His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – November 7, 2021

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche presided over the auspicious rituals of Mahakala and Dharma Protector Achi at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei. After lighting lamps as an offering to the Buddha, Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne and bestowed precious teachings.

“Today, the rituals of Mahakala and Dharma Protector Achi will be performed. Usually, it is enough for monastics in a monastery performing this kind of Dharma texts; it is only in later part of the rituals about making offerings a Rinpoche is to ascend the Dharma throne for the performances. However, in this Center, there are no monastics who have conducted a three-year retreat, therefore, they will not have sufficient power to perform such rituals. Today, the reasons that these rituals are to be performed are to protect our lineage, the lineage gurus and the Abbot-Guru. Because we are now in processes to have our monastery constructed, the protections are also for this monastery and this Center as well as all the disciples of this Dharma lineage who have practiced in accordance with the Dharma principles. Since 1997, I have started to spread the Dharma to benefit sentient beings. If my disciples who have learned the Dharma according to its principles, have respected the Three Jewels and are respectful to their guru, they will all be helped by the rituals which are to be performed today.

In all the four major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, Mahakala has been performed, which, in Tibetan, is called Mahakala (or ‘nag po chen po’). Why is Mahakala needed to be performed? In the Ratnakuta Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha had said that even if a Bodhisattva who has come back (to benefit sentient beings) in this life, and if the Bodhisattva is having some matters or some karma from past lifetimes which have not been purified, this will cause hindrances for doing practices in this life. Thus, this Bodhisattva should practice a certain kind of Dharma methods and a certain type of Dharma protectors for protection. There were even Dharma protectors by the side of Shakyamuni Buddha. The definition of a Dharma protector is not that the protector is the one to help you counter the people you do not like, nor is it to help you satisfy your desires. For example, in the Dharma text of Dharma Protector Achi, it is written very clearly that if you have learned or practiced the Dharma in accordance with its principles, you are protected by Dharma Protector Achi in that you will not die an untimely death.

Usually, this kind of Dharma texts will not be performed in Buddhist centers; such performances are done only in monasteries. This is because, normally, there will not have close to 1,500 people in other centers, like in ours. There are more than 1,000 of you here, coming from different places all over the world; each one of you has different karma, too. After having come to this Center, every one’s respect shown to the Center, towards your guru or towards the Three Jewels is also different. When all your good and negative karma has been ‘gathered’ together, it will have some effects more or less on this Center, the monastery in construction and your guru. For example, if someone in your home is sick, does that affect you? Yes, it does. If a family member does not listen, are you affected? Yes, you are. Then, it will be easier to handle such situations occurring at home. Some people will deal with these offenders in the households by beating them up, scolding them, driving them away from homes, or ignoring them.

The negative karma that you – there being more than 1,000 of you – have accumulated through lifetime after lifetime and been brought by you, is too numerous to be cited. Many people often feel and wonder why that it is very strange that I have been so harsh, needing to scold disciples and to drive them out of here. It is because you do not understand how dreadful your karma has been. Some of them will say, ‘I am fine! I am living a very good life.’ Because your good fortune has not yet arisen so there are no causes and conditions for your problems being seen by me, I cannot correct you then as to what issues you have. Hence, your karma will affect the Center here.

For these two dozen years, Dharma Protector Achi has constantly protected and supported our Center; in addition, I have been strict in requirements to myself and to you. These are reasons that, in this Center, there are minor issues occurring continuously, but not major ones. Every one of you has a life to go through with a set of script, a story of your own and various methods to use. What do you say if one will get tired or not when this person needs to deal with more than 1,000 people? Each one of you is bizarre and unaccountable; there are no ways to explain why your behaviors are so bizarre.

Especially at the time of the situation now that our monastery is being constructed. Frankly speaking, except for a small group of my disciples who will have the good fortune, merits, causes, and conditions to enjoy the good fortune of the monastery being built and completed in the future, most of my disciples are not qualified to have such good fortune. Why are they not? Because of their lack of mindfulness. They just do things perfunctorily and show such an attitude to me. Thus, in the processes of constructing the monastery, you will say, ‘The speed of building it has been very fast!’ You had not known though that those disciples helping the management of construction have been very severely berated by me in every meeting with me. Viewing the whole project from this angle, one can see that karma is really very amazing. If I were not to have this good fortune, His Holiness would not have encouraged me to get the monastery built. This has indicated that I have good fortune to ‘possess’ a monastery, but even while I ‘possess’ it, in the processes of getting it constructed, I still have hindrances which are not worthy of telling people about. For example, some people will be jealous; some people, including my disciples, will hope that this monastery project will not be completed this fast; there are even some disciples who feel that they are pressured about the project. When you are not of one mind or not with the same understanding, hindrances are then produced.

Today, the performances of these rituals are not to wish that I will live, or our Center will have, a good life, the monastery construction will have a perfect completion with everything progressing smoothly, or every one of you lives a good life with a good health. Originally for a dozen or twenty years, you all have lived a good life. From the bottom of your heart, ask yourself this, everyone: Compared with your friends and relatives, have you not lived a very stable life? However, you have not been feeling grateful; each one of you thinks that a good life you have is the result of your own practices. If that were the case, it would not be possible that such Dharma texts, remained from the past, are needed to be performed. Without a guru and without Dharma protectors, what are you going to practice on? You are not even qualified to be a believer. Do not think that the puja held today is for you. I have often said this to you: When you are all right, and if this society or this country is not, will you be fine? No, you will not be. Simply speaking, if your home is very good in many things, and if your neighbors mess with you all the time, will you live well or not? Why do you have bad neighbors? That is because you do not have good fortune or the causes and conditions are not right. In such a situation, naturally, there will be bad neighbors living nearby. Yet, none of you has listened and gotten that through your head.

This pandemic of coronavirus has now subsided comparatively. We can then gather together having the rituals performed publicly. Do not think that you are lucky in this. If His Holiness had not transmitted the Parnashavari to me many years ago, and if I have not practiced this Dharma method continuously, I do not believe that this pandemic will slowly be disappearing. When it had just started with early cases emerging, I instructed you to change the ringtone of your incoming phone calls to the sound of my chanting of the mantra of Parnashavari so as to let more of your friends and relatives hear it. Then, this pandemic will be gradually gone. However, I believe that there are still many of you present now who have not even set up such a ringtone, not to mention whether or not your family members or friends have changed it.

I previously said to you clearly that I have been spreading the Dharma these two dozen years. If you, my disciples, have respected our lineage, your guru and the Three Jewels, with my performances of the rituals, Dharma protectors will definitely protect and support you until you have attained Buddhahood. If you are not respectful of those mentioned above, just wait then! You will say, ‘I showed my disrespect only once.’ Then again, it is enough for a thought arising just once! At present, in Buddhist centers of Drikung Kagyu, public performances of these rituals have been held, but there are not many such performances. The reason is that many materials are needed to be recited or chanted and they are in lengthy forms, too.

Every one of you needs to know clearly that you have not obtained all you possess today just because you are lucky; rather, there have been many lineage gurus and Dharma protectors as well as the Buddha and Bodhisattvas, who have all been protecting us continuously. There is no such word as ‘should’. You are lucky; maybe in a past lifetime I had owed you, so in this one, I have let you find me.

Although I will scold you all, I still wish you being all right. You need to be prudent. This world will not always be peaceful as you have imagined. There will be more and more issues occurring, and they will be getting more complicated; once you are not careful, you will be ‘dragged’ into – be involved in – a complex situation. In this land of Taiwan, perhaps because we have practiced the Dharma every day, there will not be very serious matters happening. However, you might go to another country unaccountably, and then you get problems there. Be prudent, everyone. Do not gamble on your luck.

(The performances of the rituals were in progress.)

Like what I mentioned earlier in today’s puja, if you have continuously been very respectful of this Center and of your guru – not about how much monetary offerings you need to make, but being respectful, an important factor – then because of such respect, you will gain great help, starting from this very second, for your future and in your practices by many blessings and prayers which had been recited during today’s performances of the rituals. Nevertheless, do not think that because you have gained great help, you will attain achievements very soon; it means your hindrances will be reduced, especially those in your mind. This type of Dharma texts is usually seldom performed.”

« Previous - Puja Teachings - Next »

Updated on October 17, 2022