Hi wonderer,
Tattoos are just symbols people put on their body for whatever reasons.It can be skin art , expression of ones courage to endure pain,an object of fetish, or used as a covert form of identification known only to it members.Nowadays its for cosmetic reasons.
Whether a tattoo is on the body of a monk, a scientist or whoever , it is still a tattoo.It does not automatically make one a gangster or a good person.Neither do they have such power.If monks hv obscure tattoos it could be that before they go on the spiritual way they were gangsters or had it done for any of the reasons mentioned above. You know how difficult it is to remove them.
If they tattoo holy verses or images , its for convenient reminder of their practice , similar to us wearing buddha pendants.
If there are more theravadan monks with tattoos it is likely because thai culture and its people love tattoos more than the chinese mahayanists. One thing for sure,it has nothing to do with enlightenment!

Hi JM,

I am not qualified to explain about the phenomena of dreams.I have read that for those who have mastered the yoga of sleep, dreams can be very helpful in developing realizations. For most of us ,its biggest drawback is that we can’t recall most of it, hence the struggle to piece together the little we remember leads to confusion , prone to misinterpretation and hence unreliable.
Personally, I would not waste too much time figuring out the dream questions and get on with a basic practice which we can understand and follow. Since you have a Guru, it is best you ask him and just follow his advice.

Dear James,you already got the best purification mantras and practices there !
The effectiveness of any buddhist practice to make things happen depends on the quality of our mind not the quantity of mantras.
From what you write, you seem to have the knowledge of the 4 powers of purification etc.If you are doing it correctly you should definitely get results.If not, I suggest you learn more by attending dharma classes to fill in gaps in our knowledge base and to balance that with engaging in dharma work ( joining n helping in a budhdhist organisation in whatever you can on regular basis ). This will build up the merits to support fruition of our practices.

Dear meena,
The substantial cause to have a confused or unclear mind in this life is due to one’s disrespect for the 3 jewels , laziness in studying dharma,throwing away, damaging scriptures etc in the past.
There are many antidotes eg sponsoring dharma books, cleaning temples etc But the most effective is related to gaining wisdom.
A good mantra to recite would be wisdom Buddha Manjushri’s , ‘ Om Ah Ra Pa Sa Na Dhi ‘. Alternatively you can recite the Lamrim text. Kechara is having its monthly Lamrim recitation retreat. Why not join the coming Feb session starting soon? The collective wisdom energy generated by more people have more power to bless our minds.

Hi MC,
The best way for ordinary folks like us to accumulate merit continuously is to hold vows.Even when we are sleeping we collect merits as our virtuous intentions are sealed by the vows.
Your question is not very clear. What are you offering? If you had generated compassion or thoughts of kindness , that would make a good offering.If you do not have any spiritual motivation or virtuous thoughts during your family outing,I don’t think holy beings will be pleased if you have only worldly concerns in your mind.If we sincerely care about animals suffering, better to offer the virtue of abstaining from eating meat and putting effort to convince others to follow same.

Hi Ian,
From Buddhist view,everything is due to karma.However, there are two causes involved before it ripens into a negative experience. The substantial cause is our past negative actions. The supportive or secondary cause is the action we do now and the objects we encounter which act as trigger points.
There is nothing much one can do if, say , someone don’t like the way we look! We just have to accept we most likely had been a nasty big complainer of others in our past lives ! That ‘ protects’ us from reacting with anger etc.which makes us even more miserable without solving the problem.
On the other hand, if this is the response or perception of many people, you should check if your comments are sincere with no hidden agenda.Sometimes, the words may be nice but the body language and tone may betray one’s real intentions to others.Even if we don’t mean it, if others don’t respond well to our ‘style’ of speaking , it makes sense for us to keep a check on what we say and modify accordingly if we don’t want to end up with no friends.It could be just a poor sense of timing.
Usually, if our intention is good, our body language and speech naturally follows, which others can sense positively.

Dear Joe,
All the practices you are doing should yield results. If not you should check whether your motivation is correct. It may also be that you have not fully understood the meaning of the sadhanas you are doing and merely mouthing the prayers without strong conviction.How regular have you been doing your practices? Are you distracted while doing it? All the above have a bearing on the effectiveness of your practice.
In the Mahayana path, the first three perfections are giving, moral discipline and patience. The last is the most difficult to perfect.Therefore have patience !
Your father is not the problem. You are lucky you can still communicate with him now.Many don’t have fathers that live that long to talk to. Enjoy him in his golden years and spend quality time with him even if it is just listening for awhile to catch a few words.Its giving attention that makes old people happy more than the communication part. Understanding this is a good starting point to improve your patience level.

Hi WK,
There is a difference between mere praying to deities or ancestors and taking refuge. As Buddhists, we don’t take Refuge in spirits, animals or unenlightened beings because they are not completely reliable to help us free from sufferings for the simple reason they have not overcome their own suffering yet.Only enlightened beings are out of samsara .They also have other special qualities like compassion , unconditional help etc which make them perfect objects of Refuge.
I don’t see anything wrong with continuing with praying to ancestors as a mark of respect for them as our predecessors and also in memory of the good things they have done etc.Once we have taken Refuge, there is no necessity for praying for help from any other beings as the 3 jewels can fulfill all our temporary and ultimate wishes.

Dear S,
We Buddhists believe there are many beings other than humans and animals.
In general we believe in existence of 6 types : gods, demi gods,humans, animals, ghosts/spirits and hell beings.

Gods,demi gods , dakinis, and worldly deities within the Buddhist cosmology ( especially Vajrayana tradition ) possess some powers. This is a reason why people propitiate or pray to them for help however limited or short term. Therefore, from point of view they are celestial beings and they render help , I suppose they are similar to the Christian angels.

Dear Jan,
I will be very honest to say that pastors in Kechara are not Geshe bound scholars. As far as our studies are concerned we follow the instructions given by our spiritual guide which balances study with dharma work and serving society.
Our study curriculum centres around the Lamrim text , Liberation in the palm of your hand by H.H. Kyabje Pabongkha Rinpoche, the four preliminaries, 8 verses of mind transformation by Kadampa Langri Tangpa, Bodhicaryavatara by Pandita Shantideva and Wheel of Sharp Weapons by Yogi Dhamarakshita.
Dharma texts are much easier to understand if one put into practice what has been learnt. If you are fortunate to have a guru, it is best since the guru can actualise the dharma for us to see and follow without mistake.

Hi abe,
One of the five precepts state that one should refrain from taking intoxicants.Intoxicants are substances like alcohol, opiates, hallucigenic drugs etc which blur our mind, and make us lose control.It is a Refuge commitment to keep.
Observing the precepts at this level is how we train our mind to be stronger to resist temptations etc which bring short term pleasure but long term problems. Apart from health/medical reasons,( one should be very sincere not to abuse this exception), one should strictly abstain from alcohol.

Hi Timmy,
Why waste time being bothered by rumors? In Vajrayana,keeping samaya with your Guru is the basis for all attainments.This means whatever instructions/practice given to you by your Guru you should never abandon.
In our present unenlightened level, who else can we rely on to help us along the uncommon spiritual path other than our Guru? There are many Lamas and qualified teachers out there. Each will give us different methods of practice depending on our karma and disposition and the particular teacher’s assessment of us.Following one teacher does not make us disrespect other teachers.