Dear Tshering Dekar,

You may be find the following calculators useful:

Tibetan Astrology:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/tibetan-astrology/tibetan-astrology.html

Chinese Zodiac:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/horoscopes/the-chinese-zodiac.html

In general, even if from an astrological perspective something is to happen or not happen, it can all change due to the actions we take in life. We can change our circumstances through our own actions. So in this regard, you can be successful if you put in the hard work and create the conditions to be successful as we can influence what happens to us by practising the Dharma and thereby creating the karma necessary to be successful.

You can also engage in certain practices that help you to be successful by helping you to purify negative karma and generate merit. An example of such a practice is that of Gyenze, which you can find here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth.html

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Anonymous,

There are a couple of points you would need to think about regarding this.

Were the Lower Tantra initiations that you received given as a blessing, meaning that no vows or commitments were given? Or were they given with vows and practice commitments? And when receiving them, did you think from your heart that you were recieving them?

If they were given as a blessing with no vows/commitments, then if you don’t feel like you have a guru-disciple relationship with any of these lamas, it would be fine to practice Dorje Shugden.

However, if the initiations were given with vows, commitments, such as the Bodhisattva vows, and at the time you received then, you thought from your heart that you were receiving them, then there is a guru-disciple relationship established, even though you may not have a personal relationship with these gurus. So accordingly they would be your gurus.

The following article may help to clear confusion in reads to your gurus: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-guru-protocol-a-guide-to-knowing-who-your-guru-is.html

If you would like, you can contact us privately to discuss this matter further. Contact details are provided here: https://www.kechara.com/contact/

Thank you.

Dear Peter Cartwright,

Thank you for your message. I’m sorry, but Tsem Rinpoche never published a book on Tibetan astrology. The article on this website is just a simple introduction to and overview of Tibetan Astrology: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/tibetan-astrology/introduction-to-tibetan-astrology.html It does not include the types of procedural calculations that you are looking for.

As far are we are aware, there is no translation in English of the types of calculations that you are looking for. Most English texts on Tibetan Astrology that we have seen focus on Nagtsi (Chinese Astrology) and Jungtsi (Elemental Astrology) rather than Kartsi (Vedic Astrology) or Kalachakra-based procedures.

Apologies that we cannot be of more help. Thank you.

Dear Bry,

Thank you for your question. The iconography of the various Buddha figures comes from those highly attained beings who received the practice originally from the deities themselves, or who gained attainments from the practices and were able to perceive the deities directly. So the Buddhas appeared to them directly, after which these masters transmitted their iconography.

In fact, each facet of iconography of a Buddha has a particular meaning, which can include what aspects of the Dharma that the practice of that deity emphasises or even the benefits of practising that particular Buddha.

You can read more about the iconography of the Buddha here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-body-of-a-buddha-a-road-map-to-liberation.html

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Bhavisha,

Yes, you can receive the Refuge ceremony online as that is different from receiving initiation. When you receive Refuge, the lama you receive it from becomes your guru.

Here in Kechara, we have a Refuge ceremony during Wesak Day which just passed. At the same time, we have only streaming for those joining from abroad who qualify to take refuge in Kechara. They take refuge online.

If there is a specific needs at other times of the year, you can discuss that with Kechara’s pastors who can guide you through the process.

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Terra,

Thanks for your question. Yes, absolutely. You can chant Green Tara’s mantra without having her initiation or any other initiation for that matter. Her mantra is very powerful to help us in many ways.

There are even prayers that you can recite to Tara without need initiation. We have these available at the links below:

Praises to the 21 Taras (after which you can recite the mantra):
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/wp-content/uploads/prayers/Praisestothe21Taras.pdf

A Song of Longing for Tara, The Infallible (after which you can recite the mantra): https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/wp-content/uploads/prayers/ASongofLongingforTara.pdf

Or even if you just want to recite the mantra, that is good also.

If you want to create a connection with Green Tara, even if you don’t plan to receive her initiation, it would be good to set up a small altar to Green Tara and make offerings every to do, such as water offerings or candles, fruit and foods or incense.

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Tshering Dekar,

Thank you for your question. You can use this calculator here to find out who your Birth Buddha is: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/tibetan-astrology/tibetan-astrology.html. Then you can follow the advice and prayer to your Birth Buddha according to Tibetan Astrology. This will be very beneficial in helping you to achieve a better rebirth.

If you have a guru who has assigned your a particular practice or sadhana, you should engage in that practice very well.

While Astrology can give a prediction of what will happen to us when we pass away, this can change due to the karma that we create. Hence practising the Dharma and following the advice and teachings of our guru is important. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Tashi Lhadon,

The following may be useful for you:

Tibetan Astrology:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/tibetan-astrology/tibetan-astrology.html

Chinese Zodiac:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/horoscopes/the-chinese-zodiac.html

In general, even if from an astrological perspective something is to happen or not happen, it can all change due to the actions we take in life. We can change our circumstances through our own actions. So in this regard, if you work hard at finding a job, you will find one. As for achieving your parents’ hope it is the same. If that is something you really want, you should work towards it. Putting in effort coupled with daily sadhana and mind transformation will bring the results we are looking for. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Amira,

Thank you for your question. You should not feel bad when you pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in times of need. They manifested their practices, mantras, etc for all sentient beings, and that includes you and me. They are here to help everyone, you and me.

You are correct that ultimately, they help us to achieve the state of enlightenment. However, they help us in whatever way we need help. They can already see and know what you are going through. But in order for them to help us, we need to make the effort to make a connection with them. So when you are going through tough times and you call upon them, don’t feel as if you are bothering them.

Their very being is to help us, so when you call out to them, they will help. They are the epitome of compassion and love, so they would never feel like you are bothering them, etc, when you call upon them.

If from your side, you feel bad relying on them in times of need, then you should create a strong connection with them on a daily basis, by doing a daily sadhana, making offerings on your altar, etc. As you do this on daily basis when everything is going on, they will help you in the long term. As you purify your negative karma through daily practice and generate merit, you will find that the tough times will become less and less.

The stronger our connection with them, the more that they can help us. I hope this helps to answer your question.

Dear Rojal Poudel,

Thank you for your questions.

In regards to dealing with lust and desire, there are two main ways to deal with this.

1. To meditate on the ‘ugliness’ of the people are lustful/desirous towards. Usually, we over exaggerate the beautiful qualities of a person which leads to lust and desire. But we forget that they also have negative points both physically and emotionally. When we meditate on those, it counters lust/desire and makes us think more logically.

2. The second is to meditate on our own death and impermenance. When we come to terms with the fact that we are not going to live and will one day, our lust/desire automatically lessens, because we have a firm grasp of our priorities to make the most of our life. It is an internal process.

Both of these are taught in detail in the Lamrim teachings. They are also include in our Insightful Meditation book, which you can find here: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/products/insightful-meditation

For the Ngondro practice in our tradition, you do not require initiation. However, in other traditions you need to receive a sort of permission to engage in the ngondro. This is not required in our Gelug tradition, so you if you are practising the Gelug tradition, you can engage in the practices, no problem.

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear AJ,

When we talk about the ripening of karma, we are actually talking about the natural process of feeling the effects of actions we have taken in the past. For example, if we get into a car accident, this is the ripening of karma. It is the result of actions that we ourselves have taken either in this life or past lives.

When it comes to Dharma practice, we talk about ‘purification’ of karma. This means that the effects of karma we have committed are purified. This purification means that we will experience the karma, but not to the full extent that we would have without practising the Dharma. For example, we have the karma to get into a car accident, but because we have been practising the Dharma, we get into a car accident but it is very minor, or if our practice is strong enough, we avoid getting into the car accident altogether, because the karma has been purified.

When it comes to any Dharma practice, reciting mantras, prayers (and in your case reciting the name of Amida or Amitabha), will necessarily involve the purificaton of karma. Karma is what causes us to suffer and be stuck in samsara. Dharma practice is what takes us out of samsara, but due to the way things are, we still need to experience the purification of karma in some way. This is part of the spiritual process, we cannot get to higher states of consciousness, reach a Pureland or even gain enlightenment without going through this process.

This may sound very scary, however, we are already protected by the Buddhas when we do this. This is because, we are not actually feeling the full force of our karma, only a very small portion of it, when we purify the negative karma through our practice. At the same time we are generating merits, which also helps to overpower the effects of the negative karma that is being purified.

In Tibetan Buddhism, in order to avoid any issues we rely on the Dharma protectors to help in this regard. However, since you do not want to practice any Dharma protectors, then the other option is actually to speed up the purification, so if you do happen to feel the effects of negative karma, is has either been purified a lot more or even completely purified altogether. You can engage in any purification practice such as Vajrasattva (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/an-important-purification-practice.html) or the 35 Confessional Buddhas (https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-35-confessional-buddhas.html). The central practice of effective purification is actually the Four Opponent Powers. You can read more about these in the links given above.

However, since you are practising the Pureland tradition, I am asuming you are learning your practice through a particular tradition or under a specific teacher. Please do consult your teachers or tradition for methods specifically to help with the purification of negative karma. They will have methods to help in this regard. If we are practising a specific tradition, it is best to not to mix practices together. As each path has specific methods that lead to the same goal of ultimate enlightenment. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Rena,

Thank you for your message and greetings from Malaysia! We are glad that feel a connection with Tsem Rinpoche. There are many different practices within Tibetan Buddhism that can help in any situation we are going through in life.

In the case of axiety, the best practice you can engage in is the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa. It’s the central practice within our lineage and has many benefits. One of those is helping to overcoming the anxiety and depression. Here are some resources on the practice to help you:

> Online prayer text: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html#19

> Video commentary to the practice by Tsem Rinpoche: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/me/tsongkapas-daily-practice-video-commentary.html

> Condensed Tsongkapa practice for happiness and clear mind: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/all-about-tsongkhapa-the-benefits-and-his-practice.html

> Teaching on Lama Tsongkhapa’s benefits: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/sayonara-to-depression.html

We also have a book all about Lama Tsongkhapa’s practice available here:
> https://www.vajrasecrets.com/products/tsongkhapa-a-simple-guide-to-a-powerful-practice

Lama Tsongkhapa’s Guru Yoga actually forms the first half of our daily sadhana here in Kechara, which is known as the Diamond Path (https://www.vajrasecrets.com/products/diamond-path). This practice includes the practice of Dorje Shugden, which removes obstacles and creates the conditions to succeed both in life and spiritual progress.

I hope this helps. You can always ask more questions here, or email Care@Kechara.com as well. Thank you.

Dear Duy,

Thank you for your question. We are very happy to hear that you want to practice Amitabha Buddha! Unfortunately, we don’t have a specific sadhana online dedicated to Amitabha, but we do have a short practice of Amityus available.

Amitayus is actually the long-life form of Amitabha. They are the same Buddha, but Amitayus looks a little bit different from the images of Amitabha that you may be used to.

Here is the practice: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/short-amitayus-practice.html

Hope this helps.

Dear John,

Thank you for your question. The mantra of any Buddha-deity can help remove delusions on the spiritual path and ultimately lead us to enlightenment. However, we say that certain deities have specific benefits. These benefits are the first to develop when practising that deity. For example, Manjushri is said to help develop wisdom, a clear mind, etc. Chenrezig is said to develop compassion. But when you practice enough, Manjushri will also help you develop compassion and Chenrezig will also help you develop wisdom. So the mantras and practices of all Buddhas can help remove delusions.

In relation to homosexuality, it is not a delusion according to Buddhist terminology. Homosexuality and even hetrosexuality, all forms of sexuality are caused by the results of karma. In fact, karma is the cause of everything that happens in our lives, where we are born, where we live and more importantly how we live, how we think, how we behave. All of these are limiting on the spiritual path and make us suffer in many different ways.

In Buddhism, we believe we are stuck in this vicious cycle of creating karma, experiencing it’s results, reacting and then creating even more karma. The goal is to get of this cycle complete and achieve Buddhahood. This is achieved step by step on the spiritual path.

So, homosexulity in and of itself is not inherently bad, but what is negative are the afflictive emotions (delusions) behind all forms of sexuality that cause us to harm either ourselves and others, either physically or emotionally. These afflictive emotions are for example, lust, desire, attachment. These are some of the delusions that make us create negative karma, which keeps us suffering within samsara and far away from spiritual progress.

In Tibetan Buddhism, there are many ways in which to handle these delusions to stop us acting in negative ways. Some are based on deity practices (but they are higher tantric practices in nature and so require talking of vows and commitments and can only be engaged in once you have initiation). Such practices include Vajra Yogini. You can read more about the practice here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/inspiration-worthy-words/starting-on-vajra-yogini-now.html

On the other hand, there are sutra based practices, which include meditation on the faults of lust, desire and attachments. You can find some simple meditations about those in this book: https://www.vajrasecrets.com/products/insightful-meditation

In order to learn more about delusions, what they are and how they keep us in Samsara, you can read any of the Lamrim texts, especially the Lower and Medium Scope sections. It is explained in much more details than we can go into here.

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Sirius,

Thank you for your message. As of yet, we don’t have a full mandala offering set explanation available online, which includes the ritual procedure, prayers and visualisations, etc. However the following resources may help you:

Mandala Offering – A Powerful Method to Accumulate Merits (article)
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/mandala-offering-a-powerful-method-to-accumulate-merits.html

The Mandala Offering of 37 Heaps
https://www.vajrasecrets.com/products/the-mandala-offering-of-37-heaps

If you are in Malaysia, or in South-East asia, we are having a 1-day in-person Mandala Ritual Workshop next month, you can find out more here: https://www.kecharaforestretreat.com/mandala-ritual-workshop/

We hope this helps.

Dear Thinley Jamtsho,

You can use any of the two calculators to help provide more answers:

Tibetan Astrology:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/tibetan-astrology/tibetan-astrology.html

Chinese Zodiac:
https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/horoscopes/the-chinese-zodiac.html

Thank you

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your question. Purification of negative karma happens when we are engaged in some form of Dharma practice, are practising the Four Opponent Powers or engaged in Mind Transformation techniques throughout our day.

If we are not engaged in any of this when we experience the effects of our negative karma, then actually that is not purification. That can be classed as simple feeling the effects of the negative karma (you could be exhausting the karma completely, or simply feeling its effects although the actually karma itself is not exhausted).

When we take pain killers when feeling the effects of purification, then no it will not obstruct the purification process. If we take it when we exhausting our negative karma or simple feeling it’s effects, then again we are not obstructing that from happening, we are using our good karma to take something that masks the effects of the negative karma. It’s not that we are obstructing either the purification, complete exhaustion or the effects of that karma. We are actually still experiencing it.

It is the same as any medical treatment we receive. The reason is to overcome the effects of negative karma so we can continue with our lives and hopefully practice more Dharma. In fact, there are many practices to do with blessing medicines to be more effective, to help heal us of our pains and illness, etc. One of the most famous is Medicine Buddha practice, but any practice can be used to bless medicines to be more effective to overcome pain and the cause of that pain, diseases, etc.

I hope this helps.

Dear Bahvisha,

Thank you for your question. Purification of negative karma will not lead to a positive transformation in and of itself. That requires conscious effort and transformation. What you are feeling in your mind due to the mantra recitation is the calming effects of the mantra, and because you are chanting regularly, you are starting to develop spiritual concentration.

Transformation on the other hand is a conscious choice, effort has to be put into it. Our speech comes from our mind, what we say, how we say it, etc, is thought of in the mind first, only then do we say it. So body, speech and mind are interlinked, they are not thought of as separate in and of themselves when talking about purification.

All purification methods with help to purify the negative karma related to all three – body, speech and mind. However, some methods will work better at purifying the negative karma associated with one of them faster than another. For example, prostrations is very well-know for purifying karma of the body, but it also definitely purifies speech and mind karma as well.

Hence any purification method can help with purification of negative speech karma, but that purification will not necessarily help to improve your speech, because that is a very conscious effort that we need to make, not something that a mantra can magically grant us. The purification of negative karma can help make that transformation easier, however, we have to put in our own effort.

You can engage in any of the purification methods, such as Vajrasattva, 35 Confessional Buddhas, etc., in order to purify speech karma (and also body and mind karma).

I’m not sure from which tradition you received the Saraswati mantra, but here is a Buddhist mantra of Saraswati that you can recite: OM SARASIDDHI HRING HRING. It can be done without intiaition also, no problem.

Saraswati is a very powerful practice, in fact it was one of the practice that Lama Tsongkhapa, the founder of our lineage, relied heavily upon. He even wrote praises to Saraswati. One of the short praises can be found here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/prayers-and-sadhanas/sadhana-prayers.html#16

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Raya,

Filial piety is an important part of Buddhist practice and culture. However, you also have your own individual freedom to do as you wish in terms of marriage and having children, etc. It’s not a must that you need to get married and have children. It is entirely your choice.

Simply doing what you are told to do by your parents, in this case getting married and having children, is not the practice of compassion at all. If you are uncomfortable with being presured, etc, you should sit your parents down and have an honest, open-hearted conversation about it without letting your pent up emotions get in the way of open communication.

If you have a proper conversation with your parents about this, I’m sure that even though they would still want you to get married and have children due to thier own cultural upbringing, they will understand your thoughts and feelings on the matter.

I hope this helps. You can also engage in the practice of Green Tara. She is great for familial harmony. She won’t help to magically solve the issues with your parents, but her energies can help make things smoother when you have open communication, etc.

I hope this helps.

Dear Jason,

Prostrations can be combined with the refuge prayer, or in conjuction with the 35 Confessional Buddhas. Prostrations are always accompanied by reciting something, hence if you are combining with the refuge prayer, yes you will still need to recite when you prostrate.

However, your main focus should be on the prostrations themselves. So, when you are reciting the refuge prayer, it is not necessary to finish the prayer 3 times per prostrations etc. For the refuge prayer, you can go on auto-pilot and just keep reciting either fast or slow as you prostrate.

If combining with the 35 Confessional Buddhas, then it is even more complicated, because you need to prostrate and recite one of their names for each prostration.

I hope this helps.