done using three pro-cesses called the empowerment, which ripens;the instruction, which frees; and the readingtransmission, which supports. The function ofempowerment, the formal ceremony or ritual ofempowerment, is to introduce you to the prac-tice and to the process of visualization and soforth, which will make up the practice. Thefunction of the instruction, which frees, is togive you complete access to the practice bymeans of telling you literally how to do it—whatyou do with your body, what you say with yourspeech, and what you think with your mind. Thefunction of the reading transmission, whichsupports, is to transmit the blessing of the

SHENPEN ÖSEL 13

Continuing the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s teaching on theMedicine Buddha.

We are now going to start going through the text itself, the liturgyfor the practice, so that you will understand how to do it. As youwill have noticed, the first part of the Medicine Buddha practice

is the lineage supplication, which consists of the supplication of the princi-pal Medicine Buddha, the seven accompanying Medicine Buddhas, thesixteen bodhisattvas, and finally, the holders and propagators of the teach-ings of the Medicine Buddha. The purpose of reciting this supplication at thebeginning of the practice is to invoke and receive at the very beginning ofthe practice the blessing of the Medicine Buddha through the power of yourfaith in and devotion to the deity and to the lineage of this teaching.

The supplication begins with one line in the language of Sanskrit:

NAMO BEKENDZE MAHA RADZAYE

This means, “Homage to the great king of medicine.” The initial homageto the Medicine Buddha as the great king of medicine is done in Sanskritbecause the source of the teachings of the vajrayana in particular, and of thebuddhadharma in general—the original sutra and tantra teachings of the

Medicine Buddha

The Great King of Medicine Is Active inPacifying the Suffering of Beings

14 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Buddha Shakyamuni—were given primarily inSanskrit. Moreover, the mahasiddhas,bodhisattvas, and shravakas of India also prima-rily used Sanskrit as their dharma language.Therefore, in order to maintain a connectionwith the source of the tradition, and because theSanskrit language itself is held to bear greatblessing, the initial supplication is made inSanskrit, after which follows the main body ofthe supplication of the Medicine Buddha inTibetan.

The first stanza of the supplication is ad-dressed to the principal Medicine Buddha, andis based on the Buddha Shakyamuni’s presenta-tion of the Medicine Buddha’s initial motivationfor his path and the aspirations he made inconnection therewith, as recorded in the sutrason the Medicine Buddha.*

You are endowed with an oceanic treasury ofqualities and merit;

By the blessing of your inconceivable compassionYou calm the suffering and torment of sentient

beings.I supplicate you, Light of Lapis Lazuli.

The meaning of the stanza is that, because ofthe quality and special nature of his initialmotivation and ensuing aspirations, the Medi-cine Buddha very quickly accumulated vastamounts of merit, as a result of which, while onthe path and finally at the time of fruition orbuddhahood, he came to embody a vast treasuryof qualities associated with awakening. There-fore, because of his initial compassionate motiva-tion and because of the qualities of his awaken-ing, he possesses inconceivable blessing, byvirtue of which, in accordance with his aspira-tion and motivation, he is active in pacifying thesufferings of beings. So in chanting the beginningof the supplication, you mention him by name,referring to him as the Light of Vaidurya.

The second stanza is also addressed to theMedicine Buddha, and it continues from thepresentation in the first. In the first stanza youwere essentially praising the fact that he embod-ies extraordinary merit and qualities as a resultof his extraordinary motivation and aspirations.Upon his initial generation of bodhicitta theMedicine Buddha made twelve particular aspira-tions. In connection with these, the benefits ofrecollecting the name of the Medicine Buddhabegin to be specified in the second stanza.

Those bound by very intense greedAre born in the hungry ghost realm.If they hear your name, they are born human and

take delight in generosity.I supplicate you, victorious Menla.

Recollection of the name means keeping thename of the Medicine Buddha in mind by havingan attitude of faith and devotion to the MedicineBuddha. The stanza says that even someone who,as a result of intense greed, is destined to bereborn as a preta or hungry ghost, if such aperson hears the name of the Medicine Buddha,they will be reborn as a human being and willdelight in generosity. In that way, you supplicatethe Medicine Buddha by referring to the poweror blessing of his name.

The next stanza gives a second benefit ofrecollecting and hearing the name of the Medi-cine Buddha.

Violating morality and abusing others,Beings are born in the hell realms.Hearing your name, they are said to be born in

the higher realms.I supplicate you, King of Medicine.

Those who violate moral commitments andwho actively harm or abuse others will be rebornin the hell realms. This refers to those who haveno interest in maintaining the dharma commit-ments they have undertaken, who have no inter-est in benefiting others, and who are only inter-ested in harming them. But if even such a personhears the name of the Medicine Buddha, theywill be reborn in higher realms. By simply hear-

*Editor’s note: The Medicine Buddha, when understood asan individual buddha who once was a sentient being, predatesthe Buddha Shakyamuni. Therefore, our knowledge of him isbased, at least initially, on the teachings that arose spontane-ously out of the supersensible cognition of the BuddhaShakyamuni.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 15

ing the name of the Medicine Buddha, theirinherent capacity for virtue will be awakenedand they will gradually become interested inacting appropriately and benefiting others.Changing their course of action, they will not bereborn in a lower realm.

The next stanza describes a third benefit ofhearing or recollecting the name of the MedicineBuddha.

Whoever by repeated dissension and slanderCreates serious schisms and takes life,Hearing your name, they cannot harm others.I supplicate you, King of Medicine.

Those who are naturally jealous, competitive,and arrogant, and as a result, find themselvesalways trying to produce dissention; who, whenseeing that others are friendly and harmonious,automatically try to create discord; who createschisms where there is harmony and discordeven to the point where it leads to loss either oftheir own life or the lives of others; even some-one with this jealous, competitive, and arrogantnature—if they hear the name of the MedicineBuddha, will be unable to cause harm. Unable tocause harm means that their mindset and theirattitudes will change. They will cease to bejealous, cease to be arrogant, and will graduallyfind themselves unwilling and therefore unableto intentionally bring this kind of harm to oth-ers.

There are two sutras principally concernedwith the Medicine Buddha. One is the Sutra ofthe Medicine Buddha, which is concerned withthe principal Medicine Buddha, his twelveaspirations, and the benefits of recollecting hisname. The second is the Sutra of the Eight Medi-cine Buddhas, or the Sutra of the Eight MedicineBuddha Brothers. The medicine buddhas re-ferred to in this sutra are the previously men-tioned principal one and seven others who formhis retinue. The next stanza in the supplicationis concerned with the other seven medicinebuddhas. They each have their own individualaspirations. Some of them have made eightaspirations; some have made four. And the

recollection of their names brings benefits simi-lar to those brought about by the recollection ofthe name of the principal Medicine Buddha.

Excellent Name, Appearance of Stainless FineGold,

Glorious Supreme One Free of Misery, Resound-ing Dharma Melody,

King of Direct Knowledge, King of Melody,And King of Shakyas, I supplicate you all.

These seven buddhas are named Tshen Lek,or Excellent Name; Ser Zang Dri Me Nangwa, orAppearance of Stainless Fine Gold; Nya NgenMe Chok Pal, Glorious Supreme One Free ofMisery; Chö Drak Yang, Resounding DharmaMelody; Ngön Khyen Gyalpo, King of DirectKnowledge; Dra Yang Gyalpo, King of Melody;and Shakya Gyalpo, King of the Shakyas.

The next stanza is a supplication to the otherdeities in the mandala of the Medicine Buddha.These are not listed in their entirety, but eachset of deities is mentioned briefly and a few ofthe names of each set are mentioned.

Manjushri, Kyabdröl, Vajrapani,Brahma, Indra, the Four Kings of the Four

Directions,The twelve great Yaksha chiefs, and so forth,I supplicate you, entire and perfect mandala.

The first class of deities after the eightmedicine buddhas are the sixteen bodhisattvas.Here three of them are mentioned: Manjushri,Kyabdröl, and Vajrapani. The next class are theten protectors of the world, or of the directions,of whom two are mentioned, Brahma and Indra.The next class are the four great kings of thefour directions, who are also protectors, notmentioned here by their individual names.Finally there are the twelve yaksha chieftains,or yaksha generals, and they too are just men-tioned as a class. The last line of the stanzaindicates that this is the supplication of theentire mandala of the Medicine Buddha.

Up to this point you have supplicated theprincipal Medicine Buddha and his retinue, andin doing so have supplicated the body of theMedicine Buddha and the mind or the emana-

16 SHENPEN ÖSEL

tions of the Medicine Buddha. What remains isto supplicate the speech of the Medicine Bud-dha; having supplicated the buddhas andbodhisattvas of the mandala, you next supplicatethe dharma.

The Sutra of the Seven Tathagatas’ Aspirations,And the Sutra of the Medicine Buddha,The treatise by the great abbot Shantarakshita,

and so forth,I supplicate all the volumes of the genuine

dharma.

Mentioned first are the two sutras taught bythe Buddha Shakyamuni about the MedicineBuddha: the Sutra of the Aspirations of the SevenTathagathas, which means the seven medicinebuddhas in the retinue, and the Sutra of theMedicine Buddha, which is the principal medi-cine buddha. Mentioned in the same stanza arethe shastras,* which also form part of the scrip-tural source for the Medicine Buddha tradition.These are referred to by mentioning as an ex-ample the treatise of the great abbotShantarakshita, which is one of the oldest ororiginal sources of the Medicine Buddha prac-tice. And then you chant, “I supplicate the genu-ine dharma in the form of books.” The reason forthis is that in general, of course, dharma existsin the form of the written word. But it has aspecial significance in the case of this mandala.The self-generation—the form of the MedicineBuddha with which you identify your ownbody—is the Medicine Buddha alone, withoutretinue. But the front visualization is the Medi-cine Buddha surrounded by all the rest of themandala. The first circle of the mandala immedi-ately surrounding him consists of the otherseven medicine buddhas and the volumes of thedharma as the eighth member of the retinue.During this supplication you visualize the Medi-cine Buddha seated in the sky in front of you inthe center of a fully opened eight-petaled lotusand surrounding him, on each of the seven petalsother than the one directly in front of him, the

seven other medicine buddhas. On the lotuspetal directly in front of the principal MedicineBuddha, you visualize the volumes of thedharma, the sutras, and so forth, that present hispractice.

The next stanza of the supplication suppli-cates the lineage of this practice.

Bodhisattva Shantarakshita, Trisong Deutsen,and others,

Translators, scholars, kings, ministers,bodhisattvas,

And all genuine lamas of the lineage,Powerful One of the Dharma, and others, I

supplicate you.

First mentioned are those who first broughtthis tradition of the Medicine Buddha from Indiato Tibet. Where it says bodhisattva, it means theabbot Shantarakshita, who bestowed this teach-ing on many students, including the Tibetandharma king Trisong Deutsen, who is mentionednext. Then supplicated are all of the translatorsof Tibet and the panditas of India who enabledthis tradition to spread to Tibet through trans-lating it, teaching it, explaining it, and so on.Next are supplicated all of the other inheritorsof this tradition, bodhisattvas who took the formof dharma kings, ministers and so on. Finally, allthe gurus of the lineage of this practice aresupplicated, and in particular one’s own rootguru. This supplication was composed, and thepractice in general was edited, by the learnedand accomplished master Karma ChagmeyRinpoche, and so he supplicates his own rootguru, Chökyi Wangchuk, by name here.

The final stanza of the supplication dedicatesthe power of the supplication to the ends thatyou wish to achieve.

Through the blessing of this supplication,May the diverse temporal diseases and dangers

of this life be stilled.At death, may all fear of the lower realms be

calmed.Grant your blessing that afterwards we are born

in Sukhavati.

The stanza reads, “Through the blessing of*Editor’s note: Shastras are commentaries on the originalteachings of the Buddha.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 17

supplicating in this way,”—which means by theblessing of supplicating the Medicine Buddha,his retinue of buddhas, bodhisattvas, and protec-tors, and all the teachers of the lineage, withdevotion—“in the short run may the variousdiseases, dangers, and fears be pacified, and atthe time of death, after all fear of being reborn inthe lower realms has been pacified, grant yourblessing that we may be born in Sukhavati, theland of great happiness and great bliss.” You areexpressing your wish here to be protected fromsuffering both in the short term and in the longterm. In the short term you are asking to beprotected from sickness andvarious other dangers—fromwhatever can go wrong—in thislife. In the long term, you areasking that you not be reborn inlower states or in lower realms,and that, once the danger andfear of being reborn in the lowerrealms have been transcended,you may achieve rebirth inSukhavati, the realm ofAmitabha. That completes thelineage supplication.

After the lineage supplication comes thetaking of refuge and the generation of bodhicitta,which, as necessary preliminaries, are alwaysrecited at the beginning of any vajrayana prac-tice. Each has a specific function. The function oftaking refuge is to prevent your practice frombecoming an incorrect path. The function ofgenerating bodhicitta is to prevent your practicefrom becoming an inferior path. In the case ofthis practice, each of these aspects—refuge andbodhicitta—occupies two lines of a four-linestanza.

NAMO to the sources of refuge, the three jewelsAnd the three roots, I go for refuge.

The first line of the refuge identifies thesources of refuge, and they are two: the threejewels and the three roots. The three jewels,which are the common sources of refuge,* arethe Buddha, in whom one takes refuge by accept-

ing him as a teacher and an example; thedharma, in which one takes refuge by acceptingit as a path; and the sangha, in which one takesrefuge by accepting the sangha as companionsand guides on that path. Identifying the threejewels as the initial source of refuge indicatesthat by taking refuge in them you are freeingyourself from the possibility of an incorrect path.

Then there are the uncommon sources ofrefuge, which are unique to vajrayana. They areknown as the three roots: the gurus, who are theroot of blessing; the yidams or deities, who arethe root of attainment; and the dharmapalas, or

dharma protectors, who are theroot of activity. First of these arethe gurus, who are the root ofblessing. Blessing refers to thepower of dharma—that which indharma is actually effective, thatactually brings the result ofdharma. Obviously in practicingwe need that effectiveness—thatpower or blessing of dharma—toenter into us. The original sourceof this blessing, of course, is the

Buddha, who first taught the dharma in thisparticular historical period. Unfortunately, wedo not have the ability in this life to meet theBuddha or hear the Buddha’s speech directly.But we do have the opportunity to practice histeachings and to attain the same result we couldhave attained had we met the Buddha, becausethe essence of his teachings—and therefore theblessing or effectiveness of his teachings—hasbeen passed down through the lineage, begin-ning with the Buddha himself and culminatingwith our own personal teacher or root guru.Therefore, the first source of refuge in thevajrayana are root and lineage gurus—and,especially the root guru—who are the source ofthe blessing of dharma.

The second source of refuge in the vajrayana,the second root, are the yidams, the deities, whoare the sources of attainment or siddhi. Whilethe guru is the source of the blessing and effec-

*Editor’s note: common to all traditions of Buddhism.

The function oftaking refuge isto prevent yourpractice frombecoming anincorrect path

18 SHENPEN ÖSEL

tiveness of dharma, the guru cannot simply handyou the result or attainment of dharma practice.The source or root of that attain-ment is your practice. And yourpractice is embodied by theyidam or deity which is the basisof that practice. This means thatyou attain the result of dharmapractice through engaging in thetechniques of visualizing the bodyof the deity and engaging in thegeneration and completion stagepractices which are associatedwith that deity. In this specificinstance, the yidam is the Medi-cine Buddha. By identifying with the body of theMedicine Buddha, you attain the result, theattainments or siddhis, associated with theMedicine Buddha, which include the pacificationof sickness and other sufferings.* The reasonwhy these deities are referred to as yidams,which literally means mental commitment, isthat in order to practice dharma you have tohave a clear direction and strong focus in thetechnique and method of practice. The idea ofyidam is that a certain practice and, in the caseof vajrayana a certain deity, is identified by you

as that practice to which you commit yourself,that direction in practice which you will take. A

yidam is the deity about whichyou think, “I will practice this. Iwill come to attain this result.”

The third vajrayana source ofrefuge, the third root, are thedharmapalas, the protectors,who are the root of activity.Activity here means the protec-tion of your practice from ob-stacles, so that you can success-fully complete it and bring it tothe appropriate result, so thatyou will be able to benefit others

effectively in a way that is in accordance withthe practice. In order to achieve these ends youneed this blessing of activity or protection. Thisis gained chiefly from specific bodhisattvas whotake the form of protectors, and, in certain cases,dakinis. In the specific case of the MedicineBuddha, when the Buddha taught the MedicineBuddha sutras, there were certain deities whocommitted themselves to protecting these teach-ings and all practitioners of these teachings,including even those who merely recollect thename of the Medicine Buddha. These protectordeities are represented in the mandala, and theyinclude the twelve Yaksha chieftains, the fourgreat kings, the ten protectors of the world, andso on. In this way, you are taking refuge byaccepting the Buddha as a teacher; his teachings,the dharma, as a path; the sangha as companionsand guides on that path; and you are takingrefuge by requesting the blessings of the gurus,attainment through the yidam, and the protec-tion of the dharmapalas and dakinis. That is thetaking of refuge, which serves to protect yourpractice from becoming an incorrect path.

Next comes the generation of bodhicitta,which serves to protect your practice frombecoming an inferior path.

To establish all beings in buddhahood,I awaken a mind of supreme enlightenment.

It is true, of course, that our basic motivation

*Editor’s note: The practice of any yidam deity will result inthe attainment of both the ultimate and relative siddhis. Theultimate siddhi is the stable realization of the radiant clarityor clear light nature of mind and all reality which we know ascomplete and perfect enlightenment or buddhahood. Therelative siddhis are such qualities as loving kindness,compassion, intelligence, the wisdom of insight, spiritualpower, protection and the removal of obstacles, good health,longevity, wealth, magnetism, etc. The practice of a deityyields first the relative siddhis. If we pray to Chenrezig, thefirst result beyond the simple development of concentrationwill be an increase in loving kindness and compassion in ourexperience. If we pray to Manjushri-Sarasvati, we willgradually experience greater perspicacity, strength of intellect,and facility with music and language. If we practiceMahakala, we will experience protection and the removal ofobstacles, if we practice White Tara we will develop greaterinsight and longevity, if we practice Green Tara we willexperience liberation from fear, the quick removal of obstacles,joy, compassion and upliftedness. If we practice Vajrayoginiwe will begin to develop mahamudra siddhi and increasedwarmth and magnetism. If one practices both the develop-ment and completion stages of any deity with sufficientdevotion and application, one will eventually attain fullrealization, at which point all of the siddhis of all of theyidams will be spontaneously present.

The function ofgeneratingbodhicitta is toprevent yourpractice frombecoming aninferior path

SHENPEN ÖSEL 19

The idea behindgeneratingbodhicitta is torecollect that allbeings withoutexception wish tobe happy inexactly the sameway and toexactly the samedegree as we do

for practicing is that we all wish to be free fromsuffering. This wish to be free from suffering isgood. But it is often somewhatlimited, which is to say that it issomewhat selfish, and it is oftensomewhat petty or small-mindedin scope. The idea behind gener-ating bodhicitta is to recollectthat all beings without exceptionwish to be happy in exactly thesame way and to exactly the samedegree as we do. If you bring thatto mind fully, then your aspira-tion to attain freedom for your-self will expand and become anaspiration to bring all beings tothat same freedom. This aspira-tion has to be a long-term aspira-tion. It is not enough simply toaspire to free beings from acertain type of suffering, or tofree them from the suffering theyare undergoing now, or to free them from thisyear’s suffering. For it to be the aspiration ofbodhicitta, which is the fullest and most exten-sive motivation, you must have the attitude ofwishing to establish beings in a state that willpermanently free them from all suffering. Now,the only way that you can actually make beingspermanently happy is to bring them to a state offull awakening, to buddhahood. So ultimately,the only way to protect beings from suffering isto establish them all in awakening, because theysimply will not be happy until they have attainedit. If you understand this—that all beings wish tobe happy just as much as we do and that none ofus can be happy until we attain awakening—then you will naturally give rise to bodhicitta,which is the intention to bring each and everybeing to a state of full and perfect awakening.Bodhicitta also includes within it, of course, theaspiration to be of any other assistance you canto beings along the way to accomplishing thatultimate goal. So it is not limited to any specificform of assistance.

If bodhicitta has been genuinely generated,then your motivation for practice will be re-

flected in your thinking, “I am practicing inorder to bring all beings to awakening; I am not

practicing merely because I amafraid of my own suffering orbecause I wish to protect a fewothers from suffering or becauseI wish to protect all others froma few types of suffering.” In thatway your motivation for thepractice of the Medicine Buddhabecomes bodhicitta, which is theattitude: “In order to bring allbeings to a state of buddhahood Imust first attain the state of theMedicine Buddha in order to beable to do so effectively, becausein my present state I cannoteffectively protect or benefitothers.”

The refuge and the genera-tion of bodhicitta are followed bythe blessing or consecration of

the place and the materials of practice.

From the expanse of primordial purity come forthClouds of offerings filling the earth and skyWith mandalas, articles of royalty, and goddesses.May they never be exhausted. PUD DZA HO.

The reason for this stage of the practice isthat at any given moment we have an impureperception* of and an impure attitude towardsourselves, towards others, and towards theenvironment as a whole. The more we invest inthat impure perception or attitude—in theperception of things as impure—the worse oursituation will become, and the more attachmentand aversion and apathy we will find ourselves

*Editor’s note: It is important to note that these impureperceptions and attitudes are not stable, but are constantlychanging moment by moment according to changing causesand conditions. Thus, in one moment one might think quitehighly of oneself and actually see oneself as attractive,intelligent, and charming, and in a subsequent moment feelquite depressed about oneself and see oneself as tiresome anddreary. These perceptions and attitudes go through myriadchanges, but they are all impure in the sense that we arealways seeing projections of ourselves, others, and the environ-ment, and not things as they truly are.

20 SHENPEN ÖSEL

By regardingthings as pure,you will graduallystart to perceivethings as pure,which will purifythe habitualtendency toperceive themas impure

generating. The remedy for this is simply tochange our attitude and to regard things as pure.Initially, of course, this takes someconscious effort. But by regardingthings as pure, you will graduallystart to perceive things as pure,which will purify the habitualtendency to perceive them asimpure.

At this point the liturgy reads,“Clouds of offerings emanatedfrom the primordially pure ex-panse fill the sky and the earth.”You imagine that the place inwhich you are practicing is acompletely pure realm filled withevery imaginable type of pleasantoffering substance. This realm andthese offerings, although you areimaging them, are not imaginary.They have been there from the very beginning,which is why it says in the liturgy “emanatedfrom the primordially pure expanse.” From thevery beginning, this is how things actually are,how things actually have been. You are not creat-ing them by imagining them, nor are you foolingyourselves by imagining them. It is rather thatour present mode of perception is like being inthe midst of a nightmare from which we hope towake up; and when we wake up from it, we willsee things as they are. It is important to under-stand that you are imagining things to be what infact they really are.

The offering substances contained in this purerealm include such things as offering mandalas,the seven articles of royalty, and various otherkinds of offerings that are specified in the liturgy,together with gods and goddesses who presentthem, and so on. All of these offerings are inex-haustible; they are unlimited in amount, they areperfect in quality, they do not just disappear, andthey never get used up. This section is both theconsecration of the offerings and the consecrationof the place of practice. And the attitude withwhich this is done is that you are starting topurify your otherwise impure perception of yourenvironment—of your body, of your mind, and of

all the other materials and implements in yourenvironment.

Following the consecrationof the offerings is meditation onthe four immeasurables. Thefour immeasurables are fourattitudes that are to be culti-vated without limit, which iswhy they are known as immea-surable, or unlimited. Unlim-ited means no limit on “howmuch” and no limit on “forwhom.” The first immeasurable,in the usual enumeration, islove. Immeasurable love meansno limit on how much love andhow much compassion yougenerate, and especially nolimit on for whom you generateit.

May all beings be happy and free of suffering.May their happiness not diminish. May they

abide in equanimity.

Intrinsic to all four of these attitudes isimpartiality. When enumerated separately,impartiality is the fourth of the fourimmeasurables—love, compassion, empatheticjoy, and impartiality. However, when you actu-ally practice them, you need to begin with thecultivation of impartiality. We all have somedegree of love, some degree of compassion, andsome degree of empathetic joy. But in order tomake these genuine and to make them immea-surable we need to cultivate impartiality, whichis why it is to be cultivated first. When we saythat we all have some degree of love, we meanthat we all wish that some beings be happy andpossess causes of happiness. We all also havesome degree of compassion—we all wish thatsome beings be free from suffering and thecauses of suffering. The problem is that wegenerally wish these things only for certainbeings and do not particularly care about whathappens to other beings. Although our love andcompassion are indeed love and compassion,they are partial; and because they are partial,

SHENPEN ÖSEL 21

If you do notcultivateimpartiality in thebeginning, bystrengtheningyour love forsome you maygenerateaggressionfor others

they are impure and incomplete. If you cultivateimpartiality, they become unlimited—whichmeans that they become perfect. So the firststage in the cultivation of the fourimmeasurables is to cultivate impartiality to-wards beings, which means cultivating theattitude that you have the sameamount of love and the sameamount of compassion for allbeings. And then, on that basis,you can strengthen the attitudeof love—the desire that beings behappy and possess causes ofhappiness—and by strengthen-ing it you will strengthen thatattitude towards all beings ingeneral. If you do not cultivateimpartiality in the beginning, bystrengthening your love for someyou may generate aggression forothers. Therefore, you need firstto cultivate impartiality, andthen, on the basis of impartiality,to cultivate the other three—love, compassion, and empathetic joy. However,in the text they are listed in the usual order,which places impartiality—here referred to asequanimity—at the end.

Essentially love consists of wanting others tobe happy, and compassion consists of wantingothers not to suffer. These two attitudes, ofcourse, are excellent. But if they are presentwithout any way to bring about what you wish—if your love is without any way to bring about thehappiness of beings and your compassion isdevoid of any way to remove the sufferings ofbeings—then they will actually become a causeof greater suffering and sadness for you. You willbe more sensitive to the sufferings of othersbecause of your attitude, but will feel unable tohelp. And so, instead of just the other beingsuffering, two beings will suffer—you will sufferas well. If, however, the attitudes of love andcompassion include the understanding of howyou can actually bring about happiness andfreedom from suffering, then these attitudes donot become sources of depression. Therefore we

expand the attitude of love from “may all beingsbe happy” to “may all beings be happy and pos-sess causes of happiness,” and expand the atti-tude of compassion from “may all beings be freefrom suffering” to “may all beings be free fromsuffering and free from causes of suffering.”

While you cannot confidentlyexpect to be able to make allbeings happy on the spot, youcan gradually cause beings toaccomplish or accumulate causesof happiness and to avoid and getrid of causes of suffering. Andbecause you understand that inthe long term you will be able tomake beings happy and freebeings from suffering, then theseattitudes of love and compassionbecome not only confident butactually joyous. In this way, theeffect of love and compassion isno longer sadness and depres-sion but empathetic joy, which isthe third immeasurable. In this

way, you train or cultivate the fourimmeasurables as a preliminary for meditationon the Medicine Buddha.

Now to apply the four immeasurables to thespecific context of the Medicine Buddha

practice: Since the primary cause of suffering inthis case is the physical affliction of sickness,and since that is the initial focus of this practice,you can focus on that in your meditation on thefour immeasurables. Thinking that it is in orderto remove the sickness of beings that you arepraying to the Medicine Buddha, meditatingupon the Medicine Buddha, reciting the Medi-cine Buddha’s mantra, and so on, you couldformulate the four immeasurables in the follow-ing way: Immeasurable love would be the atti-tude, “May all beings possess the happiness ofwell-being and the causes of that.” Immeasurablecompassion would be, “May all beings be freefrom sickness and the causes of sickness.” Im-measurable empathetic joy would be rejoicing inthe well-being of others and in their freedom

22 SHENPEN ÖSEL

There is always aresult from doingthis practice, butthe way in whichthe result willmanifest is notabsolutelydefinite

from illness. And immeasurable impartialitywould be generating these aspirations andattitudes not merely for those you know, such asyour own friends and family, butfor all beings without exception.

When you do the MedicineBuddha practice with the inten-tion and aspiration to benefityourself and others in this way,sometimes you will perceive anevident benefit: Either you orsomeone else will be freed fromsickness in a way that youidentify as a result of yourpractice. This will give yougreater confidence in the prac-tice. At other times, no matterhow much you practice and howhard you pray and how many mantras you say,you will not perceive any evident benefit. Andthis will cause you to doubt the practice, andyou will think, “Well maybe it doesn’t really

work.” But you need to remember that the benefitof this practice is not like the direct physicaleffect of the function of a machine, such as some-

thing that emits a laser beam.There is always a result fromdoing this practice, but the way inwhich the result will manifest isnot absolutely definite. So in yourattitude towards the results ofpractice, you need to have a long-term focus. In that way you cankeep the practice focused on thefour immeasurables.

That completes the prelimi-naries to the Medicine Buddhapractice. I am going to stop therefor this afternoon, and we willconclude with the dedication of

the merit of this teaching to the liberation of allbeings.

[Dedication of merit.]

SHENPEN ÖSEL 23

Medicine Buddha

The Visualization Uncovers the InherentPurity of Phenomena

Continuing the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s teaching onthe Medicine Buddha.

Yesterday we discussed the lineage supplication of this practice,the refuge and bodhicitta, the consecration of the practice placeand the materials, and the meditation on the four immeasurables.

Today we are going to begin with the actual visualization of oneself as theMedicine Buddha, which causes the blessing of the Medicine Buddha toenter into one, and the simultaneous visualization of the mandala of theMedicine Buddha in front of one, which serves as an object of one’s sup-plication and a field for the accumulation of merit through making offer-ings.

The visualization is begun by purifying your perception of the entireworld, including your own body and mind. This is done initially throughthe single recitation of the mantra of the pure nature or the mantra ofthe purity of dharmata:

24 SHENPEN ÖSEL

OM SOBHAWA SHUDDHA SARWA DHARMASOBHAWA SHUDDHO HAM

The meaning of the mantra reflects its sig-nificance. Following the initial syllable Om, thenext word is swabava, which means the nature,and then shuddha, which means pure. Ordi-narily the things that appear to us—the world ofexternal appearances and our internal perceiv-ing mind—appear to us as being impure becauseof the presence of the kleshas and otherobscurations in our minds. What is meant hereby the pure nature is that, although we perceiveappearances and our minds in this impure way,this is not their actual nature. While they seemto be impure, in fact, in their nature, in and ofthemselves, they are pure. Following the state-ment “pure by nature,” are the words sarwa,which means all, and dharma, which meansthings. So the mantra states that “all things arepure in their nature.”

The term dharma usually has one of twomeanings. One meaning is sadharma or thegenuine dharma, the teachings of the Buddha,and the other meaning is thing, things in gen-eral, anything that can be known. Here it refersto things.

The mantra continues with the wordsswabava shuddha a second time and then AHum. Because of the way that Sanskrit linkswords, the second shuddha and A Hum arejoined together to become shuddho ham. Againswabava shuddha means pure in its nature ortheir nature; A Hum can mean self or the veryembodiment of something. Here it is understoodto mean that not only are all things pure in theirnature, but that they are in and of themselvesthe very embodiment of that purity. So thismantra is essentially a statement of why thepath can lead to the result. Because things arepure in their nature, because this purity ispresent within the nature of things, then it canmanifest as experience and as a result—throughtaking that inherent purity as a path. For ex-ample, because sesame oil is present withinsesame seeds, then by pressing the seeds you canextract the oil. If there were no oil present

within the sesame seeds, you could not get oil,no matter how hard you pressed the seeds.Because the hidden nature of things is theirpurity, then by regarding things as pure, you candirectly experience them as pure; you can di-rectly experience their purity. The swabawamantra is used here to point this out, and also tointroduce or begin the samadhi which will culmi-nate in the visualization of yourself as the Medi-cine Buddha.

Following the recitation of the swabavamantra, you say the Tibetan words, tong pa nyidu jur, which means that everything becomesempty or becomes emptiness.

Everything turns into emptiness.

This describes the beginning of the visualiza-tion. At this point you imagine that everythingdisappears, that everything becomes empti-ness—not only in how it is but in how it mani-fests. However, it is important to remember thatyou are not pretending here that things areother than they are. You are using the imaginarydissolution of things into emptiness as an ac-knowledgment of the fact that things have been,from the very beginning,* empty in their nature.

The dissolution of ordinary impure appear-ances into emptiness is the first part of a two-step process that serves to counteract our usualsuperimposition of impurity onto appearances.**The second step is the emergence from or withinthat expanse of emptiness of the pure appear-ances which are the realm and palace of theMedicine Buddha.

From the depth of emptiness, this triple universe

*Editor’s note: Buddhism, of course, does not assert any sortof cosmological beginning, so the use of “beginning here” hasthe same meaning as “from beginningless time.”

**Editor’s note: This superimposition of impurity ontoappearances is the same as referred to by Nagarjuna, in InPraise of the Dharmadhatu: “The phenomena that appear tothe mental consciousness, the chief of them all, are conceptu-alized and then superimposed. When this activity is aban-doned, phenomena’s lack of self-essence is known. Knowingthis, meditate on the dharmadhatu.” The swabava mantraand the ensuing sadhana, as well as all other sadhanas andcompletion stage practices are methods for training the mindto abandon this activity of superimposition.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 25

The significanceof the lion throneis primarily thesense of utterfearlessness—indicating thedeity’s freedomfrom fear anddanger ofany kind

becomesThe exquisite palace, where

The first step is to think that all of the impureappearances dissolve into emptiness, and thesecond is that from within thatemptiness the realm and palaceof the Medicine Buddha emerge.Now when you imagine that theplace in which you are practicinghas become the realm and palaceof the Medicine Buddha, you donot limit this consideration tothis world or to this planet alone.As it says in the liturgy, it is theentire billion worlds of thislarger world system, or galaxy.

There are two ways that youcan do this practice. The simplestway is to visualize yourself as theMedicine Buddha. The moreelaborate way, which is indicatedin the liturgy, is also to visualizethe Medicine Buddha, surrounded by his reti-nue, present in front of you as well. It is easierfor beginners to do the self-visualization alone;on the other hand, doing the front visualizationas well gives one the opportunity to gather theaccumulation of merit. In either case, in themidst of the realm of the Medicine Buddha,which you have visualized as emerging from theexpanse of emptiness, there is a palace. Thispalace is square, and quite symmetrical. In thecenter of each of the four sides is a large gate-way, each forming an entry into the palace. If youare doing the practice with both self and frontvisualizations, you need to visualize two palaces:one in the center of which you will sit as the selfvisualization; and one in front of you and some-what elevated, which will serve as the residencefor the front visualization.

On lion thrones, each with a lotus and moon diskon top

Appear deep blue HUNGs, the seed syllable ofmyself and the main figure visualized in thefront,

In the center of the self-visualization’s palaceis a throne made of gold and jewels and otherprecious substances that is upheld by eight snowlions. The significance of the lion throne isprimarily the sense of utter fearlessness—

indicating the deity’s freedomfrom fear and danger of anykind. On top of the throne is afully opened lotus flower, on topof the center of which, lying flat,is a moon disc, on top of whichyou will be visualizing yourselfseated in the form of the Medi-cine Buddha. In the center of thepalace in the front visualization,you visualize a sixteen-petaledlotus, in the center of which youvisual an eight-petaled lotus. Inthe center of the eight-petaledlotus, you visualize another lionthrone, lotus, and moon discseat, as in the self-visualization.There are eight- and sixteen-

petaled lotuses in the front visualization becausethere will be additional buddhas andbodhisattvas in those places.

Next, on top of the moon discs in both thefront and self visualizations, you visualize a bluesyllable HUM.* The HUM syllable on top of themoon disc in the self-visualization palace repre-sents the essence of the mind or wisdom of theself-visualization deity, and the blue HUM on topof the moon disc in the front-visualization palacerepresents the essence of the mind or wisdom ofthe front-visualization deity. This particularsyllable HUM is used because HUM is the soundof dharmata, the expression as sound of thenature** itself. It is blue because that is thecolor of the deity who will emerge from thesyllable—the Medicine Buddha is blue, as isVajradhara—but also because blue representsthat which is unchanging and unfabricated.***

*Editor’s note: These syllables are to be visualized inTibetan script.

**Editor’s note: the true nature, the ultimate nature

***Editor’s note: This color blue is generally described asdeep blue, the color of an autumn sky high in the mountains.

26 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Having visualized the syllables, you then visual-ize innumerable rays of light radiating from eachof these syllables simultaneously. On the end ofeach ray of light are innumerable offering god-desses holding various offering substances whichthey present to all the buddhas and bodhisattvasin all the directions throughout space. This vastarray of buddhas and bodhisattvas receivesthese offerings with pleasure, and as a conse-quence their nonconceptual compassion isaroused, which manifests as their blessings’coming back in the form of rays of blue lightwhich dissolve into the HUM. Rays of lightwhich went out bearing offerings are reabsorbedbearing blessings back into the two HUM syl-lables. Once again rays of light radiate outwardfrom both HUM’s simultaneously, this timepurifying the entire external world, the entireuniverse, of everything in it that could possiblycause harm or suffering of any kind, and alsopurifying the mental continuums of all beingswithout exception of any kind of suffering ormisery or cause of suffering. Then the rays oflight are reabsorbed again into their respectiveHUM’s. At that moment the syllables are in-stantly and simultaneously transformed into theMedicine Buddha.

From which, arises Menla, his body the color oflapis lazuli and radiating light.

After this transformation, the self-visual-ized Medicine Buddha that you are identifyingwith is now considered your own body, and thefront visualization is in front of you. The Medi-cine Buddha is a brilliant blue in color—thecolor of a precious stone called vaidurya, gener-ally considered to be lapis lazuli. In appearancethe Medicine Buddha is luminous and majesticand radiates innumerable rays of light primarilythe color of his own body. Yidams can appear in anumber of different ways—peaceful or wrathfuland frightening; nirmanakaya or sambhogakayain form, and so on. The Medicine Buddha ispeaceful and in the nirmanakaya form.

He is clothed in the three dharma robes.

Saying that he appears in nirmanakaya formmeans that, though some yidams appearing insambhogakaya form wear lots of jewelry andsilken robes and so on, the Medicine Buddhamanifests in what is called the passionlessappearance of a nirmanakaya buddha, wearingonly the three dharma robes commonly worn bythe monastic sangha: the inner and outer upperrobes and the lower skirt.

The Medicine Buddha has two arms.

His right hand in the mudra of supremegenerosity holds an arura.

His left hand in meditation mudra holds abegging bowl.

His right hand is extended, palm outward,over his right knee in the gesture called su-preme generosity. In it he holds the arura, ormyrobalan, fruit. This plant represents all thebest medicines. The position of his right handand the arura which he holds represent theeradication of suffering, especially the sufferingof sickness, using the means of relative truth.Sickness can be alleviated by adjusting thefunctioning of interdependent causes and condi-tions by the use of relative means within therealm of relative truth, such as medical treat-ment and so on. The giving of these methods isrepresented by the gesture of the MedicineBuddha’s right hand.

His left hand rests in his lap, palm upward,in the gesture of meditative stability or medita-tion, which represents the eradication of sick-ness and suffering—and, indeed, the very rootsof samsara—through the realization of absolutetruth. From the point of view of either relativetruth or absolute truth, the fundamental cause ofsickness and suffering is a lack of contentmentand the addictive quality of samsara. Therefore,to indicate the need for contentment, in his lefthand he holds a begging bowl.

Because the mind of the Medicine Buddha isstainless and pure, his form reflects this in itsexcellence and physical perfection.

With the major and minor marks complete, hesits in the vajra posture.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 27

In the end it isthe dharma thatliberates us fromsamsara andsickness

He is adorned by what are called the marksand signs, the primary and secondary indicationsof the awakening of a buddha. In all aspects ofhis physical form—the crown protuberance, orushnisha, the image of wheels on the soles of hisfeet, and so forth—the Medicine Buddha isidentical to the Buddha Sakyamuni, with thesingle difference that the Buddha Sakyamuni’sskin is golden in color, while the Medicine Bud-dha is blue. Because the Medicine Buddha isimmersed in an unwavering samadhi of absorp-tion within the realization of the nature of allthings, and because this samadhi is utterlystable, he is seated with his legs fully crossed inthe vajra posture. You visualize yourself in thisform, and you visualize the front visualization inthe same form as well.

Everything described up tothis point—the palace, thethrone, and the Medicine Bud-dha—pertains to both the selfand the front visualizations. Inthe case of the front visualiza-tion, however, you will rememberthat the lion throne sits in thecenter of an eight-petaled lotus,which in turn sits in the center of a sixteen-petaled lotus. Now on seven of the eight petals ofthe eight petaled lotus, which surround theMedicine Buddha in the front visualization—onthe seven petals other than the one directly infront of the Medicine Buddha—are the sevenother medicine buddhas, the BuddhaShakyamuni and six others. As is the principalMedicine Buddha, they are all adorned by thethirty-two marks and the eighty signs of physicalperfection which grace the body of a buddha.

In particular, on the lotus petals of the frontvisualization

Are the seven Buddhas, Shakyamuni and theothers, and dharma texts.

On the eighth petal, directly in front of theprincipal Medicine Buddha, is a volume of thedharma. The reason for this is that in the end itis the dharma that liberates us from samsara and

from sickness. When we talk about thesadharma, or the genuine dharma, we are refer-ring fundamentally to the third and fourth of thefour noble truths: the truth of the cessation ofsuffering and the truth of the path leading to thecessation of suffering. The truth of cessation isthe result of practice, which is the abandonmentor transcendence of everything that is to beabandoned or transcended.* The truth of thepath is the dharma we practice that leads to thattranscendence. The dharma in essence is theexperience and realization of the meaning ofdharma** that is present within the minds ofthose who practice it and achieve its result. Byextension, the dharma also refers to the tradi-tion of passing on that meaning, and therefore

one visualizes that meaningpassed on from the Buddhadown to the present day in theform of books on the petal di-rectly in front of the MedicineBuddha visualized in front.

Around them are the sixteenbodhisattvas,Around them are the ten protec-

tors of the world,And the twelve great chiefs with their respective

retinues.The Four Great Kings are at the four gates.

Surrounding the seven Medicine Buddhasand the volumes of dharma, are sixteenbodhisattvas on the petals of the sixteen-petaledlotus. These are the sixteen bodhisattvas whowere the main recipients of the teachings of theMedicine Buddha sutras given by the Buddha.They all manifest in the sambhogakaya form,wearing ornate jewelry and so forth. Beyond theperimeter of that lotus, but still within thepalace of the front visualization, are twenty-twoother main deities, each of whom has a retinue.

*Editor’s note: Which thereby brings about the cessation ofsuffering.

**Editor’s note: Expressed variously as the nonconceptualwisdom of emptiness, the nonconceptual wisdom of clear light,radiant clarity, primordial awareness, the empty, clear, andunimpeded nature of mind, etc.

28 SHENPEN ÖSEL

When you thinkthat the MedicineBuddha, togetherwith his retinue,is present infront of you, it isreally true thatthey are

On the Medicine Buddha’s right, forming asemicircle to the right of the principal deities,are the ten protectors of the directions—other-wise known as the ten protectors of the world.These are deities such as Brahma, Indra, and soforth. Likewise, forming a semicircle on the leftside of the palace are the twelve yaksha chief-tains or generals. Each of these figures is sur-rounded by a vast retinue of their own. Finally,in the four gates or gateways of the palace visu-alized in front are the four kings of the gods.They are visualized here because they are pro-tectors of the buddhadharma in general. Specifi-cally whenever the Buddhataught, and especially when-ever he exhibited miracles, hewould emanate a magnificentmagical palace like this one,and, to signify their function asprotectors of his teachings,these four kings of the godswould guard each of the fourgates as gatekeepers.

When you are practicing, ifyou can, visualize all of thesedeities. But if you cannot, donot be discouraged. Do not feelthat somehow the practice has become ineffec-tive or invalid because you cannot visualize eachand every one of them. It is sufficient to generateas clear a visualization as you can of yourself asthe Medicine Buddha and of the Medicine Bud-dha in front of you. If, in addition to that, you canvisualize the seven additional medicine buddhasand the volumes of dharma, good. If, in additionto that, you can visualize the sixteenbodhisattvas, that is also good. But you shouldgauge the extent of the visualization to what youactually can do. In any case, the practice will beeffective and will cause the blessing of dharma ingeneral and the blessing of the Medicine Buddhain particular to enter you. It will serve its func-tion and be effective, regardless of how you dothe visualization. More important than howmany deities you visualize is to understand whatyou are doing. And most important is to under-stand that by visualizing yourself as the Medi-

cine Buddha you are not pretending to be some-thing that you are not, and that by visualizingthe Medicine Buddha and his retinue in front ofyou, you are not pretending that they are in aplace where they are not. By definition, buddhasare omniscient. Whenever someone thinks ofthem, brings them to mind, or supplicates them,they are aware of it and respond with theircompassion and blessing. In the final analysis,the situation is identical to their actually beingpresent anywhere they are thought of. There-fore, it is always appropriate to regard a buddhathat is present in one’s mind as actually being

present in front of one. When youthink that the Medicine Buddha,together with his retinue, ispresent in front of you, it is reallytrue that they are.

Visualizing yourself as theMedicine Buddha is also appro-priate, because your fundamentalnature—what you truly are—isbuddha nature. Buddha nature isessentially the potential to attainawakening. At some point in thefuture you will attain the sameawakening or buddhahood as the

Medicine Buddha himself. By visualizing your-self as the Medicine Buddha, you are assumingthe appearance of what fundamentally you areeven now and what manifestly you will be uponyour awakening. It is to acknowledge this truththat you assume the aspect of the body, speech,and mind of the Medicine Buddha, which is,therefore, entirely appropriate.

While it is entirely appropriate to visualizeyourself as the Medicine Buddha and to visualizethe Medicine Buddha and retinue in front of you,you may still have some hesitation or doubt thatthe visualization is anything more than just avisualization. This is understood, and thereforethe next phase of the practice is designed tocounteract that doubt. In order to alleviate anyresidual doubts you may have, you next invitethe actual wisdom deities and dissolve them intothe visualization.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 29

From the three syllables in their three places andthe HUNG in their hearts,

Lights radiate, invoking from their own easternbuddha realms, countless

Wisdom deities which dissolve into myself andthe one visualized in front.

The first step in inviting the wisdom deitiesis to visualize in the three places of the self-visualized Medicine Buddha, in the three placesof the Medicine Buddha visualized in front, and,if possible, in the three places of the rest of thedeities in the retinue, the three syllables, OMAH HUNG. Inside your head you visualize awhite OM, which is the essence of the body ofthe Medicine Buddha; in your throat a red AH,which is the essence of his speech; and in yourheart a blue HUM, which is the essence of hismind. Visualizing these in the body of the self-visualized Medicine Buddha and in the bodies ofthe deities visualized in front, you then thinkthat from these syllables rays of light of thecorresponding colors—and most particularlyrays of blue light from the HUM syllables in theheart centers of the deities—radiate.This radiation of light invites, from theirindividual buddha realms, the deities ofthe mandala. Each of the eight Medicinebuddhas—the principle one and theseven buddhas of the retinue—has hisown realm, all of which are understoodto be in the eastern direction.* Fromthese different pure realms the eightMedicine Buddhas and their retinues ofdeities are invited and they all dissolveinto you as the Medicine Buddha andinto the front visualization. In practiceyou do not think that they immediatelydissolve into you, but that they presentthemselves and are present in the sky infront of you, between the two palaces ofthe self and front visualizations.

Having described the visualization, you thenrecite a stanza that is an actual invitation to thedeities to approach.

HUNGThe eight Menla companions and all deities

without exceptionI invite here to this place. Kindly rain upon us

your great blessings.Bestow the supreme empowerment on those who

are worthy and faithful.Dispel false guides and obstacles to long life.NAMO MAHA BEKENDZE SAPARIWARA

BENZA SAMAYADZA DZA BENZASAMAYA TIKTRA LEN

First you invite the eight Medicine Buddhastogether with their retinues, saying, “Pleasecome to this place and rain down your greatblessing upon me, the practitioner, and uponothers.” Then you ask that they, “Bestow thesupreme empowerment upon me, the fortunateone, who has faith,” and that, by so doing, they,“Please dispel obstacles, such as obstacles to lifeand longevity and other obstacles in general.”

The mantra that follows seals and reinforcesthis act of invitation. The mantra means, “GreatKing of Medicine, together with your retinue,vajra samaya jaja.”** Vajra samaya meansunchanging commitment or samaya. Here youare reminding these buddhas of their commit-

ment to liberate beings. From theirinitial generation of bodhicitta, up to andincluding the moment of their attain-

*Editor’s note: Unlike Amitaba’s realm ofSukhavati or Dewachen, which is thought of as beingin the western direction, these buddha realms of theMedicine Buddhas are thought of as being in theeastern direction. However, it is important tounderstand how these directions are understood inthe practice of vajrayana. All deities are thought ofas facing east. If you are visualizing yourself as theMedicine Buddha or as Chenrezig or as Vajrayogini,regardless of the direction in which you would findtheir individual buddha realms, you are facing east.And the same is true of the deities of the frontvisualization , who are also thought of as facingeast. Therefore, if in “real space” you happen to befacing south or north, as far as the visualization isconcerned, you are still facing east. You would notthink that the deities resided in their buddha

realms somewhere far off over your left or right shoulder. “To ayogi or yogini,” as Kalu Rinpoche once said, “all directions areeast.”

**Editor’s note: Sanskrit, like Latin, is no longer a spokenlanguage. Here the translator is reading the mantra in whatscholars suspect was the original Sanskrit pronunciation. Themantras, as they appear in this text, are our English versionsof the Tibetan versions of the original Sanskrit mantras. Inthis case Vajra samaya ja ja reads Benza samaya dza dza.

30 SHENPEN ÖSEL

ment of full buddhahood, the motivation for theirentire path was the wish toliberate beings. They thereforehave an unchanging commit-ment—a vajra-like or indestruc-tible samaya—to the liberationof beings. So when you say thesewords, vajra samaya jaja, youare saying to these buddhas,“You must come here and blessme because you have committedyourself to do so.” At that point,then, think with confidence thatall of the wisdom deities of themandala have actually come andare present in the sky in front ofyou.

The mantra that follows isvajra samaya tiktralen. Vajrasamaya means unchangingcommitment, and tiktra means toremain stable. With this mantra you are saying,“Through the power of your unchanging commit-ment to the welfare and liberation of beings,please dissolve inseparably into me and remainwithin me stably or permanently.” At that pointyou think that all of the invited deities, re-minded of their commitment and with theircompassion aroused in that way, dissolve bothinto the self visualization and into the deities ofthe front visualization. And at that point thinkthat your body, speech, and mind visualized asthe Medicine Buddha and the body, speech, andmind of the Medicine Buddha have becomeindivisible.*

We are going to stop there for this morning,but if you have any questions, you are welcometo ask them.

Question: Does the Medicine Buddha ever havea consort and, if so, what is her name?

Rinpoche: In this case, because he is visualizedin the form of a supreme nirmanakaya, he doesnot. There could be cases in which he is visual-ized in a sambhogakaya form with a consort inorder to indicate the unity of upaya and prajna—

it is possible, but I cannot think of an instance,and so I cannot say his consort’sname is this or that.

Question: Rinpoche, in thevisualization, there are eightpetals and then sixteen petalsaround that. Petals aren’t reallythat large and so it is difficult forme to visualize each of themcontaining a bodhisattva and hisretinue. Is it like a window totheir world or what is the bestway to visualize this realisti-cally?

Rinpoche: In pure realms flow-ers can get really big. But if itmakes it easier to relate to, theseare basically thrones that aresomewhat connected with one

another and that have the basic shape or style of

*Editor’s note: In connection with this process it is helpful tobe familiar with two terms: samayasattva and jnanasattva,which could be roughly translated as “commitment being” and“primordial awareness being.” The samayasattva is one’s ownpersonal visualization which one performs in order to main-tain one’s commitment to one’s lama and to the practice ofone’s yidam. The jnanasattva is sometimes thought of as the“actual” deity which is a manifestation of the clear lightnature of mind or the radiant clarity of mind and reality,which for the purposes of the visualization is thought of asresiding off somewhere in its own particular buddha realm.When the jnanasattva finally dissolves into thesamayasattva, the jnanasattva and the samayasattva arethought to have become one and indivisible. In the ati yana,the samayasattva and the jnanasattva are considered fromthe beginning to be simultaneously present.

In The Heart of the Buddha, Chögyam Trungpa describesthis process from a psychological perspective as it relates tothe practice of Vajrayogini: “The visualization of oneself asVajrayogini is called the samayasattva: the ‘sacred bondage ofone’s being.’ The samayasattva is basically the expression ofthe samayas of body, speech, and mind. It expresses one’scommitment to the teacher and the teachings and one’s trustin one’s fundamental state of mind.

“Having visualized the samayasattvas of basic being, oneinvites what is known as jnanasattva. The jnanasattva isanother level of being or experience. Jnana is a state ofwakefulness or openness, whereas samaya is an experience ofbondage, in being solidly grounded in one’s experience. Jnanaliterally means ‘wisdom’ or, more accurately, ‘being wise.’ Oneinvites this state of wisdom, this level of wakefulness, intoone’s own imperfect visualization, so that the visualizationcomes alive with a feeling of openness and humor.”

When you saythese words,vajra samaya jaya,you aresaying to thesebuddhas, ‘Youmust come hereand bless mebecause youhave committedyourself to do so’

SHENPEN ÖSEL 31

flower petals.

Question: Rinpoche talked about the frontvisualization as being a field for the accumula-tion of merit. Why does the front visualizationhave something to do with accumulating merit?

Rinpoche: In this practice, as the liturgy indi-cates, merit is accumulated through payinghomage and making various offerings—themandala offering and the offering of praises andso forth—primarily to the front visualization.You accumulate merit by performing offerings tothat in which you have absolute confidence,which is the actual Buddha.Therefore, it is easier to accumu-late merit by making offerings tothe front visualization, which youare perceiving as different fromand possibly superior to yourself.

Question: When doing themantra towards the end of thepractice, do we focus our atten-tion primarily on ourself and themantra in our heart or do wealternate attention between theBuddha in front and ourselves?

Rinpoche: You apply it to both.You visualize the seed syllable and the mantragarland within the heart of both the self andfront visualizations, and in both cases, youidentify it as the embodiment of the wisdom ormind of the deity. Then normally you wouldthink that rays of light radiate from the seedsyllable and mantra garland in the heart of theself visualization. These rays of light strike andenter the hearts of the deities of the front visual-ization, arousing their compassion, causing raysof light to come from the front visualization andto dispel the sickness and suffering of all beingsand so forth.

Question: I can’t manage to visualize the frontvisualization and myself as the Medicine Buddhasimultaneously. Should I alternate between

them? Should I spend a chunk of time doing thefront visualization and then come back to theself visualization for an amount of time?

Rinpoche: That’s fine. You can go back andforth.

Question: Quickly or slowly or what?

Rinpoche: The best thing is to go back and forthas frequently as is comfortable.

Question: Rinpoche, does this particularsadhana have any special significance for you? Is

this of special significance to theThrangu lineage?

Rinpoche: This does not haveany particular significance forme or my monastery, except thatit is one of the three MedicineBuddha practices which is nor-mally done in the Kagyu tradi-tion as a whole. There is a longone, a medium one, and this one,which is the short one. We arepracticing this one because it isthe short one.

Question: What Tibetan word isbeing translating as “pure?” And do you trans-late this word in any other way?

Translator: Takpa.

Question: Is it always translated as “pure”?

Translator: By me, yes. A lot of people do a lot ofdifferent things; I cannot guarantee that theyalways call it “pure.”

Question: Maybe Rinpoche could say what theword means.

Rinpoche: You can think of synonyms for pureas being “free of impurity,” which by extensionwould mean “free of defect or imperfection.” It

You accumulatemerit byperformingofferings to thatin which youhave absoluteconfidence,which is theactual Buddha

32 SHENPEN ÖSEL

entire universe by visualizing that it all dis-solves into emptiness. Theoretically, from thatpoint onward all impurity has ceased. But whenyou get to the repetition of the main mantra youcan renew that purification by once again bring-ing to mind impure appearances and purifyingthem with the rays of light which emerge fromthe heart of the deity.

Question: Rinpoche, in other visualizationpractices, sometimes there’s a sense of seeingone’s own root teacher in the form of that deity.Is there anything like that in this practice?

Rinpoche: Yes, it is appropriate to identify thefront visualization with your root guru. Peoplerelate to the front visualization in slightly differ-ent ways. If they feel particularly devoted to theMedicine Buddha, then they will primarily thinkof the front visualization as the actual MedicineBuddha. But they can also think of the frontvisualization as in essence their root guru.

So we will conclude by dedicating the merit.

would indicate that which is stainless, thatwhich is perfect, flawless, and so on.

Question: Rinpoche, is there a particular sig-nificance for the light radiating from the easternBuddha realms?

Rinpoche: In the sutras of the Medicine Bud-dha, the Buddha described their realms—theprincipal realm of the principal Medicine Bud-dha and the other realms of the attendantbuddhas—as all being in the east.

Question: When we visualize light going out tothe universe, does that include everything?Rocks and trees and chairs and buildings?

Translator: At which point? During the creationof the deity or during the recitation of the mantra?

Question: During the recitation of the mantra.

Rinpoche: Yes. Initially, before the generation ofthe deity, you purify your perception of the

SHENPEN ÖSEL 33

Medicine Buddha

Because of Its Vastness, OfferingThe Entire Universe Produces Great Merit

Continuing the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s teaching onthe Medicine Buddha.

This morning we went over the visualization of oneself as theMedicine Buddha, the visualization of the Medicine Buddha infront, and finally the dissolving of the actual wisdom deity into

both the self and front visualizations as a remedy for one’s habitualperception of things as impure or ordinary.

Having just dissolved the wisdom beings into oneself and into thefront visualization—as a remedy for one’s obscurations, one’s wrongdo-ing, and one’s conceptualization, we then receive empowerment. Thisphase of the practice is represented in the liturgy simply by the mantra:

OM HUM TRAM HRI AH ABHIKENTZA HUM

34 SHENPEN ÖSEL

In general,offerings can becategorized intofour types: outer,inner, secret, andultimate

The visualization which accompanies themantra is as follows: Once again you visualizethe three syllables—OM AH HUM—in the threeplaces of oneself as the Medicine Buddha and ofthe deities of the front visualization, and onceagain rays of light radiate from them—especiallyfrom the HUM in your heart—inviting this timethe five male buddhas of the five families withtheir retinues from their pure realms. Thebuddhas are holding in their hands preciousvases* filled with the ambrosia of wisdom, whichthey pour into you as the self-visualized Medi-cine Buddha through the aperture at the verycenter of the top of your head. The first part ofthis mantra—OM HUM TRAM HRI AH—repre-sents this empowerment being administered bythe five buddhas simultaneously. OM representsVairocana; HUM, Akshobya; TRAM,Ratnasambhava; HRI, Amitabha;and AH, Amogasiddhi.** Visualiz-ing that this pure ambrosia fillsyour entire body, you think that itpurifies all the wrongdoing,obscurations, and defilements ofany kind whatsoever of yourbody, speech, and mind. Thewords Abhikentsa mean empow-erment.

The next section of the prac-tice is the accumulation of merit through makingofferings. As indicated earlier, the self visualiza-tion presents offerings to the front visualization.Rays of light emerge from the heart of the selfvisualization. On the ends of these rays of lightare offerings goddesses holding various offeringsubstances, which they present to all the deitiesof the front visualization.

HUNGFlowers, incense, lights, scents,Food, music and so forth;Forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and all

dharmas,I offer to the deities.May we perfect the two accumulations.

OM BENZA ARGHAM PADYAM PUPEDHUPE ALOKE GENDHE NEWIDYESHABDA RUPA SHABDA GENDHE RASASAPARSHE TRATITSA HUNG

First they present a set of eight relatedofferings. First is drinking water, which is of-fered to the mouths of the deities. Second iswater for washing or rinsing the feet, which isoffered to the feet of the deities. Third is flow-ers, which are offered to the eyes of the deities.Fourth is incense, the scent of which is offered to

the nose of the deities. Fifth islamps, which are offered againto the eyes of the deities. Sixthis perfume, which is offered tothe whole body of the deities.Seventh is food, offered to themouths of the deities. Andeighth is musical instrumentssymbolizing the sound of music,offered to the ears of the deities.

Offered with these eightofferings are the five offerings of pleasant thingswhich are perceived by the five senses. Theseare beautiful forms, pleasant sounds, smells,tastes, and tactile sensations.

In general, offerings can be categorized intofour types: outer, inner, secret, and ultimate.Outer offerings are essentially the offering ofwhatever is beautiful and pleasant in the exter-nal world. What is being presented to the deityhere are all things in the external world that areappropriate and beautiful. By making theseofferings, you gather the accumulation of merit.Therefore it says in the text, “By making theseofferings to the deities, may we complete the twoaccumulations.” The two accumulations are theconceptual accumulation of merit and thenonconceptual accumulation of wisdom. Themaking of the offerings themselves gathers or

*Editor’s note: Vases made of precious jewels and metals.

**Editor’s note: When represented in a seated posture andat rest, Vairocana is white with his hands in the teachingmudra; Akshobya is blue with his left hand in the mudra ofmeditation and his right hand in the earth touching mudra;Ratnasambhava is yellow with his left hand in the mudra ofmeditation and the right hand in the mudra of generosity;Amitabha is red with both hands in the meditation mudra;and Amogasiddhi is green with his left hand in the mudra ofmeditation and his right hand in the mudra of fearlessness.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 35

completes the conceptual accumulation of merit;when these offerings are made within the recog-nition of the ultimate unreality of the offerings,the offerer, and the act of offering—when thereis recognition of the emptiness of the offerings,the emptiness of the offerer, and the emptinessof the act of offering—then the nonconceptualaccumulation of wisdom is also completed.

Finally the offerings are presented at the endof the stanza with the offering mantras thatdenote them. The word vajra at the beginning ofthe mantra indicates that the nature of theoffering substances is emptiness. Then theindividual offerings are named in order, andfinally tra ti tsa, or pra ti cha,means individually to each. So toeach of the deities the offeringsare presented.

At this point in mostvajrayana practices the outerofferings would be followed bythe inner, secret, and ultimateofferings. The inner offering isgenerally the offering of somekind of torma. Torma is referredto in this context as an inneroffering because the offering of itis a way to increase yoursamadhi, your meditative absorp-tion, which is an internal phe-nomenon. The secret offering isthe offering of the unity of bliss and emptiness,which is made in order to induce or stabilize thisrecognition in the practitioner. In the same way,the ultimate offering, the offering of the recogni-tion of the ultimate nature itself, is made inorder to stabilize that recognition in the practi-tioner. Here these offerings are not given be-cause this practice, while it is vajrayana intradition, tends to follow the sutras in style.Therefore, the offerings that follow are thosewhich are commonly presented in the sutrasthemselves.

The next two sets of offerings presented arethe eight auspicious substances and the eightauspicious signs or marks.

HUNGThe eight foremost auspicious substances,The best royal white mustard seed, and the

others,I offer to the deity.May the two accumulations be perfected.MANGALAM ARTHA SIDDHI HUNG

The eight auspicious substances are so calledbecause they are eight substances or thingswhich are connected with the arising of dharmain this world. They are considered auspiciousbecause they were significant in bringing aboutthe arising of the teachings. The eight auspicioussigns or designs appear on the body of a buddha

and are therefore consideredauspicious. The eight auspicioussubstances include such thingsas the conch shell with the swirlgoing clockwise, which the godIndra offered to the Buddhawhen he requested him to turnthe wheel of the dharma. Basedon Indra’s offering, the Buddhafirst taught the dharma, as aconsequence of which beingshave the opportunity to encoun-ter the dharma and attain itsresults. For that reason, theconch shell with its clockwiseswirl, is considered auspicious.Another of the substances is

durva grass, which a grass cutter and seller,whose name was also auspicious, offered theBuddha when he encountered him just beforethe Buddha’s awakening. The Buddha used thedurva grass to make a seat, on which he satwhile he attained awakening. Therefore, becauseit is connected with the Buddha’s awakening,which is the event that transformed this periodof history from a period of darkness into a pe-riod of illumination, durva grass is also consid-ered an auspicious substance.*

Thus, you offer the eight auspicious sub-stances to the Medicine Buddha and his retinue,

*Editor’s note: Rinpoche discusses these and other offeringsin greater detail in the next teaching.

The eightauspicioussubstances . . .are consideredauspiciousbecause theywere significantin bringing aboutthe arising of theteachings

36 SHENPEN ÖSEL

making the aspiration to complete the twoaccumulations by offering them. The mantra atthe end of that stanza is mangalam, whichmeans auspicious, and artha siddhi, whichmakes it the accomplishment of auspiciousness.

The next set of offerings are the eight auspi-cious signs or marks.

HUNGThe eight foremost auspicious symbols,The peerless royal vase and all others,I offer to the deity.May sentient beings perfect the two

accumulations.MANGALAM KUMBHA HUNG

In general, every buddha is adorned with thethirty-two marks and the eighty signs, but of allof these, eight are foremost. These eight areactually the shapes of particular parts of hisbody, which are reminiscent of certain emblems.For example, the shape of the top of theBuddha’s head is reminiscent of a parasol, so theprecious parasol is one of these auspicious signs.The shape of his eyes is like the shape of acertain golden fish, so the golden fish is anotherone. The shape of his throat is like a certain kindof vase, so the precious vase is yet another, andso on. Again, one offers these eight shapes orsigns to the deities in order to bring about theauspiciousness of them, making the aspirationthat by making these offerings all beings withoutexception will perfect the two accumulations:the conceptual accumulation of merit and thenon-conceptual accumulation of wisdom. Themantra at the end of this stanza is mangalamkumbha hum. Mangalam means auspicious;kumbaha means vase. The vase is used here toindicate all eight of these signs or shapes. Be-cause it represents the shape of the Buddha’sthroat, and because it was out of the Buddha’sthroat originally that the dharma issued forth,the vase is considered of foremost importance.

The next offering is the offering of the sevenarticles of royalty, which are seven possessions*unique to a certain type of monarch called achakravartin.

HUNG The foremost desirable qualities, theseven precious articles,

The most excellent royal one, the jewel, and theothers,

I offer to the deity.May I perfect the two accumulations.OM MANI RATNA HUNG

A chakravartin appears during the best orfinest periods of history, during what is called afortunate eon or period. These seven articlesdistinguish a chakravartin from any other mon-arch; however the true internal meaning of theseseven articles is that they represent the sevenaspects of the path to awakening, which is tra-versed by all buddhas and bodhisattvas. So whenyou make this offering to the deities, you thinkthat externally you are offering the seven ar-ticles of royalty as representations of the sevenaspects of the path to awakening.

You present these offerings to all the deitiesof the mandala visualized in front, making theaspiration that by doing so you will complete thetwo accumulations—the conceptual accumula-tion of merit and the nonconceptual accumula-tion of wisdom. The mantra used to completethis offering refers to the first of the sevenarticles, the precious jewel. Mani means jeweland ratna means precious.

The next offering, which completes the mainsection of the offerings, is the offering of amandala.

*Editor’s note: Though these seven “articles of royalty” orseven “possessions” may appear as such—as articles orpossessions—to an observer lost in dualistic perception whosees everything as “my and mine,” “her and hers,” “him andhis,” etc., they are better understood by adhering more closelyto the actual meaning of the Tibetan words used here, död yön.Död means desirable, and yön means quality, skill or at-tribute. Thus, if one understands these seven “whatevers” asseven qualities or attributes of a chakravartin’s mind—whether the chakravartin is thought of as male or female—itwill be easier to understand that these “articles” or “posses-sions,” to the extent that they appear to be external phenom-ena, appear naturally and effortlessly and totally withoutcoercion in his or her mandala or world. Without this under-standing, the notion of precious queen might appear asnothing more than another aspect of an androcentric universe.This misunderstanding is further undermined by understand-ing them as aspects of the path, as Rinpoche explains.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 37

Buddhas andbodhisattvas arenot particularlypleased by thepresentation ofofferings ordispleased bytheir absence.The only realreason formaking offeringsis that the personmaking themgathers theaccumulation ofmerit

HUNG The foremost of all, Mount MeruWith its four continents and subcontinentsI offer to the deity.May the two accumulations be perfected.OM RATNA MANDALA HUNG

In general, of course, we make these offer-ings in order to gather and complete the accu-mulation of merit. We do not make them for thebenefit of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, who aretheir ostensible recipients. Buddhas andbodhisattvas are not particularly pleased by thepresentation of offerings or displeased by theirabsence. The only real reason for making offer-ings is that the person making them gathers theaccumulation of merit by doingso. We make offerings for ourown benefit,* and it is how itaffects us that is important.Offerings are not limited to thatwhich you can actually physi-cally assemble around you asoffering substances. Offeringscan be of any of three types,

which are called actually assembled, mentallyemanated, and produced through the power ofaspiration. Actually assembled offerings arephysically present and under your power tooffer. Mentally emanated offerings are offeringsthat you imagine, that you do not actually havephysically present before you, but that you canimagine clearly enough to offer in your mind.Offerings offered through the power of aspira-tion are things that are so vast and limitless thatyou cannot even encompass them in your mindor imagine them, but you can at least make theaspiration to offer them to the buddhas andbodhisattvas. It is said that any of these three

types of offerings will all producethe accumulation of merit. We usethe offering of the entire universeas a mandala because the vastnessof it produces great merit.

Specifically mentioned are thecentral mountain, Mount Meru,together with the continentssurrounding it. These together,along with everything that goeswith them, make up the mandala,which is considered the principalamong all offerings. In detail, theoffering consists of Mount Meru,which includes on top of MountMeru the second of the desire godrealms—enumerated from thebottom up—called the heaven orgod-realm of the thirty-three.Surrounding Mount Meru areseven concentric rings** of goldenmountains with lakes in betweenthem. In these seven goldenmountains and on their lakes livethe gods of the first realm of thedesire god realms and the fourgreat kings—the same four kings

who are guardians in the mandala of the Medi-cine Buddha. When you offer Mount Meru, youalso think that you are offering all of the wealth

*Editor’s note: And, by extension, forthe benefit of all beings. In the view ofthe practice of vajrayana, which is rootedin the mahayana aspiration to attainbudhahood in order to liberate allsentient beings, the mandala of theyogin or yogini’s body, speech, and mindis the entirety of animate and inanimateexistence, and whatever affects the onebeneficially affects the other beneficiallyas well. Specifically, offerings are madeas an antidote to desire and attachmentand the self-clinging that underliesthem. As one continues to make theseofferings to enlightened sources ofrefuge, there begins to develop theunderstanding and then the directexperience of the emptiness or lack ofinherent existence of all that to whichone has been clinging, and one’s desireand attachment and self-clinging beginto dissolve and give rise to the wisdom ofdiscriminating awareness, to thetransparent self-liberating kaleidoscopic vision of what is asthe mere interdependent appearances of the clear light natureof mind, and to a palpable blessing that benefits beings. It isnot in order to become a good person that one makes offerings;at root, one is already a good person. One makes offerings inorder to discover the truth of reality or the truth of things, andin order to access the profound effectiveness in helping othersthat arises from that discovery.

**Editor’s note: These are usually represented as concentricsquares.

38 SHENPEN ÖSEL

of those god’s realms. Outside those sevengolden mountains are the four main continentswith their eight subcontinents, which are thehabitation of humans—all of the wealth, posses-sions, splendor, and beauty of which you offer aswell. In short, you offer the world, indeed thewhole universe, and all it contains to all of thedeities, and you make the aspiration that by sodoing, you complete the two accumulations andthat you and the whole world be free from sick-ness.

After the fundamental offerings—the eighttraditional offerings of water, flowers, incense,and so forth, and the offering of everything thatis pleasing to the five senses—there have oc-curred four different sets of offerings: the eightauspicious substances, the eight auspicioussigns, the seven articles of royalty, and finallythe offering of the mandala. The next offering isthe offering of ablution—of washing the bodies ofthe deities. This is done in order to create theauspicious basis for the removal of your ownwrongdoing, your own defilements, and yourown obscurations—the afflictive obscurationsand the cognitive obscurations.

HUNGWith scented waterI bathe the sugata’s body.Although the deity is flawless,This creates the auspicious connection for

purifying all wrongs and obscurations.OM SARWA TATHAGATA ABIKEKATE

SAMAYA SHRIYE HUNG

Here you think that from the heart of your-self visualized as the Medicine Buddha rays oflight are emanated. On the tips of each of theserays are offering goddesses holding preciousvases filled with ambrosia. With the ambrosiafrom these vases, they bathe the bodies of theprimary Medicine Buddha, the seven otherMedicine Buddhas, the sixteen bodhisattvas, andall of the other deities in the mandala. Thewords of the text say, “With scented water Ibathe the sugatha’s body; although the deity iswithout stain, this creates the auspicious basisfor purifying all wrongdoing and obscurations.”

This offering of ablution is culminated withthe mantra, Om Sarwa Tathagata AbikekateSamaya Shriye Hung. Sarva means all.Tathagata means tathagatas or buddhas. Andabikekate refers to this process which in somecontexts means empowerment, but in this con-text means ablution. Through this offering youincrease the splendor and majesty of the deities;therefore, there is the words shriye, whichmeans splendid, majestic, or glorious.

The next offering, which goes along withablution, is drying the bodies of the deities, whichis done by visualized offering goddesses holdingfine white cotton towels scented with perfume.

HUNGWith a scented, soft white clothI dry the victor’s body.Though your body is flawless,This creates the auspicious connection for

freedom from suffering.OM KAYA BISHODHANI HUNG

You state in these two stanzas that you arenot washing and drying the deities because theyare dirty or have stains that need to be washedaway, and so on; you are drying the bodies of thedeities after washing them because it creates theinterdependent cause of drying up or removingthe suffering of all beings. Therefore, you makethe aspiration that the suffering of all beings—especially the sufferings of physical sickness andmental affliction—be removed. Kaya vishodanimeans the purification of the body.

Next is the offering of clothes or robes to thedeities of the mandala.

HUNG With these beautiful saffron robesI clothe the victor’s body.Although your body is never cold,This creates the auspicious connection for vitality

to flourish.OM BENZA WAYTRA AH HUNG

Having bathed and dried them, next we haveto offer them appropriate robes. The robes thatare actually mentioned in the first line of thisstanza are those that are offered to the MedicineBuddha and to the seven buddhas in his retinue,

SHENPEN ÖSEL 39

all of whom, since they are manifesting in su-preme nirmanakaya form, wear only the beauti-ful saffron red and yellow robes which are wornby buddhas. As the visualized goddesses offerthe robes, you recite, “With these I clothe theVictor’s body.” As in the previous offerings, youare making this offering, not because the Medi-cine Buddha is in any danger of becoming cold,but in order to create the auspicious basis forbenefitting yourself and others. Therefore, yousay, “Although your body is never cold, thiscreates the auspicious basis for the flourishing ofvitality and physical splendor.” As a result ofthis offering vitality and physical splendor willarise in you and others through the power ofyour aspiration. Although not mentioned specifi-cally in the liturgy, the clothing offered to thebodhisattvas is appropriate to their appearance[in sambhogakaya form]: elegant garments ofmulticolored silk and jewelry made of gold andjewels, and so on. The bodhisattvas are offeredfine clothes and jewelry not because they areparticularly attached to them, but because byoffering them you create the auspicious basis forthe increase of vitality. The word vastra in themantra means robes or clothing or fabric.

Each of these sections—ablution, drying, andoffering clothing—has its own particular signifi-cance. The fundamental significance of all threeof them is indicated in connection with thesecond, where it says, “I make this offering inorder to establish the auspicious basis for theremoval of suffering.” The point of making theseofferings is to remove the suffering of beings,which is primarily accomplished on the level ofauspicious interdependence by the second offer-ing, drying. But to remove the suffering of beingsyou must first remove the causes of suffering,which are wrongdoing and obscurations. Sotherefore, drying is preceded by ablution, thesymbolic function of which is to purify thewrongdoing and obscurations of all beings.Finally, once the suffering has been removed,what develops in its place is a state of mentaland physical well-being—including physicalvitality, splendor and health—and a state ofwisdom and peace within the mind, the interde-

pendent cause of the arising of which is estab-lished by the offering of robes and clothing,which is the third part.

Following the offerings come the praises. Thepraises are performed by imagining that offeringgoddesses emanated from the light rays fromyour heart sing the praises of the deities in thewords of the liturgy with beautiful melodies.Praised are the qualities of body, speech, andmind of the Medicine Buddha and his retinue.These praises are not done in order to please theMedicine Buddha; buddhas and bodhisattvas arenot pleased by praise nor displeased by itsabsence. One performs the praises to remindoneself, the practitioner, of the qualities of thedeities. This increases one’s devotion and one’sresolve or desire to attain the state of the dei-ties, which increases one’s diligence in practice.

The praises consist of three stanzas. The firstis a praise of the Medicine Buddha. The secondis a praise of the other seven medicine buddhasand the sixteen bodhisattvas. And the third is apraise of the remaining deities of the mandala,including the ten protectors of the ten direc-tions, the twelve yaksha chieftains, and so forth.

The first stanza is addressed to the MedicineBuddha.

HUNGYour body is like a mountain, the color of lapis

lazuli.You dispel the suffering of illness in sentient

beings.Surrounded by a retinue of eight bodhisattvas,Holder of Medicine, precious deity, I praise and

prostrate to you.

The first line praises the appearance of hisbody or form: “The color of your body is like amountain of lapis or vaidurya,” which is to saythat in appearance his body is like the stainlessmass of a blue jewel, like a lapis or vaidurya, andradiant with rays of light. So that is a praise ofthe majesty of his appearance. The second line ispraise of his activity, and it says, “You removethe sufferings of sickness of all beings.” Suffer-ings of sickness here refer expressly to theliteral suffering of physical illnesses, but also by

40 SHENPEN ÖSEL

implication ultimately to the sickness and thesuffering of the sickness of samsara itself, whichthe Medicine Buddha also dispels.

Having praised his appearance and activity,you then praise his retinue. Here the retinuereferred to in the liturgy is not the retinue of themandala; what is referred to here are the eightgreat bodhisattvas who exemplify the mahayanasangha. These are not the same as the sixteenbodhisattvas in the mandala; in fact, not all eightof these eight primary bodhisattvas are amongthe sixteen, although some of them are. Gener-ally speaking, when we talk about the sangha,there is the ordinary sangha of the commonvehicle and the exalted sangha of the mahayana,which is made up of bodhisattvas. These areexemplified by what are called the eight closeoffspring of the Buddha, eight great bodhisattvassuch as Manjusri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani,and so on.* Then in the last line you say, “I payhomage to and praise that deity who holds theprecious medicine,” which is another way ofreferring to the Medicine Buddha himself.

The second stanza of praise praises the threejewels in general, exemplified by the buddhas,dharma, and sangha found in this mandala.

Excellent Name, Precious Moon, Fine Gold, Freeof Misery,

Resounding Dharma Ocean, Dharma Mind,Shakyamuni,

The genuine dharma, the sixteen bodhisattvasand others,

To the precious three jewels, I offer praise andprostrate.

First mentioned are the seven other medi-cine buddhas—Excellent Name, Precious Moon,Fine Gold, Free of Misery, Resounding DharmaOcean, Dharma Mind, and Buddha Sakyamuni.Then, following that, is mentioned the dharmaitself, visually represented in the mandala bythe sutras and commentaries but also under-stood as being the essence of the path. Finally,for the sangha it mentions “the sixteen

bodhisattvas, and so forth,” which means all ofthe mahayana sangha, as exemplified by thesixteen bodhisattvas found within this mandala.Then one completes the praise by saying, “I payhomage to and praise the three precious jewels.”

The final stanza is a praise to the remainingdeities of the mandala and to all others who areassociated with the mandala.

To Brahma, Indra, the Great Kings, the Protectorsof the Ten Directions,

The twelve yaksha chiefs and all their assistants,Vidyadharas and rishis of medicine, divine and

human,To the deities of ambrosial medicine, I offer

praise and prostrate.

First mentioned are Brahma and Indra, whoare two among the ten protectors of the tendirections; and then the four great kings; thetwelve yaksha generals or chieftains, togetherwith their retinues; and then finally all of theholders of the knowledge of medicine and thosewho have mastered medicine, who here arereferred to as vidyadaras and rishis of medicine,both those living in the realms of the gods andthose living in the realms of humans. In short,one pays homage to and praises all of the deitiesof this mandala of ambrosial medicine.

All of the stages of the practice we have gonethrough today—the visualization of the bodies ofthe deities, the dissolution of the wisdom deitiesinto them, the presentation of offerings and ofpraises to the deities—are aspects of the prac-tice of the generation stage. In general, genera-tion stage practice needs to have three charac-teristics: clear appearance or clarity of appear-ance, stable pride, and recollection of purity.What is meant by clear appearance is simplythat there be a clear and distinct visualization ofwhatever it is you are visualizing. Whether youare visualizing the Medicine Buddha alone, thatis to say yourself as the Medicine Buddha andthe Medicine Buddha in front of you, or in addi-tion to that you are visualizing the seven othermedicine buddhas surrounding the front visual-ization, or in addition to that you are visualizingthe sixteen bodhisattvas, or in addition to that

*Editor’s note: The other five are Kshitigarbha,Sarvanivaranavishkambhi, Akashagarbha, Maitreya, andSamantabhadra.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 41

you are visualizing the entire mandala with theten protectors and the twelve chieftains, and soon, in any case, whatever you arevisualizing, clear appearancemeans that the appearance ofthe deities—the color, the shape,the ornaments and costumes androbes, the scepters and otherthings that are held in thehands, and so on—should bevisualized in a way that allowsyour mind to remain stable andcalm while nevertheless gener-ating a clear and vivid image.

The second characteristic ofgeneration stage practice isstable pride. Generally speak-ing, of course, pride is somethingwe want to get rid of—it is aklesha. But here the word pride means some-thing that is very necessary in vajrayana prac-tices. Pride means being free of the misconcep-tion that, in visualizing yourself as the MedicineBuddha or in visualizing the Medicine Buddhain front of you, you are pretending that thingsare other than what they are. Stable pride heremeans recognizing that, although you are medi-tating on the Medicine Buddha as a consciousact, nevertheless, that is what you actually are.It is acknowledging that you actually are theMedicine Buddha. In the case of the front visual-ization it is acknowledging or recognizing thatthe front visualization is the actual presence ofthe Medicine Buddha, right in front of you. Sostable pride really refers to an attitude of confi-dence, trust and belief. It is important to recog-nize that when you do the self visualization andthe front visualization you are not merely imag-ining something that is fictitious. You are notpretending that things are other than they are.When you make these offerings—admittedlymentally emanated—to the deities, you shouldreflect upon the fact that these offerings areactually occurring, they are actually taking theireffect. By making these offerings, you are actu-ally gathering the accumulation of merit. To theextent that you have this confidence in the

validity and accuracy of the practice, you willhave that much delight in it, that much devotion,

and that much benefit.The third characteristic of

the generation stage is the recol-lection of purity. This has severalmeanings. Most obviously itmeans the recognition that theforms of the deities are won-drous and splendid, that thedeities are not unpleasant inappearance, that they are notstrange or of an inappropriateform; they are beautiful andpleasing in every way. But be-yond that, it is the recognitionthat the nature of the deity’sform is the embodiment of thedeity’s wisdom. The deities’

bodies are not flesh and blood—coarse bodieslike our own—nor are they inanimate solidobjects, as though made of earth and stone orwood. They are the pure embodiment of wisdom,which means that they are the expression ofemptiness in the form of a clear, vivid appear-ance. Practically speaking, when visualizingthem, you should see them or imagine them asbeing a vivid appearance—with their distinctcolors, ornaments, scepters and so on—that isnevertheless without any coarse substantiality.Their appearance is luminous and vivid butinsubstantial, like that of a rainbow. The funda-mental meaning of this third point is that thedeities are the embodiment in form of wisdom,and therefore their form is not samsaric in anyway—it is not produced in any way by samsariccauses and conditions.

We are going to stop here for this afternoonand conclude with the dedication of merit. Whenperforming the dedication of merit, think thatyou dedicate the merit of this session to theawakening of all beings in general and especiallyin the short term to the freedom of this worldfrom all forms of sickness.

In general,generationpractice needs tohave threecharacteristics:clarity ofappearance,stable pride, andrecollection ofpurity

42 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Medicine Buddha

On the Origin of AuspiciousnessIn the Substances and Symbols

Continuing the Very Venerable Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachingon the Medicine Buddha.

I would like to begin by wishing all of you a good morning. As youhave no doubt noticed, I usually begin teaching sessions with theshort lineage supplication that begins with the words “Great

Vajradhara.”* We use this supplication because it is the one most oftenpracticed at the seats of the Kagyu tradition and by Kagyu practitionerselsewhere. It was composed by Pengar Jampal Zangpo, the foremostdisciple of the Sixth Gyalwang Karmapa, Thongwa Dönden, and theroot guru of the Seventh Gyalwang Karmapa, Chödrak Gyamtso. Afterreceiving instructions from the Sixth Gyalwang Karmapa, PengarJampal Zangpo went to Sky Lake in the north of Tibet to practice. Inthe middle of this lake, there was an island called Semodo and on thatisland there was a mountain with a cave in it. In this cave in utterisolation he practiced for eighteen years. The isolation there is com-plete, because it is very difficult to get to that island except in themiddle of winter. He practiced, therefore, in total isolation for eighteenyears and developed extraordinary realization of mahamudra. Thislineage supplication, which he composed after that period of retreat, isregarded as containing the essence and blessing of his realization,

*Editor’s note: See Shenpen Ösel, Vol. 3, No. 3, page 11, for an English translation.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 43

The secondauspicioussubstance isyogurt. This isconnected withthe Buddha’steaching that inorder to practicedharma properlywe need toabandon twoextremes inlifestyle orconduct

which is therefore why we use it. So when youchant it, please do so with faith and devotion.

[Rinpoche and students recite supplicationprayer.]

Before we discuss the recitation of the man-tra, I would like to expand upon what I saidyesterday about the offerings. During our discus-sion of the eight auspicious substances, wementioned the conch shell and the durva grass,but I would like to discuss the origin of theauspiciousness of each of them in greater detail.The first of these is the conch shell. Immediatelyafter the Buddha’s awakening he realized that,although he himself had seen perfectly andcompletely the nature of all things, thedharmata—which is profound and tranquil andbeyond all elaboration—he felt that were he totry to explain this to anyone else,they would be unable to under-stand it. So he resolved to remainin samadhi, alone in the forest.After he had remained insamadhi for forty-nine days, thegod Indra, who was an emanationof a bodhisattva, appeared infront of the Buddha and offeredhim a white conch shell with itsspiral going clockwise as anoffering to encourage the Buddhato teach. It was in response tothat first offering that the Bud-dha decided to turn thedharmachakra, or to teach thedharma.

The second auspicious sub-stance is yogurt. This is con-nected with the Buddha’s teach-ing that in order to practicedharma properly we need toabandon or transcend two ex-tremes in lifestyle or conduct. One of theseextremes is hedonism, in which your goal andyour endeavor is to seek as much pleasure aspossible—including the acquisition of fineclothes, fine food, and so on. The problem withthis extreme is that, if it becomes your goal orobsession, it leaves no time or energy for the

practice of dharma. But we also need to abandonthe other extreme, which is mortification of thebody,* because the attempt to attain somethingthrough tormenting or depriving your physicalbody of what it needs does not lead to awaken-ing, and in fact can slow down your progresstowards the development of profound wisdom.In order to show by example that it is necessaryto abandon the extreme of hedonism, the Bud-dha left the palace of his father, who was a king,and lived for six years on the banks of theNaranjana River in conditions of utmost auster-ity. But in order to show that one must alsoabandon the extreme of mortification, he ac-cepted immediately before his awakening anoffering of a mixture of yogurt and extremelycondensed milk, which was given to him by a

Brahmin woman named Lekshe.Immediately upon his consum-ing this offering of yogurt, all ofthe marks and signs of physicalperfection which adorn the bodyof a buddha, which had becomesomewhat indistinct during hisyears of austerity, immediatelybecame distinct and resplen-dent.

The third auspicious sub-stance is durva grass, which wasoffered to the Buddha by thegrass-cutter and seller Tashi—meaning auspicious—shortlybefore his awakening, fromwhich he made the mat-like seaton which he sat at the time ofhis awakening.

The fourth auspicious sub-stance is vermilion. The originof the auspiciousness of vermil-ion is this: When the Buddha

was in the process of attaining awakening or justabout to attain it, Mara appeared and, exhibitingvarious sorts of unpleasant magical displays inorder to obstruct the Buddha, finally challengedhim, saying, “You cannot attain awakening; you

*Editor’s note: i.e. extreme asceticism

44 SHENPEN ÖSEL

cannot do this.” In response to which the Buddhasaid, “Yes, I can, because I have completed thetwo accumulations over three periods of innu-merable eons.” In re-sponse, Mara said, “Well,who is your witness?Who can you bring toprove this?”—in responseto which the Buddhaextended his right handdown past his right kneeand touched the earth.The goddess of the earththen appeared out of theearth and, offering theBuddha vermilion, said,“I serve as witness thathe has completed the twoaccumulations through-out these three periods ofinnumerable eons.”

The fifth auspicioussubstance is bilva fruit.The origin of the auspi-ciousness of this fruit isthat when the Buddha,while living in the palacecompound of his father,the king of the Shakyas,first observed the sufferings of birth, aging,sickness, and death and resolved to attain free-dom from them, he initially went to the root of atree and practiced meditation there. During thattime he developed a perfect state of shamatha, inacknowledgment of which the goddess or spiritof the tree offered him a bilva fruit.

The sixth auspicious substance is a mirror.The origin of the auspiciousness of the mirror isthat when the Buddha had received and con-sumed the yogurt which he was offered by theBrahmin woman Lekshe, his physical form,which had become emaciated from his six yearsof austerity, was restored to its full vigor andmajesty, causing the thirty-two marks and eightysigns of physical perfection to be vivid andapparent, in response to which the goddess ofform—which in this instance appears to be a

goddess of the desire realm gods—appeared infront of the Buddha and offered him a mirror sothat he could witness his own physical majesty

and splendor.The seventh auspi-

cious substance is calledgivam, a medicinal sub-stance that is derivedfrom some part of thebody of the elephant—possibly from theelephant’s gall bladder. Itis auspicious because itcommemorates an occa-sion long after theBuddha’s awakening whenthe Buddha’s cousin,Devadata—who wasalways attempting to killor otherwise harm theBuddha and had beendoing so for many livesbecause he was afflictedwith great jealousy of theBuddha—finally at-tempted to assassinatethe Buddha by sending amad elephant running outinto the path where the

Buddha was walking. The Buddha emanated tenlions from his ten fingers, which slowed theelephant down. The elephant then bowed to theBuddha and offered himself, including his body,to the Buddha. Since givam, which is an effectivemedicine, comes from the body of an elephant, itcommemorates that occasion in which the Bud-dha conquered the aggression of the mad el-ephant.

The eighth auspicious substance is whitemustard seed, which was offered to the Buddhaby Vajrapani on one of the fifteen days duringthe Buddha’s period of exhibition of miracles. Atone time during the Buddha’s lifetime therewere six prominent non-Buddhist religiousteachers in India. At one point they gatheredtogether and, in order to attempt to discredit theBuddha, they challenged him to a competition of

TTTTThe Buddha, practicing austeritiehe Buddha, practicing austeritiehe Buddha, practicing austeritiehe Buddha, practicing austeritiehe Buddha, practicing austeritiesssss

SHENPEN ÖSEL 45

The fishrepresents theshape of theBuddha’s eyeswhen his eyeswere half-closedin the posture ofmeditation

miracles. The Buddha accepted,* and the compe-tition occurred at the beginning of what is nowthe first month of the Tibetan and Asian calen-dars. The Buddha’s exhibition of miracles oc-curred from the first to the fifteenth day of thefirst lunar month. For the first eight days, thesix other religious teachers competing were stillpresent, but on the eighth day the Buddhascared them off in the following way: From theBuddha’s throne the bodhisattva Vajrapani,accompanied by five fearsome rakshasas,emerged. Seeing that, the six tirtika teachers ranoff as fast as they could and did not come back.For the remaining week theBuddha exhibited miracles alonewithout any competition. WhenVajrapani emerged from theBuddha’s throne, he offered theBuddha white mustard seed,which therefore commemoratesthis occasion.

These eight auspicious sub-stances are seemingly commonthings, but they have great auspi-cious significance because each ofthem commemorates a specificoccasion connected with thearising of dharma in this world, its teaching, itsincrease, and the demonstration of its power andbenefit.

The second set of offerings are the eightauspicious signs or marks.** The marks orshapes of these items resemble the shapes ofparticular parts of the Buddha’s body, and havetherefore come to serve as emblems of thebuddhadharma. The first of these, which I men-tioned yesterday, is the parasol. The round shapeof the parasol is like the beautifully round shape

of the Buddha’s head.The second sign or symbol is the auspicious

fish; the shape of the fish represents the shape ofthe Buddha’s eyes when his eyes were half-closed in the posture of meditation. The third isthe auspicious vase, which represents theBuddha’s throat, in part because of the shape ofhis neck, but also because out of the throat of theBuddha emerges the sacred dharma which, likethe ambrosia from a precious vase, satisfies allthe needs of beings, assuages the thirst ofsamsara, removes suffering, brings happiness,and is inexhaustible.

The fourth is the auspiciousconch, which in this case repre-sents the speech of the Buddha.The conch is used as a musicalinstrument and as a horn to callpeople from a great distance. Itis famous as having a resoundingand clear sound. In the sameway, the Buddha’s speech isalways of an appropriate volumeand melody. If you are sittingclose to the Buddha, his voicedoes not sound too loud, but ifyou are sitting very far away

from him you can still hear it.The fifth is the precious victory banner. The

precious victory banner represents the fittingand beautiful quality of the Buddha’s form ingeneral, which is perfectly proportioned. All ofhis body parts are the right size for the rest ofhis body; it is not as though he has a huge headand his arms are too short or his legs are tooshort or anything like that. His body is perfectlyproportioned.

The sixth one is the glorious knot,*** whichrepresents the Buddha’s heart or mind. Thisdoesn’t mean that he literally has the design ofthe glorious knot on his chest. It means that hismind or his heart knows everything completelyand clearly, without limitation.

The seventh is the lotus, which representsthe tongue of the Buddha, which is supple, fine,and slender. With it he can speak clearly. Inwhatever he wants to say his enunciation is

*Editor’s note: This is very interesting story, for the Buddhaactually accepted and then postponed this event many times,before finally accepting the challenge. For a further descrip-tion of this event, see Thich Nhat Hanh’s Old Path WhiteClouds.

**Editor’s note: Generally referred to as the eight auspicioussymbols.

***Editor’s note: sometimes called the endless knot or theknot of eternity.

46 SHENPEN ÖSEL

If it is notgrounded insamadhi thenprajna goes offthe track,becomesincorrect andruns wild, so thatit is actually moreof a problemthan a benefit

perfect; also his tongue and saliva improve thetaste of all food.

The eighth is the auspicious wheel, which isactually found as a design on the souls of theBuddha’s feet—the image of a golden wheel. Thisrepresents his turning of the wheel of thedharma, by means of which beings are liber-ated.*

Because these eight marksor signs are images that natu-rally occur on a buddha’s body orresemble certain qualities of theBuddha, then they have becomeembodiments in and of them-selves of auspiciousness andgoodness. Therefore, it is be-lieved that to keep them in yourhome, or to wear them on yourbody, brings auspiciousness. Inthis sadhana, we offer them andby offering them we accumulategreat merit, through whichinauspicious circumstances thatinhibit the dharma practice ofthe practitioner, and of beings ingeneral, are averted.

The third set of offerings inthis section of the practice are the seven articlesof royalty, which are, literally speaking, things[and types of animals and people] that are al-ways found in the entourage of a chakravartin, amonarch who rules over an entire world oruniverse. As I mentioned yesterday, they corre-spond internally to the seven limbs of the path ofawakening, which are seven qualities that allbuddhas and bodhisattvas possess as factors oftheir attaining awakening. The first of the sevenarticles of royalty is the precious jewel, whichcorresponds to the virtue of faith. A bodhisattvamust possess abundant and excellent faith toserve as ground for the development of all goodqualities. The meaning of this is that if one hasfaith, then all other qualities, such as meditative

stability, diligence, insight into the meaning ofdharma and so on, will definitely arise, and onthe basis of their arising, one will be able toeradicate all that is to be transcended or aban-doned.

The second branch of awakening is knowl-edge or insight, prajna. Of the seven articles ofroyalty, this knowledge corresponds to the

precious wheel, which enablesthe chakravartin to be victoriousagainst any kind of invasion orwarfare. In the same way, it isknowledge, or prajna, that en-ables one to conquer the kleshasand ignorance.**

The third branch of awaken-ing is samadhi or meditativeabsorption, which serves as thenecessary ground for knowledgeor prajna. If prajna is grounded insamadhi, then it will be stable,tranquil, effective, and appropri-ate or correct. If it is notgrounded in samadhi then prajnagoes off the track, becomes incor-rect and runs wild, so that itactually is more of a problem

than a benefit. The third article of royalty is theconsort of the monarch. The consort serves tokeep the monarch on track, to pacify and tamethe monarch. So therefore, the consort corre-sponds to samadhi.

The fourth branch of awakening is joy, whicharises from the correct presence and applicationof both samadhi and prajna. Joy here refers, for

*Editor’s note: The takeoff point for this description is theBuddha Shakyamuni, but it should be understood that theseattributes are present in male and female buddhas alike.

**Editor’s note: It is important to understand that the termprajna includes in one term the notions of knowledge, wisdom,and primordial awareness or transcendental awareness,which is the highest form of prajna. Worldly knowledge—medicine, literature, business management, economics oranthropology—is one form of prajna. Knowledge of theteachings of the Buddha and other enlightened beings isspiritual prajna. Both worldly and spiritual prajna are basedon the acquisition of information, and though they may have agreat deal of practical benefit, they will not by themselvesliberate one from the root causes of suffering. Only the highestform of prajna, jnana—primordial awareness, which isliberated from the superimposition on experience of perceiverand perceived—will free one from the root causes of suffering.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 47

Externally one issymbolicallyoffering theseven articles ofroyalty butinternally one isoffering theseven limbs ofawakening

example, to the joy of the attainment of the firstbodhisattva level, which is called the UtterlyJoyful. Of the seven articles of royalty, joy corre-sponds to the precious minister. In most enu-merations this is a minister who gives wisecouncil to the monarch andtherefore promotes joy. Some-times it is also called the pre-cious householder, which is thesubject of the monarch who alsobrings appropriate advice.

The fifth limb of awakening isdiligence and this corresponds tothe precious excellent horse.Just as an excellent horse en-ables the monarch to travelanywhere they wish to go withgreat speed, in the same way thepossession of diligence enablesthe bodhisattva to cultivate thequalities of samadhi and prajna,and, through cultivating them, toeradicate the kleshas and to increase all positivequalities.

The sixth article of royalty is the preciouselephant. The significance of this elephant isthat it is extremely peaceful and tame, so itrepresents, from among the seven limbs ofawakening, the faculty of mindfulness, which is amind kept tranquil and always consciouslyaware of what is going on in the mind and whatone’s actions are.

The seventh and last limb of awakening isequanimity, a state of mind in which thebodhisattva is free from the afflictions of attach-ment to some things and aversion to otherthings. Through the faculty of equanimity, thebodhisattva overcomes the warfare of thekleshas. Of the seven articles of royalty, it isrepresented by the precious general, because theprecious general overcomes all warfare andaggression. So these are the seven articles ofroyalty, which are offered as symbols of theseven limbs or factors of awakening.

Externally one is symbolically offering theseven articles of royalty, but internally one isoffering the seven limbs of awakening. Offering

the seven limbs of awakening means cultivatingthese virtues within oneself. By cultivating themwithin oneself, one enters the true and genuinepath leading to awakening, which is the mostpleasing of all things to all buddhas and

bodhisattvas. The cultivation ofthese and other virtues is theultimate or true offering tobuddhas and bodhisattvas, whichis why they are offered at thispoint.

Next we come to the visual-ization that accompanies therepetition of the mantra. In thetext it says to visualize in thecenter of the heart of oneself asthe Medicine Buddha, and in theheart of the front visualization ofthe Medicine Buddha, the seedsyllable HUM surrounded by thegarland of the mantra. In detail,one visualizes a moon disc—a

disc of white light that represents the moon—lying flat in the very center of one’s body at thelevel of the heart. Standing upright upon thisdisk is visualized the seed syllable of the deity, ablue HUM, which represents the deity’s mind orwisdom. Surrounding the HUM is visualized thegarland of the mantra from which rays of lightwill emanate and so forth.*

The HUNG in the heart of the self and frontvisualizations is surrounded by the mantragarland.

TAYATA OM BEKENDZE BEKENDZE MAHABEKENDZE RADZA SAMUDGATE SO HA

Having visualized the moon disc, the HUMsyllable, and the mantra garland in the heart ofboth the self and front visualizations, you then

*Editor’s note: The syllable HUM standing in the center ofthe deity’s heart in both the self and front visualization facesforward, in the same direction as the deity. The mantragarland, visualized in Tibetan, faces outward—which meansthat one could read it standing outside the Medicine Buddhabut not from the perspective of the HUM in the heart, begin-ning with TAYATA directly in front of the central seed syllableHUM and arranged in a circle surrounding the seed syllable.

48 SHENPEN ÖSEL

By taking yourtime with thevisualization, youwill develop realconfidence, afeeling of theblessingsentering into you

think that from the syllable HUM and the man-tra garland in the heart of the self-visualizationrays of multicolored light shoot out towards thefront visualization. These rays of light strike theheart of the front visualization, arousing itsnonconceptual compassion and causing rays ofmulticolored light to emerge from the mantragarland and syllable HUM in its heart, whichproceed to the eastern pure realm of the Medi-cine Buddha, called the Light of Vaidurya. Onthe tips of each of these multicolored rays oflight are offering goddesses who make innumer-able offerings to the Medicine Buddha, the sevenother medicine buddhas, the sixteenbodhisattvas, and so on. These offerings serve toarouse their compassion; to remind them of theirpromises, vows, and aspirations to benefit be-ings; and to cause them to re-lease their blessings.

The blessings of their bodytake the form of innumerableforms of the Medicine Buddhaand his retinue—huge ones, tinyones, and every size in between.These innumerable forms of theprincipal Medicine Buddha, theother medicine buddhas, and thebodhisattvas, rain down anddissolve into you as the self-visualization and into the frontvisualization, granting you theblessings of the body of the Medicine Buddhaand his retinue.

At the same time, the blessing of their speechis emitted in the form of the mantra garlands,which in this case are multicolored. Mantragarlands of various colors rain down from thepure realms of the Medicine Buddha and dis-solve into you as the Medicine Buddha and intothe front visualization, granting you the bless-ings of their speech.

Finally, the blessing of their mind, whichstrictly speaking has no form, is for the purposeof this visualization embodied in the form ofwhat is held in the Medicine Buddha’s hands—the arura and the begging bowls filled withambrosia. These are emitted and rain down and

dissolve into you as the Medicine Buddha andinto the front visualization, granting you theblessing of their mind.

If you can visualize clearly, it is best to do allof this very slowly and gradually. While youcontinue to say the mantra, you think that raysof light emerge from the self-visualization, go tothe front visualization, and then from the frontvisualization outwards to the pure realms,proceeding gradually and slowly. Especiallywhen the blessings of body, speech, and mindrain down upon and dissolve into you, you can dothe visualizations in sequence: first, visualizingthe blessings of body raining down, withoutbeing in any kind of a hurry and so quite dis-tinctly; and then visualizing the blessings ofspeech and then the blessings of mind. If you

find that the visualization isextremely unclear, if you wish,you can do it all at once. But ifyou do it gradually and slowly,you will find that you will get amuch stronger sense of theblessings actually entering intoyou. By taking your time withthe visualization, you will de-velop real confidence, a realfeeling of the blessings enteringinto you.

When you receive the bless-ing of the Medicine Buddha, and

of buddhas and bodhisattvas in general, variousunpleasant things—obstacles, sickness, demonicdisturbances—will be pacified, and compassion,faith, devotion, insight, and so on will flourishand increase. In order to practice the descent ofblessing most effectively, it is a good idea tofocus the blessings on whatever is afflicting youmost at that time. For example, if you are havinga particular physical problem—an illness orsome other physical problem—or a particularmental problem—a particular klesha, a particu-lar type of stress, or particular worries—you canfocus the absorption of the blessings of thebuddhas and bodhisattvas on that. You can focusit on the removal of wrongdoing andobscurations in general, but focus it especially on

SHENPEN ÖSEL 49

what you regard as your greatest concern at themoment. For example, you may feel that you lacka specific quality: If you feel that you lack insightor you lack compassion or you lack faith, thenthink that the blessing serves to promote thatquality that you feel you are most lacking. Andfeel that through the absorption of these bless-ings you actually become filled with that qualityas though it were a substance that were actuallyfilling your whole body.

Those visualizations are for the usual, formalpractice of the Medicine Buddha. In his bookMountain Dharma: Instructions for Retreat,Karma Chakme Rinpoche recommends thefollowing visualization for the actual alleviationof sickness. You can visualize yourself as theMedicine Buddha, if you wish, but the mainfocus is to actually visualize a small form of theMedicine Buddha, no larger than four finger-widths in height, in the actual part of your bodythat is afflicted. So if it is an illness or pain inthe head, visualize a small Medicine Buddha inthe head; if it is in the hand, visualize a smallMedicine Buddha in the hand; if it is in the foot,then visualize a small Medicine Buddha in thefoot. Visualize the Medicine Buddha in thatplace, and think that from thissmall but vivid form of the Medi-cine Buddha rays of light areemitted. These rays of light arenot simply light, which is dry, butliquid light having a quality ofambrosia. This luminous ambro-sia or liquid light actuallycleanses and removes the sick-ness and pain—whatever it is.You can do this not only foryourself, by visualizing theMedicine Buddha in the appro-priate part of your own body, butyou can do it for others as well byvisualizing the Medicine Buddhain the appropriate part of theirbody or bodies. The radiation ofrays of light of ambrosia and soon is the same.

This can be applied not only

to physical sickness but to mental problems aswell. If you want to get rid of a particular type ofanxiety or stress or depression or fear or anyother kind of unpleasant mental experience, youcan visualize the Medicine Buddha seated abovethe top of your head and think in the same wayas before that luminous ambrosia or liquid lightemerges from his body, filling your body andcleansing you of any problem, whatever it is.

You might think that all of this sounds a bitchildish, but in fact it actually works, and youwill find that out if you try it.

Following the repetition of the mantra comesthe conclusion of the practice.

I confess all wrongs and downfalls and dedicateall virtue to awakening.

May there be the auspiciousness of freedom fromsickness, harmful spirits, and suffering.

First is the admission of defects. With anattitude of regret for anything that you havedone that is wrong or inappropriate, you simplysay, “I confess all wrongs and downfalls.” Imme-diately after that you dedicate the merit orvirtue of the practice to the awakening of allbeings saying, “And dedicate all virtue to awak-

ening.” Then you make an auspi-cious aspiration which focusesyour dedication, saying,“Through this dedication ofmerit, may there be freedomfrom sickness, harmful spirits,and suffering for all beings.”

Next comes the dissolution ofthe mandala:

The wordly ones return to theirown places. BENZA MU.

The jnana and samaya sattvasdissolve into me,

And I dissolve into the expanseof all goodness, primordialpurity. E MA HO.

First a request to depart isaddressed to the mundanedeities, which is followed by thedissolution of the front and self-

If you feel thatyou lack insightor you lackcompassion oryou lack faith,then think thatthe blessingserves topromote thatquality that youfeel you are mostlacking

50 SHENPEN ÖSEL

visualizations of the wisdom deities. When yousay, “Worldly ones return to your own places,vajramu,” you think that the ten protectors ofthe ten directions, the twelveyaksha chieftains, and the fourgreat kings—all mundane deitiesvisualized in the entourage of thefront visualization—return towhere they would normallyreside.* That leaves the eightMedicine Buddhas and the six-teen bodhisattvas in the frontvisualization. These deities, whoare the wisdom deities embody-ing the visualized images ofthem,** dissolve into your heartas the self visualization. Then theself-visualization graduallydissolves into light and then intothe expanse of emptiness, atwhich point you say, “And Idissolve into the expanse of theall-good primordial purity.” Atthat point you rest your mind inthe experience of emptiness.

All yidam practices include two stages: thegeneration stage and the completion stage.Everything up to this point—the visualization ofthe forms of the deities, the presentation ofofferings and so on, the repetition of the mantrawith the accompanying visualizations—are allaspects of the practice of the generation stage.When, subsequent to the dissolution of thevisualization, you rest your mind in emptiness,

this is the practice of the completion stage. It isthrough the practice of these two stages that youactually come to realize dharmata, the nature of

things. Visualization and othergeneration stage practicesfunction to weaken the kleshas,while completion stage prac-tices, which include the prac-tices of shamata and vipashyana,serve to eradicate them.

I mentioned yesterday thatthere are three MedicineBuddha practices that are usedin our tradition—a long one, amedium one, and a short one—and that this is the short one.While this is the shortest, it isnevertheless considered themost effective. The long andmedium forms of the MedicineBuddha are entirely sutra-oriented in style and content.This practice is a blend of thesutra tradition and the tantricor vajrayana tradition. So while

it is the shortest liturgically, it is the most com-plete because it has the most elaborate visualiza-tions.

In the long and intermediate forms of theMedicine Buddha practice, because they areentirely sutric in approach, there is a prelimi-nary meditation on emptiness, after which youimagine a palace as a residence for the frontvisualization and then you invite the deities toabide within that. There is not the precise devel-opment of the form of the deities, as in this case,nor is there any self-visualization, because it isentirely sutric. This practice which we are usingincludes the vajrayana practice of self-visualiza-tion and the precise details of the visualization.Therefore, it is considered to be more effective,to have more power.

Question: Rinpoche, I was interested in hearingyour different elaborations on the “seven ar-ticles” of the mandala offering. I have done themandala offering in my ngöndro practice and

Visualization andother generationstage practicesfunction toweaken thekleshas, whilecompletion stagepractices, whichinclude . . .shamata andvipashyana, serveto eradicatethem

*Editor’s note: What the translator is here calling mundanedeities—in fact, if we met one of them, one suspects that onewould think of them as anything but mundane, just as if wemet Flash Gordon or Darth Vader we would hardly regardeither of them as mundane—are what are oftentimes referredto as worldly deities, which means that, although they aresaid to reside somewhere in the gods’ realms and are said tobe very powerful, they are not said to be enlightened. Bud-dhists recognize the relative reality of such deities, makeofferings to them in order to please them, ask them politelynot to bother dharma practitioners, ask for their protection,even ask them sometimes to help out with the weather, butnever take refuge in them, for they themselves are not thoughtto be liberated from samsara.

**Editor’s note: i.e. the jnanasattvas and the samayasattvas.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 51

there the offerings seem so much more concretethan the descriptions of the same articles weheard from you earlier today. Your descriptionsof the “seven articles” of the chakravartin pre-sented them much more as symbolic representa-tions. Are they more concrete in some practices?Are there different practices? Are these differ-ent views? Do they come from the sutras, fromthe commentaries, from the vajrayana? Or dothey vary for certain people?

And then I have a particular question aboutthe person of the chakravartin, the universalmonarch. We in the West, wrongly or rightly,have the notion that democracy is the best way.I’m just wondering—this chakravartin seemslike a wonderful being, yet he or she—you didn’tmention any gender—this person seems to needhelp with faith, stability, exertion, with manydifferent qualities. We in the West have foundthat a universal sort of monarch or ruler usuallyeventually goes wrong. Could you tell me what isdifferent about this chakravartin that is going tomake their rule so very successful, because wehaven’t had that experience?

Rinpoche: With regard to your first question,the correspondence between the “seven articles”of royalty, which are the characteristic posses-sions of a chakravartin, and the “seven limbs ofawakening”—which are necessary resources onthe path for bodhisattvas—is a standard one. Incases where the symbolic meaning of offering the“seven articles” of royalty is not explained, itsimply means that it is a briefer explanation ofthe significance of that offering. This correspon-dence definitely does function in all uses ofthose things as offering substances or items.

With regard to your second question, thechakravartin only arises in certain periods ofhistory, which are called the best times or thebest ages. What distinguishes a chakravartinfrom some kind of cosmic dictator is the arisingof the chakravartin in human society at thatpoint as a solution to problems rather than thebeginning of them. A chakravartin arises at atime when there is disputation as to who shouldlead the society. The chakravartin him or her-

self, is not particularly [eager or] anxious to doso, but is altruistic, capable, and acclaimed bythe society at large, which places them in theirposition of authority. Now, it is entirely possiblethat after the reign of a chakravartin, if a dy-nasty is established, things could degenerate, asyour question indicates. But then they would nolonger be chakravartins.

Question: So, are you saying there could be afemale universal monarch, a chakravartini?

Rinpoche: Of course.

Question: What is the Sanskrit name of SangyeMenla?

Translator: The most common name found in thesutras is Bhaishajyai Guru, which means theteacher of medicine. That is translated into Ti-betan as Mengyi Lama, or Menla for short. That’swhy we call it Sangye Menla or the MedicineBuddha. Menla literally means Medicine Guru.

Question: Rinpoche, over and over again youtalk about how in a way almost all of thesepractices are a backdrop for what the real prac-tice is, which is faith and devotion that thepractice will actually work. It seems that allpractices in a way should be aimed at intensify-ing that. You say, “intense supplication,” andthere have been times in my practice when thatjust came, and I felt a fervor of faith. Then othertimes I really wished I had it, because I reallyfelt like I needed it. You talk about generatingbodhicitta or generating faith. What is the pro-cess of generating? I can put the thought in mymind, but if there is also pervasive doubt andpervasive cynicism . . . I come from a kind ofculture of doubt and of questioning and of philo-sophical b.s., so it’s very difficult to talk aboutthese concepts with absolute faith. What is themethod of generating intense faith?

Rinpoche: The approach is to try to developinformed faith. Informed faith comes aboutthrough investigation. Through investigating the

52 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Throughinvestigating themeaning ofdharma youdiscover validreasons why it isappropriate tohave faith in it

meaning of dharma you discover valid reasons whyit is appropriate to have faith in it. That willnaturally make faith a matter of common sense.

Question: Rinpoche, what is the translation ofthe mantra? And when does the visualization ofthe blessings’ coming down in the form of smallMedicine Buddhas and the begging bowl and thefruit and the mantra stop? And when it stops, it’snot yet the dissolution, is it? What are we rest-ing in at that point?

Translator: You mean after the descent ofblessings ends, and before you dissolve thevisualization?

Question: Right.

Rinpoche: The mantra that yourecite is basically an elaborationof the name of the MedicineBuddha. It is more or less recit-ing the name of the MedicineBuddha in Sanskrit. The point atwhich you stop visualizing theblessings of body, speech, andmind being absorbed into youagain and again is up to you. Youcan continue that visualizationfor the entire duration of yourrecitation of the mantra, in whichcase there is not much in-betweenthat and the dissolution of themandala. Or from time to time, you can stopvisualizing and just rest in devotion. It is not thecase that you need to spend absolutely everyinstant of your mantra recitation dissolving thesethings into you. As long as there is faith and devo-tion, then it does not have to be constant.

Question: Is this mantra best used for animalsthat are dying, and what about animals thatmight have just recently died, perhaps quickly?

Rinpoche: It will also benefit an animal that hasrecently died; it is going to be most effective, ofcourse, if it is used just before the animal dies.

But it will still benefit them afterwards.

Question: Rinpoche, thank you for the teaching.Given the aspirations of the Medicine Buddha,would it be appropriate to have a representationof the Medicine Buddha in the heart of thehouse, the family room, and particularly if therest of one’s family thinks the mother is com-pletely strange. [laughter] And I’ve been told torecite om mani peme hung around dying anddead animals. Would it be more appropriate torecite the Medicine Buddha mantra?

Rinpoche: Reciting om mani peme hung or theMedicine Buddha’s name or mantra to a dyinganimal will have pretty much equal benefit, so itis up to you. Both Avalokiteshvara and the

Medicine Buddha have madespecific aspirations to be of ben-efit to beings in that way. It doesnot matter, either one. Withregard to your first question:While placing a large and promi-nent image of the Medicine Bud-dha in the very center of yourhome would ultimately have long-term benefits for the members ofyour family, it might, as yourquestion indicates, create moreproblems in the short-term. Spe-cifically, it might create moreresistance. It would probably bebetter to allow your family to

encounter the Medicine Buddha sort of inciden-tally, rather than having it thrust in their face.

Question: A small thangka on the wall, wouldthat be better?

Rinpoche: If it does not cause disharmonywithin the home, then of course that would befine. If it does, then it would be better that theyencounter it somewhere outside the home.

We’re going to stop here for this morning andconclude with the dedication of merit.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 53

From the Sky Dharma, which is a Mind Treasure,An Ornament of the Clear Expanse of Mind,

Comes a Ritual of Menla Called

A Stream of Lapis Lazuli

54 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Namo. Maha Bekandzeya. If they are available, arrange in front of a Menlathangka as many peaceful offerings as you can, such as a mandala and so forth;in this way the accumulations are completed. If these are not available, it isenough to make mental offerings while imagining the front visualization in thesky—nothing else is needed. Since this is the anuttara, the practitioner neednot refrain from meat and alcohol nor perform the rituals of purification, suchas taking the blessing of pure water. It is definitely necessary, however, toreceive the empowerment and reading transmission for this practice, as itbelongs to the anuttara tradition. Since it belongs to the nyingma tradition, theself and frontal visualizations are simultaneously generated; it is not necessaryto create them separately. As it is a chanted meditation of the nyingma, yourmind should meditate on the meaning of the words.

The supplication:

NAMO BEKENDZE MAHA RADZAYE

SÖ NAM YÖN TEN GYA TSHÖ TER NGA ZHINGYou are endowed with an oceanic treasury of qualities and merit;

SAM GYI MI KHYAB THUK JEY JIN LAP KYIBy the blessing of your inconceivable compassion

DRO WAY DUK NGEL DUNG WA SHI DZE PAYou calm the suffering and torment of sentient beings.

BEN DUR YA YI Ö LA SOL WA DEBI supplicate you, Light of Lapis Lazuli.

SHIN TU SER NA DRAK PÖ RAB CHING PEThose bound by very intense greed

SHENPEN ÖSEL 55

YI DAK NE SU KYE WAY KYE WO YIAre born in the hungry ghost realm.

KHYÖ TSHEN THÖ NA MIR KYE JIN PA GAIf they hear your name, they are said to be born human and take delight in generosity.

CHOM DEN MEN GYI LA LA SOL WA DEBI supplicate you, victorious Menla.

TSHÜL THRIM CHAL DANG ZHEN LA SHE TSÖN PEViolating morality and abusing others,

NYAL WAR KYE WAY DRO WA DI DAK GIBeings are born in the hell realms.

KHYÖ TSHEN THÖ NA THO RI KYE WAR SUNGHearing your name, they are said to be born in the higher realms.

MEN GYI GYEL PO DE LA SOL WA DEBI supplicate you, King of Medicine.

GANG DAK YEN DANG THRA MA DU MA YIWhoever by repeated dissension and slander

RAB TU JE CHING LÜ SOK THRAL WA DAKCreates serious schisms and takes life,

KHYÖ TSHEN THÖ NA DE DAK TSHE MI NÜHearing your name, they cannot harm others.

56 SHENPEN ÖSEL

MEN GYI GYEL PO DE LA SOL WA DEBI supplicate you, King of Medicine

TSHEN LEK SER ZANG DRI ME NANG WA DANGExcellent Name, Appearance of Stainless Fine Gold,

NYA NGEN ME CHOK PEL DANG CHÖ DRAK YANGGlorious Supreme One Free of Misery, Resounding Dharma Melody,

NGÖN KHYEN GYEL PO DRA YANG GYEL PO DANGKing of Direct Knowledge, King of Melody,

SHAKYAY GYEL PO NAM LA SOL WA DEBAnd King of Shakyas, I supplicate you all.

JAM PEL KHYAB DRÖL CHAK NA DOR JE DZINManjushri, Kyabdröl, Vajrapani,

TSHANG WANG GYA JIN CHOK ZHI GYEL PO ZHIBrahma, Indra, the four Kings of the four directions,

NÖ JIN DE PÖN CHEN PO CHU NYI SOKThe twelve great Yaksha chiefs, and so forth,

KYIL KHOR YONG SU DZOK LA SOL WA DEBI supplicate you, entire and perfect mandala.

DE ZHIN SHEK PA DÜN GYI MÖN LAM DOThe Sutra of the Seven Tathagatas’ Aspirations,

SHENPEN ÖSEL 57

MEN GYI LHA YI DO DE NYI DANG NIAnd the Sutra of the Medicine Buddha,

KHEN CHEN ZHI WA TSHÖ DZE ZHUNG LA SOKThe treatise by the great abbot Shantarakshita, and so forth,

DAM CHÖ LEK WAM TSHOK LA SOL WA DEBI supplicate all the volumes of the genuine dharma,

BO DHI SA TO THRI SONG DEU TSEN SOKBodhisattva Shantarakshita, Trisong Deutsen, and others,

LO PEN GYEL LÖN JANG CHUP SEM PA DANGTranslators, scholars, kings, ministers, bodhisattvas,

GYÜ PAY LA MA DAM PA THAM CHE DANGAnd all genuine lamas of the lineage,

CHÖ KYI WANG CHUK SOK LA SOL WA DEBPowerful One of the Dharma, and others, I supplicate you.

DE TAR SOL WA TAB PAY JIN LAP KYIThrough the blessing of this supplication,

NE KAP NE DANG JIK PA NA TSHOK ZHIMay diverse temporal diseases and dangers of this life be stilled.

CHI TSE NGEN SONG JIK PA KÜN ZHI NEAt death, may all fear of the lower realms be calmed.

58 SHENPEN ÖSEL

DE WA CHEN DU KYE WAR JIN GYI LOPGrant your blessing that afterwards we are born in Sukhavati.

NAMO KÖN CHOK SUM DANG TSA WA SUMTo the sources of refuge, the three jewels

KYAB NE NAM LA KYAB SU CHIAnd the three roots, I go for refuge.

DRO KÜN SANG GYE LA GÖ CHIRTo establish all beings in buddhahood,

JANG CHUB CHOK TU SEM KYE DOI awaken a mind of supreme enlightenment.

KA DAK LONG NE TRÜL PA YIFrom the expanse of primordial purity emanate

NAM SA GANG WAY CHÖ PAY TRINClouds of offerings filling the earth and sky

MEN DEL GYEL SI LHA MOR CHEWith mandalas, articles of possessions, and goddesses.

ZE ME GYUR CHIK PUD DZA HOMay they never be exhausted. PUD DZA HO.

DRO KÜN DE DEN DUK NGEL DRELMay all beings be happy and free of suffering.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 59

DE LE NYAM ME TANG NYOM SHOKMay their happiness not diminish. May they abide in equanimity.

OM SOBHAWA SHUDDHA SARWA DHARMA SOBHAWA

SHUDDHO HAM

TONG PA NYI DU GYUREverything turns into emptiness.

TONG PAY NGANG LE TONG SUM DIFrom the depth of emptiness, this triple universe becomes

TA NA DUK GYI PHO DRANG DU GYUR PAY NANG DUThe exquisite palace, where

SENG GEY THRI PE DA SO SÖ TENG DUOn lion thrones, each with a lotus and moon disk on top

RANG NYI DANG DÜN KYE KYI TSO WÖ SA BÖN HUNG THINGKHA LE

Appear deep blue HUNGs, the seed syllable of myself and the main figure visualized in the front,

MEN LA KU DOK BE DUR YA TA BU Ö ZER THRO WAY KU CHENFrom which, arises Menla, his body the color of lapis lazuli and radiating light.

CHÖ GÖ SUM GI LUP PAHe is clothed in the three dharma robes.

60 SHENPEN ÖSEL

CHAK YE CHOK JIN A RU RA DANGHis right hand in the mudra of supreme generosity holds an arura.

YÖN NYAM ZHAG LHUNG ZE DZIN PAHis left hand in the meditation mudra holds a begging bowl.

TSEN PE DZOK SHING DOR JE KYIL TRUNG GI ZHUK PAWith the major and minor marks complete, he sits in the vajra posture.

KHYE PAR DU DÜN KYE KYI DAB MA NAM LAIn particular, on the lotus petals of the front visualization

THUB WANG LA SOK PAY SANG GYE DÜN DANG CHÖ PU TIAre the seven Buddhas, Shakyamuni and the others, and dharma texts.

DE GYAB SEM PA CHU DRUKAround them are the sixteen bodhisattvas,

DE GYAB JIK TEN KYONG WA CHU DANGAround them are the ten protectors of the world,

DE PÖN CHEN PO CHU NYI SO SÖ KHOR DANG CHE PAAnd the twelve great chiefs with their respective retinues.

GO ZHI LA GYEL PO CHEN PO ZHIThe four Great Kings are at the four gates.

DANG CHE PAY NE SUM YI GE SUM DANG THUK KAY HUNG

LE Ö ZERFrom the three syllables in their three places and the HUNG in their hearts,

SHENPEN ÖSEL 61

THRÖ PE SHAR CHOK KYI SANG GYE SO SÖ ZHING KHAM NE YESHE PA

Lights radiate, invoking from their own eastern buddha realms, countless

PAK TU ME PA CHEN DRANG NE DAK DÜN NAM LA THIM PAR GYURWisdom deities which dissolve into myself and the one visualized in front.

HUNG MEN LA CHE GYE LHA TSOK MA LÜ NAMHUNG. The eight Menla companions and all deities without exception

NE DIR CHEN DREN JIN CHEN WAB TU SOLI invite here to this place. Kindly rain upon us your great blessings.

KAL DEN DE DEN DAK LA WANG CHOK KURBestow the supreme empowerment on those who are worthy and faithful.

LOK DREN TSHE YI BAR CHE SEL DU SOLDispel false guides and obstacles to long life.

NAMO MAHA BEKENDZE SAPARIWARA BENZA SAMAYADZA DZA

BENZE SAMAYA TIKTRA LEN OM HUNG TRAM HRI AH

ABHIKENTSA HUNG

HUNG ME TOK DUK PÖ MAR ME DRIHUNG. Flowers, incense, lights, scents,

ZHEL ZE RÖL MO LA SOK DANGFood, music and so forth;

62 SHENPEN ÖSEL

ZUG DRA DRI RO REK JA CHÖForms, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and all dharmas,

DAK GI LHA LA CHÖ PA BULI offer to the deities.

DAK CHAK TSHOK NYI DZOK PAR SHOKMay we perfect the two accumulations.

OM BENZA ARGHAM PADYAM PUPE DHUPE ALOKE GENDHE

NEWIDYE SHABDA RUPA SHABDA GENDHE RASA SAPARSHE

TRATITSA HUNG

HUNG TRA SHI TSO WO DZE GYE DEHUNG. The eight foremost auspicious substances,

TSO CHOK GYEL PO YUNG KAR SOKThe best royal white mustard seed, and the others,

DAK GI LHA LA CHÖ PA BULI offer to the deity.

TSHOK NYI YONG SU DZOK PAR SHOKMay the two accumulations be perfected.

MANGALAM ARTHA SIDDHI HUNG

HUNG TRA SHI TSO WO TAK GYE DEHUNG. The eight foremost auspicious symbols,

SHENPEN ÖSEL 63

TSO CHOK GYEL PO BUM PA SOKThe peerless royal vase and all others,

DAK GI LHA LA CHÖ PA BULI offer to the deity.

SEM CHEN TSOK NYI DZOK PAR SHOKMay sentient beings perfect the two accumulations.

MANGALAM KUMBHA HUNG

HUNG DÖ YÖN TSO WO RIN CHEN DÜNHUNG. The foremost desirable qualities, the seven precious articles,

TSO CHOK GYEL PO NOR BU SOKThe most excellent royal one, the jewel, and the others,

DAK GI LHA LA CHÖ PA BULI offer to the deity.

DAK NI TSHOK NYI DZOK PAR SHOKMay I perfect the two accumulations.

OM MANI RATNA HUNG

HUNG KÜN GYI TSO WO RI RAB LINGHUNG. The foremost of all, Mount Meru

RI RAB LING ZHI LING TREN CHEWith its four continents and subcontinents

64 SHENPEN ÖSEL

DAK GI LHA LA CHÖ PA BULI offer to the deity.

TSHOK NYI YONG SU DZOK PAR SHOKMay the two accumulations be perfected.

OM RATNA MANDALA HUNG

HUNG DAK GI DRI DEN DRI CHAB KYIHUNG. With scented water

DE SHEK KU LA KU THRÜ SOLI bathe the sugata’s body.

LHA LA DRI MA MI NGA YANGAlthough the deity is flawless,

DIK DRIB DAK PAY TEN DREL GYIThis creates the auspicious connection for purifying all wrongs and obscurations.

OM SARWA TATHAGATA ABIKEKATE SAMAYA SHRIYE HUNG

HUNG RE KAR JAM DRI DEN PA YIHUNG. With a scented, soft white cloth

GYEL WAY KU NYI CHI WAR GYII dry the victor’s body.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 65

KU LA DRI MA MI NGA YANGThough your body is flawless,

DUK NGEL DREL WAY TEN DREL GYIThis creates the auspicious connection for freedom from suffering.

OM KAYA BISHODHANI HUNG

HUNG NA ZA DZE DEN NGUR MIK DIHUNG. With these beautiful saffron robes

GYEL WAY KU LA SOL WAR GYII clothe the victor’s body.

KU LA SIL WA MI NGA YANGAlthough your body is never cold,

TRAK DANG PHEL WAY TEN DREL GYIThis creates the auspicious connection for vitality to flourish.

OM BENZA WAYTRA AH HUNG

HUNG KU DOK BE DUR YA YI RI WO DRAHUNG. Your body is like a mountain, the color of lapis lazuli.

DRO WA SEM CHEN NE KYI DUK NGEL SELYou dispel the suffering of illness in sentient beings.

JANG CHUB SEM PA GYE KYI KHOR GYI KHORSurrounded by a retinue of eight bodhisattvas,

66 SHENPEN ÖSEL

RIN CHEN MEN DZIN LHA LA CHAK TSHAL TÖHolder of Medicine, precious deity, I praise and prostrate to you.

TSHEN LEK RIN DA SER ZANG NYA NGEN MEExcellent Name, Precious Moon, Fine Gold, Free of Misery,

CHÖ DRAK GYA TSHO CHÖ LO SHA KYA THUBResounding Dharma Ocean, Dharma Mind, Shakyamuni,

DAM PAY CHÖ DANG SEM PA CHU DRUK SOKThe genuine dharma, the sixteen bodhisattvas and others,

KÖN CHOK RIN CHEN SUM LA CHAK TSHAL TÖTo the precious three jewels, I offer praise and prostrate.

TSHANG DANG GYA JIN GYEL CHEN CHOK KYONG CHUTo Brahma, Indra, the Great Kings, the Protectors of the Ten Directions,

NÖ JIN DE PÖN CHU NYI YOK DANG CHEThe twelve Yaksha chiefs and all their assistants,

LHA MIN MEN GYI RIK DZIN DRANG SONG TSHOKVidyadharas and rishis of medicine, divine and human,

DÜ TSI MEN GYI LHA LA CHAK TSAL TÖTo the deities of ambrosial medicine, I offer praise and prostrate.

DAK DÜN THUK KAY HUNG LA NGAK TRENG KOR WAR MIG LAThe HUNG in the heart of the self and front visualizations is surrounded by the

mantra garland.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 67

Through radiating many-colored light rays, offerings are made to Menla in thepure realm appearing in the east as the color of lapis lazuli. These lights invokehis mind stream, whence Menla’s bodies, large and small, his speech as themantra garland, his mind as the hand symbols of the arura and the begging bowlfilled with amrita, all falling like rain, dissolve into myself and the front visual-ization.

TAYATA OM BEKENDZE BEKENDZE MAHA BEKENDZE

RADZA SAMUDGATE SO HA

Repeat as much as possible and then at the end:

DIK THUNG KÜN SHAK GE WA JANG CHUB NGOI confess all wrongs and downfalls and dedicate all virtue to awakening.

NE DÖN DUK NGEL DREL WAY TA SHI SHOKMay there be the auspiciousness of freedom from sickness, harmful spirits, and

suffering.

A prayer to return back and dissolution:

JIK TEN PA NAM RANG NE BENZA MUThe worldly ones return to their own places. BENZA MU.

YE SHE DAM TSHIK LHA NAM DAK LA THIMThe jnana and samaya sattvas dissolve into me,

KA DAK KÜN ZANG LONG DU E MA HOAnd I dissolve into the expanse of all goodness, primordial purity. E MA HO.

68 SHENPEN ÖSEL

This ornament that is a mind treasure was compiled fromthe Sky-Dharma and arranged by Raga Asya. If there are

contradictions, I confess them before the deity. Through thisvirtue, may all sentient beings, once freed from sickness,swiftly attain the level of Menla. Though the sutra ritualshave the practice of washing [which is not done here], as thisis a higher practice, found at the end of the [supreme] yogatantra, there is no contradiction.

If you take this as your regular practice, the benefits arethe following. If you are ordained, your discipline will bemaintained; though there might be an occasion when it isnot, having purified this obscuration, you will not fall intothe lower realms. Having purified the negative karma ofbeing born as a hell being, a hungry ghost, or an animal, youwill not take such a birth. Even if you do, immediately liber-ated, you will take a felicitous rebirth in a higher realm, andgradually attain awakening. In this life as well, you willeasily obtain food and clothing and not be harmed by disease,negative spirits, sorcery, or the punishments of rulers. Youwill be protected and guarded by Vajrapani, Brahma, theGreat Kings of the four directions, and the twelve greatYaksha chiefs each with their 700,000 assistants. You will befreed from all harm: from the eighteen kinds of untimelydeath, the harm of enemies, carnivorous beasts, and so forth.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 69

All your wishes will be fully realized, and so forth. In the twomore extensive sutras of Menla, the benefits are said to beinconceivable.

In the great monastic centers, such as Jang DamringPelkhor Chöde, and their philosophical colleges, where thescholars find fault with most dharma and are difficult tosatisfy, only this Menla ritual for prolonging life and clearingaway the obscurations of death has spread widely. The ritualto be performed before the Jowo in Lhasa, Tibet’s Bodhgaya,and before the Great Awakened One at Samye is this ritual ofMenla. You should trust that within any of the new and theancient transmissions, the sutras and the tantras, nothing ismore beneficial than Menla. There are many extensive andconcise versions; this one has few words and the full mean-ing. Since it belongs to anuttara yoga, rituals of purificationare not needed. Since the offerings are mental, it is all rightnot to offer tormas. Everyone should practice this.SHUBHAM DZAYENTU.

Translated under the guidance of Thrangu Rinpoche andKhenpo Karthar Rinpoche by Michele Martin with assistancefrom Ngodrup Burkhar and reference to translations by LamaYeshe Gyamtso and Sarah Harding, Woodstock, N.Y., 1984,1999, Kathmandu, 1999.

70 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Short Menla Practice

HUNG KUN DOK BEN DUR YA YI RI WO DRAHUNG. Your body the color of a mountain of lapis lazuli,

DRO WA SEM CHEN NAY CHI DU NGAL SELYou dispel suffering of disease from all sentient beings.

CHANG CHUB SEM PA JAY CHI KOR JI KORYour retinue of eight bodhisattvas surrounds you—

RIN CHEN MEN DZIN LHA LA CHA TSAL TÖI praise and pay homage to the Deity Who Holds the Precious Medicine.

TAYATA OM BEKENDZE BEKENDZE MAHA BEKENDZE RADZA SAMUDGATE SO HA

SEM CHEN NAY PA JI NYAY PAMay the many sentient beings who are sick

NYUR TU NAY LAY TAR JUR CHIKQuickly be freed from sickness

DRO WAY NAY NI MA LÜ PAAnd may all the sicknesses of beings

TAK TU JUNG WA MAY PAR SHOKNever arise again.

Shorter Menla Practice

CHOM DEN DAY DE SHIN SHEK PA DRA CHOM PA YANG DAK PAR DZOK PAYTo you, Bhagavan, Tathagata, Arhat, perfect and fully

SANG GYE MEN GYI LA BE DUR YA Ö KYI GYEL PO LA CHAK TSEL LOAwakened Menla, king of lapis lazuli light, I offer prostrations.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 71

Bhagavat, who is compassionate equally to all beings,The very hearing of whose name pacifies the three lower states,Medicine Buddha, who eliminates the illnesses of the three poisons,May there be the goodness of the Vaidurya Light.

May sentient beings, whatever illnesses they suffer,Be liberated quickly from those illnesses.May all the illnesses of beings, without exception,Forever not arise.

May medicines be effective,And may the intentions of the recitations of the secret mantra path be accomplished.May demonesses, cannibal demons, and so forthAttain compassionate mind.

72 SHENPEN ÖSEL

The Very Essence of Mind, Mahamudra,the One Sufficient Path

by Gampopa

Homage to the genuine gurus.

The Mahamudra of Gampopa, the One Sufficient Path, has three sections:1) To Have a Decisive Understanding About the True Nature,2) The Introduction to the Fundamental Character, and3) Training on the Path of Suchness.

To Have a Decisive Understanding About the True Nature

Mahamudra has no causes.

Mahamudra has no conditions.

Mahamudra has no methods.

Mahamudra has no path.

Mahamudra has no result.

The Introduction to the Fundamental Character

“Mahamudra has no causes,” and yet faith and devotion are the causes ofmahamudra.

“Mahamudra has no conditions,” and yet genuine gurus are the conditionsfor mahamudra.

“Mahamudra has no methods,” and yet uncontrived mind is the method ofmahamudra.

“Mahamudra has no path,” and yet undistracted mind is the path ofmahamudra.

“Mahamudra has no result,” and yet the mind liberated into dharmata is theresult of mahamudra.

Training on the Path of Suchness

As the preliminary practice, meditate on guru yoga with faith, devotion, andrespect, three times during the day and three times at night.

As the main practice, rest within the state of uncontrived mind withundistracted recognition.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 73

As the conclusion, recognize whatever appears as your own mind and trainyour awareness with skill.

Relying upon the sequential arising of experiences, exert yourself inmeditation until conceptual mind is exhausted.

There are two ways in which experiences arise: as unfavorableexperiences and as favorable experiences.

As for the first: All unfavorable experiences—whatever they are, such asdullness, agitation, illness, fear, fright, or doubt—arise from yourmeditation. Therefore, recognize them to be experiences. Withoutabandoning them, meditate, taking those very things as the object of yourview and meditation.

As for favorable experiences:

First, the experience of the mind’s abiding arises.

Based on that, the experience of the essence, emptiness, arises.

Based upon that, the experience of attaining realization arises.

Based upon that, the experience of turning away from attachment arises.

With that sequential arising of experiences, you should exert yourself inpractice without any complacency.

The mind’s merely abiding at first is not sufficient—you must meditate inorder to see the essence.

Merely seeing the essence is not sufficient—you must meditate in order toattain realization.

Merely attaining realization is not sufficient—you must meditate in order toturn away from attachment.

Merely turning away from attachment is not sufficient—you must meditate sothat, through the liberation of conceptual mind into dharmata, conceptualmind is exhausted, phenomena are exhausted, and you awaken.

This completes The Very Essence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Sufficient Path.

Translated into English orally and later revised by Elizabeth Callahan.

74 SHENPEN ÖSEL

The following is an edited transcript of a commentary given by the Very VenerableTenga Rinpoche at the Kalachakra for World Peace program at Madison SquareGarden in 1991, translated by Elizabeth Callahan.

I would like to extend my welcome to all of you who have gathered here today. Mygreetings to all the gurus, scholars, teachers, and dharma practitioners who havecome because of a shared connection with the dharma.

We are extremely fortunate to have gathered here at this very special time, whichis unlike any other time. We are very fortunate because His Holiness the Dalai Lama,the master of all the traditions of the Buddha’s teachings found in Tibet, is here. HisHoliness is considered to be an emanation of Chenrezig [Sanskrit: Avalokiteshvara],the Bodhisattva of Compassion, emanated in human form as a vajra master residingon a very high level of spiritual attainment. Chenrezig is the embodiment of thecompassion of all buddhas and bodhisattvas. Thus, His Holiness the Dalai Lama is theactual embodiment of compassion, and as such works for the benefit of all beingsthroughout this world to pacify their sufferings, both on a temporal level and on anultimate level. Through his great compassion he is able to bring this about. In par-ticular, His Holiness is the leader of the people of Tibet and is able through his greatcompassion to bring benefit to them on both a temporal and an ultimate level. So,even in a very specific sense, he is able to be of great benefit to beings. In these next

Tenga Rinpoche’s Commentary on

The Mahamudra

of the Venerable

Gampopa, the

One Sufficient Path

TTTTThe Vhe Vhe Vhe Vhe Very Very Very Very Very Venerable Tenerable Tenerable Tenerable Tenerable Tenga Renga Renga Renga Renga Rinpocheinpocheinpocheinpocheinpoche

SHENPEN ÖSEL 75

It is the negativemind thatproduces theseconfusedappearances andcreates a hellrealm for itself

few days His Holiness will continue in his effortto bring peace and benefit to all beings in theworld by bestowing the empowerment ofKalachakra—by manifesting the form, [speech,and mind] of Kalachakra in order to grant usthis empowerment. We are very fortunate tohave this opportunity to receive such an empow-erment.

The empowerment and theteachings of the KalachakraTantra were first requested ofthe Buddha Shakyamuni by thedharma king Dawa Zangpo at theplace called the Drepung Stupa.In response, the BuddhaShakyamuni bestowed both thetantra and the oral instructionsof Kalachakra. In general thereare said to be four classes ordivisions of tantra, of which thefourth is called anuttara tantra.Anuttara tantras are divided into father tantrasand mother tantras. The Kalachakra Tantra isconsidered to be a mother tantra, and withinthese mother tantras the Kalachakra Tantra isconsidered to be like the monarch. It is alsoconsidered to be the pinnacle of all the vehiclesor yanas. Thus, there are no higher or greaterempowerments or special instructions thanthose connected with the Kalachakra Tantra.For that reason it is said to be like the monarchof all tantras.

For these reasons we are extremely fortu-nate to be able at this time to receive from sucha great vajra master such an empowerment withthese teachings, which are like the monarch orpinnacle of all teachings. So, from my heart, Iwould like to extend my thanks to all the pa-trons who have made this event possible and toall those who have helped bring this event aboutin any way.

While I am explaining a bit about the teachings of mahamudra, I request all of you to

give rise to a very special attitude and aspira-tion while you are listening. You should thinkthat it is in order to bring about the peace and

happiness of all beings that you are now listen-ing to these instructions on the path ofmahamudra. And what type of aspiration oraspirational prayer should you make in thisconnection? You should wish that all the roots ofvirtue that are accumulated due to having re-ceived these instructions on mahamudra willbring about the peace and happiness of all be-

ings.In general, peace and happi-

ness depend upon one’s mind.Whether one attains happinessor does not attain happiness isentirely dependent upon one’sown mind. All beings havemental afflictions—the sixpoisons, which are anger, attach-ment, ignorance, pride, greed,and jealousy. Based uponthoughts that arise out of thesepoisonous mental afflictions, one

performs actions with one’s body, speech, andmind. Based upon such actions, one accumulateskarma, and if these actions harm other beings,they are considered to be negative ornonvirtuous actions accumulating negativekarma. Such negative actions give rise to suffer-ing both temporarily and in the long term. Aslong as one has negative states of mind that giverise to negative actions, one will not experiencepeace, but will only experience suffering. Thedifferent types of suffering that we experience inthis lifetime are called temporary suffering. Thesuffering which arises in future lives, such asbeing born in any one of the lower states—thehell realms, the hungry ghost realms, or theanimal realms—is considered to be more long-term suffering. The cause of both of these typesof suffering is the mental afflictions. Both typesof suffering arise for oneself and for other be-ings.

In general, the appearances of a hell realmwith all of its very fearful attributes—with allthe great suffering that appears to exist withinthat realm—are actually not truly existent. Theyare merely the confused appearances of a mindthat has accumulated evil actions. It is the

76 SHENPEN ÖSEL

negative mind that produces these confusedappearances and creates a hell realm for itself.For an individual without these negative statesof mind, who has only a virtuous mind, there willnever appear any such hellish appearances. So,since a hell realm appears only as the confusedappearances of a negative mind—of a mind thathas engaged in negative actions—one should not[allow oneself to be impelled by the mentalafflictions to] engage in negative actions of bodyor speech. Instead, one should engage as much asone can in developing compassion, loving kind-ness, and diligence, in being generous to allbeings, in maintaining discipline, in practicingpatience with other’s anger, and so forth. Oneshould engage in virtue and follow in virtuousways as much as one can. By practicing virtue,one will be of benefit to others. And if one acts inways beneficial to others, one will also attainhappiness for oneself in this lifetime, in the next,and in all future lives, and eventually one willattain enlightenment. One will be able to bringabout both the temporary and long-term happi-ness of others. This is what is called happinessand peace.

In addition to these types of methods* thatneed to be taught, the Buddha Shakyamuni alsotaught many other methods for disciplining andtraining one’s mind. These methods are includedin such teachings as mahamudra, dzogchen,madhyamaka, prajnaparamita, and so forth. Allof the profound teachings given by the Buddhawere taught in order that one be able to disci-pline and train one’s own mind.

There are many methods taught for the

practice of mahamudra meditation, but in brief,all of these methods can be included under twotypes: those connected with the sutra path,**and those connected with the secret mantra orvajrayana path.***

Referring to the teachings connected withthe sutra tradition, Nagarjuna wrote, “There isone path to liberation taught by the buddhas,pratyekabuddhas, and shravakas. It is definitethat there are no others.” “No other” meansthere is no other way to attain liberation thanthat one path. At the place in India called Vul-ture Peak, the perfect Buddha Shakyamuni—asupreme nirmanakaya—turned the wheel of thedharma a second time, teaching the vehiclewithout characteristics, and explained themeaning of emptiness in the extensive, middlelength and concise presentations of thePrajnaparamita. This is something all of usshould meditate upon using our intelligence.

If one were to wonder, “Since the BuddhaShakyamuni taught this middle turning of thewheel of the dharma, then is it not sufficient forus just to meditate upon these teachings underour own power or volition, not relying uponanother teacher?” No, it is not sufficient. JowoPalden Atisha said, “If one asks, ‘Who realizesemptiness,’ it is Nagarjuna and his studentChandrakirti, who were prophesied by theTathagata and who saw the truth ofdharmata.**** Through the instructions of theirlineage, buddhahood is attained, not through anyother means.” In this quote Atisha mentionsNagarjuna and Chandrakirti, but there were alsocountless other Indian mahasiddhas who real-ized the truth of dharmata or the true nature ofreality, and by relying upon their instructions,their teachings on the Prajnaparamita, and soforth, and by putting such teachings into prac-tice, one will be able to attain enlightenment.

If one were to wonder, “How is this term,mahamudra, explained in the sutras,” there is a

*Editor’s note: It may seem strange to consider giving up evildeeds and states of mind and cultivating virtuous deeds andstates of mind as “methods” of mental training that lead tohappiness. That virtuous action leads to happiness and evilaction leads to suffering seems so tautological that to considerteaching them as a “method” might seem simplistic. But ifone considers the world view of the Buddha Shakyamuni’scontemporaries in Greece, for example—one of the cradles ofour Western civilization—one finds the notion that happinessarises through the force of arms, the strong destroying theweak, robbing them of their goods, pillaging their villages,raping their women, killing their men, and enslaving theirwomen and children. Indeed, if one turns on CNN, one is hardpressed not to think that that view still holds sway in many ofthe realms of this world.

**Editor’s note: The exoteric mahayana path

***Editor’s note: The esoteric tantric path

****Editor’s note: the true nature of things, the essence ofreality, the completely pure nature, suchness

SHENPEN ÖSEL 77

In order topractice secretmantra orvajrayana, onemust rely upon agenuine guruwho is trained inthe tantras

quote from the Samadhiraja Sutra which says,“The nature of all phenomena is mahamudra.”This means that the nature of all phenomena isemptiness. Mahamudra in Tibetan is chakgyachenpo. Chak refers to emptiness, and it meansthen that the nature of all phenomena is empti-ness. Realizing the meaning ofemptiness, one is liberated fromsamsara, which is expressed bythe word gya. This is how theterm chakja chenpo ormahamudra is explained in thesutras.*

The way one achievesmahamudra realization throughthe path of the secret mantra—which is the second method ofrealizing mahamuda—is ex-plained through the followingquote: “Through engaging inskillful means, such as pen-etrating the vital points of the subsequent vajrabody,** there is luminosity, great bliss. This ismahamudra, the quintessential essence of thehighest section of tantras, which is taughtthrough the cycles of the essence of accomplish-ment by Saraha, Nagarjuna, Naropa, andMaitripa. In the beginning, in order to practicesecret mantra or vajrayana, one must rely upon agenuine guru who is trained in the tantras, andone begins by requesting from him or her thefour empowerments of the secret mantra tradi-tion.”

To receive a complete empowerment in thesecret mantra tradition from a genuine guru issomething we all have the opportunity to doduring the next few days, since His Holiness theDalai Lama will be bestowing the Kalachakraempowerment. While one is receiving this em-

powerment, one should think that the gurubestowing the empowerment is in actualityKalachakra, and that the place where the em-powerment is being given is in actuality thepalace of Kalachakra. One should think that theentire environment surrounding one, the whole

world, is the pure land ofKalachakra. And one should havethe attitude that these ways ofregarding the guru, the structureor building, the environment, andthe world are really the way theyare in actuality.

When one is receiving anempowerment, whatever soundsone hears—all the words ex-pressed in the empowerment, allthe instructions given—oneshould listen to and hearundistractedly. One should befocused one-pointedly on the

meaning of these words. If one is not focusedone-pointedly, if one becomes distracted whileone is listening to the empowerment beinggiven, although one will receive the blessings ofthe empowerment, one will not be able to under-stand or receive the meaning of it.

Having received empowerment—for ex-ample, the Kalachakra empowerment—one thenengages in the practice of the sadhana associ-ated with it. One begins with the generationstage, with the visualizations and the mantrarecitations, and then one engages in the comple-tion stage practices—which, in the case ofKalachakra, would be “the six stages ofunion.”*** If one practices meditation in thisway, then one will be able to penetrate the vitalpoints of the vajra body.

*Editor’s note: Chenpo means great, and, according to KaluRinpoche, indicates that mahamudra is the ultimate experi-ence and that there is nothing greater.

**Editor’s note: The result of the attainment of enlighten-ment in the vajrayana is sometimes referred to as the vajrabody. The use of this term is anticipated in the mahayana bythe use of the term “the vajra-like samadhi,” the indestruc-tible samadhi, which is the defining event in the attainmentof buddhahood.

***Editor’s note: Each system of tantric practice has its ownparticular generation and completion stage practices. In theKagyu lineages, the principal generation stage practices areVajrayogini and Chakrasamvara, and the completion stagepractice is the Six Doctrines of Naropa. In the Shangpa Kagyulineage, the generation stage practice is Chakrasamvara andThe Deities of the Five Classes of Tantra, while the comple-tion stage practice is the Six Doctrines of Niguma. In theNyingma system, the completion stage practices are Trekchödand Thögal.

78 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Based upon penetrating the vital points ofthe vajra body, the karmic prana or winds enterinto, abide and dissolve within the avadhuti orcentral channel. Through the force of that, one’skarmic prana is purified and coemergent wis-dom, great bliss, arises as what is called a men-tal image or a mental approximation of wisdom,*which is known as the luminosity of example orthe mahamudra of example. Through meditatingrepeatedly upon the luminosity of example-mahamudra one will be able to realize the actualluminosity or ultimate luminosity-mahamudra.

There are many terms that can be applied tosuch a realization, such as mahamudra, theindestructible bindu, or the innate natural mind.In the path of secret mantra the termmahamudra is explained in the text, The Binduof Mahamudra, by breaking the Tibetan termdown, as before, into three parts. Chak meansthe wisdom of emptiness. Gya means liberationfrom the phenomena of samsara. Chenpo, which

translates as great or maha, means integrationor union. Chak gya chenpo or mahamudra. So thefirst part of this word refers to the fact that theessence of the mind is the integration or union ofemptiness and wisdom. The second part, gya,means that once one has realized the essence ofthe mind, the integration of emptiness andwisdom, one is not obscured by the adventitiousstains of samsaric phenomena. And the thirdpart of the word, chenpo, meaning great, meansthat the essence which is emptiness and thenature which is clarity are primordially inte-grated or are primordially in union.**

How were these teachings of mahamudratransmitted? The teachings were first given bythe Buddha Shakyamuni, who appeared in theform of Vajradhara and spoke The FlawlessTantra and many other tantras that express themahamudra teachings. These teachings thencame down to such masters as Lodro Rinchen,Saraha, Nagarjuna, and so forth, all of whom,through practicing them, attained siddhi andbecame great siddhas. The same teachings werefurther transmitted to the mahasiddha Tilopa,who received all the tantras and special instruc-tions. Tilopa held four transmissions, teachingswhich came from four lineages of teachers, andalthough there were many teachers within theselineages, they can be abbreviated into four: themahasiddhas Nagarjuna, Nakpopa, and Lawapa,and the dakini mahasiddha Kalpa Zangmo. Theessence of all of the teachings that he receivedfrom these four lineages were summarized in theteachings which are known as the Six Doctrinesof Naropa.

The main student of the mahasiddha Tilopawas Naropa, who underwent twelve austeritiesin order to receive the teachings from Tilopa. Atthe end of all of his training, he attained a real-ization equal to his teacher Tilopa’s. Naropa’smain student was Marpa, who visited India from

*Editor’s note: The meaning of coemergent wisdom issuccinctly explained by Chögyam Thrungpa in The Heart of theBuddha in connection with the sadhana of Vajrayogini:“Fundamentally, the magic of the vajrayana tradition is theability to transform confusion into wisdom on the spot. Fromthe point of view of vajrayana, real magic, or siddhi, inSanskrit, is the ability to work with and tame one’s mind.This is completely different from the usual notion of magic asa supernatural power over the universe. As mentioned in theprevious discussion of the samayas of body, speech, and mind,any potential confusion and neurosis become an opportunityto experience sacred outlook. At the beginning of the path ofmeditation, we work to tame our minds and subdue the forcesof confusion. In the mahayana, we see the emptiness of selfand phenomena; out of that, we rouse compassion for beingswho do not realize the emptiness, and therefore the freedom,of their nature. In the vajrayana, we could actually bringtogether confusion and enlightenment on one spot, andthereby completely overcome the dualism of samsara andnirvana.

“The simultaneous experience of confusion and sanity, orbeing asleep and awake, is the realization of coemergentwisdom. Any occurrence in one’s state of mind—any thought,feeling, or emotion—is both . . . a statement of confusion and amessage of enlightened mind. Confusion is seen so clearlythat this clarity itself is sacred outlook. Vajrayogini is called‘the Coemergent Mother.’ In fact, the sadhana of Vajrayoginiaccording to Tilopa is entitled The Sadhana of the GloriousCoemergent Mother Vajrayogini. By practicing the sadhana andby identifying ourselves with the body, speech, and mind of theyidam, we become able to experience the coemergent boundarybetween confusion and wakefulness. Then we can use confu-sion itself as a steppingstone for realizing further sanity andfurther wisdom.”

**Editor’s note: It should be clearly understood that there isno bringing together or integrating of clarity and emptiness.Clarity and emptiness are primordially in union; they alwayshave been, are, and always will be inseparable. The only thingnew is our recognition of the fact, which comes about as aconsequence of purifying impure perception.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 79

When one hasattainedenlightenment,one merely haspurified theadventitious ortemporary stainsobscuring themind. The truenature of mindhas not changed

Tibet three times and spent altogether sixteenyears and seven years with Naropa, receiving allof his teachings and special instructions. ThenMarpa Lotsawa returned to Tibet, where he hadmany students. Of these the best were four mainstudents, the supreme of which was Milarepa,who received the transmission ofpractice. Milarepa also had manystudents, the supreme amongthem were called the two sonswho were like the sun and themoon. His sun-like disciple wasGampopa; his moon-like disciplewas Rechungpa.

The Kagyu teachings havesince come through the masterGampopa, and from his manydifferent students there havecome many other divisions of theKagyu tradition. There are theKarma Kamtsang, the BaramKagyu, Tsalpa Kagyu, PadrupKagyu, Drikung Kagyu, DrukpaKagyu, Taklung Kagyu andothers, many different sections.These traditions are different inname only. Their teachings are the same. Aslineages of teachings they have all come from thesame teacher.

And so in order to explain theteachings of mahamudra I will explain a

text by the master Gampopa called The VeryEssence of Mind, Mahamudra, the One Suffi-cient Path. If one wonders what does this meanto say The One Sufficient Path, it means that bypracticing these instructions of the masterGampopa, one will be able to attain all the levelsand paths which lead to enlightenment.

The text, which begins by saying, Homage tothe genuine gurus, goes on to say: TheMahamudra of Gampopa, the One SufficientPath, has three sections: 1) To Have a Deci-sive Understanding About the True Nature,2) The Introduction to the FundamentalCharacter, and 3) Training on the Path ofSuchness.

The first section, which is called, To Have ADecisive Understanding About the TrueNature, explains ground mahamudra. There arethree ways to speak of mahamudra: groundmahamudra, path mahamudra, and fruitionmahamudra. This first section explains the true

nature of ground mahamudra.The first section, To Have a

Decisive Understanding Aboutthe True Nature, has five parts.The first says, Mahamudra hasno causes. In general all rela-tive or apparent phenomenaarise from causes. They firstarise, then they abide, and thenthey cease. This is the nature ofrelative phenomena. However,mahamudra is noncompounded.It is not composite, and so there-fore it is beyond arising, abiding,and ceasing. For that reason it issaid that mahamudra has nocauses.

The next point says,Mahamudra has no condi-tions. In general all things have

conditions or contributing factors. These condi-tions are sometimes explained as being four innumber, and they contribute to things changing.The essence of mahamudra is unchanging, andtherefore it is said to have no conditions.

The next point says, Mahamudra has nomethods. This means that mahamudra from the[beginningless] beginning or primordially ispresent within one’s own mind. It is not newlyattained. So there are no methods for giving riseto the new attainment of mahamudra.

The next point says, Mahamudra has nopath. This means that when one is practicingmahamudra, one investigates one’s own mind byoneself. One does not look for the path anywhereelse. And so for that reason it is said mahamudrahas no path.

The next point says, Mahamudra has noresult. A result in this case would be the attain-ment of enlightenment, but when one has at-tained enlightenment, one merely has purified

80 SHENPEN ÖSEL

the adventitious or temporary stains obscuringthe mind. The true nature of the mind has notchanged.

When it is said that mahamudra has nocauses, no conditions, no methods, no path, andno fruit or result, one is speaking from the pointof view of the essence of the mind. This essenceof the mind is beyond being an object which canbe expressed through speech. It is beyond beingan object which can be experienced by the con-ceptual mind of ordinary beings. The essence ofthe mind does not have a shape, does not have acolor; its nature is beyond arising, abiding, andcessation. This first section has expressed thatmeaning.

When it is said that mahamudra has nocauses and no conditions, one might wonder,“Well is this then like empty space?” No it is not.The essence of the mind is emptiness, free frommental elaborations, but its nature is luminosity.And within [this luminous emptiness or emptyluminosity, which is] the nature of the mind,there is naturally present all the kayas—all thedimensions or bodies—of the buddha, all theexcellent qualities of a buddha, all of a buddha’sactivity.

The second section of the textis The Introduction to the

Fundamental Character. Inthis section one is introduced tothe practice of path mahamudra,again in five parts. With refer-ence to the practice of medita-tion on the path of mahamudra,the first part says,“Mahamudra has no causes,” and yet faithand devotion are the causes of mahamudra.Faith and devotion are the causes that give riseto mahamudra. To illustrate this point there is aquote from the Sutra of the Ten Noble Dharmaswhich says, “The virtuous dharma does not arisefor people with no faith, just as a sprout will notarise from a seed burnt by fire.” Those who haveno faith will not be able to give rise to the per-fect dharma. The example used to illustrate thisis a seed, such as a rice seed or a wheat seed,

that has been burnt by fire, which will never giverise to a sprout even though one may bury it inthe ground, and so forth.

In the Buddha Avatamsaka Sutra it says,“Those with little faith, who abide within cyclicexistence, cannot understand bodhicitta andbuddhahood.” Those beings whose minds haveonly a little bit of faith, nothing more than that,are unable to attain the level of a buddha and areunable to give rise to the two types of bodhicitta.Therefore, when one is practicing mahamudrameditation, one should begin by giving rise againand again to faith.

In general there are said to be three types offaith. The first is called the faith of confidence.When one has given rise to great confidence ortrust in karma—in the infallibility of the law ofcause and result in action —then one has thefaith of confidence. The second is the faith oflonging. When one’s mind has become deter-mined to attain the level of a buddha, then one issaid to have the faith of longing. The third iscalled inspired faith. When one has developedgreat faith and devotion in a one-pointed mannerin the buddha, dharma, and sangha, and hasgiven rise to the aspiration always to follow

them, then one has what is calledinspired faith.

The second cause ofmahamudra is said to be devo-tion. What type of object of devo-tion does one need? One needs togive rise to devotion towards aspiritual teacher who shows theperfect path, who is able tobestow empowerments and

perfect oral instructions. What is the reason thatone needs to give rise to devotion to one’steacher? It is that, although the BuddhaShakyamuni appeared in this world, and afterhim there were many scholars and siddhas whoappeared in India, we did not actually have thegood fortune to meet them. But we have had thegood fortune to meet the gurus and teachers wehave met. And therefore, we should recognizethat these teachers who bestow upon us the oralinstructions which were taught by the Buddha

Faith anddevotion are thecauses that giverise tomahamudra

SHENPEN ÖSEL 81

Genuine orperfect spiritualteachers are theconditions formahamudra

are very kind to us. Recognizing their greatkindness, one develops devotion towards them.

How does one meditate upon or give rise todevotion? This can be illustrated by quotingJetsun Milarepa when he wasspeaking to his discipleGampopa. He says, “Gampopa,when you are going to centralTibet, sometimes the memory ofthe guru will arise. When thememory of the guru arises,supplicate him as being insepa-rable on the top of your head.Meditate upon him as being in the center of yourheart without forgetting him.” Jetsun Milarepais saying to Gampopa that when the memory ofme, Milarepa, arises, then how should you medi-tate? You should meditate upon me, your guru,as being on top of your head, inseparable fromyourself. You should meditate upon your guru asbeing in the center of your heart, never forget-ting him.

What is the result of meditating with devo-tion in the way just described? This can beillustrated through another quote: “If the sun ofdevotion does not shine on the snow mountain ofthe guru’s four kayas, the stream of blessingswill not flow. Therefore, exert your mind indevotion.” In this verse the four kayas of theguru are being expressed using the metaphor ofthe snow mountain. For streams of water to flowfrom a snow mountain the sun must shine on it.And in order for the stream of blessings to flowfrom the snow mountain of the guru, the sun ofone’s own devotion must rise. Having receivedthe blessings of the guru, one will be able torealize one’s own mind as mahamudra. The truenature of the mind is beyond being an object ofspeech or conceptuality,* yet through receivingthe blessings of one’s guru one is able to realizethe nature of mahamudra [nonconceptually andnonverbally]. Therefore, it is said that faith anddevotion are the causes of mahamudra.

The second point says, “Mahamudra has no

conditions,” and yet genuine gurus are theconditions for mahamudra. Genuine or per-fect spiritual teachers are the conditions formahamudra. One must first attend upon spiri-

tual teachers, receive the oralinstructions from them, and thenput these instructions into prac-tice. By doing so one will be ableto realize mahamudra. For thatreason it is said that gurus orspiritual teachers are the condi-tions for realizing mahamudra.To illustrate this there is a quote

from the Noble Compendium which says, “Excel-lent students endowed with respect for theirgurus or teachers should attend continuouslyupon learned gurus. Why is that? Because theexcellent qualities of learning arise from them.”Excellent students should study with excellentgurus, because through relying upon excellentgurus we are able to give rise to all the virtuousqualities within our own minds.

Spiritual teachers are the ones who show usthe path. Without spiritual teachers we do notknow the path on which we are going or wish togo. We are like the blind or like someone who isgoing to a new place who doesn’t know how toget there. If one wants to get there, one needs tohave a friend who knows the road and the way togo. In the same way, we do not really know atthis point the way to achieve the level of abuddha, so we need a guide, someone who canshow us how to get there. That guide is the guru.In the same way, if we are in a very dangerousplace where there are lots of very scary things,scary noises, and so forth, then we need a guideand escort who can lead us out of that place. Ourminds are like that place. Our minds are filledwith the mental afflictions, the six poisons, andthe guru is the guide and escort who leads usfrom that dangerous place into the level ofenlightenment. Similarly, if one wishes to crossthe ocean one needs to have a boat and oneneeds to have a captain of the boat. Sometimesboats are rowed, and then one needs to have anoarsman. Without a boat and an oarsman orcaptain, one wouldn’t be able to get to the other

*Editor’s note: i.e. it cannot be accurately understood orexpressed verbally or conceptually.

82 SHENPEN ÖSEL

When one ismeditating uponmahamudra, oneshould do so in away in which themind isuncontrived

side. Similarly, in order to cross over the oceanof samsara, one needs to have the oarsman of theteacher.

For these reasons, in order to attain therealization of mahamudra, one should alwaysrely upon spiritual teachers. Therefore, it is saidthat gurus or spiritual teachers are the condi-tions for mahamudra.

The next point in this section says,“Mahamudra has no methods,” and yetuncontrived mind is the method ofmahamudra. When one is actually engaged inthe practice of meditation uponmahamudra, the method for doingso is to rest within theuncontrived mind. In order tounderstand this notion, we mustexplain what is meant by sayinguncontrived mind. In general,when one is speaking about thetrue nature of the mind, one saysthat its essence is emptiness.Because the essence or truenature of the mind is empty, itdoes not have a color, a shape, or any definingcharacteristic. Because it is empty, this truenature of the mind is beyond being an object ofspeech or an object of conceptuality, and there-fore is inaccessible for untrained ordinary be-ings. Though the essence of the mind is empti-ness, the reflexive expression* of this emptinessis the aspect of clarity, which gives rise to all theappearances of the phenomena of samsara andnirvana. For that reason all the appearances ofsuffering, which are connected with the samsaricstate, and all the pure appearances, which arepresent during the enlightened state, are thereflexive expression or display of mind itself.

How does one come to realize the essence ofmind, which is the union of luminosity andemptiness? It is through supplicating one’s guru,one’s spiritual teacher, and through gatheringthe accumulations of merit that one will come torecognize the true nature of one’s mind. Realiz-ing the true nature of the mind, the union ofluminosity and emptiness, is called groundmahamudra or view mahamudra.

If one realizes view mahamudra but does notmeditate upon path mahamudra, uponmahamudra as the path, then, although one has

had a realization of mahamudra,one will not be able to give riseto all the excellent qualities ofrelinquishment** and realiza-tion. Having realized viewmahamudra one needs to sus-tain or maintain this realizationin a nondistracted way, and thisis what is called mahamudrameditation.

When one is meditatingupon mahamudra, one should do

so in a way in which the mind is uncontrived.When one is meditating, if one thinks, “Oh,maybe my meditation will be very good,” andclings to that type of an attitude, or if one givesrise to fear or concern, thinking, “Oh, my medita-tion isn’t going very well,” and clings to that typeof an attitude, then one is engaging in hopes andfears. This is a contrived type of meditation andwill not bring about the perfect practice ofmahamudra. When one is meditating onmahamudra one should not be performing anytype of contrived meditation. For example, whenone is meditating upon a deity, then one is medi-tating upon the aspects of that deity—that itscolor is white, it has one face, it has four arms,and so forth. That is a type of contrived medita-tion, and mahamudra meditation is not like that;it is an uncontrived meditation.

*Editor’s note: What the translator is trying to avoid herewith this expression is any notion that emptiness is aphenomenon that exists in any way independent or separatefrom the totality of experience. The interdependent manifesta-tion of phenomena, which are all just mere appearance, ariseout of the clarity aspect of the indivisible union of clarity andemptiness, which themselves are one and the same thing.Clarity is emptiness; emptiness also is clarity. Therefore,whatever arises out of clarity is also not other than emptinessitself, and in that sense can be thought of as the reflexiveexpression of emptiness, as is clarity.

**Editor’s note: Relinquishment of all the causes that bindus in samsara—the kleshas or afflictive emotions and thepush-button reactivity that arises out of them, the grasping ata self and the fixation on other that arises out of the habitualtendency to cognize one’s reality dualistically, and fundamen-tal ignorance itself.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 83

Plant thewatchman ofundistractedmindfulness

What is meant by resting in uncontrivedmind means that one’s past thoughts have ceasedand future thoughts have not yet come. So onerests in the uncontrived state, which is betweenthese two. One rests in the true nature of themind or rests in seeing the essence of the mind.It is difficult to rest in meditation like that for along time. So after some time thoughts willarise. If one does not recognize the very essenceof these thoughts but follows after them, thenthoughts will continue to arise in an uninter-rupted stream. However, if one recognizes theessence of these thoughts, they will be naturallyliberated and one will not bebound by thoughts. Theuncontrived mind is beyondbeing an object of speech. There-fore, it is difficult for me actu-ally to express this to you inwords. For those of you whohave received the blessings of aguru and who have experienced the uncontrivedmind, then you know what I am talking about.But for those of you who have not had such anexperience, then it is difficult for me to actuallyexplain it to you or to show it to you, and there-fore, you might have some doubts about this.However, if you engage in practice and give riseto devotion to your guru and gather the accumu-lations of merit, then you will be able to recog-nize this uncontrived mind and you will nolonger have any doubts about it.

Saraha said “If one rests withinnoncontrivance and freshness, realization willarise. If one maintains this like a river’s flow,realization will arise again. Yogis and yoginis,completely abandon all reference points andcharacteristics; rest continually within equi-poise.” If one rests naturally settled without anycontrivance in the true nature of the mind, thenone will actualize or actually bring forth therealization of this true nature.

The mahasiddha Saraha also states, “If onetightens, this will cause thoughts to go in the tendirections. If one abandons this one can restunmoving and still.” When one is meditating, ifone thinks that one needs to be free of all

thoughts and conceptuality, and one clings tothat attitude, then more thoughts will come.However, if one abandons that type of thinkingand just says, “Well, whether there are thoughtsor no thoughts, that’s fine,” and if one remainsfree of hopes and fears, then one will be able torest the mind without many thoughts in themind.

To quote Padampa Sanjay: “The gurus’ teach-ings reside in one’s heart. This is like seeing ahidden treasure sitting in the palm of one’shand.” It is through receiving the pointing-outinstructions on the true nature of mind and

through receiving the guru’sblessing that one is able to recog-nize the true nature of the mind.It is these instructions that onereceives from one’s guru, then,that are like having a jewel in thepalm of one’s hand. If one has ajewel in the palm of one’s hand,

one is able to see the shape and characteristicsof the jewel clearly. And it is through the bless-ings and pointing out instructions of one’s guruthat one is able to see the true nature of one’smind.

The fourth point says, “Mahamudra has nopath,” and yet undistracted mind is the pathof mahamudra. To practice mahamudra oneneeds first to have received the pointing-outinstructions and to be able to rest [the mind]without any contrivance, and then one needs topractice these instructions as one’s path in anundistracted way. Maitreya says, “Plant thewatchman of undistracted mindfulness, which isnot simply blocking mental activity like beingunconsciousness or asleep.” When one is uncon-scious, the five sense consciousnesses haveceased and one has no conceptuality. When onegoes to sleep, the five sense consciousnessesdissolve into the all basis consciousness. But theundistracted awareness which one should haveis not merely the ceasing of the five senseconsciousnesses nor their dissolving into the allbasis consciousness. It is rather an awarenesswith which one constantly observes one’s mind.One looks to see whether one’s mind is abiding,

84 SHENPEN ÖSEL

whether one’s mind is engaged in thinking, tosee whatever [it is doing or whatever state it isin]. One maintains one’s awareness like a watch-man. To plant the watchman ofundistracted mindfulness meansthat no matter what activitiesone is engaged in—whether oneis walking, sitting, eating ortalking—one should maintainmindfulness as much as one can.

Gyalwa Yangönpa says, “Donot regard thoughts in the mindas faults. Not meditating inten-tionally upon nonconceptuality,rest the mind in its own funda-mental state and plant thewatchman. Within shamathameditation stability will arise.”Not to regard the thoughts of themind as faults means that oneshould not think that it is verybad if one has lots of thoughtswhile one is meditating. Oneshouldn’t think that one is tryingto free oneself from thoughts,because thoughts are the reflex-ive expression of the mind. Therefore there is nonecessity to think, “Oh, I definitely have to freemyself of thoughts while I am meditating.” Oneshould abandon all hopes and fears in regards tothis, which is what is meant by saying, “notmeditating intentionally upon nonconceptuality.”Instead, one should rest the mind in its ownfundamental state and plant the watchman ofundistracted mindfulness. Through practicing inthis way, then, within the practice of shamathastability of mind will arise.

At this point the explanations concerninguncontrived mind and not abandoning thoughtsare mostly concerned with the practice ofvipashyana. If one is only practicing shamatha,*then one does need to bring the mind to rest orto be able to cause the mind to abide,** and so atthat point one does need to have thoughts cease.

The fifth point is, “Mahamudra has noresult,” and yet the mind liberated intodharmata is the result of mahamudra.

Through practicing mahamudra meditation onepurifies all the adventitious obscurations of themind which are explained sometimes as being of

two types: the obscuration ofmental afflictions and theobscurations to objects of knowl-edge. When these obscurationshave been purified, then one hasattained the result ofmahamudra. That is the result ofmahamudra. When one hasbecome free of all obscurations,then the habitual patterns ofclinging to true existence arealso purified and one is able totruly recognize that externalappearances are an aspect ofmind—an appearing aspect ofmind—and one will havereached a level where appear-ances and one’s own mind havemixed. When one has becomefree of clinging to true exist-ence—free of the apprehensionof true existence***—togetherwith the habitual patterns for

such clinging or apprehension, then it is saidthat one’s own mind and appearances are mixed.At that point then one is able to performmiracles, as were performed by the siddhas ofboth India and Tibet. They were able to touchfire but not be burned by it. They were able towalk on water and not sink in it. They were ableto walk through the walls of buildings, and soforth. These miracles arise naturally at thatlevel. At that point one has also purified the fourelements of one’s physical body and is able totransform one’s body into such things as a large

*Editor’s note: as opposed to the unified practice ofshamatha and vipashyana

**Editor’s note: i.e. abide single-pointedly in nondiscursivetranquillity

***Editor’s note: The existence of phenomena as other thanmere appearance arising as the expression of the interdepen-dence of merely apparent causes and conditions; permanentsubstantial existence independent of causes and conditionsthat give rise to it.

When one hasbecome free ofall obscurations,then the habitualpatterns ofclinging to trueexistence arealso purified andone is able totruly recognizethat externalappearances arean aspect ofmind

SHENPEN ÖSEL 85

mass of fire or a large body of water. One is ableto perform many different types of miracles andpractice many different types of samadhi.

At that level one has also purified the nadi,prana, and bindu* of one’s own physical form andbecause of that one is able to arise in or manifestthe form of many different yidams or deities, andone is also able to meet with these many variousyidams. At that point it sometimes also occursthat one’s students are able to see one’s form asbeing that of the yidam. Then as is said, “Justlike fire and firewood, the remedy and what is tobe abandoned are exhausted together. Whoeverhas perfected all qualities in the expanse is ayogin or yogini of nonmeditation.” What is to beabandoned are the obscurations of mental afflic-tions and the obscurations to objects of knowl-edge, and when these have been exhausted, thenthe path which is the means to abandon them isalso exhausted. The illustration of this is theexhaustion of firewood and fire. When one has a

lot of firewood, then one will have a big fire.When all the firewood is burned up, the fire willalso go out. At that point one is liberated fromall hopes and fears. One is liberated from thefear of wandering in samsara and one is liber-ated from the hope of attaining liberation.

How is one liberated from hopes and fears?Through achieving the level of a buddha. Onceone has achieved that level—the level of thedharmakaya—then one is naturally and auto-matically liberated from samsara, and there isno need for hopes or fears. At that point one isable to accomplish benefit for both oneself andothers. One accomplishes one’s own benefitbecause one has completely abandoned allobscurations and has actualized thedharmakaya. Attaining the dharmakaya isachieving benefit for oneself. Based on theblessings of the dharmakaya one manifests thesambhogakaya and nirmanakaya in whateverway is needed for students who are to betrained, thereby accomplishing benefit for oth-ers.

Within path mahamudra we speak of fourlevels of yoga: one-pointedness, simplicity orfreedom from elaborations, one taste andnonmeditation. When one has achieved the leveljust described, then one has achieved the level ofnonmeditation. The fruit of mahamudra medita-tion is called nonmeditation.

That completes the second section, TheIntroduction To The Fundamental Character.

Now we come to the third section, Training OnThe Path Of Suchness, which explains in fourmain points how beginners can practice the pathof mahamudra meditation. The first point says,As the preliminary practice, meditate onguru yoga with faith, devotion, and respect,three times during the day and three timesat night. One begins the preliminary practice bygoing for refuge to the three jewels, giving riseto bodhicitta, meditating upon loving-kindnessand compassion, and practicing the sixparamitas, and having done that, then one canpractice the guru yoga.

After one has practiced the guru yoga, the

*Editor’s note: The concepts of nadi, prana, and bindu[Tibetan: rtsa, rlung, thig-le] are further explained in a notefrom The Life of Marpa the Translator, by Tsang Nyön Heruka,Shambhala, Boston and London, page 235: “According to theyogic teachings of the path of skillful means [Sanskrit:upayamarga; Tibetan: thabs-lam], realization is attainedthrough the synchronization of body and mind. This may beachieved through meditating on nadi, prana, and bindu—thepsychic components in the illusory body. Prana is the energy,or ‘wind,’ moving through the nadis, the channels. Bindu is thequintessence secreted within the body. As is said, ‘Mindconsciousness rides the horse of prana on the pathways of thenadis. The bindu is mind’s nourishment.’

“Because of dualistic thinking, prana enters the lalana[Tibetan: rkyang-ma] and rasana [Tibetan: ro-ma], the leftand right channels. This divergence of energy in the illusorybody corresponds to the mental activity that falsely distin-guishes between subject and object and leads to karmicallydetermined activity. Through yogic practice, the pranas can bebrought into the central channel [Sanskrit: avadhuti; Tibetan:dbu-ma], and therefore transformed into wisdom-prana. Thenthe mind can recognize its fundamental nature, realizing alldharmas as unborn.

“This belongs to advanced practice and can only belearned through direct oral transmission from an accom-plished guru. Once the meditator is well established in theexperience of the fundamental nature of mind, he or she canmeditate on it directly, dissolving the nadi, prana, and binduvisualization. Meditation using the concept of psychic chan-nels belongs to the category of ‘sampannakrama [Sanskrit forthe completion stage] with signs.’ The formless practice, whichcontemplates the nature of mind directly, is ‘sampannakramawithout signs.’”

86 SHENPEN ÖSEL

text says in the next point, As the main prac-tice, rest within the state of uncontrivedmind with undistracted recognition. Themain practice is to rest within uncontrived mindas has already been explained.

As the conclusion, recog-nize whatever appears as yourown mind and train yourawareness with skill. Thepractice of meditative equipoiseis to rest without contrivance,and in the post-meditation oneshould merely recognize allappearances as being one’s ownmind and in that way train withawareness.

The fourth point says, Rely-ing upon the sequential aris-ing of experiences, exert your-self in meditation until con-ceptual mind is exhausted.During one’s formal practice,from the beginning to the end,one gives rise to many different types of experi-ences. Some people give rise to the experiencesassociated with shamatha practice. Some giverise to the experiences associated withvipashyana practice. But regardless of the na-ture of one’s experience, one must continue topractice until one reaches the level ofnonmeditation where conceptual mind is ex-hausted, where phenomena are exhausted. Eachtime one gives rise to certain experiences inmeditation, one should not think, “Oh theseexperiences are fine. This is enough. I don’t needto do anymore.” Instead one must practice untilone attains this level of stability or fruition—theexhaustion of conceptual mind—because if onedoesn’t, if one just thinks that whatever level ofpractice one has achieved or whatever type ofexperience comes up is enough, one will notreach the final level of fruition and there will beno benefit.

There are many different types of experi-ences that can arise in meditation, but in gen-eral, as it reads in the text, There are two waysin which experiences arise: as unfavorable

experiences and as favorable experiences.As for the first: All unfavorable experi-

ences—whatever they are, such as dullness,agitation, illness, fear, fright, or doubt—

arise from your meditation.Therefore, recognize them tobe experiences. Without aban-doning them, meditate, takingthose very things as the objectof your view and meditation.

Sometimes, when one ismeditating upon the true natureof one’s mind, one’s mind is verydark or sunken, or one fallsasleep. This is known as dull-ness. Sometimes, when one isresting within uncontrived mind,practicing mahamudra, manydifferent thoughts or conceptsarise. This is the experience ofagitation. Sometimes peoplepracticing mahamudra becomephysically sick, or have a lot of

mental suffering. Sometimes, seemingly for noreason at all, fear arises, as it were, naturally,and sometimes one has doubts about the dharmaor about one’s teachers. All of these things canarise within one’s practice.

If one has attained some stability in thepractice of mahamudra meditation and were tobecome sick, for example, then one would be ableto mix this physical feeling or sensation of beingsick with one’s own realization or experiences ofthe true nature of one’s mind. In this way onewould be liberated from the sickness through thepractice of mahamudra, or one would at least beable to bring the illness onto the path ofmahamudra. In like manner, whatever arises—be it fear or doubts towards one’s teachers or thedharma—one should not rely upon other rem-edies, but should bring all of these experiencesonto the path of the practice of mahamudra. Ifone practices in this way, favorable experienceswill arise naturally.

The text continues, As for favorable experi-ences: First, the experience of the mindabiding arises. This is an experience of the

One mustcontinue topractice until onereaches the levelof nonmeditationwhereconceptual mindis exhausted,wherephenomena areexhausted

SHENPEN ÖSEL 87

Once youhave begunmeditation uponthe true natureof mind, youshould continueto do so as muchas you are ableand for as longas you live

practice of shamatha. Based on that, the expe-rience of the essence, emptiness, arises.Based upon that, the experience of attainingrealization arises. One has a true realizationof the true nature of the mind. Based uponthat, the experience of turning away fromattachment arises. All of these experiences areconsidered to be good or favorable. But whenthese good experiences arise, if one clings tothem, if one thinks that one always needs to giverise to such good experiences, then this clingingto positive experiences binds one.

With that type of sequentialarising of experiences, youshould exert yourself in prac-tice without any complacency.There are many types of experi-ences which can arise, but nomatter what arises, you shouldpractice without any compla-cency. Once you have begunmeditating upon the true natureof the mind, you should continueto do so as much as you are ableto for as long as you live. Youshould never become satisfiedwith your meditation, thinking,“Oh, now I’ve done enough; Idon’t need to do anymore.” Youshould meditate again and again.

The mind’s merely abiding is not suffi-cient—you must meditate in order to see theessence. When you begin practicing meditation,you may achieve stability in the practice ofshamatha, but you should not think, “Oh this isfine, this is enough that I have achieved thisstability.” You must continue to practice withdiligence until you come to the realization ofemptiness, associated with the practice ofvipashyana. Merely seeing the essence is notsufficient—you must meditate in order toattain realization. Although you may havetruly realized vipashyana, you should not think,“Oh, now I’ve realized this, this is enough, I don’tneed to do anymore.” You should continue topractice until you attain stability in that realiza-tion.

Merely attaining realization is not suffi-cient—you must meditate in order to turnaway from attachment. It is not enough merelyto have attained a stable realization, you mustcontinue to meditate until you have turned awayfrom your attachment to samsara.

Merely turning away from attachment isnot sufficient—you must meditate so that,through the liberation of conceptual mindinto dharmata, conceptual mind is ex-hausted, phenomena are exhausted, and you

awaken. It is not enoughmerely to turn away from at-tachment to samsara; that aloneis of no benefit. You must medi-tate until conceptual mind isexhausted, phenomena areexhausted, and you attain thelevel of nonmeditation.

This completes The VeryEssence of Mind, Mahamudra,the One Sufficient Path.Saying the very essence of mindand what is meant by thatmeans that the instructionscontained within this text arethe very essence of all the in-structions of the masterGampopa.

We have now come to the conclusion of thistext. I received what is called in Tibetan

the trilung—the oral transmission—for this textin the form of a commentary from the SixteenthGyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, whenhe gave me the transmission for the collectedworks of Dagpo Rinpoche, which is anothername for Gampopa.

[Rinpoche chants, giving the oral transmis-sion for this text.]

That completes the explanation ofmahamudra. Although one could explain what isnecessary for the practice of mahamudra in avery extensive way, to put it very briefly, oneshould give rise to faith and confidence in what-ever guru one regards as one’s root guru andmeditate upon the guru yoga, supplicating the

88 SHENPEN ÖSEL

This is a pathwithout faults

guru, and then imagine that the guru dissolvesinto light and that this light is absorbed intoone’s own mind, one’s own heart center. In thisway, one’s own mind and one’s guru’s mind aremixed together. Then rest one’s mind in thisstate of the inseparability of one’s own mind andthe guru’s mind. If one practices in this way onewill naturally give rise to the realization ofmahamudra. One should meditate in that waynot just once, but again and again. Again andagain, one should supplicate one’s guru and thenpractice mahamudra meditation, resting themind in the uncontrived state. If one does that,then one will be able to achieve the same level ofactualization or realization of mahamudra thatwas achieved by all the mahasiddhas of Indiaand Tibet, because this is a path without faults.It is a perfect path, and younow have this path with itsopportunity in your own hands.If you practice meditation inthis way, you will be able in the future to attainthe fruits of this practice, all the excellent quali-ties of relinquishment and realization. Whoeverpractices meditation in this way—whether ornot one is ordained, whether one is male orfemale, whether one is old or young, it makes nodifference—[can attain this result.] There is nodifference in terms of the realization ofmahamudra that one can achieve, becauseeveryone’s mind has what is called

tathagatagharba or buddha nature. Therefore,the excellent qualities of the dharmakaya can beachieved by everyone. Whoever meditates uponthis path will be able to achieve the same excel-lent qualities of relinquishment and realization.

It is through the great kindness of His Holi-ness the Dalai Lama that I was able to come hereand give you these instructions on mahamudra.It is through his great kindness that we havebeen able to come together, that you have beenable to listen to these teachings, and that I havebeen able to give them. And so we now have avery special dharma connection. I make theaspirational prayer that all of you will be able topractice the meditation on mahamudra andattain the result, and that, having attained theresult, you will be able to attain the siddhi of

flying in space, so you will be ableto fly here and fly there.

Now I would like to concludewith the aspirational prayer that,

on the basis of all the roots of virtue which havebeen accumulated here today through thisdharma teaching, the master of all the Buddha’steachings who appears now in this world, HisHoliness the Dalai Lama, may live long, and thatall his aspirations and all his intentions forbeings may be quickly and perfectly fulfilled. Ialso make the aspiration that through the accom-plishment of all his intentions and wishes, thisworld may become peaceful.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 89

The second issue of Shenpen Ösel, which appeared in October 1997, featured the story ofthe Venerable Lama Norlha’s efforts to rebuild Korche Monastery and establish a monas-tery for nuns in his native region of Nangchen, eastern Tibet. Since that time, the monas-

teries have flourished as Lama Norlha continues to sponsor and supervise new projects in bothplaces.

The nuns’ monastery was begun in 1990 at Kala Rongo, a holy site where Guru Rinpoche medi-tated and concealed the terma Barchay Kunsel. Years earlier, on three separate occasions, theSixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa had requested Lama Norlha to establish a dharma center there,prophesying immense benefit to the entire world. A group of 150 nuns built the monastery and asix-mile access road with their own hands while living in huts on the surrounding hillsides. Theyworked on construction during the hours between morning and evening chanting sessions, androtated key positions such as cook, treasurer, chant master, ritual master, and disciplinarian.

In 1992, Lama Norlha inaugurated the first traditional three-year retreat at Kala Rongo. Onlytwenty-five nuns had originally been scheduled to enter the retreat, but their enthusiasm inspiredthem to share their tiny rooms, allowing fifty nuns to participate in the first retreat cycle.

Kala Rongo Convent now has more than 250 residents and is in its third cycle of three-year

Re-establishing the Dharma in Tibet

In 1999, a surprising and auspicious event occurred: Three nuns from Jiangsu, in southwesternIn 1999, a surprising and auspicious event occurred: Three nuns from Jiangsu, in southwesternIn 1999, a surprising and auspicious event occurred: Three nuns from Jiangsu, in southwesternIn 1999, a surprising and auspicious event occurred: Three nuns from Jiangsu, in southwesternIn 1999, a surprising and auspicious event occurred: Three nuns from Jiangsu, in southwesternChina, arrived at Kala Rongo, the monastery for women that the women of Nangchen, with theChina, arrived at Kala Rongo, the monastery for women that the women of Nangchen, with theChina, arrived at Kala Rongo, the monastery for women that the women of Nangchen, with theChina, arrived at Kala Rongo, the monastery for women that the women of Nangchen, with theChina, arrived at Kala Rongo, the monastery for women that the women of Nangchen, with thehelp of Lama Norlha and his students, have built in Tibethelp of Lama Norlha and his students, have built in Tibethelp of Lama Norlha and his students, have built in Tibethelp of Lama Norlha and his students, have built in Tibethelp of Lama Norlha and his students, have built in Tibet

90 SHENPEN ÖSEL

retreats. About ninety nuns have completed theretreat program, and fifty more are currently inretreat. Four nuns participating in their secondretreat are serving as assistant teachers for thefirst-time retreatants.

In 1999, a surprising and auspicious eventoccurred: Three nuns from Jiangsu, in south-western China, arrived at Kala Rongo. Deter-mined to receive advanced training in TibetanBuddhism, the Chinese nuns had consultedPalpung Monastery and had been directed toKala Rongo Monastery as the best source oftraining in the Kagyu tradition for nuns in Tibet.

The Chinese nuns are in the process ofadapting to the climate and culture of easternTibet. During Lama Norlha’s visit to Kala Rongoin the fall of 1999, he gave each of them a set oftraditional Tibetan maroon wool robes to replacetheir light cotton robes that were more suited tothe warm weather of southwestern China. Aftera few weeks of sampling the Tibetan diet ofroasted barley flour (tsampa), dried yak cheese,butter, yogurt, and dried meat, they shyly askedif they could have rice as their staple grain. Ricehas been prepared for them ever since, butrecent reports suggest they are also developing

a taste for tsampa. Currently immersed in thestudy of written and spoken Tibetan, they arescheduled to enter the next three-year retreattwo years from now.

The presence of the Chinese nuns at KalaRongo is significant for several reasons. It dis-tinguishes Kala Rongo as a serious, respectedmonastery in the eyes of the government, andwill greatly facilitate communication with Chi-nese officials should the need arise. Also, accord-ing to Lama Norlha, Chinese monks and nunsare known for their especially strict observanceof vows and discipline—an example that willgreatly benefit all the nuns at Kala Rongo.Finally, the Chinese nuns will be able to sharetheir wider education with the Tibetan nuns,who have never had an opportunity to attendschool and therefore lack many basic skills, suchas the arithmetic necessary for financial transac-tions and record-keeping.

Creating New Opportunities for Women

The success of Kala Rongo Convent is especiallystriking in light of the ingrained Tibetan percep-tion that women belong at home churning butter,and that education and religious training would

The Chinese nuns in their Tibetan wool robes, which replaced the light cotton robes they arrived inThe Chinese nuns in their Tibetan wool robes, which replaced the light cotton robes they arrived inThe Chinese nuns in their Tibetan wool robes, which replaced the light cotton robes they arrived inThe Chinese nuns in their Tibetan wool robes, which replaced the light cotton robes they arrived inThe Chinese nuns in their Tibetan wool robes, which replaced the light cotton robes they arrived in

SHENPEN ÖSEL 91

only be wasted on them. Having seen the relativeequality achieved by Western women in recentdecades, Lama Norlha has been able to makegradual inroads into these traditional attitudesin rural Tibet. Still, it hasn’t been easy. WhenLama Norlha first presented his plan to build amonastery for women in 1990, local officials andresidents were incredulous. If women didn’twant to get married, why couldn’t they just liveas nuns with their families?

Lama Norlha proceeded to sponsor theconvent in spite of protests, and everyone nowrecognizes how much the nuns have achieved.They also recognize the monastery’s consider-able benefit to the surrounding community,which often calls upon the nuns for prayers andspecial rituals in times of need.

Even Lama Norlha had to admit the nunswere not at first capable of running the monas-tery themselves, due to their lack of educationand practical experience in areas traditionallyreserved for men. For the first few years themonastery was administered by a group of men,while the nuns devoted their time to study,prayers, construction, and administrative train-ing. In 1997, the nuns took over all the adminis-trative functions, and the male staff was reducedto a single consultant, mostly for help withbookkeeping andpurchasing. By 1999,the nuns were runningthe monastery withoutany outside assistanceat all. Again, the once-skeptical communitywas won over by theiraccomplishments.

Nevertheless, evenwith such an impres-sive, decade-long trackrecord, the next stepenvisioned by LamaNorlha for Kala RongoMonastery is againmeeting with localresistance. Afterestablishing a flourish-

ing monastic college, or shedra, for monks atKorche Monastery, Lama Norlha is now deter-mined to offer the same opportunity for ad-vanced study to the nuns at Kala Rongo. Localpeople have come to accept that unmarriedwomen can be useful as nuns who spend theirdays praying, but can’t conceive of any benefitfrom offering them higher education.

Once again, Lama Norlha is disregarding theoverwhelming weight of local opinion and pro-ceeding with plans to fund and build a women’smonastic college. Though its primary functionwill be the same as that of the shedra at KorcheMonastery—to provide advanced religioustraining to graduates of the three-year retreatprogram—because women in Tibet have noaccess to a basic education, the college will alsooffer such courses as mathematics, basic science,and business skills.

American dharma students have donatedmost of the means for building and maintainingKala Rongo Monastery, and have sponsoredhundreds of thousands of recitations of theGreen Tara practice and of the fasting practice of1,000-armed Chenrezig, known as Nyungnay. Thenuns have recently completed a Nyungnayshrine room, where they take turns maintainingthis profound practice of purification and benefit

Nuns at Kala Rongo spinning wool to make rope for the monasteryNuns at Kala Rongo spinning wool to make rope for the monasteryNuns at Kala Rongo spinning wool to make rope for the monasteryNuns at Kala Rongo spinning wool to make rope for the monasteryNuns at Kala Rongo spinning wool to make rope for the monastery

92 SHENPEN ÖSEL

to all beings.

Korche Monastery and Monastic College

The story of Kala Rongo Monastery is remark-able, particularly since Lama Norlha has had toovercome deeply rooted traditional attitudestoward women in order to create a place forthem to flourish as dharma practitioners. No lessimportant, however, is the rebuilding of KorcheMonastery, begun in 1982 by Lama Norlha andhis students at Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monas-tery in upstate New York.

Korche Monastery ineastern Tibet is whereLama Norlha, beginning atage five, received his owntraining as a monk in theKagyu tradition. Aftercompleting two three-yearretreats at Korche beforethe Communist takeover in1959, Lama Norlha escapedto India, where he became adisciple of Kyabje DorjeChang Kalu Rinpoche.Lama Norlha served asretreat master in KaluRinpoche’s three-yearretreat program until 1976,when Rinpoche sent him toNew York City to open adharma center at the re-quest of his students there.Meanwhile, Korche Monastery, which had beenhome to about 500 monks, had been completelydestroyed.

In 1982, as soon as it became possible to re-establish communication with his native region,Lama Norlha began sending donations to rebuildthe monastery at Korche. In 1984, he was per-mitted to visit for the first time in twenty-fiveyears. By that time, the three-year retreatfacility and a few houses had been rebuilt, andreconstruction of the main shrine building hadbegun.

For more than 15 years, Lama Norlha hasbeen sponsoring and personally overseeing the

rebuilding of Korche Monastery. Currently hometo about 150 monks, Korche is in its sixth three-year retreat cycle since reopening its doors. Amonastic college was established in 1996, offer-ing a ten-year intensive program to monks whohave completed the traditional three-year re-treat. The program consists of detailed analysisof Buddhist scripture and commentaries andtraining in traditional Buddhist logic and de-bate. The abbot of the monastic college is anative of the area who took full ordination at age

seventeen and returned toKorche after receiving hiskhenpo degree. He is alsoknown in the region for hisstrict adherence to avegetarian diet, which headopted at age twelve—arare choice in Tibet, withits harsh climate andlimited variety of foods.

Even though the col-lege has been in operationfor four years, the buildingis still under constructionand was scheduled forcompletion this spring.

Lama Norlha alsofounded the Lama Gyupa,a group of senior monks atKorche who have com-pleted their training in thethree-year retreat pro-

gram. These monks maintain the daily andmonthly chanting services at the monastery andperform special ceremonies as needed. Withoutthe ongoing support provided by Lama Norlha,these monks would be forced to seek their livingoutside the monastery, rather than devoting alltheir time to religious service.

Schools, Medical Care, and Stupas

Besides the two monasteries, Lama Norlha hasestablished a free school system for the childrenof Nangchen, eastern Tibet, where access toeducation has been severely limited for severaldecades. The schools will equip children with

Lama Norlha (left) at Korche MonasteryLama Norlha (left) at Korche MonasteryLama Norlha (left) at Korche MonasteryLama Norlha (left) at Korche MonasteryLama Norlha (left) at Korche Monastery

SHENPEN ÖSEL 93

the knowledge and skills needed to participatein the modern world, while also preservingTibetan language, history and culture. The mainschool, Yönten Gatsal Ling near Korche, openedits doors in 1996, and now has 110 students. Inremote areas, 41 satellite schools teach basicliteracy and arithmetic. Lama Norlha is alsofunding a network of Tibetan doctors inNangchen, enabling them to provide medicalcare to nomads and farmers.

Lama Norlha and American donors are spon-soring three stupas currently under constructionin Nangchen. A single patron from New York issponsoring a stupa at Kala Rongo Monastery;the other stupas are being built at Korche Mon-astery and Yönten Gatsal Ling primary school.The two monastery stupas will be constructed inthe traditional closed style. At Yönten GatsalLing school, a shrine room will be built in the

base of the stupa, giving the children a place tolearn about and practice their Buddhist heri-tage.

All of Lama Norlha’s projects in eastern Tibetare administered by Kagyu Thubten ChölingMonastery in Wappingers Falls, NY, and byNYEMA Projects, Inc. (the Nangchen YushuEducational and Medical Association), a chari-table organization founded in 1996 by LamaNorlha and Pema Dorje, MD. The projects arefunded almost entirely through private dona-tions, with less than five percent needed foradministrative overhead. More information, andmany photos, can be found at Kagyu ThubtenChöling’s website, www.kagyu.com. Lama Norlhaplans to make his annual visit to Nangchen thissummer. New developments and photos will beposted on the website.

Nuns in three-year retreat wearing hats knitted by an American sponsorNuns in three-year retreat wearing hats knitted by an American sponsorNuns in three-year retreat wearing hats knitted by an American sponsorNuns in three-year retreat wearing hats knitted by an American sponsorNuns in three-year retreat wearing hats knitted by an American sponsor

94 SHENPEN ÖSEL

If you would like to make a donation towards Lama Norlha’s efforts tore-establish the dharma in eastern Tibet, and to preserve Tibetan

language, culture and religion, please fill out this form and mail or fax to:

Kagyu Thubten Chöling Monastery127 Sheafe RoadWappingers Falls, NY 12590Fax # 914-297-5761Attn: Tibet projects

Name

Address

City/State/Zip

Day/Evening Phone

E-mail

I would like to make a donation to help support:

❑ Kala Rongo Monastery for Women❑ Kala Rongo Women’s College❑ Korche Monastery❑ Korche Monastic College❑ Korche Monastery Lama Gyupa❑ Schools for children in eastern Tibet❑ Medical care in eastern Tibet

Please select your method of payment:❑ Enclosed is my check, payable to Kagyu Thubten Choling, in the

amount of $ .❑ I wish to charge my donation to my ❑ Visa ❑ Mastercard

# exp. /

Signature

More information on the projects and more pictures can be found onthe Kagyu Thubten Chöling website, www.kagyu.com.

SHENPEN ÖSEL 95

Subscription OfferSubscription OfferSubscription OfferSubscription OfferSubscription Offer

If you would like to support Shenpen Ösel,either by subscribing or by direct donation,please fill in the following form and mail to:

Shenpen Ösel4322 Burke Ave. N.Seattle, WA 98103Tel: (206) 632-1439e-mail: ltashi@worldnet.att.net

Subscription Form

Name

Address

City/State/Zip

Day phone/Evening phone

E-mail

I would like to subscribe to Shenpen Ösel;I am enclosing a check for $15 US.

I would like to subscribe to and provideadditional support for Shenpen Ösel;enclosed is my check for ___________.

In the Next Issue

of Shenpen Ösel

Khenchen TKhenchen TKhenchen TKhenchen TKhenchen Trangu Rrangu Rrangu Rrangu Rrangu Rinpoche’sinpoche’sinpoche’sinpoche’sinpoche’scommentary oncommentary oncommentary oncommentary oncommentary on the Medicine Buddhathe Medicine Buddhathe Medicine Buddhathe Medicine Buddhathe Medicine BuddhaSutra.Sutra.Sutra.Sutra.Sutra.

Subscription PolicySubscription PolicySubscription PolicySubscription PolicySubscription Policy

Shenpen Ösel has found an audience of read-ers who appreciate receiving edited tran-

scripts of recognized and qualified Buddhistteachers and are, in turn, willing to help supportour efforts financially either by subscribing orthrough direct donation. If you have not alreadysubscribed, we encourage you to do so by fillingout the subscription form on this page andsending it back to us with your check.

Cost of a year’s subscription is $15 U.S.Donations above that amount are much appreci-ated and needed. All of the time and energy thatgoes into recording, transcribing, editing, layingout, addressing, and mailing Shenpen Ösel isentirely voluntary, and so your subscriptions andcontributions are used solely to cover printingand mailing costs.

We have received many requests for backissues of Shenpen Ösel, and we are happy tosend them, but, since we have to photocopy themwhen we do not have any left in print, and be-cause we have to send them first class, they arerelatively expensive to send. So, if you wouldlike back issues and can afford it, please enclosea contribution of $5.00 per copy. Also, please feelfree to make your own copies for personal useand use in study groups. Thank you very much.

KSOC Meditation and Class ScheduleKSOC Meditation and Class ScheduleKSOC Meditation and Class ScheduleKSOC Meditation and Class ScheduleKSOC Meditation and Class Schedule

SHENPEN ÖSEL 95

Saturday, June 2410 a.m., 2 p.m. White Tara teaching and practice

Sunday, June 259:30 a.m. Chenrezig practice1 p.m. White Tara teaching and practice

Beginning July 1

Saturdays10 a.m. White Tara practice1 p.m. 3-hour sit

Sundays9:30 a.m. Chenrezig practice11:30 a.m. Chants, formless meditation, and

teachings by Lama Tashi

Shenpen Shenpen Shenpen Shenpen Shenpen ÖÖÖÖÖsel on-linesel on-linesel on-linesel on-linesel on-line

All issues of Shenpen Ösel are now available atwww.shenpen-osel.org.

96 SHENPEN ÖSEL

Kagyu Shenpen Ösel Chöling4322 Burke Ave. N.Seattle, WA 98103

BULK RATEU.S. POSTAGE

PAIDSEATTLE, WAPERMIT NO.

1257

In the case of the Medicine Buddha practice, you relinquish theIn the case of the Medicine Buddha practice, you relinquish theIn the case of the Medicine Buddha practice, you relinquish theIn the case of the Medicine Buddha practice, you relinquish theIn the case of the Medicine Buddha practice, you relinquish thethought, ‘I am me, I am the person I think I am,’ and replace it withthought, ‘I am me, I am the person I think I am,’ and replace it withthought, ‘I am me, I am the person I think I am,’ and replace it withthought, ‘I am me, I am the person I think I am,’ and replace it withthought, ‘I am me, I am the person I think I am,’ and replace it withthe thought, ‘I am the Medicine Buddha.the thought, ‘I am the Medicine Buddha.the thought, ‘I am the Medicine Buddha.the thought, ‘I am the Medicine Buddha.the thought, ‘I am the Medicine Buddha.’’’’’

from Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachingfrom Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachingfrom Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachingfrom Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachingfrom Thrangu Rinpoche’s teachingon the Medicine Buddha Sadhanaon the Medicine Buddha Sadhanaon the Medicine Buddha Sadhanaon the Medicine Buddha Sadhanaon the Medicine Buddha Sadhana