His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche Presides over the Great Indiscriminate Amitabha Puja for Transferring Consciousness to a Perfect Completion at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center

On August 24th, 2014, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche held the tenth annual auspicious Great Indiscriminate Amitabha Puja for Transferring Consciousness of the Drikung Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei. A total of 1,316 people attended this auspicious puja, which came to a pure and perfect completion under the blessings and protection of Lord Jigten Sumgön, the lineage gurus, the Three-Grace Root Guru His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang, His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chungtsang, and Dharma Protector Achi. The puja produced merits for countless sentient beings and filled all of the attendees with Dharma joy.

Beginning in 2005, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche has presided over the Great Indiscriminate Amitabha Puja for Transferring Consciousness of the Drikung Kagyu Order of Tibetan Buddhism for ten years in a row, benefiting countless sentient beings and educating vast numbers of Taiwanese people about the Drikung Kagyu Order. This has not only served to propagate the Order’s pure Dharma teachings, but has also provided the causal conditions for the Drikung Kagyu Lineage to flourish in the world forever.

At 2:00 in the afternoon, greeted and proceeded by incense burners, musical instruments, and a jeweled parasol, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche walked toward the mandala along the flower-strewn white carpet of Eight Auspicious Symbols, made respectful prostrations to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and presented a khata to the wish-granting jeweled Dharma throne of His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche then lit offering lamps to the Buddha and ascended the Dharma throne.

Before His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche performed the Dharma, the ordained disciples offered the mandala and implored the Dharma on behalf of all sentient beings by making offerings of the most precious treasures in the universe to the guru, the Buddhas, and the Bodhisattvas. Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche said, “The Mandala Offering presented at the beginning of the puja symbolizes the acceptance by the presiding guru of sentient beings’ offerings on behalf of the lineage gurus and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This is what gives sentient beings the good fortune to participate in this puja.”

Next, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche spoke of the conditions necessary to be reborn in the Pure Land, as well as the sequential order a practitioner must follow in order to perform the Dharma. “This Dharma for transferring consciousness was personally transmitted to me by His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang; as you can tell, it is very rare and auspicious.” Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche then made some special remarks about why this puja was so small in size.

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche said, “Today I will perform Amitabha’s Dharma for Rapid Attainment of the Pure Land; it is also called the Dharma of Transferring Consciousness. Many people believe transferring consciousness for the deceased is a very simple matter; they think they can help sentient beings to be liberated simply by reciting the sutras and chanting the Buddha’s name. For example, if you wanted to immigrate to another country, then you must do a lot of things beforehand in preparation for your immigration. First of all, you must learn the language of your country of destination; secondly, you must have sufficient funds; thirdly, you must be determined to go there. In addition, you must go through a lot of procedures while applying for your visa.

“Thus, if you want to go to Amitabha’s Pure Land, chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name is not necessarily enough to get you there. It is written quite clearly in the Amitabha Sutra that people who wish to be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land must, while still living, carry out the Ten Meritorious Acts. The Ten Meritorious Acts include Refraining from Killing, Refraining from Stealing, Refraining from Sexual Misconduct, Refraining from Making False Speech, Refraining from Frivolous Talk, Refraining from Harsh Speech, Refraining from Divisive Speech, Refraining from Greed (taking things that do not belong to you), Refraining from Hatred (not resenting or hating others), and Refraining from Ignorance (not having a profound belief in cause and effect). Only people who have carried out the Ten Meritorious Acts and have fulfilled the condition mentioned in the Amitabha Sutra of ‘not lacking good fortune, causes, or conditions;’ that is, those who vow and possess the prerequisites of good fortune (not merely good fortune of the Human and Heavenly Realms, but the good fortune that is cultivated by way of Buddhist practice), merits (cultivated from practice), and causes and conditions (affinities with Amitabha Buddha and the guru) in this lifetime and even past lives can be reborn in the Pure Land.

“In the Amitabha Sutra it is written that one should chant Amitabha Buddha’s name, but it does not mention how one should do it. It simply says, ‘Before passing away, do one or two nian!’ This does not mean chanting a few times; it refers to one’s thoughts. In the sutra it is also mentioned that before passing away one must ‘spend one or two days;’ this means going into retreat from a period of one or two days to seven days. Only people who have gone through this process of cultivation can be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land. In neither the Amitabha the Amitayurdhyana Sutra—both sutras about the Pure Land—is it written that chanting the Amitabha for the deceased is certain to cause him or her to be reborn in the Pure Land.

“According to the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows, whenever a person passes away, his or her family members should extensively conduct Dharma activities on the deceased’s behalf. ‘Extensively’ does not mean going to Buddhist temples to light lamps; rather, it refers to doing things that can help the deceased to accumulate good fortune, including making offerings, giving alms, repenting, and so on. Only then can the deceased obtain the good fortune, merits, causes, and conditions necessary to be reborn in the Virtuous Realms. Burning paper lotus flowers, covering the deceased with a Tantric-Dharani quilt, and chanting the Buddha’s name are definitely not the right ways to enable him or her to be reborn there. If you want to practice Buddhism, then you should act in accordance with the Buddha’s teachings. If something was not mentioned in the sutras, then it certainly is not something the Buddha taught. From the Dharma transmitted by Shakyamuni Buddha, it is evident that for the deceased to become liberated, he or she must possess good fortune, merits, causes, and conditions; if he or she does not, then the deceased’s family members can pray for these things on the deceased’s behalf.

“An example is how the Venerable Maudgalyāyana implored for Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings so that he could learn how to rescue his mother from the Hungry Ghost Realm. Shakyamuni Buddha instructed the Venerable Maudgalyāyana to make offerings to all of the monks who had just come out of retreat. Those who followed Shakyamuni Buddha were definitely not just average, ordinary people; in the sutras it was written that at the Buddha’s side were 1200 disciples, and that each one of them had achieved the fruition of an arhat. Only after making offerings to these 1200 disciples did the Venerable Maudgalyāyana obtain the merits and good fortune necessary to liberate his mother from the Hungry Ghost Realm.

“From this story it is apparent that although the Venerable Maudgalyāyana was himself an arhat with the highest of supernatural powers, he still had not been able to liberate his mother by himself. Thus, everything you do must have a foundation of some sort, just as your Buddhist practice must be based on the Buddha’s teachings. If you think you can liberate the deceased simply by finding someone to chant the Buddha’s name, you are wrong. On the positive side, however, such chanting will at least provide the deceased with causes and conditions for his or her future lives. Ever since I began propagating the Dharma in 1997, I have seen many people reciting sutras in various places. They have not been able to solve their problems, but due to having recited the sutras, they at least were able to obtain the causal conditions to come to the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center.

“If a practitioner wishes to liberate sentient beings with the help of the Amitabha yidam, then according to Tantra, the practitioner must chant the Amitabha mantra at least a million times while in retreat. Being a practitioner in retreat means that you absolutely must complete this task within a set period of time. If a you set out to chant the mantra a million times within three months, then you cannot leave the retreat hut until you have completed that task, even if it kills you. After chanting the mantra one million times, you must then cultivate the Four Uncommon Preliminary Practices (making full prostrations, chanting the One Hundred-Syllable Mantra, offering the mandala, and practicing the Guru Yoga, each 100,000 times). You then have to receive the Amitabha Empowerment and oral transmissions from your guru, and while completing yet another retreat, you must develop a very clear grasp over your own life and death. Only then can you liberate people. In simple terms, if you wished to send a person to a place where you yourself have never been, how would you describe it? How would you be qualified to take anyone there? If you know absolutely nothing about the Pure Land, then how dare you say you can take someone there just by chanting the Buddha’s name?

“Many people are under the impression that if they participate in a puja for transferring consciousness, they will be cured of their illnesses and their husbands and children will do as they are told. We participate in this puja because we have harmed too many sentient beings throughout our past lives, and this has resulted in hindrances that have prevented us from being reborn in the Pure Land in this lifetime. Our participation in the puja for transferring consciousness is done in the hopes that those sentient beings will not hinder our Buddhist practice in this lifetime; we are not here in search of a better lifestyle. Thus, if those of you who have come to participate in today’s puja have not decided to become liberated from life and death in this lifetime, and have simply come seeking blessings and protection, then all you will get out of today’s puja is some good fortune of the Human and Heavenly Realms, which you certainly cannot use in this lifetime. If you vow to become liberated from life and death, then your participation in today’s puja will help sentient beings to obtain the causes and conditions to be liberated, which in turn will allow you to obtain the causes and conditions to become liberated in the future.

“If you are here seeking relief from illness, to liberate your own karmic creditors such as any aborted children so that they will not hate you, or to improve your relationship with your partner, then my advice is that you not participate in the puja, because it will not be of any use to you. The Buddha liberates sentient beings not to rescue them from such temporary mundane suffering, but from the suffering that comes from reincarnating over and over through lifetime after lifetime. In order to avoid reincarnating in a future lifetime, you must break away from all evil in this one. Even the tiniest evil act is enough to disqualify you from going to Amitabha’s Pure Land.

“Don’t be mislead by the mention in the sutras that many people will give rise to a great attitude of repentance before they pass away; such people are extremely rare. You are unable to do as they do, because you have not suffered enough. As is written in the sutras, ‘it is difficult for the wealthy to practice Buddhism.’ Taiwan is not one of the richest nations on Earth, but at least no wars are happening here, and everyone lives in relative peace and happiness. Thus, your lives are overly content; whenever a very minor mundane problem occurs, you act like it’s some enormous source of unbearable suffering. ‘Fortune, merits, and causal conditions’ are for the benefit of all sentient beings that are either related to you or not, so that they can become liberated from life and death. This is the Buddha’s vow. Only if you also uphold this vow while participating in the puja right now can you merge yours with the vow of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

“Many people think that they will be cured or better off if they participate in the puja to liberate their karmic creditors, but this is not exactly true. Shakyamuni Buddha once told a parable in which a large number of abalones had been placed in a room. After the shellfish were removed, the room still smelled like them; their odor did not go away immediately. It is the same with you; you should not think that you will be fine after participating in a puja for transferring consciousness during which your karmic creditors are liberated. Actually, you will continue to have problems, because their odor will continue to linger around your body. What should you do about it? You should make a firm resolution to practice Buddhism.

“Practicing Buddhism does not mean changing your temperament; that does not require such diligent cultivation. All you need to change your temperament is to read a book or stare at the mountains or the sea every day; gazing into the distance will improve your mood just fine. Cultivation involves amending all behavior that leads to reincarnation. If you have not committed evil, or if you stop committing evil acts and give rise to virtuous karma, then things that would lead you to reincarnate will naturally and gradually leave you. If you do not have this sort of mindset while participating in the puja, your ancestors and karmic creditors might still be liberated, but it will have nothing to do with your cultivation. Whether or not you engage in Buddhist practice, you are all constantly cultivating yourselves throughout your lives. Mundane laws, too, require that you amend your behavior; if you are not willing to do so, you are very liable to commit crimes. From a supramundane point of view, you must amend all behavior that leads to reincarnation. Don’t think that only religious people need to practice. The reason there is so much corruption and crime in the world is that people are unwilling to amend their ways; they only come to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, or me for help if they have a problem. If nothing is wrong, they continue living their lives, allowing their greed to build and build until they do something wrong. In the sutras Shakyamuni Buddha talked about ‘reminders,’ which meant to constantly remind or urge you all day long to be mindful. This is because you really do have profoundly severe karmic hindrances; without these constant reminders and urgings, then pretty soon you will go backward and fall again!

“I have held the Great Amitabha Puja for nine years in a row, and every year I urge sentient beings to go vegetarian Nevertheless, each year you all continue to eat meat To ‘extensively conduct Dharma activities’ means following each and every one of the Buddha’s teachings; if you don’t, then you will not obtain any protection or blessings by participating in the pujas.

“The reason I am performing the Great Amitabha Dharma for Transferring Consciousness today is that I promised Amitabha Buddha I would perform it once each year. However, I am now doing so on a smaller scale. I am not liberating people; people are too difficult to liberate. As is clearly written in the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows, humans on Earth are the most difficult beings in the universe to liberate. Humans are obstinate, conceited, difficult to tame, and difficult to teach. After more than twenty years of liberating sentient beings, I have come to the profound realization that liberating ghosts is easy compared to liberating humans, for they have the most thoughts and desires. When a puja is held, sentient beings only have causal conditions as a result of people attending; only after they have these causal conditions can the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas then help them. Many people wonder why, if so many vows are made every day, so much suffering and so many natural disasters still occur in the world; it is because making a vow is not enough by itself. Amitabha Buddha and Shakyamuni Buddha made vows, too, but when you do not possess causes, conditions, and good fortune, no amount of vows will do you any good. Many would ask, ‘Why is my situation still so bad even after I’ve made my vow?’ It is because you have not fulfilled it.

“During a puja for transferring consciousness such as the one being held today, the presiding practitioner must possess compassion and merits. There was once a yogi (a lay practitioner) who was walking past the door of a home where the family had just lost one of its members. Inside were a pair of monastics trying to transfer consciousness for the deceased. After having a look, the yogi learned that the presiding practitioner was capable but not compassionate; he kept thinking about what offerings he might receive from the deceased’s family later on. A little shami present was compassionate, and anxiously hoped that the deceased could be liberated, but did not have any merits, so was unable to transfer the deceased’s consciousness. With a heart full of compassion, the yogi wanted to help, but first needed to plant the seeds of causes, conditions, and good fortune for the deceased. As such, he asked the family members, ‘Could you possibly offer me a bowl of butter tea as alms?’ They did so, and the yogi thought to himself, This is an offering made on behalf of the deceased. After drinking the tea, the yogi then transferred the deceased’s consciousness.

“This is a very simple story, but it is profoundly significant. If the deceased have not made offerings and do not possess good fortune, then you cannot help them even if you want to; furthermore, compassion is useless without merits, and vice versa. You are sure to ask, ‘How do you know whether someone has compassion and merits?’ Well, just observe how the practitioner normally operates and treats people. Is there an admission fee to his or her pujas? Does the practitioner spend all day advertising or coveting merits?

“I have never coveted merits in my entire life. All I have done is to plod along in my practice, slowly but diligently; as long as the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas know what I’m doing, it’s good enough for me. Thus, participating in the Puja for Transferring Consciousness is not at all about chanting the Buddha’s name or worshiping the Buddha; today’s Dharma especially is Tantra that was transmitted personally by Amitabha Buddha. It is not publicly transmitted, nor is it at all like any of the ways of reciting the sutras and worshiping the Buddha that you know from Exoteric Buddhism. Although using those methods can transfer someone’s consciousness, it takes a very long period of time.

“You all know the story of Emperor Liang’s Repentance, in which Bao Zhigong led more than a hundred monastics in continuous prostrations before a thousand Buddhas in order to liberate Emperor Liang’s concubine from the Animal Realm to the Heavenly Realm. You have all read many stories in the sutras, but none of them mentions being liberated to Amitabha’s Pure Land. After introducing Amitabha Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha had little time left to transmit the Dharma of Transferring Consciousness to Shakyamuni Buddha’s aunt. This Dharma is the ‘Sixteen Visualizations of the Pure Land,’ and no one has ever practiced it since. For the Dharma being performed today, if the presiding guru has not mastered the Phowa (an accomplishment that can guarantee that a person passing away from this lifetime will be reborn in Amitabha’s Pure Land), then he or she cannot perform the Great Amitabha Dharma for Transferring Consciousness. If you had not accumulated causes and conditions throughout your past lives, then you would not have been able to come here today and participate in this puja. Now that you are here, you should give rise to great compassion. You are not here for your own minor gains; your hope should be the same as Amitabha Buddha’s grand aspiration—that all sentient beings can be reborn in the Pure Land. Only then can you be received by Amitabha Buddha in the future.

“Whether or not you practice Buddhism or have the highest root capacity, having participated in today’s puja will plant for you a cause for being reborn in the Pure Land. As long as you are compassionate and hope that the guru and Amitabha Buddha can help all sentient beings, you will have planted a seed that will cause a practitioner or a guru to help you when you die. If you have selfish thoughts to do with romance or becoming pregnant and so on, then the karmic effect of obtaining a guru’s help will not materialize in your future. This is very important to keep in mind.

“Next I am going to begin performing the Dharma. In Tibet, it takes an entire day to perform this Dharma, because it includes many Tantric rituals. You must think it very strange that so many things are placed in the Tantric mandalas of Tibetan Buddhism. It is because when practitioners perform this Dharma, they are not just doing it for the benefit of the people present; they are also performing the Dharma for all the sentient beings in the Six Realms. As such, they must perform many rituals and use many Dharma vessels, and require the help of the yidam and many Dharma protectors, Dakas, and Dakinis. This is the reason so many objects must be placed on the mandala.

“The Great Amitabha Dharma for Transferring Consciousness was transmitted to me by His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang. Part of the Dharma text was lost for a period of time, but the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang sorted it out, compiled it, and transmitted it to me. When the transmission occurred it was quite simple; His Holiness the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang just recited it once, and then handed me the Dharma text. This is very different from how I constantly remind you all day long. After the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang orally transmitted the Dharma to me, I had to go and practice it by myself; whenever I came across any parts I did not understand, I would ask the Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang about them. It was just that simple.

“If I had not had this sort of root capacity in a past life, I would not have been able to master this particular Dharma. If you cannot enter Samadhi, this Dharma is very difficult to practice, and there is no way you can finish performing it within just three or four hours. You should not think reciting it continuously is very simple; actually, at the same time that I’m reciting, I am constantly visualizing. You should all contemplate what I’ve just taught and not just think about your own personal desires or dwell on your personal views.”

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche began to perform the Dharma. After each section, the guru explained in layman’s terms the significance of the rituals being performed. Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche said, “The parts I just recited were the aspiration, the vow, and an introduction to Amitabha Buddha’s Pure Land, palace, and that the guru is no different from the yidam. The next part I will perform is a respectful invitation for the Dharmakaya yidam to approach the mandala to receive offerings. Each offering has a different meaning. For example: The music offering, which is to make such an offering to all virtuous mentors, Buddhas, and their retinue, constantly and reverently, so that auspicious Buddhahood will be bestowed. Offerings are not made to obtain riches or good health; they are made to attain Buddhahood. Only if you make offerings can you be guaranteed to attain Buddhahood in a future lifetime. Now we will continue making offerings. That whole section I performed just now was about making offerings. Why is it necessary to make offerings? It is so that we and sentient beings can accumulate good fortune. Each offering has its own significance; for example, the Lamp Offering can eliminate all darkness and completely fill the void with light. Offerings are very important.”

During the puja, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche led the attendees in a chanting of the Amitabha Mantra, allowing them the rare and auspicious opportunity to recite the Dharma text and chant the mantra together with the guru and over a thousand other people. The attendees were also able to listen to the Eight Offering Girls sing the Song of Offering, and received the boundless blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. While the Tsok Ritual was being performed, the attendees received the rare causal condition to share a meal with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, thereby accumulating good fortune and resources for practicing Buddhism.

While performing the Ritual of Transferring Consciousness, Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche told all of the attendees to speak the names of the people they wished to have liberated out loud several times. The guru instructed the attendees to make prostrations before the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas above the mandala, led them in a recitation of the prayer within the Dharma text, and continued to perform the Dharma. His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s great, compassionate, all-embracing, and awe-inspiring power filled the void with his uninterrupted, solemn Dharma tones, benefiting countless sentient beings.

After performing the Dharma to perfect completion and while performing the Dedication Ritual, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche instructed everyone to temporarily close their Dharma texts and listen while the guru bestowed teachings. “The Aspiration Prayer for Rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land is not a song for you to sing; you must earnestly give rise to an aspiration while reciting it. Now I am going to recite it in Tibetan, so listen closely.”

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche recited the Aspiration Prayer for Rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land in both Tibetan and Chinese. The guru’s Dharma voice was filled with compassion and the auspicious power of blessings, praying in extreme earnest for all sentient beings. Feeling compassion for all suffering sentient beings, His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche got so choked up that he had difficulty speaking, a sight that moved both heaven and earth. All of the attendees gained a profound sense of the boundless benevolence shown by the guru when propagating the Dharma to benefit sentient beings, and gave rise to the utmost, immense repentance and respect. Many disciples and believers were so inspired by His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s compassion that they cried tears of gratitude.

In Tibetan regions, it usually takes an entire day to perform the Great Amitabha Dharma for Transferring Consciousness. Thanks to Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s extraordinary powers of meditation, however, the puja came to a perfect completion after just over three hours. We are grateful to His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche; seeking neither fame nor profit, the guru uses his great compassion and achievements from his cultivation in Tantra to selflessly propagate the Dharma, thereby liberating all sentient beings who come forth and benefiting countless sentient beings in the Six Realms.

 

Updated on September 12, 2014