(By Tsem Rinpoche)

Dear friends and seekers of Wisdom,

I truly want from the depths of my heart everyone to gain wisdom, great memory, understanding of dharma that cuts through your problems, merits to purify obstacles, and to gain great attainments before your life is through. I know the practice of Tsongkapa Guru Yoga can help you accomplish all of this and you don’t need heavy initiations or commitments for it and you can start anywhere and anytime. Yes you can start anywhere and anytime and there is no danger of doing it wrong whatsoever…. I received this sacred practice and commentary from HH Kyabje Zong Rinpoche over 23 years ago and I am passing it here to all of you for your benefit. Whatever Kyabje Zong Rinpoche gives us is beyond any scrutiny or doubt… I really want all of you to sincerely benefit so very much… I want everyone to be ok… now and future lives… I would request you with folded hands to do this practice of Tsongkapa and go all the way..if you do so, it fulfills one of the reasons I am even on Facebook and blog and twitter (internet)… If you sincerely over a long period of time do this practice, then you will be ok and I will have done something worthwhile and you will gain so much…really..

I am here to benefit you with my limited abilities. Posting this is one of my ways to do so. I would be so happy if you go all the way daily, with great enthusiasm, great stability and learning more as you go along the way while doing this practice… Please do this wonderful thing for yourself, you deserve it after being in existence for so long, you deserve it for all you have gone through…

Sincerely and humbly,
Tsem Rinpoche

Disc 1

This was extracted from Je Tsongkhapa himself and it was known as the Ganden Lhagyama or The Hundred Deities of the Joyful Land. The Hundred Deities of the Joyful Land represents Maitreya’s heaven. It is another name for Maitreya’s heaven or in Sanskrit we say “Tushita”, Tibetan we say “Gaden.” Or the Joyful Land of the Hundred Deities and the reigning Buddha of that land now is Maitreya. Previous to that it was Shakyamuni Buddha.

When Shakyamuni took birth down on our planet then, he took his crown, the ornaments of a Bodhisattva off and he gave that to Maitreya Buddha. And then he took rebirth down. So the reigning Buddha of that heaven is Lord Maitreya at this time.

So Je Tsongkhapa passed his instructions down to Je Sherab Senge who was one of his main disciples. Je Sherab Senge was a great, great, great meditation master who had thousands and thousands of disciples. And one of his main disciples was His Holiness the great first Dalai Lama. So Je Sherab Senge is not an ordinary Lama but he was the teacher of the 1^st Dalai Lama. The being we know that is the Dalai Lama is an enlightened being so his teacher must be quite enlightened also. So the teachings passed down.

Je Sherab Senge was a great lineage holder of the tantric teachings of Je Tsongkhapa. So Je Rinpoche’s tantric lineage – all the tantric initiations and teachings and transmissions – were passed down from Je Rinpoche down to this great lama, Je Sherab Senge. He also established the great Gyume Tantric Monastery in Tibet. This was one of the two great monasteries – Gyuto and Gyume. And Gyume Monastery is reestablished down in South India also.

So these instructions were passed down to his disciple Donangpa Palden Sangpo. After that, it was passed down to Tangatok of Ngatah Monastery. This great Lama of Ngatah Monastery, Tangatok Lama, is a very great practitioner of the Migtsema prayer. So he was able to pacify a lot of diseases, he was able to pacify a lot of obstacles and he was able to pacify a lot of negative energies and healing by the practice of Migtsema alone.

He didn’t have to do Tara for healing, for long life. He didn’t have to do Vajrapani for destroying, pacifying negative forces, outer forces. He didn’t have to practice Avalokiteshvara to bring peace in the area. He didn’t have to practice Manjushri to gain wisdom. He practiced Migtsema and with Migtsema’s practice alone, he was able to gain wisdom, he was able to gain realization of Shunyata, he was able to control spirits and demons and black magic. He was also able to control negativities, he was also able to bring pacification to the area. He was able to control diseases and bring healing by the power of Migtsema. Migtsema is not only for these things but that’s a side benefit.

The ultimate reason for reciting Migtsema or doing the meditation and also Guru Yoga is to gain great Bodhicitta, the realization of Shunyata and full Enlightenment. And how we can do that and why we can do that and what’s the reason that Migtsema has such power, we will talk about during this session.

For example, there was a great family in Lhasa who were of the higher class and this family was being afflicted by the class of spirits called Pehar. Pehar is a very powerful class of spirits. It’s not one spirit, but a class of spirits. And that spirit was used to afflict one particular family. Well, it afflicts a lot of people but usually one or two people, but in this family, many relatives, and people were completely destroyed by this spirit.

So they had one son left, this family. That son was being taken possession of this spirit and every time he took possession of the spirit he was uncontrollable. So eventually, it will lead to a death. Being very scared, this family contacted the great Bodhisattva, Pelden Sangpo. Pelden Sangpo came along and said, “I have completed my Migtsema retreat so from this bead you take and whenever the spirit takes possession, you take the bead and you block it off on all the entrances and exits, the windows and doors of your house.”

So he exactly did what the Lama says. When the boy took possession of the spirit he immediately took the bead and put it all over the top of the house where the windows are and also the doors. And the spirit could not leave. The spirit could not escape, it could not leave. Everywhere the spirit went – it went to the window – a terrifying Yamantaka will appear. Yamantaka was so fearful – 9 faces, 34 arms and 16 legs – he could not escape at all. This is what that Pehar would see when he would enter the door – the great Yamantaka deity.

Immediately, they called the Pelden Sangpo Lama. When the Pelden Sangpo came, he said to the spirit, “You must promise never to harm people again. You must promise not to disturb people again or I will not call off the Yamantaka. Can you promise that?”

So the spirit replied, “I follow the orders of the chief Pehar spirit. If I do not harm anyone, my powers will diminish and I will suffer. Please do not ask so much of me. Please reduce the commitment.” Then the great Bodhisattva Pelden Sangpo said to the spirit, “At least you must promise me that you will not harm anyone that recites the Gaden Lhagyama or the Migtsema prayers. If you do that, I will release you.” So the spirit agreed. Then Pelden Sangpo gathered up the malas from the exits of the house and as soon as he did that, the spirit was able to leave and disappear.

So even today the many classes of spirits that affect us – by reciting the Gaden Lhagyama, by reciting the Migtsema prayers, these very powerful spirits such as the Pehar cannot afflict us, because they are sworn by a vow.

These spirits are very powerful and the great Je Rinpoche practice, the great Migtsema practice has the power to stop them because the great Pelden Sangpo, has stopped them.

Then, these instructions were passed again to Je Pelden Sangpo. This was passed down to Gyuchen Tashipa. This was passed down to Je Samdrub Gyatso. This was passed to Tsondrupa. This was passed down to Dorje Sangpo. This was passed down to Khadrub Sangye Gyatso.

Then eventually the teachings came down to the great Je Pabongkha, the great Kyabje Dorje Chang or the Enlightened one, the one who has composed the great teachings of the Lamrim. Kyabje Pabongkha Dorje Chang was the root Guru of both the tutors of the Dalai Lama which is His Holiness the Great Ling Dorje Chang and His Holiness the Great Trijang Dorje Chang.

Dorje Chang means Vajradhara. So what we’re saying is the great Vajradhara Trijang Rinpoche, the great Vajradhara Ling Rinpoche, and this has passed down from Trijang Dorje Chang to my Guru, Zong Rinpoche. Zong Rinpoche has passed it down to myself. So I’m naming the lineage, I’m naming where the lineage came from to validate the teachings so that you don’t think that the teachings are made up or you don’t think the teachings are not valid or they’re not correct. It must have a lineage.

The lineage that we’re learning is the Segyu lineage. Sey is a region of Tashi Lungpo monastery that these Lamas came from – the great Je Sherab Senge, the great Je Pelden Sangpo, the great Khadrub Sangye Gyatso. So therefore it is called Segyu. Sey is the area they’re from. Yu, again means lineage. There are many lineages of this great Migtsema teaching and we need to know which one. What is in the Segyu lineage? Who are the Lamas that have taught? Where are they from? Where did they originate from? Where did they get the texts from? Everything must be validated, everything must be clear. If it is not clear, then faith won’t grow in the individual. Also the lineage becomes polluted and also the lineage becomes diluted and later, it becomes lost. The blessings are lost.

If we do not get the commentary and the blessing and the lung from our Gurus; we do not get the lung, we do not get the blessing and we do not get the commentary from our Gurus, although you may practice the attainments are very difficult to achieve.

If you have the blessing of the Guru, you have the blessing of the lineage and you get the commentary and the teachings, then if you practice and you visualize your teacher that you have received it from is the same as Je Tsongkhapa and you practice it that way and make offerings and you have the lung then definitely you will attain the attainments.

Lung is a Tibetan word for “oral transmission.” So it is very important to know where you are getting the lineage from, that it is authentic. Any qualified Lama will tell you where the lineage has come from because there is no fear about speaking the lineage. So without the lineage, without the lung, it is not very good.

So Je Rinpoche’s practice has innumerable benefits. The benefits, you can talk about it for days and days and days in quite a number of detail but I will give you a few of the general benefits that we can achieve from this great practice of Je Rinpoche.

Number one: as spoken earlier, the pehar spirits can be blocked. In general, spirits, demons, curses, bad talk, jealous talk from people can be blocked by the practice of Je Rinpoche and faith in Je Rinpoche.

Number two: because Je Rinpoche is an emanation of Manjushri, Avalokitesvara and Vajrapani together, also an emanation of Maitreya Buddha, altogether in one being, it is incredible. Because of that he can confer extreme wisdom. People see him and they have different visions. Some people saw him as Vajrapani; some people saw him as Manjushri; some people saw him as Avalokitshvara; some people saw as Maitreya. But usually people saw him as these four deities, usually.

Je Tsongkhapa is definitely an emanation of Manjushri. That is validated by Lord Buddha himself. During Lord Buddha’s time there was a young boy who was very virtuous and he had a crystal rosary. So he went up to Lord Shakyamuni Buddha and prostrated and offered the crystal rosary up to the Buddha. Immediately, Lord Buddha took his holy hands, his holy golden hands and placed it on Je Rinpoche’s head, or that young boy’s head and predicted “That in the future, 1,500 years after my passing, approximately, in the land to the North, of the red-faced barbarians, you will revitalize the teachings, you will revitalize the teachings of the Buddha when it has declined, when it has become perverted and dirty.” (Dirty means polluted).

“You will also bring all the correct lineages and correct teachings, you will study, you will contemplate, you will meditate and you will gain the results and you will pass the teachings and you will make the teachings very strong and very powerful in the land of the snow.

So he made that prediction. So he made that position and immediately Buddha took one of his disciples who had the power of speed, walking fast. So he gave a conch shell to that disciple. The disciple walked immediately to Tibet which is just a little distance from Lhasa and under the ground that is shaped like a conch shell, under the area that is shaped like a conch shell, that disciple buried the conch shell, under the place where Gaden Monastery would be built later on by Je Tsongkhapa. So that was buried until the time that Je Tsongkhapa took birth in Tibet.

Like that, Buddha had actually predicated the coming of great Je Rinpoche and Buddha specifically said an emanation of Manjushri will enter the land of the snows to the north – an emanation of Manjushri. So it is not something that people have made up or something that people have just said, but it was actually predicted by Lord Buddha.

Then also, Je Rinpoche is very stabilizing. Je Rinpoche’s practice is very calm, it’s very peaceful and very pacifying just like the colour of Je Rinpoche – white with a tinge of red. So any obstacles for long life, any obstacles of hatred such as the defilements of hatred, ignorance and desire coming up, making us collect bad karma and decreasing our life span will be blocked by Je Rinpoche’s practice, because he specifically by his practice, lessens our delusions by collecting merit.

How does it confer the blessings on us? When practicing Je Rinpoche, we gain great wisdom. When we practice Je Rinpoche, we gain great compassion and great power to overcome the delusions. Therefore negative karma doesn’t rise as much, becomes less and the previously-collected negative karmas become purified, therefore suffering become less as a result of this.

We can gain great compassion. Mig-Mey Tze-Wey Ter-Chen Chenrezig – “You are the unstained compassion, you are Avalokiteshvara” because he is Avalokiteshvara in his practice which you will see later on, you will gain great compassion. Incredible compassion.

You will also gain power. People who are scared, people who don’t have a lot of courage or when we’re teaching the Dharma it’s difficult to convert people, Vajrapani will be the supreme one to control people’s delusions and illusions by wrathful means.

Also you will have a very powerful connection to Vajrapani who is the one thousandth Buddha to appear. Vajrapani will appear after the 999 Buddhas have left and he has promised to teach everything that the 999 Buddhas preceded him has taught, to teach as the last Buddha to appear in this fortunate eon.

So if we practice Je Rinpoche’s we create a powerful connection to the last Buddha. So we’re at the fourth Buddha right now. Next one will be the fifth, Maitreya.

Another one is you’ll make a very strong connection with Maitreya Buddha, the next Buddha that will come. Either, after your death you will go to Je Rinpoche’s heaven because in Je Rinpoche’s practice you have powa practice. Powa is transference of consciousness. Such a short, profound and concise practice but so deep, so many benefits.

In any case, also the practice of powa will come. You have the powa practice of all the four lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. The Vajrayogini path, you have the powa path.

So people who practice Vajrayogini and Je Rinpoche are very lucky. When they die, they get to choose. People who practise these two lineages are very lucky because Je Rinpoche definitely, you’re going to Gaden Heaven. And when you’re born in Gaden Heaven or Tushita, you will be born from a beautiful lotus in front of the great golden Maitreya, the great Buddha in the future will appear, sitting in the posture of a Western style, on a throne with the legs down, waiting to stand up, with the beautiful Bodhisattva ornaments, smiling and waving, holding a Dharmachakra and holding a beautiful vase of nectar, immortality – in Gaden Heaven.

And to his left is the great Kadampa Guru Atisha, to his right is the great King of Dharma, Je Tsongkhapa. Below him, below the great Atisha is the great Kuan Yin Posa, Avalokiteshvara, and to his right is the great Vajrapani Posa. And surrounding them are all the gods of Gaden Heaven.

So if you go to Gaden Heaven, if you don’t like Je Rinpoche, you can get it from Maitreya; if you don’t like Maitreya, you can go to Kuan Yin; if you don’t like Kuan Yin, you can get from Vajrapani; Vajrapani too wrathful you can go back to Attisha. So lots of choices in Gaden Heaven to get teachings actually!

So powa practice is excellent. Also you get a very, very strong connection to Maitreya Buddha. When Maitreya Buddha appears in the future, in Bodhgaya, you will be reborn there, if you choose so, if you pray to in order to be his closest disciple, and if you don’t want to go to Gaden Heaven, definitely by Je Rinpoche’s practice, you can take another rebirth again and again to come back and help. Your choice, Je Rinpoche’s practice has this kind of benefit.

Then, if you practice Je Rinpoche, the Dharma becomes much easier. Since we all belong to the teachings of the great Gelugpa sect (Gelugpa which means “Virtuous Way” or “The Way of Morality”) then if you practice the Gelugpa teachings and you practice the teachings of the Gelugpa sect, the virtuous ones, and also you have your teachers of the Gelugpa sect and their lineage comes from the Gelugpa sect; and since you’re praying to the very saint who started the Gelugpa sect, any teachings you study in the Gelugpa teachings, Gelugpa texts or lineage will come very easy and fast and much more powerful, or much greater understanding, more powerful understanding will come by the blessings of Je Rinpoche.

Also, this is the best Guru Yoga. There is many types of Guru Yoga. This is the best Guru Yoga because Je Rinpoche is in the form of a Lama. So when you visualize him inseparable from your Guru and you recite his mantra, actually you’re reciting the mantra of your Guru. So therefore the benefits of reciting the Guru practice is very powerful, very excellent.

So Guru Yoga is complete in this practice. One of the five preliminaries is Vajrasattva, prostrations, mandala offerings, water bowl offerings and Guru Yoga. Along with Guru Yoga – you don’t have to do it separately – along with Guru Yoga also wisdom is attained, compassion is attained, power is attained; connection with Maitreya Buddha, connection with Vajrapani Buddha, connection with Tushita Heaven.

Also Je Rinpoche’s practice will protect you from three types of obstacles – inner, outer and secret. The outer harm that Je Rinpoche protects you [from] is harm from humans, non-humans, elemental such as floods and fire, bad weather and also accidents, lacking necessary conditions for spiritual practice such as time, such as money, such as food, a place to stay, finances, what not. So Je Rinpoche’s practice will also help you to prevent those outer obstacles.

Then inner obstacles is he will help you to prevent sickness. By doing Je Rinpoche’s practice, your life becomes long, it becomes stable, it becomes very powerful and also helps to become better. I’ve heard many times people who have bad health, they’re recommended to do Migtsema practice.

And inner obstacles such as sickness, strong delusions and negative thoughts will be released and lessened by Je Rinpoche’s holy practice. And after that, the inner obstacles – so that’s outer, inner – and then secret, it is the grasping onto ordinary appearance, the grasping onto ordinary conceptions, the grasping onto dualistic appearance, dualistic – seeing things as having dualistic nature and also good and bad, white and black, pleasant and unpleasant. And ordinary conceptions, ordinary appearance, to see oneself in the ordinary form.

It will destroy the secret obstacles to Enlightenment which is ordinary conception, ordinary appearance and dualistic appearance.

So Je Rinpoche’s practice has these kinds of benefits. Also with Je Rinpoche’s practice you can create rain to make crops, to gather clouds which you don’t need around here. And to cure the disease “drib” disease or physical disease caused by spirits that make people fall and become unconscious without visible reasons. It’s almost like epilepsy, that type.

Then with Je Rinpoche’s practice, you can also avoid harm from weapons. So if you do it well, if people throw knives at you, if they shoot at you, it will be gone. Many, many times in Tibet, people holding Je Rinpoche’s gaoo (or protection and has the holy image of Je Rinpoche, which this one has, and inside has the things from their Lamas inside and they wear it, when they go and have to escape, or they have to fight, and when they shoot, the bullets are actually deflected).

So actually it can cause protection from weapons. That is if you practice.

And then pacify obstacles to growing crops. For example, insects – you can get rid of insects by Je Rinpoche’s practice, and to find food, if you have difficulties for food, to pacify obstacles when you’re traveling. So Je Rinpoche’s practice, before you travel, if you take refuge and visualise Je Rinpoche and you do the Gaden Lhagyama and recite Migtsema, a lot of obstacles for traveling will be pacified.

In fact, if you do Je Rinpoche’s practice and you follow Je Rinpoche’s advice, and you do his teachings, which is the lojong and Lamrim, 50 Verses of Guru Devotion and the Mahamudra so that the essence of Je Rinpoche’s lineage, the essence of Je Rinpoche’s teachings is Lamrim. Lojong means “thought transformation.”

These were especially explained by great Geshes, or these great Masters explained the thought transformation along with the Lamrim, along with Mahamudra which is the Emptiness teachings. These three are the essence of Je Rinpoche’s practice, the essence.

So why are they the essence? Because these are the teachings that will take you to full Enlightenment. So Je Rinpoche out of the millions of teachings given by the great Buddha, he picked out the essence that would be best for our people at our time, at this situation, with our karma.

So if we don’t do any other practice, we don’t do any other meditations and we don’t do anything else and we follow Je Rinpoche’s teachings well and we listen to him well and we follow his teachings well, definitely we will attain a higher rebirth, we will attain rebirth into Tushita, we will get Enlightened. Definitely.

Also Je Rinpoche’s practice has the Seven Limbs.

The seven limbs are the essence of all the prayers. Every sadhana, every teaching, everything that you have, any praise that you have has the Seven Limbs inside. So Je Rinpoche’s teachings, Je Rinpoche’s practice, the Gaden Lhagyama, also has the Seven Limbs enclosed. Incredible. And it has dissolution of the Guru. The Guru dissolving into you and staying inside of you. So it is incredible, an incredible practice.

Also when Je Rinpoche, before he was born, as it was predicted by Buddha, before he was born his mother had incredible dreams. Such as one time his mother dreamt of Vajrapani from the sky throw a thunderbolt (this is a thunderbolt or a vajra), threw this thunderbolt down and it landed inside the mother’s womb. Another time, the mother had a dream that a statue of Avalokiteshvara came and merged into her womb. She had many signs like that.

And then the time that Je Rinpoche was born many dakinis and dakas were heard singing outside. Incredible voices singing outside. Rainbows appeared. Also, from the drop of blood of the mother during the birth, it landed on the ground, a beautiful white sandal tree grew. That white sandal tree grew and from the leaves, a beautiful Bodhisattva appear. And every the autumn comes, the leaves will fall onto the ground. Many pilgrims would come to grab those leaves, they don’t dare pluck it. They would keep the leaves. And even those leaves, when they were crushed and made into medicine and people took it, they would be healed. That tree is still alive, it is still existing now in Tibet, in Amdo district where Je Tsongkhapa was born.

Je means jetsun, exalted. Why is he exalted? He is out of samsara, he is free from samsara, out of samsara. So Jetsun meaning “one who is exalted” or “out of samsara.” Jetsun or Je Rinpoche. Rinpoche means “Precious One,” very valuable, very precious.

So Je Rinpoche is a short name for him or you can say Je Tsongkhapa. Tsongkha is the district that he was from in Tibet. Tsong means “onion.” So he is literally called “The man from Onion Land” because in his district in Tibet, many, many onions grow, lots of onions. So he is the “Man from the Land of the Onions.”

So Je Tsongkhapa. Pa makes it male. Je Tsongkhapa. Or Je Losang Dragpa, you can say, it’s okay. Lobsang Dragpa. Lobsang – lob is “mind,” sang is “good,” or “Good Mind” or “Pleasant Mind,” “Excellent Mind.” Lobsang means “Good Mind;” Dragpa means “famous.” “Kirti” in Sanskrit.

Or his Sanskrit name is Sumati Kirti. His name from Tibetan is translated into Sanskrit: Om Ah Benza Guru Dara Sumati Kirti Siddhi Hung Hung. Sumati Kirti means Good Mind, Famous One, Exalted Famous one.

So his name is Lobsang Dragpa, Famous Good Mind. Lobsang Dragpa is the ordination name he received. When Je Rinpoche took ordination, he took it from His Holiness the great Karmapa at that time. Karmapa gave him the name Lobsang Dragpa. So some people say Lobsang Dragpa, some people say Je Lobsang Dragpa, some people say Je Lama. When we say Je Lama we know it’s him. Then some people say Je Rinpoche which means “Precious Exalted One” or Je Lama Tsongkhapa or Je Tsongkhapa or Tsongkhapa.

So all these names refer to him because he’s so famous in Tibet, Mongolia, and in the North China area. Even if in Beijing, there’s a very big museum. In there, there’s a one-storey-high Je Rinpoche. A huge Je Rinpoche statue. So even in Imperial China, Je Rinpoche was practiced and was worshipped and was taken into consideration at that time.

That is actually how the lineage came about.

Now we look at the text. You can recite this in Tibetan or you recite this in English – it doesn’t make one difference. It is exactly the same. But the mantra or the prayer that you can recite in Tibetan will be a little more auspicious since the lineage came down in Tibetan, or the sound came down in Tibetan.

So the first verse is

“GA DEN HLA-JI NGON-JYI THUG-KAY-NEY
RAP-KAR SHO-SAR PUNG-DEE CHU-DZIN TSER
CHO-KYI GYEL-PO KUN-CHEN LOZANG DRAG
SEY-DANG CHE-PA NE-DIR SHEG SU SOL”

Or, “From the heart of the Lord of the Gaden Devas emerges a brilliant white cloud, like a mass of fresh yoghurt. Atop sits Tsongkhapa, all knowing, King of Dharma, we request your coming to this place along with your great disciples.”

When we recite the first verse, “From the heart of the lord of the Gaden devas emerge…” you should have beautiful offerings in front. Beautiful offerings and the incense billowing and the lights billowing. And what you visualize is all the gods around, playing music and dancing and singing with benedictions and singing praises. All of them, all around you singing praises and benedictions. The ground is clean, with the eight auspicious signs, incense – millions and millions of incense – blowing.

Then with music and bells. In Tibetan tradition when we invite Je Rinpoche, when we recite that verse

GA DEN HLA-JI NGON-JYI THUG-KAY-NEY
RAP-KAR SHO-SAR PUNG-DEE CHU-DZIN TSER
CHO-KYI GYEL-PO KUN-CHEN LOZANG DRAG
SEY-DANG CHE-PA NE-DIR SHEG SU SOL
[*rings the bell at the same time*]

This represents beautiful music, the gods, and parasol, and banner and also everyone surrounding him coming down. This is what we visualize when we ring this it has a lot of meaning.

Also, when you ring the bell, you’re offering Emptiness up to Je Rinpoche. The bell represents Emptiness. Why? It is empty of inherent existence. Where does the sound come from? Where does the sound go? When we examine clearly, the sound doesn’t exist as we have labeled it. It is independent of existence. It is dependent.

Therefore, we’re offering the sound of Emptiness up to Je Rinpoche which is the actual offering, which is the best offering we can offer to our Guru – Emptiness.

So we ring the bell up to Je Rinpoche and in this hand, if possible, to hold an incense. If not, to have the incense on the altar – same. Then you visualize beautiful flowers all over. The ground clean like lapis lazuli with the eight auspicious marks, and gods and goddesses all around, dancing and singing and offering music and holding parasols, waiting for the great Je Rinpoche to come.

And holding the incense, you recite the holy words with this visualization. So when you recite that verse, that’s the visualization you’re supposed to have.

Just recitation alone cannot bring you to Enlightenment. It cannot. It plants some seeds, it has some blessing and the sound is very powerful to bless the area, but you cannot get enlightened without meditation.

Actually it’s a very powerful practice. Even having a statue of Je Rinpoche in the house – with faith, that whole area that you’re in will be blessed. Number one.

Number two – that house will not fall to poverty. With faith if you have Je Rinpoche. It’s a great, great blessing. It’s the holiest blessing.

If you don’t have a bell, then you visualize beautiful music, everything I’ve just described. And then from Gaden Heaven, from the heart of Maitreya Buddha, in a cloud-like yoghurt – you know. this cloud is like yoghurt, very white and fresh, and very beautiful – comes out. This cloud it’s actually wisdom coming in the form of a cloud, coming down.

Then as it comes in front of you, on top of that appears three beautiful thrones. Then the centre one his highest, the one on the left and right is lower, with eight lions on the eight directions holding it up. It represents protection from the four fears, which is the demon of delusions, demon of contaminated aggregates, demon of death and demon of… devaputra demons, physical demons. And four protection from the four maras in particular.

Then on top of that is a beautiful throne and a lotus. The lotus represent’s Je Rinpoche’s great Bodhicitta and compassion, that he has achieved.

On top of that is a beautiful moon disc, representing his realization of emptiness, and on top of that is the beautiful, youthful Je Rinpoche, 16 years old, wearing the three robes of a monk – the shamtap, this yellow Dharma robe, and one more Dharma robe that goes on top. The three robes of a monk with a danka which is what we usually wear, and sitting in the vajra position, like Buddha.

Sitting in the vajra position representing his stability in his realization cannot be lost. Like us, we study a little bit, then we forget. This stabilization is symbolized by him sitting in the vajra position, immutable, indestructible, immovable. Cannot move him, cannot destroy him, and it’s unchanging.

When he holds his beautiful hands that are graceful and white with a tinge of red – the white represents Bodhicitta, the tinge of red represents Emptiness, realization. So in tantra, the mother tantras represent wisdom, the mother aspect represent red, or the red blood cells of the mother. Then the white is the white sperm or the white Bodhicitta of the father. So the white represents Bodhicitta. Bodhicitta is male, wisdom is female.

So Je Rinpoche has a very, very powerful tantric symbolism. So by seeing his beautiful white body which is the colour of a snow mountain and the sun reflecting on the snow mountain, and then the colour of that reflection is the colour of his beautiful white body, tinged with red, representing Bodhicitta and the realization of Shunyata. Wisdom and emptiness, method and wisdom, combined. So even the colour has great meaning.

He has one face, representing he has realized reality, no more duality. His two hands represent the two types of Emptiness – ultimate Emptiness and conventional Emptiness. Two types of Emptiness, he represents. And his hands are in the form of a Dharmachakra which means he is constantly emanating and giving teachings. All the time, these emanations are going in the world in the form of monks, in the form of laypeople, in the form of friends, in the form of Sangha members, ordinary people, high people, low, Guru, all those things – emanating in a different form and give teachings, and benefiting others.

Then his holding a beautiful lotus that comes here. The lotus here on the left, he’s holding the prajanparamita teachings which represents wisdom because he is Manjushri. So in fact, these teachings represent all the teachings of the Buddha, all the teachings of the Buddha.

Then on his right, the palm facing out, the right hand, another beautiful lotus going up and this lotus on it is holding a beautiful wisdom sword with a flame, representing his sharp, clear wisdom and his realization into Emptiness. Without the realization of Emptiness, you cannot get out of samsara. Without compassion and without Bodhicitta, you can get out of samsara.

So wisdom is very important. Je Rinpoche has the complete realization of shunyata, Emptiness, which means he is out of samsara, which mean you can go to refuge for him, which means he can lead you out of samsara and give you the perfect teachings on Emptiness.

And also, he has the yellow golden pandit’s hat. This pandit’s hat has a point – it means that he has gone to the point of no more learning. The Bodhisattva stage of no more learning, which means his learning and realizations has reached the pinnacle. He has reached the point….his attainments and his Enlightenment and his learning has come to the point of no more learning, to the pinnacle. So that pointed hat represents his learning, that is true pinnacle, no more. He is fully Enlightened.

And it is the beautiful colour of yellow, golden yellow represents increase in the Dharma.

Red is the colour of control. Controlling what? Controlling the negative mind, controlling delusions, controlling wrong speech, controlling desire, controlling ignorance and hatred. So the great pandits of ancient India, the great mahasiddhas of India, debated with their opponents with the red hat representing control.

When Je Rinpoche was having a sleep, then the great Vajrayogini, the dakini Vajrayogini came into his dream and told him, “Oh great master, now that the light of the Dharma has spread in Tibet, there is no one that is a real triptika opposing Dharma. So now we need to make the Dharma grow. So therefore great master, change your red pandit’s hat to yellow and by that, it will be an auspicious sign for the growth of Dharma.”

So in the morning, he advised his tailor to change the colour because it was advise from Vajrayogini. So our yellow hat of the Gelug tradition is not something that the lamas just made up to be different, or to be bright or to stick out in the crowd or to glow in the dark because it’s yellow. But actually, they made it yellow because it was Vajrayogini’s holy advice to Je Rinpoche directly to change the colour of the hat.

So the shape of the hat came from India; the colour of the hat was advised by Vajrayogini. So it is very auspicious, even that hat. So when we see that hat, we should remember the meaning behind it – the growth of Dharma, the pinnacle of learning. And then the best place to go for refuge is Je Rinpoche because there’s no one more superior than him.

Disc 2

So his holy body, just to see it in that form. And then also, he’s wearing the robes of a monk representing, not you should all become monks, but you should hold on to your vows. Your individual vows, your vows of Bodhicitta, and your vows of tantra. You should hold on to your vows. So the robes represent vows – the pratikmoksha vows. So when he wears the robes, it’s telling you the best way to practice Dharma is by way of vows.

So when he wears these robes, it means you should hold your vows. All of you have some sort of vows – the refuge vows, Bodhicitta vows, and the tantric vows. You should hold those well.

Then when Je Rinpoche comes, the second verse… that part you do the first verse. So when you recite the first verse, it has this kind of meaning to it. You just don’t recite it. You have to do this visualization.

The next one is “My Lord Guru is seated before me upon a lion-throne, lotus and moon cushion. His body is white and he smiles blissfully. Please remain many eons and serve as the great merit field for the growth of my mind’s faith, and for the increase of Lord Buddha’s teachings.”

The next verse is requesting for him to stay and to give teachings. It’s very, very important. If the Lama has already passed away, if the Lama has the power to go, you must ask the Lama to remain, you must request, you must collect the merit, you must do longevity practices, you must make many statues, you must make donations in your Lama’s name, you must print Dharma books, you must do your practice. And all of your practice, you dedicate to your Lama’s life.

So when Je Rinpoche comes, you visualize him as your root Guru, whoever your Guru is, or if you have five, six Gurus, you can visualize all of them there, doesn’t matter. You have five cups, you can combine all the water into one big cup. All is the same, no difference.

Then, Gaden Heaven looks like this. “To the north of this continent, Jambudvipa, is Mount Meru, which has four stepped levels. On top of Mount Meru is the land of the 33 Heavens, the second abode of the desire realm gods. In the space above this is the Land without Combat, the third abode of the desire realm gods. And then the space above this is the Joyful Land, the fourth abode is of the desire realm gods.” so above all the god realms in samsara, all the gods of the highest realms, is Gaden Heaven, Tushita. Just above this, is the god realms, is the pure land of Buddha Maitreya which is also known as Joyful Land or Tushita.

And he told his other friend, who’s another Rinpoche (Oh, of course it’s inside talk, you know). He says to the other Rinpoche, “Me and you are both going to Kacho Heaven, we’re going to Vajrayogini’s heaven. I’m going to go first.” After he said that, then a few days later, he went into meditation and he passed away, completely. And he did the Vajrayogini practice which is his main practice. Je Rinpoche and Vajrayogini. I found out later. So actually when you go to Gaden Heaven, quite excellent, quite wonderful

You have to request them to teach, you have to keep requesting. You must request the Guru to stay, you must request them to guide you, to teach you. And when you request the Guru to stay and to guide you, then you collect the merit for him to stay and to guide you, to help you, to assist you. Even in this life, and then future life, future life, and future, you will meet with pure Mahayana Gurus who will guide you and teach you by reciting this verse.

Then, the next one. “His omniscient wisdom-mind encompasses all that is existent. His voice is a profound teaching, which ornaments the ear of the fortunate pupil. His body’s beautiful radiance evokes wondrous admiration. To Lama Tsongkhapa, whom merely viewing, hearing or contemplating earns one great merit, I make prostration.”

So in this one they are praising Je Rinpoche’s qualities. They’re praising him and telling him that he has the pre-eminent qualities of the body, speech and mind. He is a fully enlightened Buddha, he has complete omniscience and he realizes Emptiness directly. This is the quality of his mind. Compassionate, realizes Emptiness, has skilful means to teach – these are the qualities of his mind, which is the qualities of the Conqueror, Shakyamuni.

By saying this one in the verse, we are doing verbal prostration. Then hearing Je Tsongkhapa’s speech causes fortunate beings to experience happiness. Just hearing his speech is so beautiful and so wonderful when it comes to our ears. It’s like a beautiful earring, it’s like an ornament for the ears to hear his holy Dharma. Because without the Dharma, we cannot control our negative mind, and become enlightened.

Just by seeing Je Tsongkhapa’s actual body – seeing his statue, seeing his photo – hearing about his teachings, hearing about his qualities, reading about it, thinking about it, or meditating on it; hearing, thinking, contemplating on the form, speech and activities of Je Tsongkhapa collects great amount of merit and purifies negative merits.

When we think about Je Rinpoche, which represents Enlightenment , which he is an enlightened being, because the karma in relation in that enlightened being, by thinking about him, you collect the merit. So when we think about him with faith, you collect the merit of the mind, you purify the mind. Mental prostration.

If we praise Je Rinpoche, we get enlightened. Verbal prostration.

Then physical prostration. Around Tsongkhapa, you can visualise Tsongkhapa as an emanation of all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and deities. Three types of prostrations you’re making up to Je Rinpoche. So it is the verse of prostration out of the seven limbs.

Then after that, offerings: “I present to you great merit field, Tsongkhapa, beautiful offerings, water, a display of flowers, fragrant incense, butter-lamps, perfumes and more both physical and mental offerings, vast as the clouds and wide as the ocean.”

So when you think about this, you should stop. Each phrase, you should stop. Each phrases you should stop and meditate on the words and what we’re talking about now.

So when you make offerings right, it’s a very powerful way of collecting merits. We visualize all the beautiful pools, lakes, all the beautiful lakes and gardens, springs and fountains and water, all the mineral water in the world, you know, and every single stream and all the beautiful water in the offering in front of us, we’re offering to Je Rinpoche. In the first cup.

The second one, again, all the water in the world, filled with saffron to wash Je Rinpoche’s feet. Feet water, or foot bath. Because in ancient India, people come from far away, and when they come to your house – your Guru, or your teacher, or your parents – immediately, you give them something to drink and before they enter the house, you wash their feet.

If they’re a high person – higher than you in rank or position or spiritual powers – you wash their feet out of respect. After you wash their feet, you dry it off cleanly and you bring them inside. Then you give them something to eat, you offer some lights, you offer some food, some music to entertain the guests.

Then after that, all the beautiful flowers in the world, in front of Je Rinpoche. And you’re offering it up.

Then all the beautiful smells in the world. So you visualize beautiful incense, billowing in the world, millions and millions of incense and you offer it to Je Rinpoche.

Then the next one is light. The light of the sun, the light of the moon, the light of the stars, the light of the neon lights. Offer everything up to Je Rinpoche. Everything is there, represented by that praise.

Then the next one is perfume. So Estee Lauder, Chanel No. 5… All the beautiful… all the perfume. In the future you’ll always be born in a clean place, in a place that has good smells, a clean environment, a smooth environment for offering beautiful smells up to a Buddha.

And the next one is food. All the cakes and everything wonderful and you put it up there. And you represent it there and you offer up to Je Rinpoche.

Then after that, beautiful sound. So you can put another cup, anything that represents an instrument. Then you can put it inside and offer sound.

All the beautiful sound, everything wonderful and beautiful in the world you offer up to Je Rinpoche.

And at that time when you recite that verse, again you ring the bell if you have it.

So *rings bell* “I present to you great merit field, Tsongkhapa, beautiful offerings, water, a display of flowers, fragrant incense, butter-lamps, perfumes and more both physical and mental offerings, vast as the clouds and wide as the ocean.” Offer up.

And then you offer up your practice.

Then the next one is purification. If we do not purify our negative karma, we will never be able to get the holy Dharma. If we do not purify our karma well, even when we get the holy Dharma, we cannot understand, we feel sleepy, or we feel tired, or we feel lazy or when we try to meditate, we feel not in the mood, or we get distracted easily, or we get sick, or we don’t have enough money, or we get hungry, or we feel uncomfortable. All this is a sign of obstacles, that negative karma is not purified.

Actually, for Dharma we should be very excited, we should be very awake, we should have a lot of energy, all day, all night, all the time. For dancing, for singing, for going out, for parties and these things, you should feel very tired. But actually, we’re the opposite because when we say,

This must be purified. If this is not purified, we will get sickness, unhappiness, unstable mind, no Dharma realizations, none. Without purification.

In order for purification to come about, then we need four causes for purification to come about. What are the four causes?

In order: Remorse…After your remorse, then you can promise never to do it again. Remorse, regret. Next after regret is? The promise not to do it again. The third one is antidote application. To do practices that are opposite…. To do practices that will purify such as the 35 Confessions, Vajrasattva, and meditation on Emptiness. So to do antidotes, applications or the application of antidotes.

The best ones for sutra of breakages by sutra methods is the 35 Confessional Buddhas –Number two: Vajrasattva. Number three: meditation on Emptiness. These three are the best methods for purification.

Along with that, of course, prostrations is excellent. So to do that will cause the demerits or the negative karma you have already collected to be purified.

The fourth one is to do the opposite, such as taking refuge, developing compassion, reciting mantras, doing meditations, studying Dharma. Regret, promise not to do it again, antidote, application, then to do the opposite, Dharma actions. With these four powers and then you recite the verses of Je Rinpoche, right, “The unwholesome actions of body, speech and mind, which I have accumulated over a measureless period, especially actions contrary to the three vows (Vinaya, Boddhisattva, Vajrayana), I regret (So Vinaya is for the monks. For you instead of Vinaya, you can think of the refuge vows). So refuge, Bodhissatva, Vajrayana, (tantric) I regret extremely from the depths of my heart and I reveal each and every such action.”

Who are you confessing to? The great Je Rinpoche who is three Bodhisattvas. Who are you promising? Je Rinpoche, who is your Guru. Who are you making your confessions to? Je Rinpoche. And who are you offering praises to? Making offerings to? Reciting the mantra to? Je Rinpoche. Everything is included in this short little practice. How easy! Just those little verses.

So purification is finished. Then the next one is rejoice, feeling happy.

“We totally rejoice in your magnificent achievements, my Lord, who received numerous teachings and performed the practices with utmost diligence, who abandoned the eight worldly objectives and made the most meaningful use of the 18 opportune conditions during these degenerate times.”

So beautiful. In Je Rinpoche’s autobiography, Je Tsongkhapa says that first he studied the Dharma extensively. Then he realized that all Buddha’s teachings are personal advice. Then finally he gained deep realization of Dharma through practicing day and night.

He then dedicated all his activities to the fruition of pure Buddhadharma. In short, in this degenerate age, Je Tsongkhapa showed the best example for Dharma practitioners to follow. He taught what pure Buddhadharma is, and how to study and practice Dharma, and how to accomplish pure realizations. Contemplating this, we rejoice from the depths of our hearts in his great deeds while reciting the verses of the sadhana.

When we rejoice, all the merits these beings have collect, we will collect by rejoicing. Even the good things you have done – the offerings you have done, the teachings you are getting, the Gurus you have met – all this to rejoice. When you rejoice, it is the easiest and cheapest way to collect merit.

So if you rejoice in Je Rinpoche’s great holy activities, Buddha Shakyamuni’s holy activities, Kuan Yin Posa’s holy activities, you gain the merit of what they collect. Such an easy and wonderful and beautiful way of collecting merit.

Then he practiced. He abandoned the eight worldly objectives. What are the eight worldly objectives? The eight worldly objects that he has abandoned, the eight worldly Dharmas is the concern to encounter, the concern to get pleasure, material gain, praise, good reputation; the avoidance of pain, concern for material loss, blame and poor reputation. This is the eight worldly concerns that Je Rinpoche has abandoned.

A unique Byzantine style depiction of Lama Tsongkhapa with his two heart disciples, Khedrup Je and Gyaltsab Je. This depiction of the three great practitioners is known in Tibetan as Je Yab Se Sum. Click to enlarge and download the high resolution version.

Then he had made the most meaningful objectives of his eighteen opportune conditions. What are the eighteen opportune conditions? Eighteen opportune conditions are the 10 endowments and the eight freedoms. Ten endowments: the ten qualities that characterise the perfect human rebirth. Born as a human, born in a Dharma country, born with sound mental and physical faculties, born free of the five extreme actions, having faith in Buddha’s teachings, being born where a Buddha has descended, where the teachings have been revealed (because some Buddhas come and they don’t teach). So when a Buddha has descended and when the teachings have been revealed; when the teachings are still prevalent and not passed, when there are still followers of the teachings; and having the conditions necessary to practice Dharma – food, clean place, all the conditions.

Then the eight freedoms… the eight freedoms which a perfect human rebirth is free from. Being born in a hell realm, being born as a hungry ghost, being born as an animal, being born as a barbarian, being born as a long-life god, holding wrong views, being born where no Buddhas have descended, being born with defective mental or physical faculties.

Then the next one is “All you Holy gurus, unerring in conduct, may you precipitate a rain of realization of Bodhicitta and Shunyata from the clouds of all-knowing compassion which fills the Dharmakaya sky, providing for the field of disciples precisely what is needed.”

That is requesting for the turning of the Wheel of Dharma. When Buddha became enlightened, after he became enlightened the great gods, Brahma and Indra, appeared before Lord Buddha and requested for the teachings. One held the Dharmachakra wheel, one held a conch shells and prostrated three times to the Buddha to ask him to give the teachings.

Therefore by reciting the verse of the sadhana, we make special request for the turning of the Dharma. And when we make this request to Je Rinpoche for turning the Dharma, because he is the Guru, because he is the Yidam, because he is the Dharma protector, because he is the Buddhas of the 10 directions and three times, combined, condensed into the three Bodhisattvas – Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani and Manjushri – and emanating in the form of a single Lama, when we make requests to him, we are making requests to the three Bodhisattvas, in turn the ten directional Buddhas of the three times, past present and future.

Therefore, we make a connection to the Buddhas for them to give teachings. If we don’t request them, they will not give teachings. Buddhism is not a religion that goes out and converts people. It must be requested, it must be asked with offerings, with a sincere heart.

The great Lamas of the past went to India from Tibet, and offered all the gold, all the silver, everything precious that they have at the feet of the Lama, and they offered their body, speech and mind up to the Lama in order to get the Dharma.

When you make an offering up to the Lama, you visualize the whole planet, you offer everything in samsara, everything wonderful and beautiful you offer up to the Lama in order to collect the vast amount of merit.

Like that example, it’s very, very important to request again and again to Lama Tsongkhapa for the holy Dharma teachings, to turn the wheel of Dharma. Therefore, we’re asking Maitreya to turn the wheel of Dharma, all the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Chenrezig/Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani; all of them, Manjushri/Wen Su Shri Posa. All of them we’re asking to turn the wheel of Dharma. So it’s very, very important to request them to turn the wheel of Dharma.

NAM-DAG WO-SAL YING-LEY JING-PA YI
ZUNG-JUG KU-LA CHAR-NUM MI-NGA YANG
THA-MAL HNANG-NGOR ZUG-KU RAG-PA NYI
SEE-THEE BAR-DU MI-NUM TAN PAR SHUG

“May the Vajra body created from the purity of clear light, free of the rising and setting of cyclic existence but visible to the ordinary viewer only in its unsubtle physical form, stay on unchanging, without waning until Samsara ends.”

This is very auspicious because in most seven limbs, you ask the Guru to stay once. In this one, twice. So in this one, you ask again the Guru, “Please stay, please remain until samsara end.” So here you think about your root Guru and all the Gurus in the world, all the great teachers, you ask them here through Je Tsongkhapa.

Then after that will be dedication. Any acts we do, the motivation is like the top. The action is like the item and the dedication is like the bottom top, so you seal it.

If you have a little bit of merit, dedicate it towards the greater merits – Enlightenment, Bodhicitta and realization of Shunyata. If you dedicate all your actions then until that dedication is fulfill, it will be not destroyed.

Dedication is very, very important and to dedicate it toward the Dharma. At the end of the day, before you go to sleep, you should think “All the good things that I did today, I dedicate for the growth of the Dharma, for the expansion,” because if the Dharma grows, more teachings; when more teachings, more people listen, more listen, more contemplation, less delusion, less suffering, Enlightenment. It’s very important to dedicate towards the Dharma.

So the dedication here:

DAG SOG JIN NYEH SAG PA GE WA DEE
TAN DANG DRO WA KUN LA GANG PHAN DANG
CHE PAR JE TSUN LO ZANG DRAG PA YI
TAN PI NYING PO RING DU SAL SHEH SHOG

“May this merit accumulated by myself and others, beneficially serve all sentient beings and the Buddha dharma and especially may the essential teachings of the unerring master Tsongkhapa become clear and enduring.”

Between the dedication and the mantra should be mandala offering. Whether you do the mandala offering or not is your option. Is totally your option. Of course if you do the mandala offering, it’s very wonderful.

The mandala offering should be done well. Although the words short, it should be done in full.

So when you offer up, you visualize all the beautiful things in the world, all the things that you’re attached to, all the gold, the silver, the jewels, all the precious things, the lakes, the mountains, the animals, the parks. Offer everything up. All the knowledge, all the food. Everything in the world you visualize.

Visualise everything beautiful and wonderful and complete. Then you recite the mantra, OM IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI.

When you recite the mantra, then you bring it towards you and you close your hands into a fold. You visualize all the attainments coming to you. And then Je Rinpoche accepts it, everything you’ve given to him.

Then after that comes actually the mantra recitation.

MIG MEY TZE WAY TER CHEN CHENREZIG
DRI MEY KHYEN PI WANG PO JAMPAL YANG
DU PUNG MA LU JOM DZEY SANG WEY DAG
GANG CHENG KE PEY TSUG GYEN TSONGKHAPA
LO SANG TRAG PEY SHAB LA SOL WA DEB

“Je Tsongkhapa, crown jewel of the Holy Masters of the Land of Snows, you are Avalokitesvara, great goldmine of compassion untainted by ego’s delusion. You are Manjushri, great master of stainless wisdom. You are Vajrapani, great subduer of all the gatherings of devils. At your feet, famed Lobsang Dragpa, I humbly bow and earnestly request that all sentient beings achieve Enlightenment.”

Very powerful, very excellent. While you’re reciting that (one mala), you take your mala, you sit straight, in meditation posture is possible and you hold you mala up in your right hand (practically, left is better for tantra, but right is okay) and then you pull the bead towards you. The bead should be 108 or 111, either one. The best beads are made of bodhi seeds, lotus seed – it’s very, very good. Crystal is very, very good. Crystal is excellent for gaining compassion. Actually Bodhi seed would be the best. If you can, then otherwise, lotus seed, otherwise crystal, or wood, or sandal, anything you can attain.

And then the mala that is blessed by your teacher is excellent. If not, you can bless it. You recite Migtsema three times, then you bless it. And the mala should not be taken into the toilet. If you take it to the toilet, you bless it again. It should not be kept on the floor, it should not be stepped under, it should not be used in ways like decoration, ornaments. It should be very clean, it should be very holy. If you keep it around your hand, if you keep it around your neck (monks cannot wear it on the neck; lay people can wear it on the neck), as beautiful as possible.

When you recite the mantra, you should not burp, you should not fart. You should not talk, you should not laugh, you should not sneeze, you should not cough, you should not move around.

If you do, you recite the mantra seven times extra to repair. And if you’re doing a long retreat, you can drink. If you’re doing a long retreat, you can get up, put your mala down, go to the bathroom, if you need to. Don’t talk, don’t do anything. Don’t stop by and get a cheese sandwich! You go to the bathroom, you relieve yourself. After you finish, you rinse you mouth, you wash your hands, you return and then you start.

Disc 3

When you recite the mantra, no music, no sleeping, no talking, sit straight, sit in good posture. It’s very important. Then you get the benefit in doing the visualization.

The first meditation you do is inside the white light. Inside the white light millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of small Manjushri, holding a sword, every single atom, billions, infinite Manjushris coming down and hitting your head and dissolve into your body.

So millions and millions of Manjushri come and fill your body with Manjushris. And then push the negative karma of your body out in the form of black light, snakes, mucus, pus, black blood, vomit, urine, scorpions, snakes, leech, through your anal hole, through your anus. They go seven levels under the ground.

And then Yama or Yamaraja, the king of death, is sitting under there. Sitting under there, he wakes up from the sleep, he looks up, ah! he’s very happy, he wants it. Kyabje Zong Rinpoche explains this to me. So he wake up, he open his mouth, the great king of death. And then all your obstacles for life, all your negative karma of your body, all unhappiness and sickness, all the negative impurities of the body, if you have some disease here or here, then you visualize it coming and the lights burning the disease, so powerful and pushing it down and purifying it with Manjushris. Manjushri cuts it. Cut down everything and then send the lights down into his mouth.

When you do this meditation, it will create your life to become longer. You’re making him happy. That’s why I say Je Rinpoche’s practice – long life practice.

Then your body becomes filled with Manjushris, very pure, very clean and glowing. Every single space filled with Manjushri. Your body is strong, is powerful, indestructible. You visualize. Glowing.

Then again from the lights come, this time speech. You visualize Om Ah Ra Ba Tza Na Dhih, orange in colour and many Dhih, small Dhihs. If you can visualize the Tibetan it’s better because the mantra is very good here.

Orange in colour, many, many Om Ah Ra Ba Tza Na Dhih and then this letter, the seed syllable of Manjushri – this is the seed syllable, Dhih – Millions and millions of Om Ah Ra Ba Tza Na Dhih coming down, coming to the light and entering into you to purify your speech, completely.

So all… if you have bad speech, it becomes clean. All the negative speech, schismatic talk, divisive talk, talk that hurt, harm, cursing and unskillful words, words that are lying, all these from previous lives, now become purified. And you visualize your speech becoming very clean, very pure, gaining the sixty qualities of a Buddha’s speech, pleasant, very powerful and the speech of Dharma, that when you speak the Dharma, *snaps fingers* the other person don’t have control. When they listen to your speech, when they hear your speech, they have no control but they must practice Dharma.

Then afterwards, you visualize the blessing of the mind. Sent from the white light from the three Lamas again come the syllable Dhid alone. Millions and millions of these coming down, along with that the weapons. You can visualize here Je Rinpoche’s sword and then the texts, the complete Dharma texts. You visualise millions and millions of Dharma texts, small, visualize them as the nature of light so when the sword comes, it just melt.

So your hatred, your covetnous, your jealousy, impatience, anger, stupidity, lack of wisdom, cannot remember, don’t remember Dharma texts, lazy – everything from previous lives, bad karma and now, all the bad qualities of mind push down. And your body filled with Manjushri swords, very sharp. Visualize the swords made of rainbow quality light. The sharper you think, the sharper the wisdom become.

Then wisdom of teaching Dharma and skilful Dharma – how to teach people skillfully. Whatever people need, you give them first. To check the other person’s mind – what he like, what he don’t like, what she likes… how to skillfully bring the other person to Dharma. You can get that power if you visualize the beautiful strong swords of Manjushri coming like this.

Then again the three lights combined come down – Manjushri, the wisdom swords, Dharma texts, Om Ah Rah Bah Tza Na Dhih, combine, come down for the last time and wash away, wash away completely. The traces of ignorance taken out – so you sit there with great bliss and great happiness.

Sometimes if you get tired by doing Migtsema, through this visualizations, you can think about different Dharma subjects – about refuge, you can think about the qualities of the Buddha, you can think about impermanence, you can visualize Je Rinpoche’s body, first the nose, then the eye, then second eye, eyebrow, face, mouth, slowly the hat and ears.

Expand your meditation, expand, make it bigger, clearer, better. And hold the meditation.

So in tantra, both is achieve. So it is better to focus on Je Rinpoche who is a Buddha, and get the imprints of the Buddha and single-pointed concentration. Whereas if you concentrate on the breath, it’s okay but only one benefit. Je Rinpoche – two benefits.

Then when you visualise that, everything become clear. Then very important, Yamaraja, feel very happy, he feel very full, very satisfied. And then he lays down and goes to sleep. It’s very auspicious. And then the ground closes. Between the ground and you, a double vajra appears, Seal the ground. And Yamaraja cannot come out. Very powerful for long life.

And then, after you finish that, how many migtsema you want to do, up to you. How many you can do. Every day at least do 21.

So everywhere you take Je Rinpoche, nice. And you have beautiful picture, statue of Je Rinpoche, photo or thangka and you make offerings to Je Rinpoche, peaceful offerings, and prostrations, and you visualize my Guru here, all my Gurus here, all the Buddhas here, all the Yidams here, all the protectors, then you have the arhats, dakas, dakinis, and last the Dharma protectors.

Visualise all this in the light and dissolve into Je Rinpoche. And he’s there. Small, simple, clean with two tiny disciples. How simple and easy and clean, and you get everything.

Then after you finish one, you finish the migtsema retreat, very beautiful. Now you ask Je Rinpoche to dissolve into you. Now you look in the text:

PAL-DAN TSA-WEY LA-MA RINPOCHE
DAG-SOG CHI-WOR PE-ME DAN-JUG LA
KA-DRIN CHEN-PO GO-NEY JE-ZUNG TE
KU-SUNG THUG-KYI NGO-DROP TSAL-DUL SOL

“Dear worthy root Guru, please ascend the lotus seat atop the head of myself and the other beings and in your great kindness please remain with us. Bestow upon us the blessings of your body, speech and mind.”

Give me the blessings of your body – what you visualize, Je Rinpoche very happy.

When you recite that first line, what happens is immediately Je Rinpoche is very pleased and very happy. So his throne or, the three thrones dissolve into the lotus, the three lotus dissolve into the moon disc, the moon disc dissolve into the Lama. Then Khedrup Rinpoche, Gyaltsab Rinpoche dissolve into Je Rinpoche. And Je Rinpoche is alone and sitting there, very happy, very beautiful.

And Je Rinpoche shrinks, in the size of a thumb. That’s what happens, you visualize like that. And then surrounding Je Rinpoche is still the cloud, and the cloud is connected to Maitreya’s heart. Very important – not to lose the cloud of Maitreya’s heart.

So the second time you recite the verse:

PAL-DAN TSA-WEY LA-MA RINPOCHE
DAG-SOG NYING-KHAR PE-ME DAN-JUG LA
KA-DRIN CHEN-PO GO-NEY JE-ZUNG TE
CHO-DANG THUN-MONG NGO-DRUP TSAL-DU SOL

“Precious, noble root Guru, please occupy the lotus seat within our hearts and in your great kindness remain with us. Please grant us your blessings for our temporal success and for the supreme attainment.”

When you recite this one, Je Rinpoche come down and then turn around and sit on top of your head. Then you visualize the main psychic channel from here, the psychic channel coming down, straight down. Here at your heart, at the central channel, inside the central channel is straight. Outside is blue, inside is red, soft like light.

Then at the heart, starting from the centre here, coming all the way down, is the central channel. At the heart area is a lotus, moon disc and the letter Dhih. What is that Dhih? It is your subtle consciousness. It is your subtle. Remember we have three minds? Raw consciousness, subtle and very subtle. This is your very, very subtle consciousness. This is your subtle consciousness – that’s you.

Now, when you say the third verse:

PAL-DAN TSA-WEY LA-MA RINPOCHE
DAG-SOG NYING-KHAR PE-ME DAN-JUG LA
KA-DRIN CHEN-PO GO-NEY JE-ZUNG TE
JANG-CHUB NYING-PO BAR-DU TAN-PAR SHUG

“Beloved, noble, root Guru, please occupy the lotus seat within our hearts and in your great kindness remain with us. Please stay until we achieve Enlightenment. Please stay with us until we achieve Enlightenment.”

Then when we say that, the Guru come down, very happy. Here is the an eight-petalled lotus. Eight. Very small and fine like. Then, eight-petalled lotus with moon disc, the Dhih on top. Who’s the Dhih? Subtle consciousness. It’s you, is your mind. Then Je Rinpoche come down, very happy, he melt down the central channel, coming down. Then the lotus open, then he come down, and he touch and mix with your Dhih. Now your Dhih and Je Rinpoche become mix.

At Je Rinpoche heart, you visualise Dhih. You can visualise they become one, just Je Rinpoche.

Then the lotus close. When the lotus closes, is very, very important this one for powa practice to go up. When the lotus close, then the mantra surrounding it, keeping it closed. Oh Ah Ra Ba Tza Na Dhi Sumarti Kirti Shi ___________ The mantra wrapping around.

Then Je Rinpoche descend, but the cloud is following him. So at the top of the lotus… the lotus, closed, Je Rinpoche inside mixed with your Dhih. You and Je Rinpoche become one. Then at the top of the lotus where it close, the cloud going up the central channel. Where’s the cloud going? Out from here to where? Maitreya’s heart. Wherever you go, it’s there. Maitreya’s wisdom is so powerful.

And then when Je Rinpoche dissolve, you feel very powerful, very strong. Very wonderful. For a few minutes you visualise your mind and Je Rinpoche’s.

Then my Guru and Je Rinpoche and myself and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas mix with my mind. When you meditate like this every day, I guarantee you will feel great bliss. I guarantee. You will feel something come up in you that pervades you.

If you visualize this in the day time, every day, when you die, you can visualize easy. At the time of death, you want to go, you visualise Maitreya Buddha and you visualize the cloud and then you and Je Rinpoche’s consciousness will leave through your central out, follow the cloud out. Leave this shell, let it go. And focus on that cloud, go straight to Je Rinpoche heaven. Straight.

And I guarantee you, you will be in Tushita heaven. Definitely. The last thought at the time of death… if it’s a very bad thought, attachment, you will reborn in the preta, spirits. It will bring up the karma to reborn there. If you think about Dharma, Je Rinpoche practice, your practice, your Guru and you want to go Tushita, Maitreya, it will bring up the karma that you have been collecting your whole life practicing; it will bring that karma up, immediately that karma will push you to Tushita Heaven. You just go up on the string. Don’t need any other powa – this is it.

How powerful this powa practice is and to be born in Maitreya’s place, and to visualise Maitreya Buddha every single day with Kuan Yin Posa, with Vajrapani Posa, with Atisha and Je Tsongkhapa there and all the gods there. And then your Guru there, sitting in the centre, and yourself here ready to go. How beautiful, how strong, how profound.

And getting wisdom, long life, health, protection from spirits, compassion, power, powa to go to heaven. All the practices combined is here in Je Rinpoche’s.

So you should make offerings, prostrations, confessions, the seven limbs. Make statues, be kind to people, do charity – you should do all this work and dedicate it to fulfilling the practice of Je Rinpoche and to go to Tushita Heaven. There, I already described how beautiful it is to become enlightened. Can go and develop a very special relationship with Maitreya Buddha.

Then Je Rinpoche is here… So that is during your meditation session. In between when you go to work, when you go out, when you go driving, when you go here, when you do your other work, from time to time, concentrate on that cloud, the cloud connecting to Maitreya. Number one.

Number two, Je Rinpoche here. Everything you drink, you visualise going to Je Rinpoche. All the nice things, you visualize going to offer to Je Rinpoche.

When people give you ang pow… think “Oh, I offer this to Je Rinpoche,” never think for me. “Oh, I offer this to Je Rinpoche. Je Rinpoche accept and I pray to Je Rinpoche that may I get Enlightenment.” Then I put in my wallet and go shopping.

So every thing during the day you can offer to Je Rinpoche.

Actually, if you do this, it’s very profound. All day long. Then when you go to sleep, pillow. Concentrate, meditate, sleep like the Buddha on your right side, with your finger put under your head, with your right ring finger, close your right nostril and go to sleep on your right side, this one putting here, concentrating.

And what do you concentrate? Go to Je Rinpoche. In case you die that night, that’s the last thing you thought about. Very powerful. The minute you wake up in the morning…

immediately what do you think? The cloud to Maitreya. Why? Because to get you familiar and get you ready for the real time. All day practice

Keep your refuge vows, keep your tantric vows if you have, and Bodhisattva vows, to purify, to collect merit, to finish the five preliminaries according to Je Rinpoche. Prostrate to Je Rinpoche 100,000. Make mandalas to Je Rinpoche, 100,000. Make Vajrasattvas, 100,000. Then you make water offerings, 100,000 to Je Rinpoche. Then you do the refuge 100,000 to Je Rinpoche. And then the Guru Yoga, Migtsema, 100,000. All dedicate to Je Rinpoche. Focus. Excellent.

On your throne… in our traditional Gelug order, we have Je Rinpoche, the two disciples, on the left is Buddha, on the right is Tara. And then offerings, and then stupa and Dharma texts. This is a traditional Gelug altar. This is the basic minimum you should have if you follow the Gelugpa tradition.

Je Rinpoche’s practice is excellent, powerful, very good.

Today, we have been very fortunate because of our previous lives’ good karma and the blessings of our root Gurus and by our clear, clear commitment to our Guru and because we have a special affinity to Je Rinpoche and because we have a special affinity to the teachings. And we probably have made prayers, practice, or prostrated or made some offerings to Je Rinpoche in the previous life.

Therefore, today we’re very lucky to be able to explain and listen to the holy teachings of Je Rinpoche and his holy practice. So we should immediately rejoice. When we rejoice, the merits become greater and greater. Feel happy and feel very, very luck to meet and hear and talk about, contemplate and see Je Rinpoche’s holy teachings, which will collect merit, purify, give us compassion and wisdom; also, it will take us to full Enlightenment. If not, Tushita on the way.

Download this teaching in MP3 format

Download file

Download file

For more Dharma teaching MP3 downloads, visit the Audio Teaching section.

Download holy images of Lama Tsongkhapa here.

Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:

If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team