Various Deity Practices

The way you are doing your prayer has extensive benefits; it is very meaningful to recite it. This sutra is a very powerful method for certain cases where there is greater benefit for other sentient beings by blocking something, like a court case, where if you don’t block it and instead let others do what they wish, it would cause great harm, and you would only gain a small benefit or even suffer great loss or harm.

The conclusion is that what is most beneficial for oneself is not the main point, the main objective. The main point and best objective is what is best for others, for all living beings. When something is just for yourself, then it is confused and unclear, but when it is for others it is very clear, comfortable, and meaningful, and makes your life happiest, fulfilling, and of benefit for sentient beings. This is the best way to make your life happy and comfortable, and to have a very happy future, like the sun shining, and not just for this life. It has a long effect for many lifetimes, and this causes you to continue to work for the benefit of so many sentient beings.

This practice is wrathful, performed in order to not receive harm, to not suffer, when there is a powerful need to solve problems, when you have tried every other way to benefit. Of course, it is practiced with compassion, otherwise it would become negative karma for you, and it would be so difficult for you to benefit others and become enlightened.

The following are instructions on how to bless water for the chabtru puja—a purifying ritual done for you by a lama—or for washing and purifying yourself with the deity Dorje Namjom.¹

You can also do this with other deities that purify pollution, such as Tromo Metseg.

If there is paralysis, in addition to the Dorje Namjom mantra, you can recite the mantras for paralysis, to bless the water. Then the water is blessed and you can use it for washing, and from this purification it is very common that people are healed.

Do this practice many times, just doing it once is not enough. Also, it depends on your karma and the karma you have with the lama who does the chabtru puja for you.

If you have heavy paralysis, then you have to do it many times, thirty, forty or more. After the lama does the chabtru puja for you, then collect the water that has been blessed by the lama. Then, when you do the washing purification, you mix the collected water from the puja with the other water in a basin, bathtub, or container, and then do washing purification with very strong faith and think that you are purified.

This is the visualization: All the buddhas and bodhisattvas are above the water, and also above the water is Dorje Namjom on a lotus and moon seat. As you recite the mantra, all the power and blessings flow down as nectar from the holy bodies of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, from Chenrezig, into Dorje Namjom's heart. Dorje Namjom then dissolves into the water, blessing it and making it powerful to remove all obstacles.

After you finish the blessing, with wisdom faith, you wash.

The visualization if you are using the deity Tromo Metseg is as follows: Visualize the deity standing on your head pouring water on you as you do washing purification.²

Mantra of Dorje Namjom:

NAMAH  TSENDRA BENZA KRODAYA  HULU HULU DITA DITA BENDA BENDA HANA HANA AMITAY HUM PHAT SvaHA

Notes

¹   Skt: Vajravidarana; also known in Tibetan as Nampar Jompa. [Return to text]

² Refer to Essential Buddhist Prayers: An FPMT Prayer Book, Vol. 1, Morning Activities, Mantras for Washing. [Return to text]

Black Garuda mantra can heal cancer, leprosy, and skin diseases. To heal others recite many mantras and blow on their crown, throat, and heart.

To protect from spirits that come while you are sleeping, that crush you and prevent you from making a noise, visualize yourself as the deity, and the spirit will leave immediately. You can also protect yourself from the spirit by tying seven knots in a black thread and visualizing Black Garuda in each of these knots (generate yourself as the deity first) and that the person who is receiving the spirit harm is also in the knot.

You have to do this practice with a bodhicitta motivation. You can do it for yourself or others.

For hailstorms that destroy crops, generate yourself as Black Garuda and blow at the sky. The sky is then filled with garudas from whom come blazing fire, which melts the hail into water. Then all the garudas line up in the sky and chase the hail away. You can also do this to make rain stop.

For serious diseases, such as hepatitis C, leprosy, warts, epilepsy, chickenpox, smallpox, also piercing pain, wear Hayagriva protection or Black Garuda protection. Hayagriva is also excellent for epilepsy.

There is a lama in Nepal who does chöd and gives black blessing strings to people, which are very powerful. Probably these are Black Garuda strings.

Student: A few years ago, I asked one of my gurus to check what deity I had a karmic connection with and he said Vajrayogini. My question is that when I get up and throughout the day (when I remember), natural awareness habitually comes with Yamantaka, probably because I do most of the practice from Guru Puja with protectors based on Yamantaka. I find it difficult to generate with Vajrayogini. Does Rinpoche have any suggestions?

Rinpoche’s reply:

My dear Bob,
If your guru has given this advice about your deity then you can’t change it.

My suggestion is you do both: Visualize half of yourself as Vajrayogini and the other half as Yamantaka. This will be something that no one has practiced before, it will be a new tradition that you are starting. I’m joking, of course.

But it is difficult. Once you have asked your guru, you can’t really change. What you can try is this: Visualize all deities as one and this is the Guru. Outside you can visualize yourself as Yamantaka, but remember this is also Vajrayogini. Integrate what you feel and what your guru has said.

Much love and prayer...

My very dear Harold,
Thank you very much for your kind letter, sorry for the delay in replying.

It seems best for you to pursue getting the Cittamani Tara initiation and learning about this; it is a little easier. Focus on that more, learning and practicing the meditations.

It is very good that you have been practicing Kalachakra, you are very fortunate, that means you can be reborn in Shambhala and come back as a bodhisattva warrior to protect the world in the degenerating age. According to the text it says that the army from Shambhala will ride on horses with weapons and conquer all the barbarians, then they will change in aspect and give teachings, so in that way the Dharma will last for another 100 years in this world.

Maybe you can prepare for this by taking all the violent people in this world to Shambhala pure land, to achieve enlightenment. Do you like this idea? Isn’t this a very inspiring project for you? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

So, life is short and death can happen at any time, so it is very important to practice Dharma. Thinking in this way stops you doing non-virtuous things and makes you do virtuous things; also you can get many practices done. If your mind is full of compassion for all beings then everything you do (with this thought) becomes the cause to achieve enlightenment and then you are really able to benefit sentient beings.

Live your life in this way all the time. In your break time (which means your rest time, not break from practicing Dharma), then everything becomes meaningful and you create the cause for happiness in your future lives, liberation from samsara, and enlightenment, and every day you destroy the causes of samsara: ignorance.

Try to achieve the lamrim realizations, that is the MOST important thing, by meditating on the lamrim step by step, renouncing this life’s happiness, renouncing future lives’ happiness, generating bodhicitta, and meditating on emptiness, every day. Then, on top of that, perform tantric practice.

Also, it is important in your daily life do all your actions with the motivation of bodhicitta. In this way, you use all the actions to collect merit and purify negative karma. That means when you eat, drink coffee, work, sleep, talk to people, etc. When you talk to people, talk about compassion to help others to also collect merits, in that way bringing other people little by little to enlightenment.

Try to realize renunciation, bodhicitta, and emptiness. Recite the Three Principles of the Path by Lama Tsongkhapa, meditating on each step of the lamrim.

It would also be very good for you to recite one evening the King of Prayers and then the next evening to recite Losang Gyeltenma by Lama Tsongkhapa.

With much love and prayers...

If a person has a lot of superstition or paranoia, then manifest in the wrathful aspect of Black Manjushri, whose appearance is similar to Vajrapani, standing with his right leg bent and left leg stretched out. His hair is raised up and he is wearing a tiger skin. His left hand at his heart is holding a lotus, on which rests the Prajñaparamita text.

At dawn, before opening the door of the house, face to the east. Keep your back straight and breathe in from the right nostril and out from the left.

Visualizing yourself as a deity, meditate that the guru in the form of Wrathful Black Manjushri is above your crown and recite the mantra:

OM TRA SÖ CHU SÖ TUR TA SÖ TUR MI SÖ NYING GO LA CHÖ KHA LA JAH KAM SHAM TRAM BÄ PHAT SVAHA
(1,000 or 21 times)

The best time to recite this mantra is early in the morning.