GIVEN BY VENERABLE TULKU TENGA
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
How Amitabha achieved Buddhahood
The Qualities of Dewachen
The Sadhana
THE ACTUAL PRACTICE
Lineage Prayer
1) Refuge and Bodhicitta
Blessing the Offering
2) The Visualisation
Invitation
Empowerment
3) Gathering the Accumulations and Purifying Karma
Praises
Confession
and Purification
Prayer
Visualisations for the Mantra Recitation
THE
CONCLUDING PRACTICE
Prayer of Good Wishes
Dissolving the Visualisation
4) Prayer for rebirth in Dewachen
INTRODUCTION
HOW AMITABHA ACHIEVED BUDDHAHOOD
A long, long time ago, before this era known
as the Superior Aeon, there appeared in the world a Buddha called Jikten Wangchuk
Gyalpo. His attendant, a monk named Gelong Chöchi Lodro, showed great mindfulness,
intelligence, understanding, and diligence, and he took the Bodhisattva Vow from
this Buddha. For thousands of millions of years, he applied himself earnestly
to spiritual practice with the intention of helping sentient beings towards full
realisation. He also made a sincere wishing-prayer that, on his attainment of
enlightenment, he would manifest a buddha-realm incorporating all the qualities
of a million buddha-realms within it.
Many thousands of millions of years
later, in the aeon known as 'Zinpa', Gelong Chöchi Lodro was born as a chakravartin
monarch, Zipji Muchee ('Rim of Spokes'). One of his ministers, the brahmin Gyamtso
Dul, had a son, Gyamtso Nyingpo, who became ordained and, feeling wearied with
samsaric existence, he attained full realisation in that very life, becoming Buddha
Rinchen Nyingpo (Ratnagarbha).
This world ruler, Zipji Muchee, and his retinue
made many offerings and served this Buddha with great respect. "Over many
of my former lives," said the king, "I've made this aspirational prayer
to create a buddha-realm." The Buddha gave him this prophecy: "Many
aeons ago you were the gelong Chöchi Lodro. Now you are Zipji Muchee, and
in a future life you will become Buddha Amitabha."
For thousands of millions
of years Zipji Muchee practised the Dharma. He vowed that he would not achieve
buddhahood until every being who prayed to be in his buddha-realm could be born
there. Eventually his wishing-prayer was fulfilled, and he became Amitabha. The
buddha-realm he manifested is known as Déwachen. Ten aeons/kalpas have
passed since Amitabha established that realm.
THE QUALITIES OF DÉWACHEN
In general, to enter a buddha-realm, one must have removed even the most subtle
of obscurations, kept very pure samaya, and have attained the first bodhisattva
level. So, for ordinary beings, it is very difficult to enter a buddha-realm.
However, due to Amitabha's strong wishing-prayers, anyone who makes a sincere
wishing-prayer to go to Déwachen can be reborn there, even though one has
not purified unvirtuous karma nor liberated oneself from the disturbing emotions.
In this present Superior Aeon, the Bodhisattvas Manjushri, Chenrezig, and
Vajrapani, as well as deities, nagas and humans, requested Shakyamuni to teach
"The Sutra of the Pure Realm of Déwachen". This sutra describes
the qualities of Déwachen. In brief, these qualities are that the earth
is made of precious substances, the ground being as flat as the palm of a hand,
not uneven like our world of mountains and valleys. It is vast and spacious, and
the light shining from the body of Amitabha, and from the jewels and precious
substances, makes it very clear. The ground is not rough, solid or stony, but
soft, smooth and comfortable. If one were to press down on the ground, it would
give way and spring back like foam rubber.
In Déwachen, the trees are
made of 7 precious gems: all the roots are of gold, the trunks are silver, the
branches lapis-lazuli; the large leaves are crystal and the small ones are pyrites;
the blossoms are pearls and the fruits are diamonds. Whatever one wishes for appears
from these trees. Jewels, tassels and adornments loop from one tree to another.
Birds and animals, unlike those of our world, are manifestations of Buddhas and
bodhisattvas. Some are the colours of conches, turquoises and corals, and their
bird-calls are very enchanting, like the sound of a lute. Within those sounds
are taught the vast and deep teachings of the Dharma.
The rivers flow softly
and gently, carrying the fragrance of camphor and white and red sandalwood. This
water has 8 qualities: its essence is very cool, its taste delicious, its outer
appearance light, soft to the touch, very clear and unsullied by stones or pebbles;
if drunk, it gives no harm to the throat or stomach. On the water are buddha-manifestations
of geese, ducks and cranes. One can bathe in the many pools, reached by descending
flights of 7 steps made of precious stones.
Although these pools are deep,
as one enters, the depth of the water adapts itself to the size of one's body.
Surrounding these bathing-pools are fragrant utpala and lotus blooms, emanating
light-rays. At the tips of the light-rays appear innumerable Buddhas, each surrounded
by Arhats.
Within this buddha-realm resides Amitabha, known in Tibetan as
'Öpamé', meaning 'Immeasurable Light' or 'Limitless Radiance' because
light-rays from his body pervade every buddha-realm, illuminating them all. He
is also known as Buddha Amitayus, or in Tibetan 'Tsépamé', meaning
'Immeasurable Life', because the extent of his life cannot be calculated. His
body is as red as ruby, which symbolises the warmth of his compassion extending
to all beings.
Amitabha has the 32 principal and 80 secondary marks of a
Buddha, like Shakyamuni. On his head, one of the main marks is the head-mound
or 'ushnisha', gained whilst he was practising the spiritual path (as Chöchi
Lodro and Zipji Muchee), from bowing down with reverence to the Buddhas Jikten
Wangchuk Gyalpo and Rinchen Nyingpo. As a result, at the time of attaining buddhahood,
the head-mound appeared. Amitabha's 'one face' symbolises that the dharmakaya
is free from all conceptual complication. His 2 arms represent means and wisdom,
and his 2 hands in meditation gesture signify the unification of means and wisdom.
He holds a begging-bowl filled with amrita, symbolising his kindness towards sentient
beings by giving vast and deep Dharma teachings. He wears the 3 dharma-robes,
denoting gradual instruction of beings through Sravaka, Pratyekabuddha and Bodhisattva
Paths. As he never wavers from resting in the equality of samsara and nirvana,
his legs are in vajra-posture.
Amitabha sits on a throne that is supported
by 8 peacocks. When the sutras and commentaries describe the 5 buddha-families,
a particular aspect of wisdom and a specific direction are ascribed to each one,
even though they each embrace every aspect of wisdom. Amitabha is associated with
the western direction, and he embodies discriminating wisdom, which arises when
thoughts of desire and craving are purified. Within the minds of ordinary beings,
all the kleshas are present: anger, desire, ignorance, pride, jealousy and so
on. It is believed that birds, in particular, have strong desire and craving,
so, as a symbol of craving transformed into discriminating wisdom, Amitabha's
throne is supported by peacocks.
In other practices, Akshobya is associated
with the eastern direction and his throne is supported by horses; Ratnasambhava
with the south, his throne supported by elephants; Amoghasiddhi with the north,
his throne supported by shang-shang creatures; Vairochana with the centre, his
throne supported by lions.
On Amitabha's throne is a 1000-petalled lotus,
which symbolises that he remains unstained by samsara. Although he has attained
liberation, he has not abandoned his body nor entered nirvana, but stays in the
world, due to his compassion, in order to benefit beings. His back rests against
a bodhi tree, 600,000 yojanas high, and its branches, leaves and flowers extend
800 yojanas (1 yojana is approximately 4 miles). Due to our impure vision, we
only see a small bodhi tree at Bodhgaya, but once we are reborn in Déwachen,
a bodhi tree resembles this one described above. It is called a bodhi tree because
every Buddha has one, and when one achieves buddhahood, it is obligatory that
one must have a bodhi tree to lean against! (Rinpoché chuckles). The cause
for achieving buddhahood is to take the Bodhisattva Vow and to develop bodhicitta.
In every sadhana practised, one takes refuge and generates bodhicitta. The bodhi
tree symbolises bodhicitta.
To Amitabha's right is Chenrezig, with 4 arms,
and to his left Vajrapani, with 2 arms. The fact that both are standing symbolises,
first, that until samsara has been emptied they will work to liberate sentient
beings, and, secondly, that they are disciples of Buddha Amitabha. They are surrounded
by an infinite number of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats all with head-mounds,
and wheel-marks on their hands and feet, wearing dharma-robes.
In Karma Chagmé's
long 'Déwachen Prayer', he describes Amitabha, Chenrezig and Vajrapani
as 'very vivid' by using 3 synonyms. Firstly, they are physically 'vivid' (Tib.
lhang ngé) because, amongst the entourage of Buddhas and bodhisattvas,
they stand out as exceptional, like 3 supreme mountains. This is due to the proportions
and qualities of their major and minor marks of buddhahood. In terms of speech,
they are also 'vivid' (Tib. lhan né) because first Amitabha teaches Dharma,
followed by Chenrezig and Vajrapani, and at that time their speech permeates all
the buddha-realms. For the mind aspect, Amitabha is again described as 'vivid'
(Tib. lham mé), because of his compassion.
Having taken birth in Déwachen,
one does not hear any more even the mere names of the 8 unfavourable states, or
of the lower existences . In Déwachen, there are no ordinary women with
anger, pride or desire. In this world, sometimes men love women, and at other
times they are angry with them and quarrel, yet feel great suffering when they
die. However, in Déwachen there are only goddesses, 3000 emanated to serve
each individual.
If someone in Déwachen wishes to visit the other pure
realms of, for example, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Tara or the Glorious Copper-Coloured
Mountain of Guru Rinpoche, one can simply go there, receive empowerments and teachings
from those particular Buddhas, and return again to Déwachen. Having been
born in Déwachen, one possesses unobscured clairvoyant powers, including
the ability to see other beings in their particular worlds and give them protection
and blessings, or, at the time of their death, to go to the bardo to meet them
and bring them to Déwachen. All these qualities of Déwachen are
explained in "The Sutra of Amitabha", which was eventually brought to
Tibet and translated by the learned lotsawas, and now exists as part of the Kangyur.
THE SADHANA
This Amitabha sadhana is a terma teaching called "The Space
Dharma" (Tib. nam chös), revealed by a tertön, Minjur Dorjé.
It is a 'realisation-terma' that arose within his mind, with visions of Amitabha,
from whom he received these teachings. Rigdzin Minjur Dorjé was an emanation
of the translator Vairocana (8th C.), and of Shubu Palji Sengé. Karma Chagmé
brought the tertön to his residence at Nédo, and when these visions
and instructions from Amitabha came to Minjur Dorjé, Karma Chagmé
wrote them all down. There are 13 volumes of these teachings.
When he was
19, Minjur Dorjé went to Katok, a famous Nyingma monastery, where he gave
the Space Dharma teachings to Palyul Kunzang Sherab (Penor Rinpoché) and
25 tulkus. Karma Chagmé compiled these mind-treasures and visions, writing
them down Karma Chagmé's first teacher was the 5th Trungpa Rinpoche, Kunga
Namgyal. His root lama was the 6th Shamarpa, Chöchi Wangchuk. There is a
vast life-story of Karma Chagmé's practices, studies and visions.[He lived
from 1613-1678 and was 17 years old when his teacher the 6th Shamarpa passed away.
From 1649-1662 he did a 13-year retreat, during the last 7 years of which he was
accompanied by the young Nédo Minjur Dorjé (1645-1667), whose visions
he compiled as the Space Dharma teachings. While sadhanas from this form the 'Nédo
Kagyu' tradition, the entirety of his teachings has been transmitted as the central
basis of the Palyul Nyingma tradition.] In later life, Karma Chagmé went
to Nampatsé, passed away and is said to have gone to Déwachen.
THE ACTUAL PRACTICE
LINEAGE
PRAYER
The first verse of 4 shlokas (page 1b in the Samye-Ling translation
Amitabha Prayers, 1987 edition) is a supplication to Amitabha, followed
by a verse to Chenrezig, Vajrapani and their vast entourage of bodhisattvas and
arhats. Next (page 2a), there is a verse of supplication to 'The Second Buddha',
Padmasambhava, and his 25 main disciples in Tibet, and to the 84 mahasiddhas of
India. As this practice first appeared as a mind-terma of Minjur Dorjé,
the next 4 shlokas are to him and to all the gurus who received the empowerments
and instructions from him. These verses supplicate the gurus. There follow 4 shlokas
to the yidam deities, both those who are peaceful manifestations such as Manjushri,
Tara, and Chenrezig, and those with wrathful aspects, such as Dorjé Phurba
and Channa Dorjé (Vajrapani). After this, one supplicates the Dharma protectors
(2b), Palden Lhamo and Mahakala, and the guardians of this practice, the Shingchong
protectors. In the final verse one prays that, through the blessing of having
supplicated in this way, all one's illness and suffering will be pacified; one's
life and merit will be increased; one will be reborn in Déwachen and become
inseparable from Amitabha. Throughout this prayer, one is praying with faith and
devotion. There is no special visualisation.
In
order to be born in Déwachen, one needs 4 causes:
1) whatever virtue
one is practising, one must do it with bodhicitta motivation; 2) the realm of
Déwachen, with its special features, must be imagined clearly;. 3) one
must purify one's bad karma, and accumulate good karma; 4) one must pray many
times to be reborn in Déwachen.
These 4 Causes will be explained below.
1)
REFUGE & BODHICITTA
When reciting the first 2 lines (3a), one takes refuge
in the 3 Jewels and 3 Roots. Imagine Amitabha in space before one, encircled by
gurus, buddhas, bodhisattvas, yidams, protectors and dakinis. One imagines oneself
and all beings taking refuge in Amitabha.
The following 2 lines are the development
of the bodhicitta attitude, whereby one thinks: "I'm going to practise this
Amitabha sadhana, in order to establish all beings in buddhahood." Having
recited the refuge and bodhicitta verses 3 times, Amitabha and his whole entourage
dissolve into light and merge into oneself.
BLESSING
THE OFFERINGS
(3a) One imagines that from emptiness the 7 offerings appear,
as well as the amrita, torma, and rakta. They are inexhaustible offerings filling
the whole of space.
Of the 4 causes for rebirth in Déwachen, the first,
the prerequisite of bodhicitta motivation, has been covered in the refuge and
bodhicitta part of the sadhana. The next part is the basis for rebirth in Déwachen:
the visualisation of developing the realm.
2) THE VISUALISATION
There
are 2 parts to this: imagining oneself as the deity, and imagining the deities
in front. Other tantric practices have an elaborate procedure for developing the
self-visualisation, followed by the front-visualisation. This sadhana has just
a simple procedure.
(3b) Imagine Déwachen with its soft, springy ground.
In the centre of a pond of water, with the 8 special qualities, is an 8-petalled
white lotus, its petals almost closed. In its centre is oneself as Chenrezig,
white in colour, with head-mound and 2 arms, hands together at the heart in prayer-gesture,
one's lower body hidden within the lotus.
In front of one is a precious throne,
supported by 8 peacocks. On it is a thousand-petalled lotus and a moon-disc, on
which Amitabha sits, as red as a ruby, with 2 arms, his 2 legs in vajra-posture.
A begging-bowl filled with amrita rests on his hands, which are in meditation
gesture. His back rests against a bodhi tree. To his right is Chenrezig, white
in colour, standing on a moon-disc and lotus, with 4 arms: 2 hands in prayer-gesture
at the heart, and the other two holding a lotus and mala.
On Amitabha's left
stands Vajrapani, on a lotus and moon-disc. He is blue in colour, with 2 arms,
holding a vajra and bell in his right and left hands respectively.
INVITATION
(4a) In the 3 places of the Amitabha, Chenrezig and Vajrapani in front of
one are a white OM, red AH, and blue HUNG, and in one's own heart, a white HRIH.
Light-rays of 5 hues go out to Déwachen, inviting the 3 principal deities,
and they arrive in space before one. The damtsigpa deity of one's own visualisation
is already in front, and one now imagines that the yeshépas, the wisdom-beings,
become inseparable from one's visualisation.
[Tenga
Rinpoche was asked to explain the terms 'yeshépa' and 'damtsigpa'. This
was his explanation:
The commitment-being, 'damtsigpa' (Tibetan) or 'samayasattva'
(Sanskrit) is the deity one is imagining, i.e. oneself as the deity or the deity
in front. From both oneself and the deity in front light-rays go out inviting
the deity from the buddha-realm: the wisdom-being, 'yeshépa' (Tib.) or
'jnanasattva' (Skt.).
In the word damtsigpa/samayasattva, 'damtsig'/'samaya'
is a changeless commitment. When one imagines oneself as Chenrezig, one does not
change back into an ordinary being, or into another deity. It is a changeless
commitment. The '-pa' (short for 'sempa') or '-sattva' is a hero, or someone with
courage. This means that sometimes during meditation the deity can become unclear,
but one has great courage and the strength to prevent that from happening, to
remain clear. Thus all the faults in the development and completion stages of
visualisation are unable to defeat one. That is why it is termed '-sempa' or 'brave
one', 'hero'. Through meditating on the damtsigpa, clinging to the 5 skandhas
is purified, and the result of this purification is the attainment of the sambhogakaya
state in the bardo.
As regards the yeshépa/jnanasattva whom one invites,
'yeshé/jnana' is the pure nature of one's own mind and the nature of a
Buddha's mind too, they are identical. The Buddha's awareness of the mind being
dharmakaya, or primordial mind, is called ultimate wisdom, or 'yeshé.'
The '-sempa' refers to the fact that in the dharmakaya one is free from all thoughts
of something existing or not. One is free from all these faults or complications.
At this time, one is inviting the primordial wisdom, 'yeshé', in the form
of the deity, who merges into oneself as the damtsigpa. Through meditating on
that, the ignorance of one's own mind is purified. What makes this purification
possible is the innate purity of the dharmakaya mind of a Buddha and the purity
of the essence of one's own mind. The result of this purification is the attainment
of the dharmakaya at the time of death, when the 'ground luminosity' appears,
along with the 'clear light of the path'.
In the nyingma tradition, one visualises
oneself as the damtsigpa, and in one's heart is the yeshépa, the size of
one's thumb. In the heart of that small deity is the 'ting-dzin-sempa' (skt. 'samadhisattva').
So it is slightly different.]