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This e-book is ntended for educational purpose only for thosewho can' aor o buy i
If you lie his boo, you shod buy t (i you can) nd support heBudha-Dhama.
Table o conents s cickable
tex n he boo is seachable.
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uuPlRLCAT!O:S 13, S Franci; A\enu, Souhmptn S08 5QL England\"\"\.rglru>.or [email protected] b Pb
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NUO
HE OMMNY
Rfu
Bodhicia
S
Visalisatin of Cenrezig
Pai
Seve Ban aye
y f Libin Bins fm t i eals
lf-Visaliain as nzi
Maa eiaio
aparanes
Th Disin
,.; Conn
7
7
7
333
43
54
6
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Re-emergence and Dedication
Additional Prayers and Phowa
Concluson: The Devotional Approach
DISCUSSION
Dedcaton
AL L-PERVING BENEFIT OF BEINGS
The Meditation and Recitation of the Grat Compassonat On
LOSSRY
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
OM MEMORTING IGU ULKU INOCHE'S OMELN IN IET
n1
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1 L ]{ ) 0 c l I
Th Chrg sadhaa that will xplai t yu is a ry simp praiI's th srst ad mst pplar t f th sadhaa that was mpsd
by agg Gyalp agg Gyalp 44 was a l w adry grat mas Tit I's diut t atgrs hm ito ay partilarliag r tradti ut, alugh h std al is a ttally utrr
sial gur. Absly ydy rm all t dif shls awldgsis grass
Sm ppl say tat h lid at last yars trs ta h ld rha yars was a i aius lds, li sia wr ista bi may i rdgs, tirt r frt i ibt ad hua, sm
fwhih a sl usd y wr big r bridgs, mad wth ir hais,twstd tgtr t bggr ais, twistd aga t bggr hais ad tassmbld i rdgs s als th fudr fth ta pa H wldtsay i pla bt tralld al r it May astris ar as suppsdt a dd by him amg hm t gra Drgay Mastry wit itsfamus prss th ggst ita xylgraph prss (h stard th astry, t
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te press) . He as a ver great being and tis parti car sadana, atog qite
sort and simpe, is terefore regarded as particar poerf and c arged it
great bessings.
Cenrezig or Avaokitesvara in S anskrit is te name of te bodisattvao is regarded as te Lord of Compassion or te embod imen t of compassio n.
e bodisattva of ompassion ca n be cons idered in t o as. From a istoric a
or m ndan e poi nt of vie e can sa tat Avaokit esvara as a pe rso n ike s ,
iving a ver ong time ago o fet innite compassion toards a sentient
beings and o as so tremendos corageos tat e committed imsefto postpone is on enigtenment nti e ad brogt a oter beings to
tat state of perfect iberation. He is te greatest eampe of compete corage
and nses ompassion. Anoter approac is to see im not as a man
bei ng, bt as co mpassi on emb odi ed in te form of a dei t. Avaokitesvara is
a smboi gre representing te compassio n o f a sentient beings, of a teddas and bodi sattvas. Not on does ti s form represent compassio n, i t
compete embodie s i t .
Cenrezig pratice is done in order to deveop or on compassion. From
te dd ist po int of vie, e can tr to generate compassi on trog canging
or retinkng or attitde and orkng on or ay of perceiving tings en
tere 's anoter a i is te on e I i main y epain e re, and tat is trog
feei ng ; i ts an eperientia, emo tion a approac.
I tin k its important to nderstand , tat, in order to be abe to fee compass on
and ave knd positive feeings toards oters, e rst need to o at sc
feeings are tis reqires tat e so d ae eperienced receiving tem orsees.
2
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Tats preci sely one o the m ain thing s we work on thro ugh the dety yoga whic h
s the co re o a sadhana.
For instance in this practice we imagine the presence o Chenrezig the
bodhis attva o compassion on top o our he ad or in ront o us hatever wethik or say we have a certain experience linked to the concepts involved; we
naturally projec t som ethi ng. For example i you read the nae o a place and
a description o it an image o it orms in your ind. In the same way when
we thin k o the bo dhi sattva Chen rezig , when we say the L ord o Copass ion
our concept naturally creates the image o a compassionate being and not osom eon e who i s angry arrogant or u nhappy. he n we think a bou t a Bu ddha
an enl ightened being it evokes an i mage o complete perfecton o somebody
wthou t any ault o r conusi on who has d one away with ignora nce who is to tally
wise and completely compassionate who only wants to help and work or the
weare o other beings with no other i ntent ion no selsh otivatio nTi s i s what we visualise o r think o in thi s practic e e eel the p resence o
Chenrezig the ost courageous bodhisattva who took the coitent not to
becom e enl ightened himsel unti l all sentient be ings are copletely liberated and
enlightened. His compassion is o the strongest knd the knd that nspires one to
exchange one s own well bei ng and happiness or the wellbeing and happines s o
others to always cons ider others inte rests beore on es own
So we think o Chenrezig who embodies that knd o copasson who has
the will the wisdo and the capacity to help It may help or example to think
o a person in your lie a true riend somebody who loves you unconditionally
who always tries to help you without expecting anything in return and who has
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the wisdo and the skll to do this in the best possible way. e try to iagine
soebody of that nature who is the very ebodient of copassion. e see
Chenrezig as the very essence of the copassion of all the enlightened beings
radiating loving kndness and wisdo.Visualising doesnt ean trying to look at soething o r to se e it a s if you were
lookng at a p icture f cours e if you can visualise as clea rly as if you were loo kng
at a picture thats very good however visuali sing is n ot as if you were sitting there
ju t passively watching a ovie. Its ore ip ortant to get involved in the proce ss
to feel th at Chenre zig is actually there is really present in whatever for you antto visualise h i It doesnt really atter whether you visualise h is for in one way
or another although it happens so eti es that a person has a certain c onnec tion
with a pe ci c for of a part icul ar bodhisattva o r Buddha. Te for o f Chenrezi g
doesnt really atter becaus e i n a way i ts our own true loving kndn ess the r oot
of our basic capacity to love and be copassionate that we project and that isradiating towards us
e try to feel that we and all the other beings in the whole universe - rece ive
this loving kindness. ere all baskng in the light and warth of the loving
kindness radiating fro this being who is the ebod iment of all the enl ightened
eings. ithout conceptualising this too uch we try to physically feel theradiance o f loving kndn ess and the wellbeing o f recei ving it. e feel th at ou r
inner heart is eing penetrated by this radiance a nd that we are really opening up
to it. e feel that we and all the othe r bei ngs are always in the p resence and u nde r
the protection of this e nlightened being who i s continuously radiating his he lp nd
uncond itio nal loving knd ness towards us.
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Although we dont need to conc eptualise thi s too uch there are two aspects
in he editation Ive just described. ne aspect is that we are generating and
developing loving ndness in ourselves by receiving it by eeling it while the
othe r is that we are letting our ind relax bec ause we naturally relax when we eelloving ndne ss. So it s si ultaneo usly a edi tation that akes our i nd cal and
peaceul and a process o generating loving ndness.
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( Yl Y E / R
A Bddst ate starts wih taig refuge and if it is a Mahaanaaie efge s amanied b the deemet f bdita is
what we d in te begnng f he sadhaa:
Sang e hO dan thok kyi chok nam la
Chan hub bar ak ni ap s hiDak gi jin ok p nam kyi
r la phn hir an e rup par hk
It meas, trug a te sitie deeds, ike gig et, ad a te stieress mig fm ta ma I attai egteme fr te beet f a
setiet begse rst tw nes ae e refge ad he net tw te deemet f
bdhhita I dnt thi it s eessar fr e t ean i deai the meanig frefge ad dhita ts time but as it's a er imrtan sbe I sa a fewwrds abu
1!
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Reuge s not only the ormal ceremony that marks somebodys entrance nto
Buddhsm; nor s t just a prelminary to Buddhst practce. aking reugeencompasses the entre Buddhst practce: t sets our goal or purpose and denes
the path to ollow as well as th e way to travel on t. It is thereore esse ntal : we c old
say n a way tha t there s act ually no thing else n Bu ddh ism but takng reuge. All
the Buddhst teachng s and practc es are conta ined wthn t because everythng s
ncluded n the Buddha the Dharma and the Sangha.e can cons der t rom d erent angles talk abo ut t at d erent leve ls place
the emphass on derent aspects but the main point remains the undamental
desre o every beng not only human bengs but actually every sentent beng -
to be happy to have what s pleasurable and to be ree rom suerng problems
and pan. All bengs wsh or everlastng happness and that s where everythng
starts. All o us are busy runnng around worred and anxous because o ths basc
des re or happness . B ut however much we prsue happiness stll we are n ot happy
because we dont really understand how to nd the happness we seek. And when
we look a lttle deeper nto our predcam ent we may wonder whethe r t s poss ble
to realse th s undamen tal aspraton. How can we ache ve t ?
ur usual wy s to look or certan th ngs ce rtan si tuations that we beleve wll
make us happy. e try d erent ways and me ans to get such things and s tuation s
only to nd o ut aerwards that they are not real so urces o happness . In dee d they
are mpermanent and can even themselves become the cause o urther problems.
Tey are not lastng solut ons to our problems ; they are not real sources ohappness.
8 Cetry
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I we then recon sider the s ituation and try to n d out what is really m akng us
happy or unhappy we are led back to our own mind. Happiness and unhappiness
do no t com e rom the things and s ituation s we create but from the way our m ind
reacts th e way our mi nd functi ons.hen I use the word mind here I do not only mean the thinkng mind but
also perceptions emotions eelings sensations - the whole of our experience.
Iwe could nd a way to work on the m ind and change our usua l way oreacting
might it be possible to nd a state o mind that doesnt bring us pain suering
and problems ? Ti s would mean workng less on the things and situations that weexperience and mo re on the experiencer o these things. From the Buddhist p oint
o view to be a ble to change one s way o experienci ng in a particular context and
sit uation is the main objec tive. Tereore the main Buddhi st practice come s down
to workng on our mi nd - that is on our own experience.
How things appear or me depen ds on the way I experi ence them . wo peopleplaced in the same si tuation may experience i t and thereore react to it in two very
dierent ways. Te way we experience something is the most important actor
because that is where all our happiness and unhappiness come from. a given
si tuation I may react in such a way that everyth ing is ne and no problem or me or
I m ay also re act di eren tly and eel very un happy. It all depends o n the way I react .Tis is why in t he Bud dhist approach we are es sent ially working on t he way
we react. In order to do this we have to talk about our emoti ons and percepti ons.
I we can transorm al l our negative emotions and im pure percep tions n othing
else is needed because we will then be completely happy and peaceul. Tat is
Buddhahood. Buddha or Buddhahood is no thing but a state in which the min d
i
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constantly reains positive and never reacts with negative emotions, never gets
overpowered by them Tat state o mind is c ompletely ree rom proble s, which
is why i t is called enlightenment or Buddhahood
Tis can only coe about when one has a real and deep understanding, a deepreali satio n, o how to work with the m in d. It means that on e can see one sel very
clearly, without illusions, delusions, obstacles, hi ndrances or c onusion o any nd.
ith that understanding and experience, one can transorm emotions. Tat is
soetimes regarded as th e highest orm o Dharma. It is also sometimes called the
Buddha b ecause thi s absolute , perect Dharma is nothin g but the absolute , perectstate o Buddhahood Te realisation o Dharma is t he Buddha ; so it doesnt
really make much d ierence whether you call i t Buddha or Dha rma. Te Dharm a
copris es all the various ways, paths, means , methods and techni ques used i n order
to realise the state oBuddha.
Te people who tread these paths, who practise the Dharma in a genuine way,are the S angha However, the ultimate or highest orm o Sangha is also the Budha
It is thereore soetimes said that the true absolute reuge is only the Buddha and
that the two other aspects oDharma and Sangha are included in the Buddha
Although in the begin ing the udda Dharma and Sangha are presented as three
separate reuges, they really reer to this true realisation, this complete transormaiono our usual way o reacting, which, as long as it is conused, unclear and based on a
misunderstanding , i the source o ou suerings, problems and unhappiness
ur usual, mistaken way o reacting is called samsara. As long as we react in
this way we can never be completely happy because, at the most basic level, our
reactions are wrong they are not in accord with reality.
Cetar
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e coul ientiy the pattern as ollows. e want omething; then we make
great eorts to try to get it. Tat very struggle to get happines brings worries an
aniety. You see, thi s way o going about it is wrong right rom the beginnin g. s
as i we come to si t near a re in orer to get cool. Te co oler we want to be, thecloser to the re we sit! It isnt going to work, an this is more or les what were
oing all the time.
It remins me o the story o a ibetan man who went on pilgrimage to
Bohgaya an came back complaining that Inia was so terribly ho hat even
when he heape nine blankets aroun his boy, the heat till woulnt go away. Inibet, heat is not a problem : the only problem is col. I the col is very intene
you cover your sel with mo re blankets an usually, une r nin e blankets, you no
longer eel the col. So he tho ught he c oul en o the heat i n the s ame way as
he protecte hi msel rom the c ol.
e ne e to ch ange our hab itual way o reacti ng through the pract ice . Howeverwe shoul be careul no t to practis e the Dharm a in the way we usually o every thin g
else, otherwise there wil be no ierence! I we practise Dharma in order to get
thigs, well just become more sams aric, bec ause were practising even the Dharma
in a samsaric way.
hat matters is not so much what we do but how we o it. Tats whyme itation is so imp ortan t. Trough meitatio n, we ry to make our min calm er
more relaxe, m ore spacious , mo re peaceul, to release the anxie ty the worrie , the
struggle. I our me itatio n is tight an nervous, ull o anxieti e an iwe struggle
to m ei tate, we will never achieve anything. e ne ed to learn how to work on o ur
mi : thats the Dharma practice.
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Its all very well to ay that we have to practis e Dharma but the ques tion is
How ? e try to visualis e and to medi tate but what does m edi tation really me an ?
I we dont clariy thi quetion well all into the trap o a mistaken samsaric
practice e may call it Dharma but it s actually no di erent rom samsara whichis why Gampopa repeated this warning again and again : I you dont practise
Dharma as Dharma the Dharma will lead you to the lower realms ! So to pracise
Dharma means to work on our mind on the way we react.
ang reuge in the Buddha the Dharma and the Sangha is the rt thing
we do in our practice By taking reuge we set our goal our intention. ithoutan object ive were lost c onued we dont now what to do o r what is i mpor tant
an d what i not A lack o purpose i n lie i a bi g problem that places us in a ery
dicult position First we get bored and then aer some time we eel consed
and useless we are incapable o doing anything useul Ten be cause we dont
have a purp ose we eel worthles and all into de press ion .I think it s very mportant to nd a purpose. I s incerely believe that one
can never become depresed i one has a really good obje ctive in l ie. hen
people have a ense o purpose they may go through inc redib le su ering and
hardship without pycholog ical problem s while hose who lead an aim less li e
are more likely to have such problems aking reuge means asserting a greatand benecial purpoe
First we take reuge in the Buddha. course to understand the Budha
is not eay; it encompasses the whole practice ad experience o Buddhim.
However we should at least have this concept that Buddha i the compete
realisation the complete eradication o all conusion and ignorance a state o
R y
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being that correspons to the transormation o all the negative emotions. e
shoul now that this is the true state o our m in. An that s what we want
to realise, to actualise, what we ourselves woul lke to be. e woul like to
econition ourselves rom our conuse state o min an return to the trueprimorial state o our mn, which is the Buha nature. Tat s our purpose.
Tat s our objective. An we ont want it just or ourselves but or all other
senie nt be ngs as well. Tey all suer an they all want to attain everlasting peace
an happiness, an it is or them also that we want to become enlightene. e
wish to bring them all to that state o enlightenme nt. Tat comm itmen t is goingor reuge to the Buha . It gene rally con sis ts o two aspects : th e wish to o t an
the conviction that t s possible. It is not easy even to simpl unerstan it, but
that s the main thing.
In orer to achieve our goal, we take reuge n the Dharma Te Dharma
encompasses all the ierent means, practices an tranings that woul lea us tothat realisation or actualisatio n. ing reuge in the Dh arma s the express on o
our wsh to train n those practices.
Finally, taking reuge in the Sangha s our reaness to open ourselves
to hos e who have the unerstan ing an exper ence o the teach ings an
methos, in orer to learn these ways an means. e open ourselves to recevethe pos t ive nuence, the instructions an teachng o the Dharma so that we
can work on ourselves .
Te whole o Buhs m is inc lue n these three acets o the reuge. Havng
tken reuge, we now what we want an what we nee to o, so we work on
tha an create the right circumstances that will enable us to o t Te reuge is
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thereore the e ntre Buddh t practce . Tere actuay nothng more n Buddh m
than takng reuge
It may eem eay to undertand at an nteectua evel but a ul undertandng
m ore dcult than we rt magine. Even th e po bl ty o enlghtenment andt mpl caton arent eay to athom. A real dee p de re to acheve t dcu t to
deveop becaue we are too nuenced and o overpowered by our em oton hat
our de re not u ually orented toward that end.
everthele eve n t not eay t the mot mportant thng. coure
everybody want happne but the queton what wl brng u rea happnereal peace ? e ne ed to remn d oureve o our com mtm ent to work n hat
d recton and to revve our np raton and undertandng agan and agan. T
why we repeat the reuge p rayer daly and at the begnn ng o every practce .
I thnk you now undertand the mportance o the reuge. I wont go nto
more detal .
hh
Tere very lttle derence between bodhchtta and reuge n the Mahaanaapproach Te Mahayana reuge an apraton or commtment to attan
enlghtenme nt or the ake o all entent b eng whch the ame a bodhc hi tta.
Te man pont here to develop the thought: I take reuge n Buddha Dharma
and Sangha and my purpoe or dong that to benet all entent beng not
ut mye l For the ake o them all I would lke to bec ome a Buddha.
+ e Centry
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Bodhichitta is i nspired by compassion, li mitless compassio n. e could dene
comp assio n in a genera way as unbias ed un iversa goodwill. It is love but - unlike
ordi nary love - this is unco nditi ona love. Usually when we love soeone we
expect this person to love us too and i this is not the cse we eel bad. Tatsconditiona love. hat were takng about here is unconditional love. It eans
that we wish the best or others whatever they eel towards us I soebody htes
me, its hi s or her problem I somebody loves e its aso his or her problem From
y side I have only good wishes benecial positive thoughs and intentions or
everybody. I dont worry about the reactions they may have towards e.From this point o view, being compassionate is not heavy; its light to bear.
From y side I hve no negative eelings towards anybody I lwys wish well
towards everyone whether they like me or not whether they treat e wel or not
and even whether I like them or no t Tat is I thin k also important to understand:
you dont have to like somebod y in order to eel compa ssion or hi or her Even iyou dont like soe one you dont wish him o r her bad things Som etimes pe ople
have dic uty developing copass ion or som eone they dislike becuse they think
that they have to like the p erson . As they dont they eel bd and guilty. However
its not necessary to like somebody in order to eel compassion or hi or her
Tere are people I like and people I dont like. e cant like everybody and thatsK as long as we j ust dont wish the b ad things.
Having generated c ompssi on we try to cultivte this otivation or spiration
to strengthen it and exten d its scop e. e recogn ise tha t it s good or us and good
or others. hen we dont have any negative thought a ny hatred or any ill eeli ng
towards anybody we already ee peaceu because in a way we hve orgiven
The Cea
h l h h d
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Forgiveness means having no i wil or no negative thoughts towards anyone so
were ree rom our burden o negative thoughts and hatred. Tis is benecial or
us b ecause our mind is ear ree rom al the garbage and we have nothin g to hold
on to ; a nd o course a we no onger hod any negative thoughts against others itsaso good or everybody else
e become naturaly purer and more positive in our being and attitude
because theres nobody we consider as an enemy. Everybody is ike a riend
because we wish everyone well. Tis doesnt mean that we have to particuary
ike everybody but we wish them well and they are thereore ike unacquaintedriends o r unkown riend s. Ti s is the attit ude we try to generate as we develop
our bodhichitta.
Te compassion o bodhichitta aso includes wishing well to everybdy.
Moreover it i boundes or imitess or innite in our ways.
Te rst o the our lim ites s aspects i s the wish to see al sentient beings be reerom suering : not just me my amiy and my riends : not just the p eole o my
country or those who are Buddhi sts or the people o this word ; but every si nge
sentient b eing everywhere throughout the universe.
Te second is the wish that they a be ree rom a s uerin g not just a itte bi t
o this or that su ering but o every kin d o suering.Te third is the wish that they al wi not ony be ree rom all suering but
that they also attain the best achievement the highest orm opeace and happiness
which is enlightenment
Te ourth is the wish that they will not only enjoy this highest level o
attainme nt or a sho rt period o time b ut orever.
6 Cetay
C i d d i h li i l b b dhi hi
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Compassion extended in these our limitless ways becomes bodhichitta.
Bodhichi tta has two aspects : compassion or all beings and the commi tment to
hel them attain enlightenm ent T ese two aspects are also caed compass ion and
wisdom. Te wisdom aspect i s the understanding that a state o everlasting peacean happiness - enlightenment - can be achieved. Te compasson aspect is the
wish to help all sentie nt bei ngs to attain that state. Tese two are like the two wings
o a bi rd : they must always go togethe r.
hen we recite this rst stanza o the text were reminding ourselves of
this commitment. e can either imagine that we take refuge and develop theboh ichi tta aspi ration in ront o a Reuge ree o r in the presen ce o Chenrez g
alone cons dering him as the em bod ime nt o all the aspect s o reuge o the whole
lin eage and o our guru. e then take reuge and the bodhic hit ta comm itm ent to
corm and reiterate our aspiration and understanding. e repeat these our lines
three times.
l o
ur present purpose is to get in touch with the presence of Chenrezig anenlghtened being who concentrates in himsel the energy o all the enlightened
beings o all the Buddhas.
e dont need to engage in conceptual speculatons about who or what
Chenrezi g actually is. hat matters is to eel that the real embod ime nt ounlimited
comp assion is actually presen t in the space abov e us. e magine all other sent ient
h oet 7
b i d d h i h i li hi b h d i
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beings around us and then ei ther visualise hi m above our heads or in ront o us.
Its no t jus t my Che nrezig but everybodys Chenre zig.
Te text says:
Dak sok kha khyab sem chen
Ch tsuk pe kar da we teng
r le phak chok Chen re z
Kar sal zer nga den tro
Tis means
On top the head of myse and all sentent bengs,
s a lotus and moon, upon ths s a .
om the appe ars the noble Chenrezg,
wht e n colo u rad a tng the ve colo urs.
0.
0
Tis starts the process o creating our visualisation o Chenrezig o creating
the orm or the way n which he appears
First we imagine that a very beautiul lotus ower appears one or two eet
above our heads . n top o it oats a moon disc on whi ca letter HR justdrops rom nowhere, l ike a thunderbolt Tis le tter H RI , a very st rong hitelight that spreads in all di rections.
Tis light touches, inspires, and we could almost say awakens all the
enlightened beings throughout space. Carrying their blessings their grace and
ene rgy, the light is reabsorbed i nto the syllable. T e light goes ou very quickly, and
then zooms back into the H R , which is now charged with the blessings and
8 Cmmta
te energies of all te enligtened beings
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te energies of all te enligtened beings.
Now t is very ene rgetic H R radiates anoter se t ofl igt rays tat toucal sentient beings trougout space. It completely puries eals liberates and
trasforms all te beings it touces. Having spread trougout space te ligt again zooms back into te letter H RI . Tis H RI is now even strongereven mo re energetic, be cause not only does it ave te en ergy and te blessings of
all e enligtened being s, but also te power of aving accomplised te be net
of all te sentient beings.
Tanks to tat strong energy and activity te HRI transforms into teimage of Cenrezig, wic is terefore very powerful, very energetic lively andactve. Tis is wat we sou ld try to feel .
Cenrezig is very beautiful. He appears to be young because compassion is
ageless and ne ver decays or deteriorates. H is b ody as wat we call te tirtytwo
maor and eigty mino r signs ofa great being and wit all of te beauty and qual itieswe can imagine belonging to a divine being. He is radiating compassion and
wisdom His colou r is wite a colour tat represents purity and also compassion .
As i s described in some tets, e is wite like t e snow mountains wen t e rst
rays of te sun s ine on teir slopes.
We souldn't categorise Cenrezig as any particular racial type. Hes neiterAsi an nor Weste rn no r African ; es us t comple tely beautiful. He s si mply watever
you can imagine as perfect ion . aybe te im ages of te deit ies are created a little
dierent from usual uman beings precisely to avoid teir being categorised into
one particular racial type; tis is not said in any commentary but it may be a
possible eplanation.
h mmta
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t is believ ed - don't know wete tis is true or not tat if ou're lost in a
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t is believ ed don t know wete tis is true or not tat if ou re lost in a
ungle and ou call for elp tis animal will come and lead ou out of te forest.
an stories ae told about tis animal one o f tem appears in te Jataka tales te
stoi es relating te Budda Sakamuni's former l ives.n tis story a unter once fell down a cli and got lost i n te ungle. lmost
ding e was crin g for elp wen a beautiful de er appeared and sowed i m te
way out of te forest tus saving is life. Tis anim al was so extraordinar tat te
unte r tougt te kng would reward im for catcing it . e told is s tory to te
kng and agreed to lead im to te place were e ad seen tis wonderful ani malan elp im to catc it in return for a rewad. Te king surrounded te forest
wit is men wo started sooting all te animals te could see.
Wen te dee e ard wat was going on e came face to face wit te ng and
asked im "W are ou doing tis? You sould not ll uselesl and senselessl
like tis. Wat do ou really want? earing te deer speak te king was verimpressed. e explained tat e lled animals because e and is subects ad
to eat. Te deer replied "t is true ou ave to eat but ou don't need to ll
sene lessl as ou're doing now. am te ng of te deer. f ou agree we can make
an arrangement tat will be good for all of us. rom now on will send a deer to
our kitcen ever da. mpressed and surprised te king accepted te deal andreturned to is palace.
Te next da a deer appeared at i kitc en doo r; and te next da and te next
an ever da. But on e day as te ng of te de er was walng troug te ungle
e e ard somebod weeping Loo ng around e saw a doe wo was sobbin g in
despair. We n e asked w se was weeping se answered tat i t was er turn
he Cmna
to go net day to te king's kitcen and tat se ad ust given birt to te sall
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to go net day to te king s kitcen and tat se ad ust given birt to te sall
baby lying by e s ide e own deat would ean ta t e baby would suely die
too wic w as wy se was so unappy T e king of te de e co foted e and
told e no t to woy tat se wouldnt ave to go ; te net day e iself stoodnea te kings kitcen e looked so etaodinay tat te cooks iediately
infoed te king tat a vey special dee ad coe tat day. Te king ecognied
te king of te d ee and asked i :
" Wy ave you come ee youself ? You s ould ave sent one of you sube ct.
" oday I ave come myself so you c an kill e and eat e"Tis is not igt! You ae suc a wondeful being and you ae te king of te
dee I can't kill you You must go away at once
"No I canno t go beca use i f ave to send all y people in tun to co e to you
and be eaten ten wen y tun coes I oul d also sae te i fate. If you spae
my life because I a te king ow can I deseve y tie and lead my people? ytun as coe today so I must take y esponibility
Te king asked i wat e could do to spae i li fe Te d ee answeed " You
can declae tat fo now on you will no longe equie any dee to coe hee
to be killed You can fobid all te people in you county to unt dee and not
onl y te de e but all ot e anials too All te anis ae like us: te y ae afraidwen tey ae unted to tued and killed If you give tis o de ten aybe I will
go away
Te king was so supised and so oved tat e ageed iediately and
poised to ake tis announceent tat vey day. "Now you can go away!
e said
Cmma
But te deer was still not satised. "Te birds in te sky are as badly treated as
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a a y a a a y a a
te oter animals by te umans e said "So are te ses in te rivers and lakes.
How can I be appy if only te forest animals ar e saved but t e b irds and ses
are still bein g unted ? I do nt want to leave if can only save my people, wile teote r animals are still no t free to live te ir lives appily.
So te kng agreed to issue a royal decree stating tat from now on, in is
contry, nobody wou ld be allowed to unt or s or kll any animal and tat every
livig being would b e free. Ten te d eer tanke d te king and went away.
Now te description continues:
pak me pe u en chen
In te kot of air on top of Cenrezigs ead, tees a small Amitaba.
Amitaba is te Budda of te Padme family. Cenrezig belongs to tis family
and is egarded as te emanation of Amitaba, wic is wy tis small im age i sadorning is ead.
hap ny d or je kyl trung zhuk
Dr me d a war ap t en pa
ap ne kun d ngo wor ur
He is sit ting in te lotus posture , is back resting on a wite mo on disc .
Its te presence of tis being, te embo diment of te Tree Jewels, carged
wit suc deep symbolism and signicance, and all te enligtened beings
enegies, wisdo m and c ompas sion , tat we feel and visu alise on top of our eads or
in font o f us
mmna
Altoug te text doesn't clearly mention anyting about te syllables
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g y y g y
O AN PADE H UN G i t i s generally understood - altoug i t i sn ' t
absolutely necessary tat wen we visualise te deity we also visualise te
mantra in is eart As already reeatedly stressed te main ting in te visualisation is te
feeling. We ave to really feel te resence or te energy or watever you call
it. As in any ealing tecnique it's our own concentration our own trust and
cond ence tat draw te bles sings te ower te osi tive energies o f all te
enligtened beingst as to be clearly understood tat wen mention all te enligtened
beings', tese are not o nly te Buddis t enligtened beings. rom a Buddist point
of view tere i no di erence be tween Buddist and nonBuddis t enligtened
being s. Any being wo as reaced a ig s tage of reali sation , in watever way and
troug watever tradition is considered an enligtened being. You can includeeverybody all te great beings you know about or aven't yet eard about. You
invoke embo died and conc entrated in your visualis ation of Cenrez ig te total ity
of everyting tat is good, osi tive owerful bene cia l comp assio nate and wis e.
Tat is w at you feel !
We don't try too ard to concentrate' in tis ractice We visualise in testyle of a samata or s inay medi tation wic me ans tat we ust let t is gre
tis image or tis resence arise ligtly in our mind and we rest in tat state.
Alternatively we can also feel te energy te oyfulness te goodnes s te bli ss of
te deity and rest in tat feeling. Tat's also sinay.
Cea
If te mi nd is di stracte d and wanders around too muc we can sarpe n te
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p
focus on one particular detail l ike Cenrezig's face or eyes or te letter HRI g ) . Wen te mind is scattered and agitated and we lose control over its
movements tat 's te m oment wen we sould concentrate on a small obect .e smaller te obec t te stronger te concentration i s You can visualise te
mantra or te syllable HRI ) in very small but very dist inct letters as ift ey were written wit a single air . O r if tere is m ental dullness i t elps to
look at som et ing wic is anging and us t about to d rop or fall down ti s
maes yo ur min d m ore alert .As we are conside ring tis p ractice from a devotional p oint of view i t
i s ainly as I sa id in te beginning te feel ing tat matters : feel ing te
warmt te prote ctio n feel ing te tr ust and com fort of aving a friend wo
as te capacit y te co mpass ion and t e wisdom to look after us is feel ing
can be nurtured and sustained during our daily l ife. or instance wen wego to bed we can feel tat we sleep under Cenrezig's protection. rom te
moment we get up we can carry on our daily activit ies i n is presenc e. In tis
way we feel protected and strengtened at every moment and we can better
face d ifficul ties anie ty or feel ings o f fear tis is also an impo rtant as pect
of te practice. We sould understand tat tis is not someting we createartici ally but tat tese posit ive quali t ies are in erent in our very nature in
te Budda nature tat is witin us . ese qualit ies are not separate from us
but can als o mani fest from outs ide.
Cmmt
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Having created te visualisation we ten reci te t is praise :
Jo wo kyn i ma g ku d ok kar
D:ok sang e kyi u la en
Tuk j chn i dro la zi k
Chen re zi la chak tsallo
Tese are te Budda's own words in praise of Avalotesvara wic can befound in bot sutras and ta ntras. T is prais e is s aid to ave eiste d even before te
Budda Sayamuni compos ed it for us. It is a very simple p rayer but it is suppos ed
to be very sacred and to carry many blessings. It can be eplained according to
several dierent levels of meaning but for te moment we can ust stick to te
literal meaning of te wordsJo wo'can approimately be translated as Lord'
n gyi ma g ku dok kar' means : wose wite body as never been stained
by any delement Wite is te colour of purity.
zok sang gye kyi u la gyen' means : (you ave) a perfect Budda - tat is
Amitaba - as an ornament above your eadTukjey chen gyi dro la zik': you look wit comp assio nate eyes at all beings
Chen re zi la chak tsal lo': to you Cenrez ig I prostrate.
We try to develop devotion wile recit ing tis praise as many times as pos sible
and feel ing tat te ligts radi ating from Cenre zigs body carry ing is compa ssi on
and energy really penetrate into us Al te oter beings around us trougout
Cmmt
space, also receive tat energy and are ealed by it
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At tis po int we can add two prayers if we wis Te rst is te seven point
practice o r te Se ven Bran c Prayer t e se con d is a prayer for libe rating bei ngs from
te si realms Tese two are added tey are no t originally part of tis particularsort practice If you only ave time for a very brief practice, you can recite one
prayer and leave te oter or, if you are really too busy, you can skip tem bot
' n n /
Te Seven Bran c Prayer is a mea ns of working wit seven type of prac tice on our
strongest armful emot ions i n order to develop more positive tendencies
Te rst branc isprosraon. Prostation is a way ofsowing respect i t's a token
ofsbm iss ion Wen we postrate we bow down to somebo dy, acknowledging is orer great qualities We sow umi li ty Prostrating is working on our pride troug
developing respect towards oters and sowing appreciation of teir qualities
Here, w e prostrate in a grand way A bodisattva's way of doing tings is always
gand and vast Tis means tat we dont do it alone but wit all oter sentient
beigs alongside us Not only ae we surounded by all sentient beings all over teniverse, we also imagine tat countless duplicates of ourselves emanate from ou
body and ta t al togeter we postrate to Cenrezig and to al l te Budd as of te
ten directions and te tree times Tat means we all prostrate to everybody Te
Buddas of te tee times ae tose of te past and present and also of te future
- wo are none oter tan all te sentient be ings we believe tat eac and every
h mmta
sentie nt being wil one day become a Budda. Te Buddas of te ten di rections are
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tose residing in te east west nort and sout, in te four directions inbetween
and above and beow
Te second branc is making orings. Oering means giving be ing generous ,not olding on or clinging so tis works on our m iserliness and te tende ncy to
ci ng to wat we ave or desir e Of cours e, we can oer watever we want, but
te particular oerings mentioned in te tet are owers incense, ligts, music
and obects we nd pleasant troug te perceptions of our ve senses. Wat we
are clinging to wat we are attaced to, distracted by, and bound by, are actuallyte pleasures of our ve senses - te beautiful tings we see, te fragrances we
smell sweet tastes so tetures and te melodious sounds we ear. We now oer
watever we enoy troug our ve sense s in te form of actua materia belongi ngs
or oerings created in ou r imagination .
Tese practices are bas icay metods for working on our mind wic is wywe oer menta creations as well Buddists consider tat wat really matters is
te mental attitude. t doesn't mea n of course, tat re al oerings are unnecessary
or tat we souldn't give rea tings to oter beings. Of course not; te more we
give te better it is. But te point is tat ere we're working on our mind and,
terefore menta creations do count. iserliness, clinging and attacment arenot necessarily inked to wat we actualy possess. We don't ave to be ric to
be very attaced to our belongings One c an be very ric and ave lots of tings
witout necessarily being too muc attaced to tem. One can also be very ic
and completely attaced to all one's belongings But one can also be very poor and
desperately cling to watever wortless t ings one as . One can even be very muc
mmna
attaced to tings one doesnt ave. Wat we actuay ave or don't ave is not
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wat determ ines our degree o f attacment . t's rater a way of reacting ; it 's a in
our mind. Tis is wy we're ere mainy workng on ou r mi nd an d wy we create a
menta image of watever were attaced to, watever we're grasping at, and tenturn it into an oering. t's a menta eercise o f etting go
Te tird branc is te purcaon, aso sometimes caed te branc of
con fess ion. Oerings and purica tion are two very important train ings tat we aso
nd in te ngondro and amost everywere in Buddist practices Teyre about
beig abe to et go of te good as we as te bad tings we're usuay attacedto. Te confession and purication is an eercise in etting go of te negative r
proematic tings tat we've done or eperienced and are sti oding on to. We
tin k of a te negative actions weve done in tis ife and a our previous ives and
we confess te m ; we fee regret and we resove not to do tem again. And ten we
fee tat we et tem go. We no onge r od on to any of tese negative ting s. T isis the esse nce of purication.
Te fourt branc is rocng. Oering counters attacment, purication
works on aversion and anger, and reoicing works on eaousy and envy. Here
we are reoicing at te good tings tat oter peope ave done or acieved. We
tink of a te good deeds acieved by te sravakas, te pratyekabuddas, tebodisattvas, te Buddas, and a ordinary beings, and we reoice We fee appy
abot wat teyve done and we fuy appreciate te ir goodn ess Very o en, wen
ome oy oes or receives so me ting etter an us, were iseas e. ere, o n te
contrary, we reoice. Tis is aso a very important practice tat soud be appied
in o ur daiy ife.
h Cmmta 9
Te branc is sking the Buddhas to turn the wheel ofDharma and te sit
h d h d T b b
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is requesting them to ive ong and remain in this word Tese brances are about
areci ating te great value o f te Darma and wanting it to last and to sread far
and wide. e as te uddas to continue to give teac ings and guidan ce to us and
to al sentient beings and aso to live long. eacing is te main activity troug
wic a udda els oters because tat enables sentient beings to understand
ow to ractise te Darma and terefore ow to el temsel ves.
Te sevent and last branc is te dediation, wic is a way of saring e
osi tive t ing tat we ave wit all sentient be ings . It is a reminder o f our origi nalbod ici tta motivation of our wis and c omm itmen t to ut an end to te suerings
of sentient be ings and to lead tem all inc luding ourelves of coure to te igest
level of attainme nt te igest le vel of eace. Tat is wy we're racti sing. So now
tat we've done ome osi tive tings and ave refrained a litte from doing negaive
tings ten watever os itive eects we've been able to gater we dedic ate to allsentient beings we ray tat te wole result or fruit of tee activities may rien
in eac and every one of te countless b eings trougout sace. And we include in
our ded ication not o nly te ositive eects o f tis articular ractice but of al e
ositive tings we 've ever done in te as t and even toe we 'l l do i n te future ; we
oer it all to all beings tat tey may benet.Ti Seven ranc Prayer is regarded as an imortant mean to accumulate
wat we call merit' erit is accumulated troug doing ositive tings or
develoing good abits. At rst it 's imortant to eliminate our negative abits
and ecange tem for ositive ones. Later, on a rm bais of ositive abits we
may come to se e te true reali ty te way tings realy are, troug wic we will
3 C
trascend all abits even posit ive ones Tat's ow we can attain enligtenment
H ' b bl d if d ' k i
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However we won't be able to do tat ifwe don't work rs t on our negative patterns
We sould beware of getting too caugt up wit sopisticated pilosopy
becoming fasciated by te ig views' and ig meditations' and overlooking
tis downtoeart aspect of te practice Some people only want to ear about
talk about and attempt to practise te igest teacings: Dzogpa Cenpo
aamudra Zen satori s unyata adyamika and tey're so eloquen t tey can
talk for ours about it - but tey avent caged in te least Teyre prone to as
muc anger p ride and attacment as b efore Tey may assert tat tere is n otingwe can call I ' and te y can disco urse on t e subec t but i f you sligtly provoke
tem tey are up in anger Teyre ust ordin ary people wove et ti s pilosopy
get into teir eads so teyve become all pued up Tey've become completely
ubalanced wit suc big iated eads !
I n aayana Buddis m we always n d tese two sid es o r facets te relative andte ul timate tat ave to go togeter in a balanced way erit and wisdom ave to
be developed simultaneously and support eac oter Te accumuation of merit
elps us to deveop positive ab its tat will create te favourabe environme nt and
circumstances for us to improve our understanding meditation and realisation
Accumulation of merit tus contributes to te accumulation of wisdom In turna deeper uderstandig and greater realisation of emptiness of te true nature
of reality furters te accomplisment of positive deeds because it reduces our
cling ing and sel sne ss It's terefore essential to develop tes e two aspects in a
balance d way
mt
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A N PAD E HUN
ryr fr Lb B Sx 1
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We ten recite te prayers for liberating be in gs from te si realms troug
Cenrezig's mantra.As I eplained in te beginning tis sort Cenrezig practice as composed by
Tagtong Gyalpo o is regarded as t e reincarnation of a nun call ed Gelon gma
Palmo o lived centuries ago in India. Se as born as te daugter of a local
ing but en se got leprosy se as epell ed from te palace. Se b ec ame a nun
a gelongma' or biksuni and se intensively practised Cenrezig. Troug erpractic e se as able to eal erself and se becam e a great master It is said tat
Tagtong Gyalpo compose d tis C enrezig practice and especially tis prayer
for libe rating beings from te si realms in remem brance of is past eistence as
Gelongma Palmo .
Wen e say te m antra e visuali se i t at te eart of Cenrez ig. In te ce ntre"of is e art tere s a
ite HRI it te si syllable s O A NI PAD E
HNG q arranged around it . O () is ite A ( is greenNI is yello PAD q ligt blue E red and HUNG is darkblue. Tese si syllables represent te si wisdoms or te si Buddas' o are in
a ay te si Buddas of te si realms . Visualising tem puri es speci c emotionscorresponding to te specic realms.
Te syllable H UN G ( ) is related to anger atred our incapacity to forgiveour feel ings of urt an d all te emo tio ns tat come from anger and atred . Wen
te prayer mentio ns te ell beings e feel tat dark blue l igt radi ates espec ially
from te H UNG ( ) and di spels all our negative emot ions related to anger atredh Ca
and utful fee ling And we alo feel tat ts s appen ng to all te ot e senti ent
beings tat all tei actions and emotions li nked to ange tat would cause tem
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beings, tat all tei actions and emotions li nked to ange, tat would cause tem
to take ebit in ell ealms ae being completely pacied and puied by te
ligt emi tted by tis lette HUN G
) ee ling tis, we say te manta
Te paye ten mentions te ungy gost ealm', wic i lnked to stong
clinging intense attacment, m iselines, oldng on to tngs witout being able
to sae, give o even enoy tem S uc states of mind ae te man cause fo be ing
bon into te ung gost ealm Wen we ecite te manta we paticulaly
focus on te sllable E ) tat adiates ed ligt and diso lves o pui es - inouelves as well as i n all ote beings - all te emotonal tates of stong clingingand miseliness tat migt cause us to be ebon as ungy gosts t closes te
doo to ti ealm fo all be ing
Te tid ealm, te animal ealm, is associated wit ignoance and elated
states of mi nd dull nes, not knowng co nfusi on and so fot We feel tat a veybigt blue ligt adi ates fom te lette PAD z ) and dissolves all ou ignoace,dullness, obcuity and confusion, all ou unknowing states Tey'e completely
cleaed in us and in all sentient beings t pevents ou being ebon in te anial
ealm and bings u wisdom and complete claity
Te syllable N ) is yellow ts ligt dispels te sueings of bit, sicknessold age, deat and loss tat ae linked wit te uman ealm t comple tely pu este des ie, stong caving and attacment t at ae at te oot of tese s ueings, in
ouselves as wel l as in all ent ient bein g, clos ing te doo to unfo tunate ebi t in
te uman ealm
Te syllable A d ) is geen and its lig t puies wateve ne gative deeds
3 4 Cmmtay
we and all sentient beings trougout space may ave done due to ealousy and
env Te causes and ci rcustance s leading beings to take rebirt in te dei gods
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env. Te causes and ci rcustance s leading beings to take rebirt in te dei gods
realm are tus stopped and puried, and te negative emotions linked to it are
transforme d in to te clear ligt of allaccom plis ing wisdom
Te syllable O () is wite and its ligt dissolves te pide and arrogancetat are connected to te eavenly realms of te gods. Altoug te gods lead
long lives of perfec t pleasure and enoyment , tat migt s eem de si rable to us, tese
sensual pleasures distract tem from any concern about beneting temselves or
oters . Not only are tey not m ind ful of any nec ess ity to practise tey are actuallyeausting te pos itive results of teir previous goo d karma . Even i f gods li ve very
long lives by uman standards, tey are not immortal and te pase of decay
preceding teir deat is very painful. Teir foresigt allows tem to eceive te
unbe arable vision of te m iserable future eistenc e awaiting tem i n lower realms .
Terefore, wen saying te mantra, we feel tat a wite ligt radiates from tesyllable 0 ( ) and puries, in ourselves and oters, all te manifestations ofpride tat migt lead us to a rebi rt in te god real m
Te s ound o f t e mantra itself a s a certain power Akong npoce d id an
eperime nt wit dowsing once, wen e was in Brussels. He switced te television
on and stood in front of it wit a dowsing rod. A dowsing rod twists violentlywen it comes across an electric current, and tat's ust wat appened. He asked
somebody to stand be tween te television set and te rod. T e movement of te rod
became even stronger because te person functioned as an electricity conducto
He ten put a protection' on tat person (some black pills from te armapa)
and te rod stood still: te electricity was blocked and no longe passed troug
Cmmn 5
te person. He took o te protection, and again te electric current owed
troug. Tis person was ten asked to recite te O ANI PAD E HU NG
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troug. Tis person was ten asked to recite te O ANI PAD E HU NG
mantra and as wit te protection no electic current would pass troug i .
Suc tings appen !
Te ain power of te antra coes, of course, fro te dedication prayers
of Cenrezig isel but te power isnt ust contained witin te antra. Its
ecacy also depends on te person wo recites it. It depends on ow uc trust
and condenc e te person as i n tis antra and on tat person's state of ind. If
you're cal and concentrated, te antra will be very uc stronger tan if yourecite i t wit a dis tracted mind . And of course, te antra reci tation o f soebody
wose ind is even clearer wo as reaced a certain level of realisation will be
anoter undred tous and ties stronger. Like everyting in tis world it depends
on any factors . Ti s is wy we sould try as uc as possibl e to say tis antra
in a editative state. We sould let our ind becoe cal and clear, and tenwit out tension spaciously and peacefully reci te it.
Te ibetans usually repeat antras wile carrying on wit teir daily
activities . Te y ust keep te ala moving between te ir ngers and wak aroun d
and wen tey eet soebody else it s " Wat are you doing ? "O y neigbour
is terrible ! And som etimes tey dont even count te beads one by one tey countve or si togeter going on wit teir conversation. One can recite antras and
do all kinds o f tings. However i f one wises to say antras properly ten te b est
way is to recite wit te i nd co pletely focused, wit out any distraction . Net
best is to be distracted in a positive way, or to be distracted witout tinking, but
ust feeling at ease and pea ceful. T e worst is to say antras wile b eing distracte d
3
in a negative way like while bei ng very angry. However maybe don't know
it may be better to be angry and recite mantras than to be very negative without
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y g y y g
reciting mantras !
We should also of course recite it with a good asiration with bo dhich itta
which is the bodhi sattvas asiration to be net all sent ient being s We should trus t
that this mantra has com e from Avalokiteshvara hims elf and that i t carrie s all hi s
blesings as well as those ofall the great bod hisattvas an d Buddhas of the ast. We
shold reci te it with full con dence convinced that through it s reci tation we will
really be able to hel all sentient beings and ourselves So we'e working on thenegative emoti ons o f all sentient beings while remaining ourselves in a clear and
calm state of m ind We visualise and feel - feeling it is the main thing that this
is what haens t o all sent ient b eings while we say the mantra
Te ositive motivation with which one recites a mantra contributes to its
ec acy. A story about Atisha Dipankara illus trates this. Atisha was a most learnedndian Pandit who was invited to ibet in the 1 1 th century. He develoed a
throat probl em due to the harsh ibetan cli mate and the altitude and he could n't
get rid of the infection for a long time. Somebody mentioned a ibetan who
had heled many eole by saying mantras and Atisha agreed to see him. Tis
ibetan man wa s brought in wh o recited the mantras very loudly with very goodintentions; but because he was ibetan he didn't ronounce them roperly
Atisha Diankara was so bemsed to hear the mantras ronounced in such a
completely wrong way that he couldnt hel laughing He laughed and laughed
and he laughed so much th at eventually the infec tious blis te in h is throat burst
oen and he was cured !
he ma 3
Tere's anoter funny story about fake mantras A man once asked a socalled
lama to teac im a m antra However tat lama was ust posing as a lama and dd n't
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p g
actually know anyting Te man was earnestly requesting a mantra and te fake
lama didn't know wat to say Embarrassed, e looked around and saw a mouse
appearing suddenly from a ole in te wall He ten said in ibetan "Pop up
suddenly H e saw te mouse 's wiskers and added " It as wskers And ten as
te mouse ran to and fro searcin g and scratcing around , e added "I t rummages
ere and tere inally te mouse disappeared so e said "It disappears And
ten " Tere you are, tat's te mantra
Te man tanked te fake lama and went away, reciting is fresly learnt
mantra on t e way On is way ome e ad to travel troug a dangerous pla ce
infested wit robbers He ad to camp tere for te nigt and e was terried
Hopin g te mantra would protect im e recited it loudly One o f te robbers
caugt sigt o f im and decided to rob and kll im Te b rigand slowly crawledto te te nt He was ver y near it wen e eard a voice saying " Pop up suddenly
Surprised e tougt te man was aware of is arrival He stopped and listened
more carefully " t as wiskers Tis tief ad wiskers : e now really wonde red
weter te man knew of is presence Ten e started unting about to see
weter e could get old of someting outside te tent and e eard Herumm ages ere and tere By now te ti ef was convinc ed tat ti s man ad
secial powers and knew about is presence and intent ions He was getting really
scared and wonde ring wat to do Ten e ead He dis appears So e ran away
So te fake mantra worked quite well in a way And of course te man wo
recited i t ad total conde nce in is mantra and its ecacy
mta
lV as Cz
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We now transform our own tree doors, tat is our body seec and mind into
te eitys body seec and mind Te tet says :e ar se sol ap pe
Pha pe u le ;er hr
Ma d a le nang hrul she jang
Ch n d e a en hng
Nang ye dr nga sem
Cenre ang u sung u
Nang dra r ong yer me ur
Having rayed to Cenrez ig wo is in front of us or above u s we feel te ligt
rays carrying is blessings and energy entering us and all sentient beings All ourdelements al negativities, al l te mi nd oisons are tus comletely wased away
and uried
Buddi sts be lieve tat all te negative asects o f sentient beings are only
temorary and acquired l ike dust covering a clear crystal Wen dust settles
on a cr ystal it lo ses its c larity and t ransarency b ut if you wie off te dust it isagain i mme diately clear and ure e dust is not ine rent to te crystal ; i t as
no t entered in to it s nature We beli eve tat te basic natu re of our m ind i s ure
awareness and c larity It is te Bud da nature i dent ical to te nature of all te
Buddas It is wat we call our bas ic goodnes s e negativity and defilem ent
are not art o f it tey are te result of a m isunderstanding eres noting
Cmmnt 3 9
wong wit ou actual natue; wat's wrong is te way we peceive tigs
at's te poblem at's wee all ou probl ems - attacmen t aves ion fear
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dualis tic views and all te est - com e fo So we don't ve to do anyti ng at
te level of ou own natue ; we ust n eed to cange ou way of looking
Al te negative emotions come fom a basic isconception a wong
pecep tion tat we call ignoa nce' It's be cause of tis wong peception ta all
te negative aspects aise : te wong abit s and m is taken ways of eacting at
geneate destuctive pattens and all ou poblems and sueings Howeve tis
ignorance' is ust a mistaken way of seeing Tere's noting eally wrong wit
te basis wit ou actual situation Te poble i s ust due to a distoted way of
se ein g ti ngs and not to te way we actually ae It's t e way we perceive ti ngs
and ow we'e conditioned to eact now but it's not ou tue natue So te
mistake can be coected - altoug it 's not easy to do ti s We'e so used to is
way of see ing tat i t's dicult fo us to even i magine a state of be in g tat wouldbe d ieent fom te way we feel n ow It's very di cult bu t i t's not i mposs ible
All t e pactices ae fomulated on t e basis oftis fundament al undestandng
Howeve tis teoe tical backgound is not eplained i n te sadana itsel wic
functions not so muc at an analytical level but ate at a moe pactical and
epeiential level Teefoe ee we feel tat troug te blessings o f Cenezi gand all te enligtened beings ou negative emotons views pattens and
condition ings ae being puried
At te moment at wic all te impure karmic appearances and delusions
ae completely puied we become a Budda We ave unveiled our basc
pue natue te Budda natue and we ten perceive te oute wol as
- Cmt)'
D ewacen' te realm o f Budd a Ami taba and all te bei ngs in tat realm
as Cenrezig or Drolma Our own body takes te appearance of Cenrezig
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our spee c becom es i s mantra and our tougts are Cenrezig's tougts of
compassion and wisdom.
Ti s i s te Va rayana way of practi si ng : using te re sult as te pat' O f
cou rse we can't totally understand o r imagine wat bein g Cenrezig feels l ike
or wat an enligtened being is tinking about but troug our studies and
troug our lim ited knowledge we can imagine wat it m igt be like.
We us t beco me C enrez ig, alm ost as if we let our m ind di ssolve or m ix
wit Cenrezig We don't analyse tis process; tere's no place for tougts
concepts and doubts We ust dissolve into Ce nrezig b ecome C enrez ig feel
tat Cenrez ig and we ave bec ome on e and rest i n tat state. We let our m ind
be' Cenrezig and remain in tis uncontrived nature of our m ind .
Uncontrived' is t e important word ere. We don't man ipulate ou r mind .We ust let i t comple tely be ' restin g in t e most ope n mos t relaxed, mo st natural
state. Te n watever we see is te u nio n of empt iness and appearance togete r;
watever we ear is sound and emptiness togeter and watever we tink is
tougt and emptines s togeter. Here empti ness me ans an absence of grasping
Watever comes, we ust le t it be wit out grasping at anyting We ust let t ingscome and go.
Tis stage is wat we call te selfvisualisation : visualising ourselves as Cenrezig.
mnt + I
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M ta ta
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I t i s at this point that we can recite the mantra OM MANI PAD ME HUNG.
Iside Chenrezig, at the l evel of his heart, we visuaise a ette r HR ( 8 )stading on a at moon disc oating above a lotu owe. It i theedimensiona.In the east, in front of this HRI ( 8 ) , is the letter OM ( . From the Buddhitpoint of view, the east is always the direction in front of the dei ty we visualise, soto the east ofHRI 8 ) means in front of the H RI ( 8 ) .
In the pictures, OM () is uualy repesented above thHRI ( 8 ) becauseits impossibe to paint i t in font without hiding the H RI (8 ). Te OM ( )should normally be facing inwards , that i towards the HRI ( 8 ) . If am the HRI( 8 ) , then I 'll see the OM ( ) in font of me , no t from the back but fom hfront . Te othe etters , MA ( ), NI (f) PAD ( ) , ME ( ) , HUNG are arranged clockwise around the HRI ( 8 ) and, if the manta cices, i t circl santi clocwise . Tere are many med itations in which the letters of the manta aemoving, and when a mantra does move, i t circles anticlocwie. In thi paticulapractice however there's no mention of moving lette s: the mantra i not tun ing- it just shines without evolving.
Whethe a mantra moves o not d iers acco rding to dierent viualiation sin d ierent adhanas. It also depends on whether the main focus is on having themind se ttle down o r on integrating the movement of thought in the pactice. Ifwe want our mind to be very quiet and sett led, then uualy he manta doesn tmove. We dont even think about movement. However, mos t of the time ou
mind is vey active and, in o rder to channel this movement, we can imagine that
J Cmmnt - 3
the manta i evoving and adiating ight It integrates the activity into themedi tation. Movement and immob iit y have dierent puposes and you don'th b d b I h k
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have to be too igid about it I thinkWe can atenate between dieent things, sometimes concentating on
the deity on the eence of Chenezig some imes on the manta, sometimesviuaising the syabes, sometimes jut saying the manta with ou mind cam andeaxed without any paticua focus sometime concentating on the puicationof ou emotions and those of a sentient beings on eceiving the benet an theheaing Sometime we can focus on ou own purication and heaing ometmeson the heaing and the benets we as Chenezig bing to a sentient beins
Tese ae dieent things we can do atenatey We can concentate onwhicheve apect we want. Howeve an this is tue for any manta recitation when we tak about concentation', that concenat ion shoudn't be too stong
too igid o too ceeba. We shoudn't et it happen ony in ou head, but atheget the feeng though ou whoe body ; o thewise we' get a headache !Duing the st haf of ou manta ecitation, we can think about
Chene zig in font of us, and duing the second haf, we can concentate onthe puica tion proce . hat's the usua way, bu t what we actuay do doe sn't
eay matte that much. What kind of med itation o pactice we do at thi spoint actuay depend on what kind of instuctions we've aeady eceived,what eve of actice we've eached
A Mahamuda o a Dzogchen pactitione can appy that udestningthat type of pactice and medi tation hee If we have some uestanding of the
Madhyamika phosohy and the ike, we can so use i t hee If we don't have any
4 Cmm
such instructions or understanding we can practice shinay : we just e t our mindsette down and reax in te feeing that we have become Chenrezig that we are one
i h hi T di di i h d h hi i
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with him Tese are dierent medi tation methods that we can appy at this pointIf we are beginners we can just say the OM MANI PAD ME HUNG mantra
as a kind of prayer and fee that we receive energies and bss ings that competeytransform us
We can aso use the mantra in o rder to work on the six negative emotionsand the six rea ms for ourseves or fo r other peope, in a s imi ar way as duringthe Prayer for ibe rating be ings from the S ix Reams W visua is e each of thesyabes of the mantra with i ts speci c coour preventing peope from beingborn i nto the correspond ing negat ive reams and heping the to free themsevesfrom the reated negative emot ion We then use the mantra as a i be rating andheaing medium
As you can see the same practice can be used at many dierent eves and thisis true ofwhatever practice youre doingTe mantra can be sa id in dierent ways You can sing i t e speciay if you
have a nice tune and a nice voice - otherwise you might drive your neighbourscrazy ! S inging it n icey can be very inspiring You can aso say it aoud sowy and
dis tincty Tere is another way that is compared in ibetan to the buzzing of beesof a beeh ive You can aso whisper the mantra or even say it in your mind withoutany sound
Te sound of the mantra is considered to be very important Whn a highevepracitioner reaches a stage of reaisation that is caed attaining the power of
Dhaani he or she can create a mantra and empower its sounds with bessings
T mm 5
We coud coae the anta to a code or asswod . If give you y asswodfo y coute, you can get into y eai s, for instance . A anta is soeth ingik k th t gi t th d iti f th B dd
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ike a key that give you access to the owes and quaiti es of the Budda oodhi sattva who ceated it. If you have attained t e Dhaani ', you can eowe o ress a sound o sequence of sounds that ecoes your anta and has the owethat you have. If have a owe, then y anta has tat sae owe and I ceate i to othe eoe can ue i t and gain access to the quai ties I have deveoed.
Becaue the sound is so iotant, antas are not tansated ut ae keptin Sanskit . Howeve, a you ay have noticed, the sae anta ounds qui tedieent when ecited in S anskit with a Jaanese, ietan, Tai, Engish, encho Gean accent. Tee ae aso any stoies - ike the one I just eated ofantas woking quite we athough ecited a wong. So how iotant is theound eay ?
As I just entioned, how owe a antra is deends on any tings, notjust on the ounds Its ette to onounce i t coecty, ut the onunciation aoneis not a. I aeady entioned tat to say a nta with good intentions is moeiotant than to onounce it coecty And whie its geneay thought tat acoect onunciation of a nta gives it geate owe, thee are toies showing tat
a anta said incoecty can oeties have oe owe than when said coecty.Sakya Pandi ta, a ietan aste who ived aound the 12' centuy 1 1 8 2 1 25 1 ) ,was not ony a geat schoa ut aso a highy eaised actiti one. Athough he wasneve taught Sanskit, it was the rst anguage he coud seak as a a chid Heecae a geat Sanskit cho a. He used to trave to Indi a to deate with Ind ian
iosohe and he conveted any Hindus to Buddhis .
+6 T Cmm
Once , as he was traveing from ibet to India, he was passing though a deneforest . He coud hear the sounds of mantras emanating fom a over the pace
from the trees the rivers and the rocks He thought that a great practitione
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from the trees, the rivers and the rocks. He thought that a great practitionemust be iving nearby. However, the sound of the mant ra he was hearing was no tcompetey correct and he thought, "What a pity i f this yogi is ab e to give suchpower to an incor rect mantra, how much more powe it woud have if he weresaying it correcty. So he searched around to nd the yogi. Having found him, heintroduced himef, paid his respects, prais ed him for his great achievement andsuggested that he p ronounce the mantra in the right way.
"Youre saying Om bendza chi chilaya' whereas it s uppoed to be Om vajrakili kilaya You shoud change it .
Te yogi then took his phrba, recited Om bena chili chiya; and truck a rockwith the daer It went through the rock as if through butter. He trned to SakyaPanita : "Now, peae, you do the same with kili kiya! But Sakya Pandita did not ty.
Tere are many stories ie this one. I think you even have im iar torie inChrstian ity One such story ingers in my mind, athough I dont emember thedetai s. I think this s tory has been tod by otoy.
A bishop once visited three monks who ived on an isand . Te three monks
were very happy to wecome the bishop. Te bi shop aked them what kind ofprayers they were saying. Te three men answered that they worshipped God fromthe bottom of their heart, but that the ony prayer they knew was, You three, wethree, peae bess us !
"Oh, no ! Tats not the right prayer. You mut earn how to pray propery,
excaimed the bishop.
mfY
With great enthuiam, the three mons begged him to teach them how topray, "Were so gratefu that you have come to teach u. en the bishop taughtthem the Lord Prayer : Our ather who art in Heaven
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them the Lord Prayer : Our ather who art in Heaven .. .Unfortunatey, it a very hard for the three men to earn it by heart. e
bishop, ho as a very nice person, patienty ept on repeating it and spent a longtime teaching them unti , at ast, a of them coud say the prayer nicey. Ten hebid them faree, ent bac to hi s boat and sai ed aay.
e next morning, a he stood on the dec, he sa three uminous points on thehorizon ; they seemed to e moving toards the boat. As they dre near, the bihoprecognised the three mons, ho ere running on the ave. ey ere shouting,"Pease, pease , stop ! Pease te us the prayer once more because e have forgotten .
ite tunned, the bihop tod them that he thought they no onger neededhis prayer and that they coud simpy go on saying their on prayer, You three, ethree, pea e e u. I eemed to e orng just ne.
You can aso hin about or pace the mind on the mantra in dierent ays.You can viuaise a the etter of the mantra as hite or see their respectivedierent coours. You mainy visuais e the six coours hen you try to or onthe dierent emotion and the six reams. Sometimes you can aso imagine all the
dierent, rainoie coours rad iating from Chenrezig, from you and from thehoe mantra.You can repeat the mantra as many times as you ish: one, two, three, ten,
tenty, a hundred maa ; hatever. It ony depends on the t ime you have.When someody does a Vajrayana practice, there are three nds of critera or
standards to estabih that this person ha accompished the practice.
Cmmnt
e best attainment is to actay gain a cer tain eve of reaisation of reaexperience from one 's sadhana practice. So the best way is to practise nti onegets sch reaisation If thats not posibe a certain time imit is set One does the
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gets sch reaisation. If that s not posibe a certain time imit is set. One does thepractice for a certa in ength of time and one can then be regarded a somebody whohas competed' that practice. at's second best. e th ird eve of accompihmentis set by the amont of mantras one has recit ed. For each practice theres a nd ofmin imm worabe nmber of mantras ! e m in imm nmber of mantras forOM MANI PAD ME HUNG i what we ca dr bm' which mean we recite eachsyabe one hndred thosand t ime m tipy thi by the nmber of syabes inthe mantra which maes 600000 mantra in tota If one rec ites 600,000 mantrasone has competed the min imm mantra recitation and one i then spposed to beabe to se thi practice to hep others as we. ere is of corse no garantee thatone has ths reached any eve of reaisation bt i t's a traditiona way of assessingthe average attainment of practitioners.
One conts the nmber of mantras with a maa. Usay we hod the maa inor e hand at the heart eve and we trn the beads between thmb and indextowards s and when we come to the end of or maa we trn it rond. Not goingover the end bead' may hep s maintaining m indfne ; it indicates that we're
aware that we have nihed 108 mantras. Bt if yo don't trn the maa rond Idon't th in anything bad wi happen to yo.Some peope prefer to recite mantras withot a maa. Using a maa is say
a way of sstaining awareness. e maa i tsef is an object of awareness ie thebreathing or any other object of medi tation. If yo're so concen trated and foced
on he meditation that yo don't need a maa it's OK. Bt if yo're not that
9
good, then maybe the maa brings you bac sometimes Tese things cannot begeneraised and shoud be adapted to individua needs
Te obje tive of the practie is not to concentrate excusive on one thing
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Te obje tive of the practie is not to concentrate excusive on one thingand keep ony that one thing in mind Te aim is to deveop a peacefu, cam statewithin which one i aware without distraction One is sti aware of everythingthat is going on and one is ab e to do many things o be ony aware of one singeobject is rather a test of onentration, ike Arjunas archery this is a stor from theIndian cassi c, the Mahabharata
In thi s story, a great master had been teaching the Kauravas and the Pandavabrothers to shoot arrows He organised a test to determine who was his beststudent He put a sma ay gure of a bird in a tree and asked each of his studentsto aim at it Tey were a very good shots
"What an you see ? he asked the rst one " I see the eaves and the bird in themidde Te teaher did not et him shoot He asked the same question to the nextone "I an ee the bird, nothing ese He didnt et him shoot either One of thestrongest students said, "I an see just the head of the bi rd He too was refused theopportun ity to shoot F inay, Arjunas turn came
"What an you see ? asked the master
"I can see ony the eye of the bird, noth ing ese "Now you shoot! Te arrow pierced the cay birds eye, and Arjuna wasprocaimed the bes student
When one is very conentrated, the mind is very focused and one sees onythe object on which the mind is sett ed Tis is good in the beginning, but its not
the whoe thing In meditation, one has to be aware of everything going on, of a
O Cmnty
the ve senses open and reacting bt at the same time mainta in the clar ity and thecalmness In sch a state one shold be able to do several thing withot gettingdistracted, for instance hold the mala and recite the mantra, and not only that bt
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, , yalso play the damar and the cymbals !
Tere are many instrctions regarding the mala for in tance how to ble it ,how to visalise it , how to eep it n icely with some respect
o bless the mala, we r st read the Sansrit alphabet and a certain mantra enwe place or hands one over the other lie the sn and moon - arond the mala,and we imagine that it d issolves en, the mantra appears ot of noth ingnes inthe form of the mala e mala i s no longer a material ob ect bt the garland of themantra itself that circles between or ngers
ere are also descriptions of dierent types of maas Some are spposed tobe be tter than others for certain practices For instance, malas made of bones aresally not ed for the Chenrezig practice Peacefl mantras are preferably recit edwith malas made ofwood, seeds, p recios or semiprecio stone e seeds of thebodhi tree are spposed to be very good for malas
Tere are actally many dierent Chenrezig mantras bt thi s ixyllable mantrais the most poplar and best nown ts meaning can be explained a follows
OM ( ) may be consider ed as the origin of all sond Of corse, it hasalso dierent meanings For instance , the three sonds of which the syllable OM( is made, A, 0 and M, represent the three aya ere are many possibeinterpretations bt sally OM () is regarded as the rst ond or the origin ofall sonds and therefore we nd it at the beginn ing of almost every mantra
MANI means the ewel, or wishllling ewel, and PAD ME, prononced PEME
Tlu, Cmmn 5
y ietans, mean the lotus ower e combiaton of the two can mean eithe thejewel in the lotus or the lotu in the jewel is is one of the names of Avaoitehvara
e MANI ao symol ises compass ion ecause , just as you can get whatever
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y p j y gyou want thank to the wishfulll ing jewel, compassion ring you the greatest
enet you could wish for According to the Id ian legends , there is , omewhere inthis word, a very speia lue gem that can grant you al your wishes I order t getit, you must cro even seas and, i flucky enough, aer many trials , youll arrive on aniland in the midde ofwhich stands a paace where the jewe is guarded y eautifulwomen It's dicut to get in and even more dicult to get out ! I however, youucceed in getting this wishfullling jewel, you should rst wash it seven times ithsea water, then wash it seven times with sweet water, then wipe it dry with si andput it on top o a ole or anner en, if you pray and express a wish , rs t a li ttlewind wi clear the ground of any posile di rt, th en a li ttle rain will settle the ust,and nally whatever you wished or will fall from the sky ats the legend
e wishful ing j ewel represents compassion ecause compassion is hatgives the e t, mot enec ial results or oneself as well as for others Once wehave compassion, we are automaticaly ene ting ourselves and others is is whycompassion i aid to have the same quality a the wishfullling jewel from which
all good things come or all e ingsWisdom is here represented y PAME, the lotus e lo tus is the symolof cleanliness, of what is not tained, not spoi led e lotu ower usually grwsin muddy and sometime quite di rty onds ut, when it looms, the petals of theower are always erecty clean and uns tained, even if it's lossoming in the middle
of the most poluted, unclean area is is why the image of the lotus reresents
52 T Cm
pri ty, which also symbolises wisdom. Wisdom is synonymou with seeing thetrue nature of reality. When we nderstand the true nature of our mind and of allpheomena , then no delement, no negativity, can stain or contaminate us.
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MAN PAD ME are thus the symbols of compassion and wisdom that, lik
the wo wings of a bird, should always be present simultaneouly, complementingeach other.
UNG is the syllable of the heart . It also means I ame whole mantra thus means, I am the jewel in the lous It reminds us of
compassion and widom. When we say this mantra, our mind naturally goes to theessence of Chenrezig, which is unlimi ted compasion and wisdom in un ion.
Originally, these syllables were written in Sanskrit. As the ibetan coldntread Sanskrit, i t was subsequently written in ibetan script. Somtimes however,we stll use the Sanskri t. You may wonder whether there any reaon for viual isingthe sylables in ibetan or whether it s just a convention. Its of course poss ible tose the Roman alphabet to visualise the mantra bu it would look quite d ierentbecause more than one letter is then needed to reprent one whol syllable.Personally, I think its not that nice. Moreover, a great symbolical meaning iscaptured within thei r graphic representation. Its especially true of the letters OM
and UNG ( ) , which are very artistic letter. S o I think it s better to stickto the ibetan o r Sankrit script. I you nd it dicult, why not foget about i t being ibtan and jst consider i t as gures, as drawing ?
ere are only six letters: OM MA NI PAD ME HUNG - it houldnt b toodiult to remember ! I wold advise you to look at a representation ofChenrez ig
and his mantra or to draw it yorselfi n order to memorize i t moe eaily
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One shoud however understand that this visuaisation is jus t a basis for themind to se tte down. It functions i n the same way as when one is meditat ing onan object or on the breath ing. Te ony dierence i s that the Vaj rayana favours the
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choice of a pure en ightened being that functions as a basis to simutaneousy sette
the mind and deveop positive tendencies. One thus works on two eves at thesame time. Tis mantra recit ation i s the main part of the practice.
Weve now come t o the visuaisation o f ourseves and our whoe environmentas Chenrezigs body speech and mind , which is what we ca the pure vision o rpure perception.
ak
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enlightened state for some time.
We should understand that this practice has two level Te rst correspondto the perception o r the feeling of an outer Chenrezig exiting outside of us Tenthrough the inuence and the blessings of this outer Chenrezig we awaken ourown inner Chenrezig - our own true nature - which is the second level of practice
fwe can carry a lit tle of this understanding into our daily l