Question asked by R
Good evening pastors,
Before i ask my question i would like to say a big thank you to all members of kechara organisation as i have greatly benefitted from various events, pujas and teachings given by HE tsem rinpoche multiple times through the internet. I pray that kechara members and pastors have healthy lives and will continue to grow in numbers and all dharma activities would increase forever more.
The question i would like to ask is about the prayer text given during ulambana festival gyenze and trakze puja, because it contains yamantaka prayers and when i went to seek enquiry i was told that it is okay to recite along even though i have not received initiation. So if it was okay to recite the prayer texts of yamantaka, can i include it in my daily prayers? Thank you so much _/\_ i do apologize if my questions seemed a little weird.
Dear R,
Thank you for your question. In regards to some of our longer pujas, you are correct that they include Yamantaka prayers in them. These prayers are usually only done by those who have the Yamantaka initiation. However, these pujas require these prayers to be recited. As such His Eminence Tsem Rinpoche gave permission for us to recite these prayers only during these pujas, as they are an integral part of the pujas.
Hence, for those of us who do not have the initiation, we do not recite these prayers at any other time such as in our daily prayers. In fact, reciting tantric prayers or mantras without the appropriate permission from your Guru actually creates negative karma and obstacles to:
a) receive the actual practice in the future, and
b) creates obstacles for your practice.
This can lead to you giving up the practice of the Dharma and creates other obstacles for your spiritual path. This point also applies to reading tantric texts and commentaries.
That however does not mean that we will never receive tantra. It is never too late to practice tantra, but we must be prepared well. Rinpoche always taught us to practice the Dharma in daily life, and to make the connection with deities like Vajra Yogini and Yamantaka through things like making offerings, so that in the future when we receive the practice, we will be successful in her practice.
The following teaching by Pastor David may be of interest to you:
Easy Dharma for the New Normal: Basics of Tantra
https://youtu.be/V-pcr_OmOgc
I hope this helps. Thank you.