His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – December 5, 2021

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche presided over the auspicious Green Tara Puja, and bestowed precious teachings at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei.

After lighting lamps as an offering to the Buddha, Rinpoche ascended the Dharma throne to start performing the ritual. During this performance, Rinpoche bestowed precious Dharma teachings.

“In this Dharma text, there is such a statement that you definitely will not do: ‘All the wealth of my own will be made as offerings.’ Only if people make this kind of vow, will the prayer, coming up later in the ritual, be beneficial to them. The Dharma text is about Four Mandala Offerings; in total, there are four times of making offerings to the Green Tara, and only then that what have been implored for can be obtained. Every one of you constantly forgets how Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha made offerings. I am now repeating this once more to you that it is not your money that counts; it is your heart that matters. If you don’t have the sense of making offerings, it will still be useless to you for continuously coming here to attend pujas.

You will often say, ‘Rinpoche, I have not accomplished those practices.’ You have not, of course; this is because that you do not listen. If, today, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the gurus of past lifetimes were to think that writing such a content of the Dharma text would have brought sentient beings affliction, they would not have the text written in this way. Every Dharma text has ‘all the wealth of my own will be made as offerings’ written. The key point here is not that you are to give away all things you have. Could it be that the Buddha and Bodhisattvas need to use money?

Why has it been written this way? If you are reluctant to do giving, you will be in situations of ‘no giving and then no obtaining’. Do not misunderstand, but that statement mentioned earlier has been written in all Dharma texts. Would the Buddha and Bodhisattvas have it written haphazardly? Definitely not. Many of you feel that you need to keep things a little; then do it. The Buddha and Bodhisattvas had not said that you cannot keep things a little for yourself to use. Then again, you want to ask the Buddha and Bodhisattvas giving you this or that. What is your thinking or reason based on? It is not that you take something of your own and exchange it for something else from the Buddha and Bodhisattvas; rather, you should ‘give’ and then you will ‘obtain’. If you do not do giving, how can you obtain things?

For those who don’t give, they will not have good fortune. Even when they listen to the Dharma expounded, they will listen to it wrong. When they read Dharma texts, they will read the texts wrong, too. These people will also chant mantras, or make grand prostrations, in wrong ways. I have seen that, nowadays many people can do grand prostrations hundreds of times a day; that seems very amazing. However, there are no calluses on their knees, and their palms do not become thicker from sliding palms on the mat. These are indications that they have not made grand prostrations the right way. Do not think that if you make such prostrations casually, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas will not know. This is irrelevant to the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. This is your own affair.

Why do I want to perform the Green Tara ritual today? It is because I have suddenly felt that I need to do it, but I will not tell you the reason.”

(The performance of the ritual was in progress.)

Rinpoche bestowed the teachings.

“There is a statement in this Dharma text about the situations when offerings are made, and it is this, ‘If there are no offerings made, how can I implore for obtaining the abidance of the Buddha in my mind?’ It has been written very clearly that if you do not have good fortune, you will not implore for such abidance successfully. I am not lying to you – I do not lie. How did Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha implore the Buddha for guidance and teachings? How have I supplicated the Buddha for the same? Do not say that you will imitate us on this; you do not have qualifications to do it. However, at least you should learn from us about the minds and the concepts. You are totally disrespectful for the Buddha and the Dharma. You think you have made offerings by burning incense every day. You have not; it is because your offerings are not made from your heart. You have practiced for yourself all the time. I want to remind you this: Even if you have been practicing Exoteric Buddhism, you cannot master your practices if you do not practice in sequential order, moving up step by step; if you want to practice Tantra, without practicing it in sequential stage, you are even more unable to master your practices. What your guru has spoken of are many kinds of citta (essence of the Dharma). They are from his practicing experiences, and he knows that such ways of practicing will certainly be effective. You just do not listen. You think that ‘He is not saying that to me; he is not mentioning my name, so it is nothing to do with me. I have done it though!’ Then, continue to work very hard on your things!”

(The performance of the ritual was in progress.)

Then the Tsok Ritual and tea-offering ritual were in progress. Every person present received a share of offering items that had been blessed by Rinpoche, as well as the rare and auspicious causal condition to dine with the guru, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas during the puja.

Then Rinpoche led the disciples in the Dharma Protector Achi ritual and dedication prayer. After these had been completed, Rinpoche bestowed the teachings.

“Many people think that just chanting mantras can help sentient beings. It is not that simple.
There are two statements in this Dharma text and one of them is ‘The practitioner presiding over this Dharma needs to receive the empowerment from the yidam.’ The other statement is ‘After having received the empowerment, this practitioner’s mind will reach universally all the sentient beings under the protection of the practitioner, who is full of blessing power.’ Because of the empowerment received from the yidam, the practitioner’s own vows are combined with those of the yidam, and only in this way the practitioner is able to protect all those sentient beings he or she wishes to protect. The words ‘reach universally’ mean this practitioner does not have a discriminating mind. He or she will protect any sentient beings who have the affinity with the practitioner. Simply speaking, for a practitioner who has mastered the Highest Yoga Tantra, this practitioner’s blessing power is not something you can imagine. (It is so powerful that) even if he or she just eyes you, there is blessing for you in that look. Such a power is definitely not what you think that one can get by just making prostrations, reciting sutras or the Buddha’s name, or chanting mantras, nor can one obtain it by relying on oneself. Many Dharma methods or retreats are needed so as to possess such qualifications to protect sentient beings. What you have said every day is just a kind of vows to let Bodhisattvas hear it.

I have mentioned to you many times before that Tantra is divided into four groups: Action Tantra, Performance Tantra, Yoga Tantra & Highest Yoga Tantra. As you have not even practiced the Action Tantra well, how can you have done any deeds on the Performance Tantra? Without it having been accomplished, how can you practice Yoga Tantra? Then, if the practices in Yoga Tantra have not been done, a practitioner absolutely cannot reach the level of Highest Yoga Tantra. Many people say that Esoteric Buddhism is very amazing. Yes, it is indeed very incredible. If one definitely believes in its Dharma texts, in the Dharma and in one’s guru and listening to the guru, one is surely to receive the blessings. If one does not listen, there is certainly nothing that one can do. There are many of my disciples, having taken refuge for twenty years, who have said to me. ‘I have taken refuge in you for twenty years but I have not done well on my practices.’ It is not that you haven’t practiced well; it is that you do not believe in what you have learned. Nowadays, many of Buddhists are non-Buddhist religionists who attach themselves to some Buddhist teachings. They do not actually know how to do practices. They think that if they open up sutras and read them every day, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas will then appear. They will not. If you read sutras each day, you are only doing some of the practices of the ‘path of accumulation’; you are in the direction of accumulating your good fortune and wisdom. That is all. You are not in the ‘path of preparation’ yet.

I have constantly told you a simplest way for you to learn from. Read the section of the Sutra of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha’s Fundamental Vows about how Ksitigarbha implored the Buddha for help. How have you supplicated for your wishes be fulfilled? You have done your implorations casually so I have casually returned their results back to you. These are the effects obtained from the causes you have planted. Everyone should listen. Time passes year after year. Do not come to me again, kneeling in front of me, and say, ‘I have not listened to you; I have not done well on my practices.’ What have you done? You have done nothing at all; you could not even have said that you had not practiced well. You are just ‘non-Buddhist religionists who attach themselves to some Buddhist teachings.’ When I finish reading this Dharma text, you should all be blushed with shame. Then again, if you practice and master all that have been described in the latter part of the text, whatever you implore for, you will get them.

Now, some people are afraid of getting vaccine shots for the prevention of coronavirus because they fear that there are chemical toxins in vaccines. I have performed the Green Tara ritual so you are all right from the pandemic. There are more than 1,000 disciples of mine who have taken the vaccine shots, and even as some of them had certain bodily reactions from such shots, no one has died. This is because I have performed Dharmas every day, giving you the protection. I have protected you so much, but how have you treated this Center, our monastery in construction and your guru? After you have heard the physical reactions of your relatives and friends after they had vaccinations, you should know then what protection you have had. Did you think that it was because of your own chanting of mantras? My acts for protecting you are what have been written in this Dharma text about ‘reach universally….to protect….’.

Every one of you should really listen. Time passes year after year. This life of yours will be over very soon and so will be mine. I will protect you whenever there is a day of life left for me. When I am not here on this earth, I will still protect you. The issue is this though: If you do not believe, do not listen, or do not work hard on your practices and learning, how am I to protect you? I have often made an analogy between my teachings and your learning of them. I am like an electricity-generating station and I continuously discharge electricity to you. You need to turn on the electricity switch on your side, but you turn it off; then you certainly will not receive the electricity. You often have this question, ‘Is it so?’ Yes, it is so. Or, you will think, ‘I don’t believe that I cannot get what I have implored for.’ Then, let’s make a bet on this; let’s see how you will receive what you have supplicated for. Or, you will submit your doubt to me, like ‘Is that your patent?’ No, it is definitely not my patent. Everyone can obtain what he or she has implored for but the person needs to do what have been written in Dharma texts.

What had just been recited were about twenty-one Taras. By the side of the Green Tara, there are twenty-one Taras, helping us handle many things. If you do not usually ‘greet’, or ‘say hello’ to, the Green Tara, and if you suddenly want to look for her all the time, do you think that it will be such an easy matter to ‘get’ her? During the ritual that had just been performed, there were offerings made to the Green Tara continuously. Why had such offerings been constantly made? Did she need to eat? No. She did not; rather, the Green Tara accepted the offerings to help us accumulate our good fortune. We can then implore successfully what we have wished for. Without good fortune, one cannot implore for anything. You just do not listen and do not believe; you thought you had done very well already in imploring for what you want.

In this Dharma text, there is a mention that ‘If you have practiced the Green Tara ritual sincerely, no matter where you live or where you go, you will not encounter wars or severe pandemics.’ Also, practicing the Green Tara ritual can make a country’s political power more stabilized. Now, Taiwan is facing many crises which should not happen. Everyone should know clearly that if all people in Taiwan wish to have a war occurring, there will be a war; if there is only a handful of them wishing to have a war happening, then such a war will not take place. In Taiwan, those who are under 70 years of age have not experienced the pain from wars, therefore, we need to be very prudent and careful (about wars). Of course, what kind of the ruler a place having been governed under is the collective karma of the people living in that place; however, such collective karma can be changed, too.

From the perspective of the Dharma, of course, hopefully, sentient beings will be harmonious and will not have something happening to them. If decisions are made so as to benefit a certain group of people without considering the future suffering of the entire country, there will be distresses. You all need to contemplate more about things. I am not talking about politics; I am talking about your future – your future is in your hands. If everyone is imprudent and acts on impulses, and if there is really a war occurring, as Taiwan is such a small place, it will not stand for any ‘mere rustle of leaves or grass in the wind’. Some people will say that there were many events that had occurred in Taiwan before, therefore, it will be all right if there is something significant happening in the future. However, historically, it had taken Taiwan at least 20 or 30 years to recover its vitality after having experienced some events. You all have the next generation, and you wish the people of the next generation will live peacefully. Hence, everyone has the responsibility to keep the peace in this place. We cannot do things impulsively; we cannot completely believe that a certain political or social system is good either. There is no such a perfect system existing in the whole world; such a system varies because of people, places and time.

Today, I have performed the Green Tara ritual, hoping that it will be peaceful and harmonious in this land. Otherwise, if one wants to learn Buddhism or run businesses, one will not succeed. There will be many activities around the whole place this month and next year. Everyone needs to be prudent and not to have things done impetuously. Do not get involved in collective karma when it is not good. If you are going to vote on some elections, look at the situations clearly; do not cast your votes based on your personal likes or disgusts. Democracy is actually people’s collective karma. Many people will say that democracy is great, however, if there is too much of it in a place, many matters or rules cannot be efficiently implemented.

The performance of the Green Tara ritual today has not been as simple as you have thought that it has only been for the peace and happiness of those who are present here, there being more than 1,000 of us; rather, this performance has been involving many, many big factors of the future in this place. As long as there is kindness in our hearts, the hearts of more than 1,000 people, and so long as we have implored very hard for the help of the Green Tara, I believe that there will not be very serious matters occurring in Taiwan. This is a responsibility that should has been borne and fulfilled by Buddhists. Do not ask me about what kinds of votes you should cast for. As a guru, I have only exhorted sentient beings to vote with their clear-headedness, not with their idealism. Many doctrines have been existed from ancient times to the present, but there is no doctrine that could have lasted, or can last, forever. Every one of you needs to think about your future and view it clearly. Since we make a living and live in this land, we hope that life can be peaceful and happy here so that there will not be so many things happening. Recently, there have been so many events occurring here, and they are all because of human factors of this land. The people’s karma resulting from killing is too heavy, and their greed, hatred and ignorance are too severe. These are why lots of things have kept on happening. We, as Buddhist practitioners, wish that this place will be peaceful, and only in such a peaceful condition we can learn the Dharma. Otherwise, it will be like the time when the pandemic had been prevalent this year, you were not allowed coming to the Center for a few months.

I have often said that you should not practice just for yourself; your mastery of your practices does not indicate that people around you will be fine. As you have been practicing Mahayana, your mind and every thought are to help sentient beings get away from suffering. Do not think, ‘I must master my practices first, and then I can help sentient beings.’ Of course, you need to be like that because it is a process. Nevertheless, you will not obtain things because you have practiced. No, you will not have gains; you give out all things. If you do not give, sentient beings will not be in comforts and joys. If they are not in such states, how can you be? All the people nowadays think that they are practicing for themselves, the so-called benefiting-others-by-benefiting-oneself. All of you have misunderstood the meaning of this saying. ‘Benefiting oneself’ does not mean getting oneself the benefits; rather, it is about what has just been mentioned in the Dharma text that ‘because of blessings from the yidam, and only from that, I have enough of power to protect all those sentient beings I wish to protect’. Has this been mentioned or not that ‘I sit here and you will get my protection’? No, there is no such a mention. I still need yidam’s blessings first. Thus, those who have been practicing to be a Buddha or a Bodhisattva behind closed doors will never succeed. Such practitioners will definitely not attain the success without blessings from their gurus and yidams.

Some people feel that ‘I just like to practice it this way.’ However, this is not mentioned in Dharma texts or sutras, but contrarily, you want to do it; then this goes against the Buddha’s teachings. What have you been practicing? People think, ‘This is exactly what I like to do: reciting the Buddha’s name or sutras or chanting mantras by myself every day. There is no one managing or disturbing me. Whether I am practicing well or not does not matter; as long as I feel something, that is fine for me. This is not an examination, therefore, is there a need to report to my guru about my practice?’ In the Dharma, there are no examinations; karma is your examination. Whether or not your karma can present itself or be transformed, that depends on if you have accepted the teachings of the Buddha and your guru. It is not that you will be able to master your practices by just reciting the Buddha’s name or sutras or chanting mantras every day. Otherwise, I had not needed, just now, to do so much recitation or chanting mantras.

About 30 years ago when I had no job, I made a vow to the Green Tara that when I found a job, my first month’s salary would completely be spent on producing the prints of the Dharma photo of the Green Tara so as to give the prints out, hoping there being more sentient beings forming affinities with the Green Tara. Every one of you says that you are part of ‘moonlight group’ – living from paycheck to paycheck. (In Chinese, ‘moonlight’ consists of two words, ‘moon’ and ‘light’, which also mean ‘month’ and ‘used up’ – the monthly salary is used up.) However, you have money for food and transportation. I was very relentless. Bodhisattvas had helped me. It was not that I wanted to repay my debt of gratitude to Bodhisattvas at that time; rather, I was saying to them that I could give all I had. This is what have been mentioned in the Dharma Text that the body and the wealth can all be given away. I was hungry for another month (for lack of money to buy food); that was all. At that time the salary I got was NT$30,000 a month. Then, I went to the printing shop and told them, ‘This NT$30,000 will be spent entirely for the printing of the Dharma photo of the Green Tara. Print whatever number of copies you can print.’ At that time, monthly salary of NT$30,000 was not a small amount. I totally did not consider the immediate, upcoming expenses on food, rent or utilities. Like you, I had children to raise, too, but I had come through that period of my life. These have been the ways that I have learned Buddhism. For those present here now, is there anyone who dares to do such things? Hence, you sit down there getting scolded by me. You are not as relentless as I am because I have believed in what has been mentioned in sutras that ‘if you have practiced in accordance with the Dharma principles, the Buddha and Bodhisattvas will not let you have no food to eat, no clothes to wear or no places to live in.’ After I had spent the money for prints of the Dharma photo, I did not borrow money for other expenses. How did I live my life at that time then? I had lived it through though, even needing to count coins (to see how much money remaining).

As I was able to use all my salary of a month to get the printing of the Dharma photo of the Green Tara done, do you think I will still care about your money? It is not that I disdain your money, or do not want you to make offerings. The key point is that your mindset is really very important. What I told you today about me were definitely facts. If I were a monastic, a set of kasaya (a monk’s robe) is enough for me and I would not have needed anything else. However, like you, at that time I had children to raise, and lots of expenses to pay, too. It is just like what has been mentioned in the Ratnakuta Sutra that those having practiced the Bodhisattva Path have no fear. I took out all my salary of the month to do something I wanted to do. I was not like you; you are calculating about your money this way: keeping NT$1,000 aside for cooking-gas fee and NT$2,000 to pay for electricity….et cetera. Hence, your karma cannot be transformed forever. If you want to learn Buddhism or the Dharma, you will not learn it; even after you have been transmitted Dharma methods, you will not learn them either. This is because you have no good fortune and your karma has blocked your chances of such learnings. Why has your karma blocked these chances? Because you are reluctant to do giving.

There is this saying in Taiwan: ‘See to your belly first, and then look after the Buddha.’ This statement is acceptable, but you cannot do it. Does the Buddha need you taking care of Him? By what virtue and by what capability are you able to look after the Buddha? The key point is about your mindset. Today, the performance of the ritual had taken more than two hours, and from the beginning to the end, it was all about making offerings. If making offerings are not important, they will not be needed to be written in Dharma texts. I have continuously made offerings on your behalf and that was why you had the good fortune to sit there today, and were able to listen to the mantras chanted, or to listen to this or that on recitation or teachings. Do not think that all these were supposed to be done for you. Could you have recited or chanted for more than two hours? Then again, you have been unconvinced; you think you can master your practices by yourself.

It is mentioned in this Dharma text that there will be no wars after this ritual has been performed. However, even if there are no wars, it does not mean that things will definitely become better. I hope that there will be no wars occurring in this land. I have said all these for the concerns for this land and the lives of sentient beings.”

Afterword:
Upon the perfect completion of the puja, there was a rare sight in the sky with two rainbows appearing. They directly crossed over Danshui River nearby and spanned over the area of two cities, Taipei City and New Taipei City. This was a very auspicious and rare phenomenon, which could also be seen clearly through the windows of the Center. We are grateful to Rinpoche for his compassionate performance of this ritual for the considerations for the peace of this land of Taiwan and for all sentient beings. We, as Rinpoche’s disciples, should listen to him even more attentively and work very hard in learning Buddhism. These are the ways of repaying our debts of gratitude to our guru for his teachings.

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Updated on September 24, 2022