5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

Don’t be a Wuss: In Praise of Wrathful Actions

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life, 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

People see many benefits to anger. They think it reveals where our needs are being violated, it gives us strength or a backbone, it protects us from being taken advantage of, it deters others from harming us or those we love, and it is sometimes an effective method for getting what we want. And to a certain extent, all these things are true. So when we Kadampas say, “anger is bad” and “there is no evil greater than anger,” people think we are being extreme and they reject the Dharma. They think anger is a natural human reaction and we are just repressing or becoming doormats.

For me, the core distinction is anger is motivated by self-cherishing, disturbing our own mind; and it inflicts harm on others, creating negative karma for ourselves. But wrathful actions are motivated by compassion. Externally, it may even be almost exactly the same, but internally it is quite different. We can get all the “benefits” of anger through wrathful actions, without disturbing our own inner peace or creating negative karma for ourselves.

I sometimes think as a community (or at least me), we have become so averse to anger that, excuse my sexist language, we can become a bunch of pu$$ies! We sometimes fail to stand up for ourselves or others. We sometimes fail to intervene to stop abuse or harm taking place. We fail to tell the hard truths that people will hate us for saying but they need to hear. We fail to set protective boundaries, for both ourself and for others. We set an example of enabling others to abuse us. We see others protecting themselves with anger and we tell them that is wrong, but we don’t provide them with an alternative. People see this and they say, “if this is Dharma, I don’t want that.” This helps nobody.

Geshe-la fearlessly showed the example of engaging in wrathful actions with the protests against what the Dalai Lama was saying about Dorje Shugden. Sure, lots of people misunderstood what we were doing as us being angry and we received a lot of criticism for it, but we kept doing it – round after round. Those who had the good fortune to participate in the protests recall how joyful and happy we were as we shouted, “stop lying!” We called him out on his bull$hit, to put it in modern terms. We were protecting our tradition and trying to protect him and his followers from continuing to create negative karma for themselves. Geshe-la also showed this example when he would ruthlessly fire even very senior teachers for what seemed to be small transgressions. He did this to protect the tradition, the teachers themselves, and their students.

I think we need to start learning how to engage in wrathful actions ourselves, or again, at least I do. Yes, we patiently accept, but we don’t just take it. We show a backbone, we show a spine, we push back, we call others out on their wrong behavior, we don’t say it was all us when it wasn’t, and we don’t allow others to abuse us. As a very dear Sangha friend once told me years ago, “we need King-like bodhichitta, not Smurf-like bodhichitta.” Heruka, Vajrayogini, Vajrapani, and our beloved Dharma protector Dorje Shugden all show wrathful aspects. We need to be fearless.

Sure, when we first start trying to engage in wrathful actions, we’ll make a hash out of it and it will be mixed with anger. No different than our pacifying, increasing, and controlling actions being mixed with attachment. But we learn. We gradually get better. We gradually start showing a better example. People then don’t think being a Dharma practitioner means being a push over, but they realize it is their delusions that make them a wimp and enable abuse. Wisdom and compassion gives tremendous strength and power that we learn to fearlessly wield.

Our tradition is extremely pure and threatens the very foundations of samsara and all those beings who have a vested interest in preserving it. We do get attacked by maras, and sometimes our family gets attacked by them as well. We can’t just sit there and do nothing. Yes, we need to mobilize Dorje Shugden’s vast assembled retinue, but we also need to stand up and fight back ourselves – not with anger, but sometimes also with compassionate wrath.

In short, we all know the Dharma teaches us to not be a dick. But it also teaches us to not be a pussy either.

Happy Protector Day: Protector of the Bodhisattva’s Path

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The 29th of every month is Protector Day.  This is part 6 of a 12-part series aimed at helping us remember our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and increase our faith in him on these special days.

And on his head he wears a round and yellow hat.

This symbolizes his ability to help us gain the correct view of emptiness, the ultimate nature of reality.  We can understand how all things are like a dream, and how if we change our actions, we can change our karma and that will change the dream that appears to our mind.  In this way, we can become the architect of our own destiny, and cause this world of suffering to cease and the pure world of the Buddhas to arise.  If ever we have difficulty understanding emptiness, we can recall his hat and request that he bless our mind to be able to gain a correct understanding of emptiness.  We then imagine we receive his blessings and return to our Dharma book (or the teaching we are receiving) and try again.  If we still do not understand, we once again request blessings and repeat the cycle.  We can continue like this for as long as it takes.  Eventually, through the power of his blessings, we will understand. 

His hands hold a sword and a heart of compassion.

This symbolizes his ability to help us engage in Lamrim meditation, in particular the union of the vast and profound path.  The vast path is all of the Lamrim meditations for developing a good heart, leading up to bodhichitta, the wish to lead all beings to enlightenment.  The profound path refers to the wisdom realizing emptiness, that everything is like a dream.  Just as we did with trying to understand emptiness, when we are having difficulty with our Lamrim practice, we can recall this function of Dorje Shugden, request his blessings, receive his blessings and then try again.  Practicing in this way dramatically increases the power of our Lamrim meditation. 

To his followers he shows an expression of delight, but to demons and obstructors he displays a wrathful manner.

This symbolizes Dorje Shugden’s ability to love and care for us while destroying our delusions.  We need to make a distinction between ourselves and our delusions.  Just as a cancer patient is not his cancer, we are not the cancer of our delusions.  Many people fear Dorje Shugden because they know he can be quite wrathful, but this fear only arises because they identify with their delusions.  So when their delusions are challenged, they feel like they are challenged.  Whenever we have a delusion arise strongly in our mind, we can immediately remember Dorje Shugden and request his blessings to be able to happily accept our difficult circumstances understanding that what is bad for our delusions is good for us. 

He is surrounded by a vast, assembled retinue,

Such as Kache Marpo and so forth.

Dorje Shugden is like the general of a vast army of Dharma protectors, each of whom accomplishes a different function.  These can be understood from the explanation of the nature and function of Dorje Shugden in the book Heart Jewel and the Praise to the five lineages of Dorje Shugden explained in the extensive Dorje Shugden sadhana Melodious Drum Victorious in All Directions.  It is customary for large Dharma Centers around the world to practice Melodious Drum on every Protector Day, or at least once a year.  We can do so on our own at any time, including every Protector Day.

The five lineages of Dorje Shugden refer to the five principal deities of his mandala.  Each one corresponds with one of the five Buddha families, the five completely purified aggregates of a Buddha, and the five omniscient wisdoms.  Each of the principal deities is like a specific protector for each one of the five Buddha families, and through relying upon them we will be led to attain the five purified aggregates and the corresponding five omniscient wisdoms.

The principal deity is Dorje Shugden himself, who is the protector of the Akshobhya family, will guide us to completely purify our aggregate of consciousness and attain the wisdom of the Dharmadhatu.  The wisdom of the Dharmadhatu is an aggregate of consciousness completely purified of all our past contaminated karmic potentialities (also known as the two obstructions) and that knows directly and simultaneously all phenomena as manifestations of bliss and emptiness.  Vairochana Shugden is the protector of the Vairochana family.  Through relying upon him, we will completely purify our aggregate of form and gain mirror-like wisdom, which sees directly all phenomena as manifestation of bliss and emptiness.  Pema Shugden is the protector of the Amitabha family.  Through relying upon her, we will purify completely our aggregate of discrimination and attain the wisdom of individual realization, which is able to discriminate all objects individually as manifestations of bliss and emptiness.  Ratna Shugden is the protector of the Ratnasambhava family.  Through relying upon Ratna Shugden, we will purify completely our aggregate of feeling and attain the wisdom of equality, which experiences all phenomena equally as bliss and emptiness.  Karma Shugden is the protector of the Amoghasiddhi family.  Through relying upon Karma Shugden, we will purify completely our aggregate of compositional factors and attain the wisdom of accomplishing activities, which enables us to use a Buddha’s completely purified and developed mental factors as if they were are own.  For a more in depth understanding of the five aggregates, see How to Understand the Mind.

Dorje Shugden is also surrounded by the nine Great Mothers, the eight fully ordained monks, and the ten wrathful deities.  The nine mothers arrange the secret conditions necessary for our Dharma practice.  They are comprised of Lochanna, Mamaki, Benzharahi, and Tara which arrange the earth, water, fire, and air elements respectively for our practice; and the five offering goddesses who transform all of the various forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile objects into conditions for our practice.  The eight fully ordained monks arrange the inner conditions necessary for our practice.  They are the eight main bodhisattvas, including Vajrapani, Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri, and Maitreya.  They manifest whatever is needed to tame disciples and protect those with commitments like their only child.  The ten wrathful deities arrange all of the outer conditions for our Dharma practice.  They subjugate the malevolent and guard all directions with various guises.  Kache Marpo is like the commander of the Dharma protector special forces who directs all the oath-bound attendents (spirit kings, wealth gods, nagas, celestial spirits, and so forth) who perform a host of actions to help arrange the mundane conditions for our Dharma practice. 

Light rays from my heart

Instantly invite the wisdom beings
From the sphere of nature
And from all the different palaces where they abide.
They become inseparable from the commitment beings.

We visualize a vast array of mundane and supermundane Dharma protectors filling the whole of space, all working tirelessly under the direction of Dorje Shugden to arrange all the outer, inner, and secret conditions for our Dharma practice.  As Heruka, we then imagine that light rays radiate from our heart and invite the wisdom beings – the actual deities of Dorje Shugden’s mandala – to enter into the commitment beings (those we have visualized). We then strongly believe that all of these protector deities are actually in the space in front of us and filling the universe accomplishing their special function.

Being of Many Minds

Kadampa Ryan 4. Practicing in Daily Life, 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

I’ve been giving some thought to how we have many minds, how we can be of many minds. We sometimes grasp at our mind as this singular entity that somehow remains constant observing everything. But in How to Understand the Mind, Geshe-la explains how we have countless different minds depending upon the combinations of mental factors we have. For example, towards somebody in my life, I can view them as my biggest trigger (anger) or my biggest attachment or as an emanation of Vajrayogini. So who is this person? Are they the trigger, the attachment, or the emanation? They are actually not one of them, not the three of them, nor the collection of the three of them. But if you took away each of them there would be nothing there remaining that is the other person. If we can see how there are many different minds we have towards the same ‘person,’ then we can see very clearly how all phenomena perceived by that mind are also empty. In this way, by realizing the emptiness of our mind directly, we indirectly realize the emptiness of all phenomena that will ever be perceived by our mind.

OK, so they are empty, but what do we nonetheless conventionally choose to follow – trigger, attachment, or emanation? Our delusions of anger and attachment make our mind uncontrolled. So if we don’t ‘choose’ emanation, then we are allowing our mind to remain under the influence of anger or attachment. But we have to apply effort to ‘choose’ emanation when our anger and attachment are pulling our mind so strongly in the direction of believing one of their distortions.

Gen-la Dekyong has been talking a lot in recent times about mistaken vs. unmistaken appearance. We all know what mistaken appearance is, but Venerable Geshe-la specifically uses the term ‘unmistaken appearance.’ Basically, this is our guru pointing to us and saying, “look, this is the unmistaken reality. Focus your mind on this and you will move into this reality.” Pure view – the four purities – is the only unmistaken appearance. To see anyone as anything other than pure is a mistaken appearance.

If we realize this, it will automatically cut ALL of our delusions in their tracks. All of our delusions and problems with other people come from viewing them with deluded minds, but if we see them as all the Buddhas emanated for us by our Spiritual Guide with whom we have an incredibly close karmic connection it would be absolutely impossible for us to generate any delusions towards them. This is the sort of faith we need. This is the view we need to choose to adopt. This is the unmistaken appearance our Spiritual Guide is pointing us to.

So what is the correct answer to the question of ‘who is this person?’ is they are an emanation of a Buddha sent by our spiritual guide. That’s who our family is. That is who our friends and work colleagues are. Basically because we have a mind of faith in our holy Spiritual Guide, that is true for basically everyone we meet in our life. They are all emanations of Buddhas sent by our spiritual guide.

So I think what I need to do to one day completely heal all the stuff that has been going on is to choose to adopt this view, to focus my mind on that reality. This is what is most beneficial for them because wherever I imagine Buddhas, Buddhas go; and wherever Buddhas go, they accomplish their function which is to bestow blessings. So maintaining this pure view is an act of compassion. But it is also beneficial for me because then instead of generating delusions towards them, I will generate all sorts of Dharma minds to work through whatever arises with them.

Sometimes what arises might be really hard, but why is that a problem? Are we not willing to endure a few hardships on our path to enlightenment? Sometimes working through our deeper stuff is hard, but it needs to be done, so we need to put on our Dharma armor and head into battle.

Typically, because we are lazy – or at least I am – if my life is going well, my burning need to practice Dharma quickly dissipates. But when I’m thrown into a crazy crisis or situation, then it kicks up all sorts of delusions in my mind, and I then have to use the Dharma to work through those delusions. Then, I really practice. So my experience is not so much I courageously head into battle against my delusions, but more a desperate struggle for survival, but I have been given the sharp swords of Kadampa wisdom, so I’m forced into battle because I’m surrounded and being attacked on all sides.

And this is why refuge is so important. We can’t just always be battling Rambo style all alone. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being fully united with all the Buddhas, all the Dharmas, and all the Sanghas. Sometimes we can even go within the ‘refuge’ of our community and just focus on our mind and our practice, and others do the battling for us.

That’s Dorje Shugden’s job!!! His vast assembled retinue is like our elite Dharma army with the perfect power to transform whatever samsara might throw at us into something that is absolutely perfect for our swiftest possible enlightenment. All we need to do is generate faith in him, request him to arrange everything so that it is perfect for our practice, and then accept whatever arises as the completely perfect conditions we need for our swiftest possible enlightenment. In other words, they are not just emanations of our spiritual guide, they are emanations of our spiritual guide in the aspect of Dorje Shugden’s vast assembled retinue.

Anyways, sorry, I got a little away from myself. I love Dorje Shugden so much he does that to me.

My point is we need to choose which mind we follow, and the only unmistaken choice is emanation. That’s true for everything.

Happy Protector Day: The nature and function of Dorje Shugden

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The 29th of every month is Protector Day.  This is part 5 of a 12-part series aimed at helping us remember our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and increase our faith in him on these special days.

In this post, I will explain the nature and function of Dorje Shugden.  In the subsequent posts I will explain how to rely upon him outside of formal meditation and then I will explain how to rely upon him during the formal meditation session. 

What is the nature and function of Dorje Shugden?  In short, his nature is the same as our Spiritual Guide, but in particular he is by nature the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri.  Manjushri assumes two forms, Je Tsongkhapa to lead us along the path and Dorje Shugden to arrange the conditions for our practice of the path.  His function is to arrange all the outer, inner and secret conditions necessary for our swiftest possible enlightenment.

To understand this in more detail, we can consider the meaning of the invitation prayer to Dorje Shugden that we recite every day in the context of our Heart Jewel practice.  The Sadhana beings by saying,

HUM, I have the clarity of the Yidam.

With HUM we dissolve everything into the clear light Dharmakaya and recall that the definitive nature of Dorje Shugden is the Truth Body of our Spiritual Guide.  ‘I have the clarity of the Yidam’ means we engage in our Dorje Shugden practice self-generated as our personal deity.  We do this for two reasons.  First, it is more effective.  Heruka is much closer to Dorje Shugden than we are, so by requesting Dorje Shugden as Heruka we tap into their close karmic connection.  It is similar to knowing somebody who knows somebody very powerful.  We may not know the powerful person ourselves, but if we know somebody who does know them, if they ask the powerful person to fulfill our wishes on our behalf, it is far more likely we will get the response we want.  The second reason why we do this is the practice of Dorje Shugden can be engaged in for the sake of ourself or for the sake of others.  When we eventually become Buddha Heruka our work is not finished – we will still need to lead all other beings to enlightenment.  At that time, we will need powerful allies who can help living beings, such as Dorje Shugden.  Training in the practice of Dorje Shugden while maintaining divine pride of being the deity is a very powerful method for having Dorje Shugden accomplish his function for all those that we love.

Before me in the center of red and black fire and wind.

Here, we imagine that encircling all the living beings we are visualizing around us is a large proection circle of Dorje Shugden made out of five-colored wisdom fires.  It is like a giant sphere which completely envelopes all of these beings and the entire universe.  I like to imagine that all living beings are now inside of the protection circle and everything that happens to them is perfect for their swiftest possible enlightenment. 

On a lotus and sun trampeling demons and obstructors is a terrifying lion powerful and alert.

The function of Dorje Shugden’s lion is to dispel all fear.  It is a bit like in the movie Narnia, when people were in the presence of Aslan, they knew they were safe and they had nothing to fear.  If ever we are in a situation where we are afraid, we can remember the protection circle of Dorje Shugden and we can remember his lion and strongly believe that we are protected and that we receive his blessings which pacify all of our fear. 

Upon this sits the Great King Dorje Shugden, the supreme heart jewel of Dharma protectors.

Dorje Shugden is the principal deity of the visualization.  There are a couple of different analogies we can consider to get a feeling for who he is.  He is our karma manager.  Rich people give their money to money managers to manage their money in an optimal way.  In the same way, Dorje Shugden is the supreme karma manager.  He will manage our karma in an optimal way for our swiftest possible enlightenment.  He is also our personal spiritual trainer.  When people want to get their bodies in shape, they go to a personal physical trainer who gives them the specific exercises they need to get in the peak of physical health.  In the same way, Dorje Shugden is our personal spiritual trainer who gives us the specific exercises we need to put ourselves in the peak of spiritual health, full enlightenment.  He is our spiritual father.  Our father protects us from danger and provides us with everything we need.  In the same way, Dorje Shugden is our spiritual father, who will protect us from all danger and provide for us everything we need to accomplish our spiritual goals.  He is the director of our spiritual life.  When people make movies or plays, there is a director who organizes and puts together all the appearances.  In the same way, Dorje Shugden is the director of our spiritual life, who will create a play of appearances around us for the rest of our life that are perfect for our spiritual path.  In a future post, I will explain how he has the power to help us not just in this life and right now, but in all our past and future lives as well.  Yes, we can go back within our past and transform what happened into a cause of our enlightenment!

His body is clothed in the garments of a monk.

This symbolizes his power to assist us with our practice of moral discipline.  We all have bad habits we are trying to abandon, such as smoking, getting angry at people, and so forth; and vows we are trying to keep, such as our refuge, pratimoksha, bodhisattva, and tantric vows, but we are not very successful in doing so.  Dorje Shugden can give us the strength and wisdom we need to abandon these bad habits.  Whenever we feel tempted to break our moral discipline, we can recall Dorje Shugden in front of us dressed in the garments of a monk and request his special blessings to give us the strength to keep our moral discipline. 

My Thoughts Before the Digital Spring Festival Starts

Kadampa Ryan 3. Tantra, 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

Spreading the pure Kadam Dharma now makes the pure Kadam Dharma appear in our future. This is how we find each other again and again in our future lives.

The conversations we have and the bonds we create with each other here on Facebook are the threads pulling the Kadampa world together into the emerging digital society.

Our friendships matter for future of the living beings in our world. The whole world is moving increasingly into a digital society where people spend more and more of their lives inside the worlds created by technology.

Geshe-la said we need to go to where the people are. The people are moving digital, so as Kadampas we need to go there too. That’s why I think the Kadampa digital presence is so important. We need to make it feel like a Kadampa community. We are a digital community of Kadampas.

And this is why the Festivals are so important. Geshe-la has said that gathering together at the Festivals is the method for maintaining the tradition for generations to come. This is what he asked us to do – to make a commitment to attend every Festival. In this sense, I’m so grateful for COVID because it enabled the NKT to make the decision to make the Festivals available digitally from our homes. I have VERY difficult karma when it comes to being able to attend the festivals. So being able to attend them digitally was like a huge gush of fresh air to be able to attend all the Festivals as I had done for the years I was in Geneva. I was worried that they wouldn’t continue with the policy after COVID, but I think they realized there are just many people who don’t have the karma to be able to physically make it to the festivals but in their speech and minds they really wanted to be there, and it is possible to transform our personal environment of our room or home into the festival experience. So now they are letting it continue. I honestly think I would have tried to lead a mass petition making the case to continue to allow us to attend the festivals digitally!! But fortunately, that protest moment may be put off to another day!!! Haha.

Regardless, I’m really excited to have a festival dedicated to the Liberating Prayer and our International Refuge Ceremony. Just think about that – we do Liberating Prayer before every group puja, and then we do a refuge ceremony all together simultaneously. Think of the power of that. I can’t ever remember doing an international refuge ceremony of this scale. Gen Tharchin said when we do puja together, we create the karma to refind the same people doing the same practice again in the future.

Think about this, we are about to do an international refuge ceremony – the entire global Kadampa community getting together at the same time to go for refuge TOGETHER as a community. That’s AMAZING. Think about the karma that creates for us – to find each other again in the future engaging in the same practice, namely an international refuge ceremony, which will again launch the same karmic cycle forever until we and all living beings are freed from samsara!!!

And the Librerating Prayer is our primary prayer to Buddha Shakyamuni. When you think about it, we don’t pay a lot of attention to our Spiritual Guide in the aspect of Buddha Shaykamuni, we are usually focused on his Je Tsongkhapa form or his Heruka form. But here, we are paying particular tribute to the Buddha Shakyamuni part of Guru Sumati Buddha Heruka. Buddha Shakyamuni was the founder in this world, he then later appeared as Lama Tsongkhapa and our other lineage gurus, but deeper down, it is Buddha Shakyamuni.

Deeper down than Buddha Skakyamuni is Heruka, and inside Heruka is the HUM, and inside that is the Dharmakaya – our definitive Spirtual Guide. The Spiritual Guide is OUR karmic bridge between where we are now and the minds of all the Buddhas. Indeed, he is the minds of all the Buddhas appearing in forms that can be seen by living beings according to their karmic dispositions. For us, our Spiritual Guide who has emanated everything for us in the so-called ‘modern’ world is Venerable Geshe-la. He has made the Kadampa world available to us without losing a drop of it’s purity in making the cultural transition from Feudal Tibet to the modern world.

We are pure, 100% Kadampa teachings, without being mixed with ANYTHING. We are the pure deal, the undilluted form, or rather we are a distinct flavor. The Kadampa teachings include the Ganden Oral Lineage, through which we can attain enlightenment in one lifetime, even three years! That’s what we are! That is our instruction. That is our uncommon characteristic. Geshe-la has presented the Ganden Oral Lineage appears directly to millions and eventually billions in the modern world. He has made this precious gem from the heart of Je Tsonkghapa available to the people of the modern world.

And who protects our tradition? Dorje Shugden! Our Dharma Protector. How can we know without the slightest doubt that those who misunderstand Dorje Shugden are wrong? Because we know what Dorje Shugden protects us so pure. Only a completely pure being could protect a completely pure Dharma jewel.

And now that Venerable Geshe-la has passed, how does he continue to appear in this world? As the teacher of every Festival. Some people in the future may lament wishing they were able to attend teachings directly with Geshe-la, but I say we all have this opportunity every year for the Spring, Summer, and Fall international festivals. What appears to our eyes may be this Gen-la or that one, but for us we see it is Venerable Geshe-la teaching the festival through everyone and everything related to the festival (not just the teachings).

So even though those of us in the digital world are only getting the recordings 48 hours later, there is nothing preventing us from believing we are at the festival right now. It is happening right now, just appearing to us as whatever is our daily appearance. That’s our festival.

This is what I’m thinking when the festival has already started, but I’m not yet able to attend the teachings. For us in the digital world, this means our festival actually winds up being longer. We get to go until the videos are no longer available. I think this is why they make the vidoes only available for a limited period of time – to ‘force’ us to come together in time.

Happy Protector Day: May the Doctrine of Losang Dragpa Flourish Forevermore

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The 29th of every month is Protector Day.  This is the last part of a 12-part series aimed at helping us remember our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and increase our faith in him on these special days.

The most effective way of increasing the power of our reliance is to engage in sincere dedication prayers.  When we dedicate the merit we have accumulated it is like putting our spiritual savings in the bank where they can never be destroyed and they can earn spiritual interest.  Each sadhana has a different dedication prayer which summarizes the main function of the spiritual practice.  In the case or Dorje Shugden, the dedication prayers are as follows:

By this virtue may I quickly
Attain the enlightened state of the Guru,
And then lead every living being
Without exception to that ground.

This is the first effect of this practice.  This is the explicit strategy of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition for emptying samsara.  Je Tsongkhapa is a spiritual guide who trains others to also become spiritual guides.  These new spiritual guides then train others still and so on.  In this way, generation after generation, the beneficial effects of Je Tsongkhapa’s deeds continue forever.  This is the “great wave of Je Tsongkhapa’s deeds.” 

The person who got me into spirituality was a close friend in college.  He opened the door for me and encouraged me to step through.  After several years of practicing, I thought back to the fact that without the kindness and encouragement of this one friend I would not have a spiritual life at all.  When I later saw him, I asked him, “how can I pay you back?”  His answer was a very powerful teaching:  he said, “do the same for others.  And when others ask you how they can pay you back, give them the same answer.  In this way, the kindness keeps going forever.”  Venerable Tharchin says that the highest spiritual goal to aspire to is to take our place in the lineage.  At some point, we will be the lineage guru whose responsibility it is to carry forward the lineage.  We must prepare ourselves for that responsibility in much the same way people prepare themselves for big missions or assignments.

Through my virtues from practising with pure motivation,
May all living beings throughout all their lives
Never be parted from peaceful and wrathful Manjushri,
But always come under their care.

This is the second effect of this practice.  If beings are never separated from peaceful and wrathful Manjushri, in other words Je Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden, then their enlightenment is just a question of time.

The following two verses, known as the Prayers for the Virtuous Traditon, were actually written by a previous incarnation of Dorje Shugden, and we recite them after every practice. 

So that the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa,
The King of the Dharma, may flourish,
May all obstacles be pacified
And may all favourable conditions abound.

This should be fairly self-explanatory by now.  It is the essential meaning of the entire Dorje Shugden part.

Through the two collections of myself and others
Gathered throughout the three times,
May the doctrine of Conqueror Losang Dragpa
Flourish for evermore.

The two collections are the collections of merit and wisdom, and the three times are the past, present and future.  In other words, we mentally invest all of the merit every accumulated into the flourishing of Je Tsongkhapa’s Dharma (Losang Dragpa is another name for Je Tsongkhapa). 

To summarize, the practice of Dorje Shugden can be reduced to the following:

  1. We renew our motivation as a spiritual being – we realize that the only thing that matters is the causes we create because they are the only things we can take with us.
  2. We request with infinite faith that Dorje Shugden provide us with perfect conditions for our swiftest possible enlightenment.
  3. We then accept with infinite faith that whatever subsequently arises is the perfect conditions for our practice that we requested.
  4. We then practice in these conditions to the best of our ability.  It doesn’t matter what appears, what matters is how we respond.  So we try to respond well.

If we do these four things, I guarrantee that we will be gradually lead to enlightenment.  It will just be a question of time.

There is much much more to say about the practice of Heart Jewel, but I wanted to keep things simple.  I strongly encourage everyone to read again and again the book Heart Jewel, which Geshe-la has said is his most important book.  We should also take advantage of the opportunity to speak with some senior practitioners about how to establish a daily practice and we should request teachings and empowerments on this practice from our local teacher.

I dedicate any merit I accumulated from doing this series of posts so that every living being joyfully establishes a daily practice of Dorje Shugden.  I pray that everything that happens to every living being is perfect for their swiftest possible enlightenment.  I request the wisdom to be able to understand how whatever happens to anybody is perfect for their enlightenment and I request that all of the conditions be arranged for me to share this perspective with others in a way that they can accept it.  In this way, we can all happily accept everything that happens in our life and swiftly make progress to enlightenment.  OM VAJRA WIKI WITRANA SOHA!

Happy Protector Day: All the Attainments I Desire Arise From Merely Remembering You

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The 29th of every month is Protector Day.  This is part 11 of a 12-part series aimed at helping us remember our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and increase our faith in him on these special days.

In the last post I explained most of the things we request Dorje Shugden to do.  In this post I will explain the summary requests from the sadhana.

Please remain in this place always, surrounded by most excellent enjoyments.
As my guest, partake continuously of tormas and offerings;
And since you are entrusted with the protection of human wealth and enjoyments,
Never waver as my guardian throughout the day and the night.

All the attainments I desire
Arise from merely remembering you.
O Wishfulfilling Jewel, Protector of the Dharma,
Please accomplish all my wishes.   (3x)

This verse is the synthesis of the entire Dorje Shugden practice.  Everything is contained within this verse.  We can understand this verse as follows:  The first line refers to our pure wishes, not our mundane wishes.  The second line refers to wherever we imagine a Buddha, a Buddha actually goes, and where ever they go, they accomplish their function.  If we remember Dorje Shugden, he will infuse himself into the situation and transform it into something we see as perfect for our practice.  The third and fourth lines explain how Dorje Shugden can become a wishfulfilling jewel.  Since he accomplishes all our spiritual wishes, if we make all of our wishes spiritual ones, he will accomplish all our wishes.

Whenever we are in a difficult situation, we can recite this verse like a mantra requesting him to provide us immediate protection.  Then we should strongly believe that he has infused himself into the situation and everything is now perfect.  We may wonder why is it that all the attainments we desire arise from merely remembering Dorje Shugden.  The reason for this is Dorje Shugden is a wisdom Buddha, which means he primarily helps us by blessing our mind to be able to see how the conditions we have are perfect for our practice.  When we remember him, we recall that everything is emanated by him and thus perfect.  Just believing this to be the case with faith opens our mind to receiving his powerful blessings.  Sometimes we understand immediately how the situation is perfect for our spiritual training, other times it is not so clear.  But even when it is not clear why the conditions are perfect, our remembering him gives us the faith that things are perfect, so we can more easily accept them.  Understanding exactly why things are perfect for our practice is obviously best, but sometimes simply understanding that things are perfect is good enough to set our mind at peace.

If we do not have time to engage in the whole Dorje Shugden sadhana, we can just recite this verse three times and this will maintain our commitments.  One verse said out of deep faith and a pure motivation is far more powerful than hundreds of hours of sadhana practice with a distracted, unfaithful mind.  If we offer our life completely into his care, it does not matter how much recitation we do.  But with that being said, reciting the full sadhana is obviously more effective than just reciting this last verse assuming our faith and motivation are equal in both situations.

After reciting the “all the attainments I desire…” verse, it is customary to pause and make personal requests for ourself and the people we care about.  The following are some example requests we can make.  General requests can include, “May I gain all the realizations necessary to lead all those I love to enlightenment.” This is the essence of our bodhchitta wish.  We can also make the request, “Please arrange all the outer, inner and secret conditions so that all those I love may enter, progress along and complete the path to enlightenment in this lifetime.”  This request fulfills our superior intention to lead all beings along the path to enlightenment.

Some specific requests we can make are:  When we do not know what is best, we can request “Please arrange whatever is best with respect to _____.”  When we think something is best, but we have some attachment to getting it our way, we can make the request, “With respect to ____, if it is best, please arrange it; otherwise, please sabotage it.”  When we have some situation that needs transforming, we can request, “May my/his experience of _____ become a powerful cause of my/his enlightenment.”  Finally, we can request anything that has a pure motivation, but we shouldn’t become attached to getting things the way we think is best.  We do not know what is best, which is why we need an omniscient Dharma protector managing these things for us.

After we have made our requests, we can maintain three special recognitions.  We can hold these recognitions in the meditation session and the meditation break, and indeed for the rest of our life.  First, we can think, from now until we attain enlightenment, and especially in this lifetime, everything that appears to us physically is emanated by Dorje Shugden for our practice.  Certain appearances will be for us to overcome certain delusions.  Certain appearances will be for us to generate virtuous minds.  But we can be certain that from this point forward, there is not a single physical appearance that has not been emanated by him for us, so we can correctly see everything as an emanation of him for our practice.

Second, from now until we attain enlightenment, and especially in this lifetime, everything that we hear is emanated by Dorje Shugden to teach us the Dharma.  Obviously, this includes all the Dharma teachings we receive.  But it also includes conversations we overhear, songs we hear, even the wind blowing through the leaves.  But we can be certain that from this point forward, there is not a single sound that has not been emanated by him to teach us the Dharma.  We can correctly imagine that all sounds are mounted upon his mantra, and that when we hear the sounds they teach us the Dharma.

Third, from now until we attain enlightenment, and especially in this lifetime, everything that arises within our mind will be emanated by Dorje Shugden to provide us an opportunity to train our mind.  Obviously, this includes every time we generate virtuous minds with our Dharma practice.  He will also help us generate the virtuous minds of the stages of the path.  This additionally includes all the delusions that arise within our mind.  For example, if strong anger arises, we can believe it is emanated by him so that we can practice patience.  If strong jealousy arises, we can think it is emanated by him so we can practice rejoicing, etc.  This also applies to what others think, for example what they think about us, etc.  We can view everything that others are appearing to think to be emanated by Dorje Shugden for our practice.  We can be certain that from this point forward, there is not a single thought that will arise within our mind or the mind of others that has not been emanated by him to provide us an opportunity to train our mind, so we can fully accept everything that happens as perfect for our practice. 

In the next post I will explain how we can increase the power of our practice of Dorje Shugden.

Happy Protector Day: Requesting the accomplishment of our wishes

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The 29th of every month is Protector Day.  This is part 10 of a 12-part series aimed at helping us remember our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and increase our faith in him on these special days.

The reason why we make offerings and requests, which was explained in the previous two posts, is to accumulate a special merit which will ripen in the form of Dorje Shugden being able to respond to our requests.  In the next part of the Sadhana, we actually make specific requests and prayers to Dorje Shugden.  These prayers reveal what Dorje Shugden can accomplish for us through our faithful reliance.

HUM
Whenever your followers with commitments
Request any of the four actions,
Swiftly, incisively, and without delay, you show signs for all to see;
So please accomplish the actions that I now request of you.

The first line indicates how if we choose to keep the heart commitment of Dorje Shugden (which was explained in a previous post) we become uniquely qualified to be able to make requests to Dorje Shugden to accomplish the specific actions we request of him, not just that he arrange things in general.  This is like a special qualification that gives us special power.  By requesting that Dorje Shugden causes the Dharma to flourish, we create the karma for it to flourish within our own mind.  In the context of the sadhana, what we are requesting of him is what follows in the sadhana, but outside of the sadhana, we can request him anything.

The stainless sun of Je Tsongkhapa’s tradition
Shines throughout the sky of samsara and nirvana,
Eliminating the darkness of inferior and wrong paths;
Please cause its light to spread and bring good fortune to all living beings.

Path in a Dharma context refers to believing a thought in our mind.  If we believe our delusions to be true, we are following an inferior path.  If we believe our wisdom to be true, we are following a correct path.

May the glorious Gurus who uphold this tradition
Have indestructible lives, as stable as the supreme victory banner;
May they send down a rain of deeds fulfilling the wishes of disciples,
So that Je Tsongkhapa’s doctrine will flourish.

Through increasing the study, practice, pure discipline, and harmony
Of the communities who uphold the stainless doctrine of Buddha,
And who keep moral discipline with pure minds,
Please cause the Gedän tradition to increase like a waxing moon.

There are two methods for growing a Dharma center, external and internal. The external methods include doing good publicity making the center known, working for the center in the running of the center, improving the facilities, etc.  Internally, a Dharma center is actually the collection of spiritual realizations of its practitioners.  If the practitioners have no realizations, it is a small center, even if it has hundreds or thousands of members and many external temples.  If the practitioners have rich realizations, it is a large center, even if there are only a few practitioners and the external conditions are limited.

Venerable Tharchin explains the way to grow a center is for the practitioners of that center to gain authentic spiritual realizations and then form karmic bonds between them.  We are given the problems of the community we serve.  We then use the Dharma to solve these problems.  Then, Dorje Shugden arranges for people who have these problems to come to the center.  He does not do it beforehand because he doesn’t want people to come to a center and not find the answers they are looking for.  So he waits until we gain experience and that we have something useful to share.  In particular, we can gain such realizations if people in Dharma centers study, practice and maintain pure discipline and harmony. 

Through your actions please fulfil the essential wishes
Of all practitioners who uphold the victory banner
Of practising single-pointedly the stages of the paths of Sutra and Tantra,
The essence of all the teachings they have heard.

Here we make special requests that whenever any practitioner makes requests to Dorje Shugden that he respond.  In this way, we put our karma behind it, and we each help one another in our requests.

Beings throughout this great earth are engaged in different actions
Of Dharma, non-Dharma, happiness, suffering, cause and effect;
Through your skilful deeds of preventing and nurturing,
Please lead all beings into the good path to ultimate happiness.

This is an important verse.  Dorje Shugden has the ability to transform any action or any experience into a cause of enlightenment.  For example, if somebody falls ill with cancer, we can request that it become a powerful cause of his enlightenment.  Or if our child starts using drugs, etc., we can request that this become a cause of their enlightenment.  Through this, Dorje Shugden will bless their minds where the condition will function as a cause of enlightenment.  It may not be immediately obvious how, but over the years with our sincere requests, it will definitely happen.  The feeling is that he gradually shepherds all the beings within the protection circle onto and along the path to enlightenment.  It will take time, but through our persistent and faithful requests, eventually everyone without exception will be lead along the path to enlightenment.  Again, note that this doesn’t mean that they are all brought to the Kadampa path, though certainly some will.  We are happy for them to be brought to any authentic path.

In particular, please destroy the obstacles and unfavourable conditions
Of myself and other practitioners.
Increase our lives, our merit, and our resources,
And gather all things animate and inanimate to be freely enjoyed.

Again, we make specific requests for practitioners, understanding their importance.

Please be with me always like the shadow of my body,
And care for me always like a friend,
By accomplishing swiftly whatever I wish for,
And whatever I ask of you.

If you want to receive the protection of Dorje Shugden like a true spiritual friend, the best way to do so is to become a true spiritual friend for others.  This creates the karma necessary for you to receive his protection in this way. The same is true for receiving his protection like a spiritual father.  Become a spiritual father (or mother) for others.  Take responsibility for others in your life, do not just do the minimum.  We should take worldly responsibility and spiritual responsibility for others. 

Please perform immediately, without delaying for a year, or even for a month,
Appropriate actions to eliminate all obstacles
Caused by misguided beings with harmful minds who try to destroy Je Tsongkhapa’s doctrine,
And especially by those who try to harm practitioners.

It is possible that some people may oppose our practice of Dharma.  Dorje Shugden can dispel all such obstacles through external and internal blessings. He can do this by blessing our mind to see the other person’s ‘interference’ as perfect for our practice.  Then it is no longer an obstacle. He can also do this by blessing the minds of others so that they no longer create obstacles for us.  We do not request this for selfish reasons, rather we do so to protect others from creating the bad karma of interfering with the pure spiritual practice of another.

Remembering Why We Don’t Mix Traditions and that We Are Not the Same as Tibetan Traditions

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

Now that VGL has passed, we need to be very clear about who we are as a tradition and who we are not. We are not a Tibetan tradition. We are not the same as those Tibetan traditions that still practice Dorje Shugden. We are not the same as those Tibetan traditions that take Lamrim as their main practice. We are our own thing. We may share some past with these spiritual cousins, but we have our own trajectory.

When I was in Geneva, there was a center there with the supposed reincarnation of Trijang Rinpoche. They were Dorje Shugden practitioners and they took Lamrim as their main practice. There were many people, including the former Resident Teacher, who thought we were the same. This is ultimately how I came to be Resident Teacher.

Geshe-la said we need to be very clear that we are not the same. He said after he died, there could be confusion among many students about this question – with them going to other traditions thinking it was the same. He said there would also be attempts to poach our students away and even to try inherit the tradition entirely, bringing it into Tibetan hands.

We are our own tradition with our uncommon characteristics. The internal rules of the NKT deliniate many of these. We can absolutely respect these other traditions and rejoice in their practices, but we need clear blue water in our mind between them and us. We do not mix traditions. This is our heart commitment.

Students of course have choice and can go wherever they want, but we need to be clear these other traditions are not the same. It can be misunderstood that not mixing traditions is being sectarian, but the truth is the exact opposite. Here is a blog article I’ve written on the topic in the past.

https://kadampaworkingdad.com/2022/04/02/happy-nkt-day-why-we-are-encouraged-to-follow-one-tradition-purely-without-mixing-2/

Happy Protector Day: Helping the Pure Kadam Dharma Flourish

Kadampa Ryan 5. Reliance upon Dorje Shugden, Protector Days, Reliance upon Dorje Shugden

The 29th of every month is Protector Day.  This is part 9 of a 12-part series aimed at helping us remember our Dharma Protector Dorje Shugden and increase our faith in him on these special days.

All my harmful thoughts and actions
That have offended your mind, O Great Protector,
I confess from the depths of my heart.
Please purify them swiftly, and care for me with love, like a mother for her child.

With this verse, we can purify all the negative karma that obstructs our ability to receive the care and protection of Dorje Shugden.  Such negative karma is like interference preventing a reception of our mobile phones or junk clogging up the arteries of a person.  We can generate a regret for whatever we have done in the past which has created negative karma preventing us from receiving the care and protection of Dorje Shugden.  Then we strongly imagine from Dorje Shugden purifying light rays and nectars flow down and touch all the beings inside the protection circle, ourself included, purifying all of the negative karma obstructing us from receiving Dorje Shugden’s care and protection.  We then strongly believe that all of these being are now without obstruction.

I beseech you from the depths of my heart, O Supreme Deity,
Please cause the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa to flourish,
Extend the life and activities of the glorious Gurus,
And increase the study and practice of Dharma within the Dharma communities.

We can understand this as follows:  The key point here is we realize how the Dharma of Je Tsongkhapa is the solution to all the problems of all beings.  The reason why beings suffer is because they too are trapped in a dream-like world of suffering created by their own self-centered minds.  They need to wake up from this dream into the pure world of the Buddhas.  The Dharma of Je Tsongkhapa provides a solution for destroying this self-centered mind, thereby enabling all beings to wake up from their worlds of suffering.  This is the solution to all of their problems.

Please be with me always like the shadow of my body,
And grant me your unwavering care and protection.
Destroy all obstacles and adverse conditions,
Bestow favourable conditions, and fulfil all my wishes.

Here we request Dorje Shugden to accomplish his main function, namely to arrange perfect conditions and to eliminate obstacles to our practice.  There are two types of condition:   When we are confronted with a situation which we think could be better, we request Dorje Shugden to arrange whatever is best and imagine that a protection circle radiates out accomplishing this function.  If the external situation changes, then we know the situation was beyond our capacity and we can use that to develop bodhichitta, wishing later to have a capacity that can transform anything and everything.  If the external situation remains the same (or gets worse) then we can know that we need to work on the delusions that this situation generates for us.  We can equally do this with internal conditions.  An important thing worth noting at this point is Dorje Shugden will arrange what is best for our practice, not what is necessarily best for our worldly concerns.  We might even say Mick Jagger is actually part of Dorje Shugden’s mandala when he sung ‘you don’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.’

Now is the time to show clearly your versatile strength
Through your four actions, which are swift, incisive, and unobstructed,
To fulfil quickly my special heartfelt desires
In accordance with my wishes;

Here we request Dorje Shugden to arrange whatever is best in general, in his own mysterious ways and imagine that a protection circle radiates out accomplishing this function. Ask people their Dorje Shugden stories when you are at festivals, and you will be amazed.  If our motivation is pure, he can arrange anything.

Now is the time to distinguish the truth and falsity of actions and effects;

Here we request him to make clear the relationship between cause and effect for all the beings within the protection circle.  At present, we think negativity is entertainment and exciting and we think virtue is boring.  In reality, negativity creates the cause for enormous suffering and virtue is the cause of all happiness.  Here we request that Dorje Shugden to bestow special wisdom blessings on all beings within the protection circle so they naturally, from their own side, make good choices.

Now is the time to dispel false accusations against the innocent;

Here we request Dorje Shugden to enable all beings within the protection circle to stop making mistaken and false imputations on others, but to correctly impute onto everybody ‘emanation of my spiritual guide’ and imagine that a protection circle radiates out accomplishing this function.  At present, we impute onto others ‘object of attachment’ ‘object of aversion’ or ‘irrelevant.’  These are false accusations we impute on others, and we relate to them as if they were really these things from their own side.  This creates all our problems.  The only valid imputation of anybody is ‘emanation of my spiritual guide.’  The ultimate nature of all things is the Dharmakaya, so it is correct to say that everybody is an emanation of my spiritual guide.

Now is the time to protect the pitiful and protectorless;

The reason why people are pitiful and protectorless is because we have been neglecting them.  Their experience is what we have karmically created for them in our empty dream.  So here we request that he provide protection for all the beings we have been neglecting and imagine that a protection circle radiates out accomplishing this function.

Now is the time to protect Dharma practitioners as your children.

It is particularly important to provide care and protection for Dharma practitioners because by helping them directly, indirectly it helps all living beings since they have vowed to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all.  It is like opening up a second cash register at the supermarket.  Everybody gets through the line twice as fast.

In short, from now until I attain the essence of enlightenment,
I shall honour you as the embodiment of my Guru, Deity, and Protector.
Therefore please watch over me during the three periods of the day and the night
And never waver in your actions as my Protector.

The biggest fear of a Dharma practitioner is the fear of losing the path.  If we do not lose the path, we have nothing to fear; but if we do lose the path, we have all of samsara to fear.  When we recite this verse, we are creating the causes to be able to meet Dorje Shugden and rely upon him again in all our future lives.  In this way, we maintain the continuum of our practice and go from joy to joy until we attain enlightenment.