About Living Buddha Lian-sheng

Transcription

1 About Living Buddha Lian-sheng True Buddha School Living Buddha Lian-sheng, also revered as Grand Master, is the root lineage guru of True Buddha School. His emanation is from Mahavairocana to Locana to Padmakumara. Grand Master holds lineages from the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug schools of Tibetan Buddhism. He is a prominent religious figure throughout the world. As of 2008, over 5 million people have taken refuge in his True Buddha School. With over 300 chapters worldwide, the True Buddha School is recognized as a major component in Buddhism today. Living Buddha Lian-sheng has written over 200 books in Chinese on topics such as Tantric Buddhism, Geomancy, Zen Buddhism, and Taoism. Many of these books are now being translated into English and various other languages. Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 1 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

2 Disclaimer Anyone who wishes to engage in any practice in this book must first take refuge in True Buddha School and receive empowerment from Living Buddha Lian-sheng or authorized True Buddha Masters. In this book, mantras are translated using simple English phonetics. Sutras, verses, and praises are translated using both English and Hanyu pin yin. Students should not assume that the translations can possibly emulate the exact pronunciations of the Root Guru. It is highly recommended that students obtain mantra tapes from local True Buddha temples or chapters, or consult with authorized masters. This book serves as a guideline for your daily practice. Please refer to Living Buddha Lian-sheng s books or consult with authorized masters for more detailed explanations. If you have further questions, please write to the True Buddha Foundation. May the compassionate Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma Protectors bless these translated practices. May the True Buddha Tantric Dharma liberate all beings in the Six Realms of Transmigration. For more information and other True Buddha School related materials, please visit the following websites: Last revised on March 13, 2008 Revision 2 Transmitted by Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu Translated by Imelda Tan, Janny Chow & Alice Yang Copyright solely belongs to Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 2 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

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4 Smoke Offering A True Buddha School Practice Text First empty the mind. Next, visualize the Root Guru appearing above your crown and radiating light on everyone present. Chant the Root Guru Heart Mantra 7 times. Pray to the Root Guru to empower you so that the practice will be auspicious. Visualize your parents, children, relatives, friends, and enemies join you in this practice. Wake Up Call: Clap twice, then cross hands and snap thumbs and middle fingers. 1. Recite the Purification Mantras 2. Recite the Invocation Mantra 3. Great Homage Using Visualization 4. Mandala Offering 5. Fourfold Refuge 6. Armor Protection 7. Recite the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra 8. Recite the Rebirth Mantra (7 times) 9. Recite the Four Immeasurable Vows: May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness; this is immeasurable loving-kindness. May all beings be liberated from suffering and the causes of suffering; this is immeasurable compassion. May all beings be free of suffering and always stay happy; this is immeasurable joy. May all beings be free of grasping and aversion and practice equality; this is immeasurable equanimity. Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 4 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

5 10. Mudra and Visualization Lotus Mudra: First form the prayer gesture. At the level of the chest, join the palms of both hands together with fingers meeting and pointed up. Now open the palms so that the hands meet only in three ways: at the very base of the palms, entire thumb to entire thumb, and entire little finger to entire little finger. Spread the other fingers out straight but as widely as possible, so that the gesture represents an eight-petalled flower. Visualization: First empty the mind. Chant the Emptiness Mantra: Om, si-ba-wa, su-da, sa-er-wa, da-er-ma, si-ba-wa, su-do-hang. (3 times) Sanskrit Seh Syllable (1) Above an expanse of ocean is a stretch of clear sunny sky. A moon disc rises from the ocean into the sky. Inside the moon disc is the white Sanskrit seed syllable seh, emitting great white light. (2) The seed syllable inside the moon disc revolves and transforms into Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. (3) Next visualize your heart emitting a brilliant blue light with the blue Sanskrit seed syllable hum. It transforms into a hook that hooks the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to travel through your crown opening to descend down the central channel until reaching and resting on the heart chakra lotus. Snap your fingers once and visualize yourself become the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. 11. Recite the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Heart Mantra Visualization: Hold mala beads in front of the chest and move each bead with the thumb during chanting. Visualize the left hand transform into a vajra bell and the right hand into a vajra scepter. The mother bead or emblem transforms into the Many- Jewels Buddha s Stupa and the four divider beads transform into the Four Deva Kings. The tassel transforms into a lotus hand while the string threading through the beads transforms into a circle of inherent white light of Vajrasattva. During mantra chanting, when a bead is moved, visualize Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva appear inside the bead and come to the forefront. Mantra: Om, mani padme hum. (108 times) Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 5 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

6 12. Smoke Offering and Visualization Recite: Om ah hum, so-ha. (21 times) Lang Yang Kang. (21 times) ( Om is to transform all the offerings to as vast as the Universe. Ah is to purify all the offerings. Hum is to empower them with dharma taste. Lang is fire or raising fire. Yang is winds which will transform into smoke. The winds will blow off the smoke. Kang means extending to the whole vast emptiness.) Garuda Mudra: Form the mudra (see picture below) moving in upward motion. (This represents the smoke soaring and filling up the space.) Visualization: Visualize the incense burner s smoke filling up the space and transforming into 5 auspicious offerings; into very auspicious clothing, foods and drinks, utilities, houses, cars, refrigerators, electronics, and all kinds of precious objects filling up the space. All these items appear before you in your visualization. Dedicate the smoke engendered to ghosts and spirits as well as karmic enemies and creditors who afflict and hinder you. Once they receive these offerings, they will leave you. Recite: Om, ah-bu-la-di, pu-ba-yeh, soha. After each mantra recitation, snap thumb and middle finger once. (7 times) 13. Entering Samadhi (optional) 14. Chant the Principal Heart Mantras Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 6 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

7 15. Recite the Buddha s Name: Namo the 36 trillion 119 thousand and 500 Amitabha Buddha. (3 times) Na-mo san-shi-liu-wan-yi yi-shi-yi-wan jiu-qian-wu-bai tong-ming-tong-hao ah-mituo-fo. 16. Dedication: If Offering to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, please recite: With the five amazing offerings, I sincerely render to Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Vajra Protectors, Heavenly Beings through the smoke offering. If Offering to Karmic Enemies, please recite: With the five amazing offerings, I sincerely render to Incense Eating Deva, Kinnara and retinues, Five-Knots Incense Eating Deva and retinues, Dragon Kings and Dragon Maidens, Mountain Devas, River Devas, Ocean Devas, and all Bardo beings and suffering beings. May their desires be fulfilled. May all Bardo beings be liberated from fears and sufferings. May Buddhas, of the Perfect Body, bless me to quickly attain realization. Even if the power is not acquired yet, may Buddhas bless me to be delivered, despite of all obstacles, by the merits of the cultivation. I sincerely practice the supreme dharma. May I dedicate the merits of the practice to eradicate all hindrances. Though the sufferings of the Four Great Elements are like waves, may I save all beings in samsara. May all who uphold the name of Amitabha Buddha Be born together in the Pure Land of His Western Paradise. Repaying the Fourfold Generosity from above, And aiding those who suffer in the Three Paths below. Upon seeing the Buddha, May I be liberated from the cycle of birth and death, And may I develop the qualities of Buddhahood, And thus free all who suffer. Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 7 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

8 I, (your name), dedicate the merits of this practice to the Root Guru. May the Root Guru always be healthy, remain in Samsara, never enter Nirvana, and forever turn the Dharma Wheel. May everyone be healthy, free of hindrances, strong in cultivation, and may all circumstances become auspicious. May all supplications be completely fulfilled. May all hindrances be removed. Wun! 17. Recite the Hundred Syllable Mantra Om, be-dza, sah-do sa-ma-ya, ma-nu bah-la-ya, be-dza sah-do deh-nupah-deh-cha, zhe-jo mi-bah-wa, soo-do ka-yu mi-bah-wa, soo-poo ka-yu mi-bah-wa, an-nu-la-do mi-bah-wa, sa-er-wa, sid-di, mi-bu-la-ya-cha, sa-er-wa, ka-er-ma, soo-cha-mi, ji-ta-moo, see-li-yam, gu-ru hum, ha-haha-ha-hoh, bah-ga-wan, sa-er-wa, da-ta-ga-ta, be-dza, ma-mee mun-cha, be-dzi-ba-wa, ma-ha sa-ma-ya, sah-do-ah, hum, pei. (3 times) 18. Great Homage Using Visualization (same as step 3) 19. Recite the Completion Mantra: Om, bu lin. (3 times) Om Mani Padme Hum. Dismissal: Clap twice, then cross hands and snap thumbs and middle fingers. End of Practice: May all endeavors be auspicious. xiu-fa yuan-man, ru-yi ji-xiang. Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 8 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

9 When to practice the Smoke Offering If you want to offer to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, practice it in the morning between 5am to 9am. If you want to offer to your Karmic Enemies, practice it in the evening between 5pm to 9pm. Smoke Offering Powder must contain the following flammable items: 1. Some sandalwood powder. 2. All purpose flour that has been pan fried without using oil. It is allowable to add a little bit of milk powder, brown rice powder, peanut powder, soya powder as well as 5 grain powder. 3. The simplest offerings are all purpose flour, oatmeal, brown rice powder, butter and milk. A little bit of milk and butter is enough. Mix well and set aside. Once they are dried, they can be burned for smoke offering. 4. Some brown and white sugar. Mix well. 5. Cut a small square piece from one red piece of fabric, one white piece of fabric, one blue piece of fabric, one green piece of fabric, and one yellow piece of fabric. Note: 1. Use fire or incent sticks for ignition. 2. If your smoke offering burner is round in shape, make the above offering dough into a patty. If your burner is horizontal, shape the dough into an elongated shape. Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 9 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

10 Smoke Offering Q&A Source: Grand Master s Saturary teaching in the Seattle Temple on Feb 23, 2008 Translator: Alice Yang Editor: Imelda Tan Q1: Can the Smoke Offering be empowered remotely? A: Yes, please write to Seattle True Buddha Tantric Quarter, and beseech Grand Master for remote empowerment. True Buddha Foundation NE 40th Ct., Redmond, WA USA Q2. If students have received the Homa empowerment, can they perform the smoke offering? A: During the Spring Blessing Ceremony on Feb 16,2008, Grand Master had personally transmitted the Smoke Offering and had explaind it was a separate empowerment from the Homa empowerment. Q3. Can the Smoke Offering (incense burner) to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas take place on the balcony? A: Yes, as long as air can flow freely. Q4. Can the Smoke Offering to Karmic Enemies and to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas share the same smoke offering incense burner? A: It can be shared. Q5. Should I set up dharma boundary while cultivating the Smoke Offering? A: Performing the Armor Protection is equivalent to setuping the Dharma Boundary. Q6. Besides near windows or in the balcony, can the Smoke Offering be cultivated at an empty lot? Do I need to setup Dharma Boundary? A: Smoke Offering can be cultivated at an empty lot, The Armor Protection is equalvent to Dharma Boundary setup. Q7. Must the smoke offering dough be made into a patty round shape or an elongated shape? A: Not necessary. As long as you mix all of the ingredients as instructed by Grand Master and burn them into smoke is fine. Q8. Should the offerings in the Smoke Offering be consumed all at once? Can it be used again the second time? How do we deal with the leftover offering ashes? Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 10 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM

11 A: Yes, the offering must be consumed all at once. It cannot be re-used. The remained ashes can be buried in the clean ground like in the grass. Q9. What should students do if the smoke stops in the middle of the Smoke Offering? A: The key of the Smoke Offering is the continuing smoke. If the smoke stops, then put more incense sticks to re-ignite it. Q10: What should students do if there are any mistakes in the Smoke Offering, such as insufficient visualization power, unclear visualization, or distracted thoughts? A: Recite the One Hundred Syllable Mantra to compensate for your deficiency or mistakes. Q11. Is the step of Entering Samadhi required in the Smoke Offering practice? A: Smoke Offering practice does not require the step of Entering Samadhi. Students may enter the Four Arm Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Samadhi as desire. It is optional. Smoke Offering English Practice Text - Page 11 of 11 Created on 3/13/ :42:05 PM