Question asked by Jigme Rabten
Hello Pastor!
I have questions about unenlightenment Dharmapalas.
I'm living in a country that they quite popular worship alot of unenlightenment folk gods combine with Buddhism's practices.
My people's country place them and worship them together with Buddha but a little lower Buddha's lotus seat.
Is it ok for me to prostrate Buddha if they place worldly gods in front of Him worship together?
What should i do to not disturb to my taking refuge and upasaka vows in this kind of situations?
What should we chant to benifits for those wordly gods if we stand in front of their shrine?
How to behave or what we should do to advices for those who still worship worldly gods?
Help them to worship worldly gods in safe and right ways.
What's benifits for Palden Lhamo practices? Does her benifits same with Dorje Shugden or Setrap?
Do you have tibetan prayers text for Namkar Barzin or methar?
Thank you.
Hello Jigme Rabten,
Thank you for your question. Yes, some people put worldly gods / unenlightened Dharma Protectors on the same altar as the Buddha, though they should be put lower than the enlightened deities as you have mentioned.
If you prostrate to such an altar, that is okay, but when you do you must think that you are not prostrating to the worldly gods / unenlightened deities, but to the Buddha and enlightened deities. If you have this thought, then doing so is okay. The same applied to prayers and worship at such altars. Have the strong convictions that you are praying to and worshipping the Buddhas. If you do this then such actions do not break your Refuge commitments or any Buddhist vows you have taken.
If you are standing in front of their shrines and they are with the Buddhas, they will benefit anyway, but from your side you can still chant and do prayers. Instead of dedicating the merit from chanting to the enlightened beings for them however, instead dedicate the merit generated to all sentient beings. They will be included anyway if you dedicate to all sentient beings.
If you know people who worship gods, then do not try to tell them they are wrong. Be respectful of their practice. If they are interested in learning about Buddhism then you can slowly share more with them. If they do worship gods and are not interested in learning about Buddhism and are comfortable in practising their own faith that is perfectly okay. Not everyone wants to practice the Dharma. But you should gently advise them not to engage in certain forms of worship which either harms themselves or others. For example, some forms of faith involved sacrificing animals, taking intoxicants, etc. If it is this type of deity, then as a Buddhist you must advise your friends/family not to engage in this type of worship as it creates negative karma for themselves and harms either themselves or other sentient beings.
Palden Lhamo’s practice has the same benefits as Dorje Shugden and Setrap, but her practice will take more time and effort to see results. Scroll down on this page to see my answer to another person’s questions about Palden Lhamo.
You can read the translation of Namkar Barzin’s prayers in English here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/invocation-to-namkar-barzin.html I do not have a copy of it in Tibetan. And you can read a prayer to Methar here, composed by Tsem Rinpoche in English: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/great-lamas-masters/methar-of-tengyeling-monastery.html. This is no Tibetan version of this prayer as Tsem Rinpoche composed it in English.
I hope these answers help. Thank you.