Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Avalokiteshvara Empowerment


This is the 42nd entry in my fieldwork diary. The original date is 07.11.2010.

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Drupon Sangyas:

"Our minds are always looking for a better life. Avalokiteshvara protects the sentient beings of the 6 realms from suffering.

There are many pure land buddhas, but the best one for us is Buddha Amitabha, the heart son of Avalokiteshvara. Amitabha was sent to the human realm and manifested in a human body.
Avalokiteshvara has had many reincarnations, even in this time and age (e.g. as Dalai Lama) and other high lamas, including animals.

Buddha Shakyamuni never went to Tibet, so he told Avalokiteshvara that he had to be reborn in the Tibetan area for the benefit it would bring to the Himalayan people."

Drupon Sangyas then showed us his prayer wheel.

"In the mountains we have all kinds of prayer wheels: in the water so that the water becomes purified and flows into the ocean, and also prayer wheels that move by wind and fire. Those who make these prayer wheels automatically receive good karma. The sound of the prayer wheel attracts demons and spirits. Even just hearing the sound of it will purify you and create good karma. Every spin brings good merit.

Just hearing the name of Avalokiteshvara will purify your karma (and you don't even need to be a buddhist or know anything about Buddhism).

If you want to help a dying animal, you should chant the mantra of Avalokiteshvara for them so that they won't take rebirth in the animal realm again. Also reading the syllables is of great benefit for yourself and may protect you from being reborn in Samsara. It's a very powerful practice for us, it can help us develop our bodhicitta.

When you do tantric practice like H.E. Garchen Rinpoche, then your mind will become more balanced, there will be less anger within you. Anger is the most destructive emotion.
Your skills improve through practice. Your speech becomes more powerful.

The best practice for a beginner is Avalokiteshvara. So when we receive the empowerment, we have a huge amount of good merit. Body, mind and speech is considered to be very important in Buddhism. If you never purify your mind, it becomes spoiled, corrupt and dirty. When we meditate we should observe ourselves, what we've done and said, our activities and our thoughts. You need to confess bad deeds and you need good balance in order to reach the pure land."

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*Important side note: These diary entries do not reflect every word the teacher said, and there may be some mistakes or misunderstandings, for which I am sorry and accept responsibility. In a few instances, I have interjected my own interpretation or explanation.

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