Thanksgiving

My dear students and dear friends, who want to help all sentient beings and in particular, want to help the animals that are killed, and specifically, all the turkeys killed during Thanksgiving.

Approximately 46 million turkeys are killed for Thanksgiving and then also approximately 22 million turkeys are killed for Christmas.

My suggestion on how we can benefit the turkeys is to recite the Five Powerful Mantras:

1. Kunrig mantra
2. Stainless Pinnacle Lotus mantra
3. Stainless Beam mantra (recite one mala of this main mantra)
4. Mitrugpa mantra
5. Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha mantra

Extra mantras you can recite:

1. Chenrezig mantra (short)
2. Namgyalma mantra (short)

If you can, recite each mantra twenty-one times, or as many times as you like. You can recite these mantras for a number of days, like five or ten days, or as long as you like.

You can also recite OM MANI PADME HUM (Chenrezig mantra), which, of course, contains the entire Buddhadharma. If you can, recite one mala of OM MANI PADME HUM—or if you want to recite more, that is even better. Then, as well as the Five Powerful Mantras, you can also recite the Namgyalma mantra.

I checked many mantras to see what would benefit the turkeys, but the other mantras did not come out. According to my observation, the main mantra to recite is Stainless Beam mantra. This is what comes out most beneficial for the turkeys. It says in the Kangyur that if you recite the Stainless Beam mantra seventy times, if a being has been born in the lower realms, they will definitely get liberated from there.

So, please, if you can, recite one mala of Stainless Beam mantra dedicated to the turkeys killed for Thanksgiving and also for Christmas.

You can visualize that nectar beams, like sunbeams, are emitted from the deity to you and to every sentient being, and in particular to the turkeys. The beams totally illuminate you, your family and all sentient beings, and in particular the turkeys. Keep reciting the mantra with this visualization.

Recite it with strong concentration and an undistracted mind. Don’t recite the mantra with your mind thinking about the beach or sightseeing in the mountains, such as Mount Everest.

You can also recite the mantras and dedicate for the people who kill the turkeys.

You can think that you are the turkey that is going to be killed. Think of yourself in that situation. How would you feel? From that, you will then understand the incredible urgency to have someone help you and pray for you. You will then understand how important that is.

Feel this need for the prayers very strongly. And not only for all the turkeys killed this year at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but also, in general, for all animals that are killed. So many animals are killed—an unbelievable, unbelievable amount. The need for prayers for them is so urgent.

Also you can dedicate for pigs that have died due to swine flu, as well as animals that died during Dashain [religious festival] in Nepal.

You can also use these mantras in your everyday life when you want to pray for people or animals who have died. It’s very important to know and become familiar with these mantras.

Please recite the mantras with strong bodhicitta.

Thank you very much. Sorry for making my noise, like buzzing in your ear. Thank you very much for your patience.

With much love and prayers,

Lama Zopa

Scribed by Ven. Holly Ansett, Singapore, 26 November 2019. Edited by Ven. Ailsa Cameron; second light edit by Sandra Smith. A downloadable PDF of these mantras is available through the FPMT Catalogue.

Five Powerful Mantras and the Namgyalma Mantra

1. Kunrig mantra

OṂ NAMO BHAGAVATE / SARVA DURGATI PARIŚHODHANA RĀJĀYA / TATHĀGATĀYA / ARHATE SAṂYAKSAṂBUDDHAYA / TADYATHĀ / OṂ ŚHODHANE / ŚHODHANE / SARVA PĀPAṂ VIŚHODHANE / ŚHUDDHE VIŚHUDDHE / SARVA KARMA AVARANA VIŚHUDDHE SVĀHĀ

2. Stainless Pinnacle Essence Mantra

OṂ NAMAS TRAIYADHVIKĀNĀṂ / SARVA TATHĀGATA HRĪDAYA GARBHE JVALA JVALA / DHARMADHATU GARBHE / SAMBHARA MAMA ĀYUḤ SAṂŚHODHAYA MAMA SARVA PĀPAṂ / SARVA TATHĀGATA SAMANTOṢHṆĪṢHĀ VIMALE VIŚHUDDHE HUṂ HUṂ HUṂ HUṂ / AṂ VAṂ SAṂ JA SVĀHĀ

3. Stainless Beam Mantra

OṂ SARVA TATHĀGATA MALA VIŚHODHAṆI RUDDHA / VOLA PRATI SAṂKARA / TATHĀGATĀ / DHATU DHARE / SAṂDHARA SAṂDHARA / SARVA TATHĀGATA ADHIṢHṬHĀNA ADHIṢHṬHITE SVĀHĀ

4. Mantra of Buddha Mitrugpa

NAMO RATNA TRAYĀYA / OṂ KAṂKANI KAṂKANI / ROCANI ROCANI / TROṬANI TROṬANI / TRĀSANI TRĀSANI / PRATIHANA PRATIHANA / SARVA KARMA PARAṂ PARĀṆIME SARVASATVA NAÑCA SVĀHĀ

5. Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha mantra

OṂ PADMO UṢHṆĪṢHA VIMALE HŪṂ PHAṬ

6. Namgyalma Mantra (short)

OṂ BHRŪṂ SVĀHĀ / OṂ AMṚiTA ĀYUR DADE SVĀHĀ

On Thanksgiving eve, 2018, the Sangha in Switzerland and I did extensive prayers for those who rely on me, those for whom I promised to pray, those whose names were given to me and, in particular, all the turkeys killed for Thanksgiving.

We also did Vajrasattva purification, the King of Prayers and the Amitabha Buddha Prayer to be Reborn in the Land of Bliss.. All these practices were dedicated for all beings, but especially for all the turkeys killed for Thanksgiving.

Recently I saw that President Trump had liberated, or pardoned, two Thanksgiving turkeys, a presidential ritual dating back to the 1940s. I am not sure who had the idea to produce and then kill so many turkeys in America for Thanksgiving, but I’ve heard that about 46 million turkeys are killed for that day, which is far, far more than the 250,000 or more animals killed in Nepal for the Gadhimai festival. At that time, Buddhists in Nepal do nyung näs and dedicate for the animals.

If you are Buddhist, or just someone who does not want to suffer now or in endless future lives as well, having to experience unbelievably suffering, you need to purify your past negative karma and stop creating any more so that you will not be reborn as a turkey over and over again.

Of course, there are buddhas and bodhisattvas who eat turkey and other animals, but that is only to benefit those animals. They have great compassion and can’t stand sentient beings remaining in samsara for even one more second. For them, being in samsara is like being caught in a fire or trapped naked in a thorn bush. Every second in samsara feels like that. Their compassion is hundreds and thousands times stronger than ours. Even if we have a little compassion, it is only for those we like; we have no compassion for those we don’t. We feel compassion for those we like because it is mixed with attachment.

If you do have to eat turkey because of some family obligation, then at least do some mantras and prayers to benefit the turkeys, such as the four immeasurables with tonglen. Otherwise, if you just enjoy eating turkey together with the rest of the Americans who are not Buddhist, who do not know Dharma, who have not generated compassion for the turkeys, you create much negative karma.

Here are some practices and mantras you can do, with advice on how to motivate and dedicate.

Practices

1. Vajrasattva. Do this practice with the four opponent powers. If you have received a great initiation or a lower tantra initiation, you can visualize yourself as the deity. Then, in your heart, visualize a lotus, sun and moon disc on which are all sentient beings, including all the turkeys. Also, if you want to pray for someone who has died or is in great suffering, you can visualize that person there as well. See also below.
2. Take the Eight Mahayana Precepts.
3. Recite prayers such as:
   - King of Prayers (in Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead, page 5).
   - The dedication chapter from Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara, (in Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead, page 20).
   - Prayer to be Reborn in the Land of Bliss (in Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead, page 34).
   - Any of the other Eight Prayers to Benefit the Dead.
   (See also Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s How to Face Death without Fear, Wisdom, 2020, pp. 317–56).
4. Nyung nä. Start the day before Thanksgiving so that the main day of the nyung nä is on Thanksgiving Day itself.
5. Do several repetitions of the four immeasurables and tonglen together.
6. Recite the Golden Light Sutra.
7. Recite the Vajra Cutter Sutra.
8. Do Chenrezig practice with recitation of OM MANI PADME HUM.
9. Do the extensive Medicine Buddha puja (The Wish-Granting Sovereign), the middle-length Medicine Buddha puja (The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel) or the short Medicine Buddha Sadhana.

These practices can be done together with others at your center or individually at home. You can find links to these practices in the FPMT Catalogue.

Mantras

1. Any or all of the five powerful mantras (zungchen dengawa):

• The long or short Namgyälma mantra. One of the benefits of dedicating your recitation of this mantra to the turkeys is that they will never be reborn in lower realms and will meet buddhas and bodhisattvas. This mantra is not only for long life; it is unbelievably powerful for purification. Just by reciting or even hearing it, you never get reborn into any of the lower realms, let alone as a turkey in the animal realm. Then, until you achieve enlightenment, you will always be reborn in the upper realms and will always be surrounded by buddhas and bodhisattvas. The skies of benefit of this mantra are unbelievable! For further resources, click here.
• The Stainless Lotus Pinnacle mantra (Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha mantra). This mantra is also very powerful. By reciting it even a few times, all the turkeys (and anyone else you recite it for) are purified of all their negative karma to be born in hot hells, including the karma created by five immediate negativities, which brings rebirth in avici, the hell of greatest suffering. This mantra also has skies of benefit.
• The Kunrig mantra.
• The Buddha Mitrugpa mantra.

2. The mantra from the Sutra of Great Liberation. By reciting this just once, from now until enlightenment you will never be reborn in the lower realms. [Read more and find resources here.]

3.  OM MANI PADME HUM.

At the end of your practice, dedicate the merit for yourself not to create the negative karma to be reborn as a turkey. So, I’m explaining how to purify the already-created negative karma to be reborn a turkey that has been collected over beginningless rebirths. The other thing, then, is to dedicate not to create such karma in the future. Of course, the basic cause to be reborn as a turkey is killing them, so obviously you need to abstain from that, not to mention killing any other sentient being. These are simple methods but they have unbelievably profound benefits, like the sky. You can also do more or different practices as well. These are just suggestions. You can also do these practices at Christmas or on other occasions where turkeys and so many other animals are sacrificed and eaten.

Vajrasattva Practice

Motivation and taking refuge

Before you start the practice, reflect on how you have been wandering throughout the six realms from beginningless rebirths, suffering numberless times, and how if you do not practice Dharma now, while you have the chance, if you do not actualize the path at this time, you will have to continue experiencing suffering without end. That is the most important thing to think, and you do so on the basis of having studied the lamrim, the graduated paths of the lower and middle capable beings.

Next, take refuge by relying on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to free you from samsara. Then think that it’s not only you suffering in samsara. Contemplate how all the sentient beings in the six realms—the numberless hell beings, the numberless hungry ghosts, the numberless animals, the numberless human beings, the numberless suras, the numberless asuras and the numberless intermediate state beings—have been experiencing oceans of suffering in each realm, from beginningless rebirths up to now, and will have to experience the same in the future over and over again; endless suffering in samsara, numberless times in each realm.

Meditating on your own suffering in samsara first and then thinking of the suffering of others gives you a much stronger feeling. At first you think about your own beginningless suffering, but realize that that is nothing; you are just one person. Your need for happiness and freedom from suffering is nothing compared to the similar needs of numberless sentient beings. Just like you, every being is important, every being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Therefore, you need to rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to free all the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, suras, asuras and intermediate state beings from the oceans of samsaric suffering right away. You can’t stand to see them suffer for even a second longer. So, with your whole heart, rely on Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to guide them, to free them from samsara.

Then recite the refuge prayer at least three times:

Namo Gurubhya
Namo Buddhaya
Namo Dharmaya
Namo Sanghaya

You can also recite longer refuge prayers, taking refuge for all sentient beings. This is Mahayana refuge. If you do it just for yourself, it’s Lesser Vehicle refuge.

Then think, “Due to all the past, present and future merit collected by me and the numberless three-time buddhas and sentient beings, may I achieve full enlightenment in order to benefit all transmigratory beings.”

Here, then, there are two benefits. The first is that you yourself attain enlightenment, which gives you the ability to free all other beings from the ocean of samsaric suffering. The second is that you bring all sentient beings to enlightenment, by yourself alone. So think, “Therefore I am going to do the Vajrasattva purification practice for the benefit of all sentient beings, in particular, the turkeys.”

The four opponent powers

1. The power of the object upon who you depend: Buddha, Dharma and Sangha; the object in whom you take refuge. Then generate bodhichitta on the object of all sentient beings.
2. The power of blame: remembering and recognizing the negative karmas you have collected from beginningless rebirths up to now, the negative karma created by body, speech and mind, by breaking the pratimoksha, bodhichitta and tantra vows, and especially the heaviest negative karma, that collected with the guru, which needs to be purified as a matter of urgency
3. The power of always enjoying the remedy, that is reciting the mantra and visualizing Vajrasattva.
4. The power of committing not to do these negativities again. To do this sincerely and to avoid becoming a liar, think, “From now on I will keep what I can keep and I will abstain from those negativities that are extremely difficult to avoid for a day, an hour, a minute or at least a few seconds.”

Visualization

Nectar beams emit from Vajrasattva, who is seated on a lotus and moon disk above the crown of your head. These enter your central channel through the crown of your head, purifying yourself, your family and all six-realm sentient beings, especially all the turkeys. If you want to visualize somebody who has died or anybody else that you want to pray for, somebody who may be sick or experiencing other difficulties, you can visualize that person.

These purifying nectar beams wash away all beings’ obscurations, negative karmas and broken samaya, which exit your body in the form of liquid coal, dirty black water and so forth in vast quantities. Any sicknesses you have also leave in the form of pus and blood, and all the conditions for your sicknesses, such as spirit harms, come out in form of snakes, frogs, scorpions and so forth as well. The main thing to purify is the cause of the sickness and spirit harm: the defilements and negative karmas, which leave in the form of dirty water. Visualize all that while reciting the mantra.

Mantra Recitation

om vajrasattva samaya manupalaya / vajrasattva tvenopatishtha / dridho me bhava / sutoshyo me bhava / suposhyo me bhava / anurakto me bhava / sarva siddhim me prayaccha / sarva karma su chame / chittam shriyam kuru hum / ha ha ha ha ho / bhagavan sarva tathagata / vajra mame muncha / vajra bhava maha samaya sattva ah hum phat

If you are doing twenty-one recitations of the long Vajrasattva mantra, do the first seven focusing on purifying downwards, called chasing down, the next seven focusing on purifying upwards, chasing up, and the final seven focusing on instantaneous purification.

With chasing down, all the negative karmas and defilements are pushed down by the nectar beams and leave your body through the lower orifices as described above. With chasing up, all the negative karmas and defilements are pushed up and leave through the top of your head, like the wind blowing your hat off. With the third set of seven mantras, focus on sudden purification, which is like switching on a light in a dark room: the darkness immediately goes away. All of a sudden, all your obscurations and negative karma, which are in form of darkness at your heart, disappear. You are totally filled with the radiant light of the nectar beams. This is how it is done.

When you do the Vajrasattva practice, always visualize all sentient beings, especially those with whom you have a connection, at your heart and purify them as well. That helps very much. And, by the way, when in the future you do powa (transference of consciousness) practice for those sentient beings, it works.

At the end of the purification practice Guru Vajrasattva says, “All your defilements, negative karmas and broken samaya have been completely purified.” Try to really feel that.

Dedication

You can do the regular dedication prayers that are done, such as:

Jang chhub sem chhog rin po chhe
Ma kye pa nam kye gyur chig
Kye pa nyam pa me pa yi
Gong nä gong du phel war shog

May the precious supreme bodhicitta
Not yet born arise.
May that arisen not decline,
But increase more and more.

Then:

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless buddhas and numberless sentient beings, may all these animals (you can also include your family members, especially your father and mother) never ever get reborn back into the lower realms but be reborn in a pure land where they can achieve enlightenment, or, if not, at least receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and a perfectly qualified guru revealing the unmistaken path to enlightenment, and by pleasing the holy mind of the virtuous friend may they attain enlightenment as quickly as possible.

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless buddhas and numberless sentient beings, may bodhicitta, the source of all happiness and success for all sentient beings, be generated in the hearts of all the sentient beings of the six realms, and especially in the hearts of everybody in this world, including all the students and benefactors of the center and all the volunteers in the FPMT organization. May it be generated in the hearts of all those who rely upon me, all those for whom I have promised to pray and all those whose names have been given to me. May it be generated in my heart and in the hearts of all my family members, those who are living and those who have died. May the bodhicitta that has already been generated increase.

Due to all the merits of the three times collected by me, the numberless buddhas and the numberless sentient beings, may all wars, sickness, famine, torture, poverty and economic problems in the world and all dangers of earth, water, fire and wind be pacified immediately and may perfect peace and happiness prevail in everyone’s hearts and lives. May the Buddhadharma last for a long time and may the sentient beings in this world meet the Buddhadharma and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by the numberless buddhas and the numberless sentient beings, which are completely empty of existing from their own side, may I, who am completely empty of existing from my own side, achieve the state of full enlightenment, which is completely empty of existing from its own side, and lead all sentient beings, who are completely empty of existing from their own side, to that state, which is completely empty of existing from its own side, by myself alone, who is completely empty of existing from my own side.

Further commentary

I don’t think the general population of America accepts clairvoyance, but if it did, people would understand where all the sufferings, such as depression, come from. The way people normally think—for example, what causes depression—is very limited. They only think about things that are to do with this life. If they had clairvoyance they could see much deeper; they could see things such as past and future lives. People normally think of only this life, not past and future lives.

In the past, many of the turkeys that Americans are eating were Americans who in the past had killed turkeys. Often it could even be a past family member that they are now eating.

There’s a sutra story about Buddha’s disciple Shariputra, who excelled in wisdom. Once when he was on his alms round he looked into a family’s house and saw that the father, who used to catch fish in his backyard pond, had died and been reborn as a fish in that pond. The mother, his wife, who had been very attached to the home, had also died and been reborn as the family dog. And the son’s enemy, who had been very attached to the son’s wife, had died and been reborn as their child. The son was holding the child, his former enemy, eating the fish, his late father, and beating the dog, his late mother, while it chewed on fish bones. Shariputra then observed, “The son is eating his father’s flesh, beating his mother with a stick and cuddling his enemy on his lap—samsaric existence makes me laugh.”

If we have animals we have remember this story and take care of them well. It is very important to understand the benefits of taking care of our pets and other animals by giving them food and drink. Think that you are making charity and don’t just do it out of attachment, thinking that you love the shape of the animals or something, doing everything simply for your own happiness. It’s the same with looking after your children. You create a child with attachment, for your own happiness, thinking how your life would be unbelievably happy if you had a child. Then you take care of the child, but it is for your own happiness.

It is also important to recognize and remember your animals’ most unbelievable kindness, how they have been kind to you in three ways, and then with that awareness give them food and drink. First recite om mani padme hum and then blow over the food and drink to bless it. If you have mani pills, it’s good to crush them and put them into the food and drink, or even add blessed water. You don’t have to get blessed water from a lama; you can make it yourself. Whether or not you have daily commitments, recite OM MANI PADME HUM and other mantras, such as OM PÄDMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT, the Mitrugpa mantra and so forth, and then blow on the water. You can recite however many repetitions of each mantra you want, like seven, ten, fifteen or more, blow on the animal’s food or water and make prayers as well. Similarly, you can keep a bottle water nearby and when you’ve done your commitments you can blow on the water and then use that to put on the food and water that you give to the animals.

Then make this dedication prayer, as above:

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless buddhas and numberless sentient beings, may all these animals (you can also include your family members, especially your father and mother) never ever get reborn back into the lower realms but be reborn in a pure land where they can achieve enlightenment, or, if not, at least receive a perfect human body, meet the Mahayana teachings and a perfectly qualified guru revealing the unmistaken path to enlightenment, and by pleasing the holy mind of the virtuous friend may they attain enlightenment as quickly as possible.

Finally, please remember the unbelievable benefits of making charity of food to the animals. As the Buddha said, “Anybody who makes charity well during the period my teachings exist will receive great enjoyments for 80,000 eons, even if the material that person offers is merely the size of a hair. That person will be free from pain and disease, will enjoy great happiness, will be enriched with all manner of desirable things and will eventually achieve the result: peerless cessation and complete enlightenment.”

Although the letter writing may not be clear, please read it slowly.

In the Southern Continent in particular, the great Dharma king of three realms Lama Tsongkhapa’s unified pure refined gold-like teachings of sutra and tantra, not letting them degenerate through extensive hearing and contemplation the perseverance, the extremely precious greatly kind objects of refuge—the assembly of ocean of learned Sangha community—I offer this letter of request.

I, by the name of Thubten Zopa, am making a humble request to all of you, gathered here.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States of America. At the beginning there were only the native Indians living here and no white people. Then white people from Spain and later England came and settled here. And that’s how the white community came into being in the USA. Those early white settlers they farmed and enjoyed the crops and they felt that all this was due to the kindness of the God. Therefore to say thank you to God, Thanksgiving was celebrated. So this is the history behind Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving was started over 500 human years ago. It is celebrated by killing the bird that is known as a turkey, by so many people. This killing on this day is a bad tradition that is harmful for oneself and others.

On Thanksgiving Day over 65 to 66 million birds (turkeys) are killed for the American people to eat. If one human being got killed then it is shown on television and newspapers, broadcast as widely as possible, and they spend so long to analyze the reason to kill. But when an animal dies or gets killed, it seems the recognition is that it is just food to be killed and eaten. There is no thought and recognition that the animal is a sentient being—like us human beings, who also wants happiness and does not wish for suffering. It is very sad. Over 65 to 66 million turkeys are killed.

I, on behalf of all the turkeys, request your prayers and protection.

Please pray for them. Please guide them from the lower realms.

I, representing all of them, make requests to you, all Sangha community upholding the teaching of Buddha, compassionately, please help us guide the pitiful turkeys, who are now going through extremely terrifying fear and suffering in the lower realms. Please guide us to Buddha field or lead us to attain birth with the eight freedom and ten richness, so that from very young age we are able to enter into the precious teachings of Buddha, get ordained and meet a fully qualified Mahayana guru, thereby our body, speech and mind never to face any unpleasantness and negativities, but always find places of pleasantness and positivity, whereby we are able to enter Sera Je Monastery and train thoroughly in the principles of the common path—the three principal paths, and train in the uncommon path—by receiving the four initiations, that sows the seed of the four Kayas thoroughly in the mental continuum and through the practice of generation stage—ripening the mind, and through the practice of completion stage—liberating the mind and thereby attaining the resultant state of the union of holy body and mind, with the precious union of seven-limb embracing very quickly.

I, from the core of my heart make this request with vast, profound and swift prayers and dedication to actualize this.

I request the following prayers to be recited:

• The Wish-Granting Wheel mantra: OM PADMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHET
• The King of Prayers
• The Prayer for the Beginning, Middle and End of Practice
• The Prayer to be Reborn in the Land of Bliss

For all these, please offer many lights in the altar and offer Rs 20 per Sangha. May this cause all beings to attain Buddhahood quickly.

I was thinking about the 45 million turkeys that are killed for Thanksgiving Day. I felt I must do something for them—not have a dinner party at which we serve dead turkey, but something beneficial. At first I thought they might all be killed on that day itself, but later I found out that they’d been killed some time before that.

I made a divination as to what would be the most beneficial thing to do for the turkeys and found that Medicine Buddha puja came out best, so the Sangha at Kachoe Dechen Ling, a student, and I did an extensive Medicine Buddha puja for them.

Another possibility could have been for us to do prostrations to the Thirty-five Buddhas, reciting these Buddhas’ names with prostrations, to purify the negative karma of the turkeys and all other sentient beings, including the people who killed the turkeys, but in this case it came out better to do Medicine Buddha puja.

Therefore, on Kachoe Dechen Ling’s 2007 Thanksgiving Day, vast skies of merit were collected with each seven limb practice done with each of the seven Medicine Buddhas and the Three Jewels of Refuge: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. We concluded with making extensive offerings and extensive rejoicing as well, dedicating our prayers and merit to the many millions of turkeys who died this year.

Probably, in previous lives, many millions of these turkeys were humans who killed turkeys for Thanksgiving. This means that unless they change their minds, the people who killed this year’s turkeys will be reborn as turkeys in the future and killed under similar circumstances. Perhaps as soon as next Thanksgiving, some of them will be eaten.

It’s just like fish caught by fishermen; those fish are trapped in a similar cycle. They were fishermen in previous lives, were reborn as fish this time, and then got caught by another fisherman, who killed them and sliced them up.

Turkeys are so powerless. If they could, I’m certain they’d demonstrate strongly against the humans who kill them. But if they did they’d probably get killed for that as well.

This is not the news from CNN or the BBC; this is the news from Kachoe Dechen Ling.

Attendant:
When, at about 8:00 pm, Rinpoche realized it was Thanksgiving Day, he immediately asked if the turkeys had already been killed. I told him that they would all be dead by now.

Then Rinpoche said the following:

“Since God has compassion for all beings—the thought of the needs of all sentient beings—this would include our brother and sister turkeys, and all other sentient beings, including all the insects as well—all sentient beings who suffer in order to support us and our happiness.

“If the animals could speak they would express themselves in many ways; they would demonstrate. We’d see them protesting on TV and on the cover of Time Magazine, demanding the right to live, to continue living, and be protected from being slaughtered in such huge numbers.

“If turkeys could, they would demonstrate against the slaughter of such vast numbers of their kind, demanding the freedom to live. Perhaps they would go to the United Nations and make strong requests for the freedom to live and not be killed for food.

“How would we feel if that many human beings were about to be killed? How terrifying it would be. If we put ourselves in the turkeys’ situation, if we think about it for a little while, if we reverse the situation, how would we feel if were in the situation that they are in?”

Then Rinpoche, the Sangha and the student did an extensive, six-hour Medicine Buddha puja for the turkeys that have been killed. Rinpoche asked the student to describe it.

Student:
I remember getting to the house at about 4:00 pm, and shortly after I was in the presence of Rinpoche, in his room, with his attendant and some of the Sangha, and Rinpoche’s dog, Om Mani Padme Hum, was also there. I thought, “Great! That dog is so lucky. I wonder how all these imprints will ripen for her.”

Anyway, Rinpoche inquired about the killing of turkeys for Thanksgiving and was told that they are all killed in advance, since all the supermarkets are packed with frozen birds, all piled up like a mountain.

Rinpoche put great emphasis on the seven limb practice. During the first three rounds, he gave a lot of guided meditation; after that, he guided less, but still left long pauses for meditation. I understood that because he had already explained the details of how to meditate, we were supposed to bring those details to mind. Anyway, I always find new ways of thinking and sources of inspiration during pujas with Rinpoche. He is so kind to show to us how we are supposed to think during the various steps—this time, during the offering section, Rinpoche started to add in visualizations all the offerings made in the houses of some of his students around the world.

Then, during the confession limb, we went really deep, with long, single-pointed moments, thinking, “Now all my negative karma has been totally purified, gone; not a trace of my beginningless negative karma is left.” These periods were so long that the first couple of times I had trouble keeping focus, especially because of the various degrees of pain arising in different parts of my body.

The rejoicing limb was also done very systematically, with emphasis on different objects in each round, such as one’s own merits in the first round, the merits of other sentient beings in the next, and so forth. For the buddhas’ and bodhisattvas’ merits, Rinpoche specifically mentioned three things: their merits, their qualities, and their beneficial activities for sentient beings. I can’t speak for the others, but for me it was a particularly powerful meditation. In fact, the whole puja was extremely powerful.

After the first hour and a half of pain, trying to focus, and fighting sleep, it suddenly became very easy and blissful to follow Rinpoche’s meditation. Right then I thought it was really very effective. I even mentioned to Rinpoche at the end that the confession was so thorough that after some time it was difficult even to think about any leftover negativities, like they really were all gone. But as one of the Sangha rightly remarked, “Yes, and now you can start accumulating them all over again!”

However, Rinpoche told me, “You see how powerful the seven limbs are; you can accomplish so much just by doing that practice.” I went back home thinking that something had changed inside, how beneficial the Medicine Buddha practice is, and how unbelievable my Guru is. All it takes is to just open up, like in the confession practice, to the Guru’s face, and it all just comes together. Right then it actually seemed quite easy, the solution.

Attendant: Extensive Offerings
Over 300 water bowls with perfect saffron and clean sparkling water are offered each day at Rinpoche’s house. More than 7,000 Christmas lights are offered around the house and on the stupa. There are lotus lights, tiny sparkling lights and ropes of lights surrounding the whole house. The garden is filled with as many flowers as possible, and inside are flowers, candles, incense, and crystal offerings.

During the extensive offering practice, Rinpoche offers all these materials multiplied countless times. He also offers the extensive offerings that are at Buddha Amitabha Pure Land, his retreat place in Washington State, where there are also 300 water bowls and about 1,500 light offerings. Rinpoche also offers the extensive offerings that are made in all the centers, especially Kopan Monastery, Nepal, and Golden Light Sutra Center, Mongolia, as well as all those offered daily at certain students’ houses.

In pujas, during the offering limb, Rinpoche plays cymbals, other Sangha play drums, conch, and bell, and we play a CD of Kopan monks on the gyaling. Incense is brought in and all the lights are turned on (including those in the bathroom, which are very bright).