His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche’s Puja Teachings – June 5, 2022

His Eminence Rinchen Dorjee Rinpoche presided over the auspicious Amitayus Empowerment Puja at the Glorious Jewel Buddhist Center in Taipei. He lit lamps as an offering to the Buddha, and then ascended the Dharma throne to start the performance of the Dharma. Next, the Tsok Ritual was in progress. Every person present received a share of offering items that had been blessed by Rinpoche. Then the Mandala-Offering Ritual was performed.

(After these rituals had been completed, Rinpoche bestowed the teachings.)

“Today, I will grant you Amitayus empowerment. There is a story about it. However, as we do not have enough time here now, I will not tell you this story today. The key point is that the Dharma text of this empowerment is an earth terma Tantra, and such Tantra had been passed down through Guru Rinpoche, Master Gampopa, and Ratchungpa. There is a specific difference between this Dharma text and other texts of earth termas. This text had been passed down by Mother Buddha Machig Drubpejema. In Exoteric Buddhism, there are no practices on this yidam, Amitayus. In Tantra, Amitayus is Amitabha Buddha’s Sambhogakaya (reward-body).

Why is longevity needed? It is because many sentient beings have been creating much negative karma of body, speech, and mind in their past lifetimes and the current one. The result is that their life spans have been shortened or decreased. Hence, I will perform this Dharma method to replenish their life spans to let these sentient beings have time to practice in this life. Because Amitayus is Amitabha’s reward-body, those people who have obtained this Dharma in the future must practice the Bodhisattva Path. Only if they do it, can they get longevity. There are two definitions of longevity. They are these: One is for you to obtain all the longevity that you should have gained in the mundane world, and the other one is your life span, in terms of the Darma practicing or learning, will be eternal. The latter also means once one receives the Amitayus empowerment, one will form a very deep affinity with Amitabha.”

Rinpoche led the attendees in reciting the Dharma text, and expounded its contents, which are taking refuge, repentances, and rejoicing. These are to accumulate good fortune of those in attendance to receive the empowerment.

(Rinpoche started performing the Dharma. Then he put on a Gampopa’s Dharma crown and instructed all participants sitting straight. He taught them how to do visualizations and he also bestowed the teachings at various stages of the process of the empowerment.)

“Visualize that Amitayus has radiated a light to eliminate the karma created by your body, speech, and mind, causing your life span having been shortened, and the light will get such body, speech, and mind to become those of Amitayus. The types of behaviors by speech that will create karma to shorten a life span are these: cursing people, speaking things that are not good to hear, gossiping about others, talking in harsh or divisive speeches, slandering practitioners, or being disrespectful of practitioners. All these acts will make you have a short life span. There is one more thing I want to mention. Nowadays many young people like to speak of the faults of their parents. There are no parents who are at fault in this world. If you speak of the faults of your parents, your life span will be short.

The kind of act by mind that will create karma to shorten a life span is thinking about how other people will die or how they will get unlucky or unfortunate. Such thoughts will shorten your life span.”

(Rinpoche held a five-colored flag in his right hand and a treasure vase in his left hand. He started performing the Dharma. Rinpoche blessed attendees, unreservedly, with the essence of his own body’s five elements – earth, wind, water, fire, and Emptiness. Many participants who have some bodily defects or damages sensed that there were waves of a warm current passing through these parts of their bodies. Or, they felt that there was a cool breeze blowing to them, and by that breeze, they obtained the replenishment of the essence of earth, wind, water, fire, and Emptiness.)

“At the time a little while later, when you leave, there will be longevity pills and longevity wine given to you. As we do not use wine for any occasions, it was replaced by juice for this ritual. For prolonging longevity, generally, the practicing methods are in accordance with their generation stage and the completion stage. This means if one has not learned Tantra, and if one just relies on continuous chanting mantras or reciting sutras for wishing to prolong his or her longevity, there is only a slight opportunity – it is not that there is none – for the wish to be fulfilled. It is by this person’s chanting mantras or reciting sutras constantly every day. This is because the generation stage and the completion stage of the Dharma methods have not been practiced on.

There are various aspects in prolonging longevity, like relying on empowerments of Dharmas, or depending on longevity items. However, the teachings here are about using longevity pills and longevity wine to prolong longevity. Thus, the disciples need to visualize that the essence of Buddhas of the Five Directions blends to become longevity pills, and the essence of Mother Buddhas of the Five Directions blends becoming longevity wine. Also, you are to think this: ‘May I obtain a “longevity with ease” as those disciples and good people who have the affinities.’ The term ‘longevity with ease’ means you will not die an untimely death. Moreover, if you have been practicing well, you can live whatever number of more years you wish. If you feel that there are no more things you need to do in the mundane world, you can leave it when you want to. These explain what ‘longevity with ease’ means.

Let us talk about relying on empowerments of Dharmas to prolong longevity. Empowerments cannot be given by ordinary practitioners. The practitioner presiding over an empowerment must be a Rinpoche, who has the capability of gaining a fruition level and has gained it. Only such a Rinpoche can grant empowerments. For those of you who have given rise to a strong belief in the yidam and the guru, the empowerment given today will certainly be effective. If you do not have such strong belief, there will be no use to you even if you have been given more empowerments. Take me as an example then. Originally, a fortune teller told me before that I would die at the age of 47. It turned out that I did not die when I was 47. At the age of 60, I conducted a retreat at the Lapchi Snow Mountain – with a height of 5,000 meters – in Nepal. On the third month of the retreat, I knew very clearly that in my sleep my breathing and heartbeat had both stopped, but I still did not die. This did not mean Bodhisattvas have been making a point of treating me very well. Rather, the reason is that there are still many things I need to do, so Bodhisattvas keep this life of mine alive. I can then help sentient beings continuously, and suffer in life on their behalf.”

(Rinpoche led the attendees in chanting the Amitayus Mantra. After the chanting had been completed, he continued to perform the Dharma.)

Today, the Amitayus Empowerment has come to a perfect completion. Laypeople do not understand that the opportunities of giving or receiving empowerments are rare and difficult to occur. From the perspective of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism, it is not that every monastic can give empowerments. The practitioner giving empowerments must be a Rinpoche, who has the capability of gaining a fruition level and has gained it. Only such a Rinpoche can grant empowerments. There are different levels of Rinpoches too, like at a high, medium, or low level. Such a level is not according to the situation of ‘being reincarnated.’ Rather, the level is in accordance with a Rinpoche’s cultivation’s force of capability in this life as well as this Rinpoche’s fruition level. So, after you have obtained this empowerment, on all the negative karma of body, speech, and mind you created in the past, do not commit it again. If you do, your life span will be shortened.

Every negative act you have committed will affect your later generations through lifetime after lifetime. I cannot speak of other clans. In our clan, my great-grandfather raised silkworms and planted tea in Fujian Province, China. Then he opened and operated a bank in Canton, located in Guangdong Province. Before, opening a bank was to do businesses of earning interests. Therefore, the males of our Yan family, up to the generation of my father’s, passed away when they were a little over the age of 50. All of them did not have longevity. It is starting to change in my generation. However, the change does not represent an eternal change. Although I have been doing my practices, my next generation has not done theirs. My family members of this group do not feel that practicing is so important.

Even in Shakyamuni Buddha’s clan, while He had already been a Buddha, all the family members in the clan, had not learned Buddhism except for His son and His aunt. Hence, if one can listen to the Dharma expounded or is involved in learning the Dharma, such occurrences are all derived from the causes and conditions of one’s past lives. The Buddha and Bodhisattvas have used various methods to liberate sentient beings. For example, those people you like or love the most will have issues happening, and will make you feel very sorrowful. Thus, you hope that the Dharma will help these people. This is the start of your forming affinities with the Buddha. Generally, if everyone lives a good life, one will not think of the importance of the Dharma. Just now, you had learned that in the Dharma text, these have been mentioned very clearly. If you want to get longevity, one way for getting it is that you are to receive the empowerment; the other method is that you understand the practices of the generation stage and the completion stage of Dharma methods. There is another way for getting longevity, and it is by taking the longevity pills and longevity wine bestowed by the guru after the guru has completed the performance of the Dharma. Nevertheless, in this way of getting longevity, there are not as many skills or much power as those in the method of the empowerment.

Obtaining an empowerment is very difficult to do. It is not that you will get it when you want it. When a guru makes a point of granting you an empowerment, the guru’s own merits and good fortune are needed to ‘come out.’ So, before performing each empowerment, we, as gurus, need to perform preparatory rituals first. To explain this in a way that you can understand, it means the gurus who are to preside over the empowerments need to enhance their force of capability. It is equivalent to such a scenario that if you have no money, how can you help others by lending money to them? You need to earn enough money for yourself first. It is like what is mentioned in the Ratnakuta Sutra. The Great King of Empowerment has saved a lot of food, and he will give it to you if you need it. A guru is the same in that the guru usually saves lots of things. Therefore, when there are urgent needs occurring, a guru will bring out all things that the guru has saved to help sentient beings.

Even for those who are as close as my descendants, if they do not learn Buddhism, there is nothing that can be done to help them. It is like the situation that Shakyamuni Buddha could not save His clan. His clan had been annihilated. All the people in the clan had been killed; this is a story you have heard about. Except for His son, nephew, and aunt, all the rest of the people in the clan had been killed. This is exactly about causes, effects, and karmic hindrances. Hence, when you are unwilling to learn Buddhism, you will feel that you only need the learning if you have issues. On the other hand, you will not need the learning, if there are no problems occurring to you. Such a concept is wrong because you do not know how serious or how dreadful your karma is.

Many people wonder why they have problems, but others do not have issues. If you feel this way, the reason is that you have good fortune. As there are problems occurring to you, only then can you get opportunities to be involved in learning the Dharma. For other people, since they do not face issues, they will fall into Hell Realm after death. Many people think this: ‘The things I have acted on have also been done by him. Why are there problems for me, but not for him?’ This is because his karma has been heavier than yours. If there are no problems happening to you when you are alive, you are not to be congratulated because you certainly will fall into hells after you die. Do not believe that there are no hells. If you do not believe in the Dharma, even if you have made prostrations or implored for things, you will not get what you have wished for. Only when you believe in the Dharma will you see the effects very quickly.

It is exactly as I said about myself. Originally, I was supposed to die at the age of 47, but I was not let die at that age. At the age of 60, I conducted a retreat at the Lapchi Snow Mountain. On the third month of the retreat, at one time, my heartbeat and pulse had both stopped. I knew very clearly then that I would die, but I still did not. When I was a little over the age of 50, I had skin cancer, I did not die either. Why did I not die from the cancer? It is because there are many things I want to do. I have owed too many obligations. I must pay these off in this life before I leave this world. Now I have been still repaying my debts. I am already an old man of 75 years old. My debts are still needed to be repaid.”

(The Dharma Protector Achi ritual had then been performed.)

Just now, the methods had been mentioned very clearly in the Dharma text how to seek longevity. One way for getting it is to receive the empowerment. Another method is that you have obtained pith instructions, knowing how to practice the generation stage and the completion stage of Dharma methods. The third way for seeking longevity is that there is an opportunity for you to take longevity pills and longevity wine. There is another method to prolong longevity. It is for people doing only good deeds in this life and not doing negative acts. These people will also increase their life spans. However, these deeds or acts are very difficult for you to do, or not to do. I believe that there are nothings that can be done to help you on these. Many people are used to implore for longevity for someone. You will not get what you have wished for. Many people do not believe this. Now the Dharma text has mentioned very clearly that only some methods can prolong longevity.

If you are disrespectful for your guru, and are unfilial to your elderly family members, your life span will be shortened. If it is not decreased, then the life span of someone you like the most will be. These are exactly causes, effects, and karma, and are not invented absolutely by the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. It is like what has just been mentioned in the Dharma text that your body’s earth, wind, water, fire, and Emptiness have defects and damages. Why have they been defective and damaged? Because you have done things that are not good. Naturally, your earth, wind, water, fire, and Emptiness have been unbalanced. From the perspective of medical science, this imbalance can be explained too. For example, if one likes to eat dishes of general amounts of fish and meat, one’s health will certainly not be good afterward. I am 75 years old now. I am not sure if I have any of ‘Three Highs’ – high blood pressure, high blood glucose, and high blood lipid. Even though I am unlikely being fleet-footed, at least I walk very fast. (At this time, a Rinpoche’s attendant-disciple, who is 28 years old, indicated that Rinpoche walks very fast to the point that he, the attendant, needs to run to follow Rinpoche.)

How has this come about? It is not because I am tall; rather, it is because my life span is comparatively firm with fewer illnesses. Nevertheless, this does not mean my body is 100 percent as good as that of a newborn child. Yet, on the five elements of earth, wind, water, fire, and Emptiness, I have kept them balanced very evenly. Then my body will naturally be healthy so that I have abilities to continuously help sentient beings. You have been thinking of yourself all the time that there are still many things you have not done well. However, with such a bad health, how can you handle your things well? It is like these monastics here. Their health is very bad with all their earth, wind, water, fire, and Emptiness unbalanced. This is because they have constantly thought of themselves, not of sentient beings. Every thought they have is to think of themselves.

For a practitioner who is at the age of 75, and who will give an empowerment, there are not many of them in this world now. It is like nowadays His Holiness almost does not give empowerments. Only at an annual puja or at the time of transmitting the Dharma, will he grant an empowerment. Otherwise, he does not give empowerments. Why does he not? This is not saying whether he wants to give an empowerment or not. The issue is about the limitation of his physical strength. It will be used up. Today, an Amitayus ritual has been performed. It is not to let you become a ‘live dragon’ – full of energy – to make more money. Even if you have earned more money, your offerings made have not been increased either. There had not been overseas pujas conducted in the past few years. The amount of money in your offerings has still been the same though. Could it be that all of you are graduates of accounting major that you have become so good at calculating and doing accounts?

There had been no Grand Pujas either in the past few years, but I do not think that there is more money in your offerings made. I have deliberately tested you to see where your mind of making offerings is. In the later part of this Dharma text, you have recited ‘attending and pleasing the guru.’ Where have you done it? All of you have not. Although I have performed an Amitayus ritual today for my grandson, I have also let you receive the Amitayus empowerment. I am not biased. I do not give more to my relatives and give you less. Both sides have received the same quantities of help from me. You have not received less; contrarily, you might have received a little more of my help.

Everyone needs to understand that the Dharma is not something that you will get it when you want it. Do not think that once you have obtained what you want, you will ignore the Dharma and stop practicing! It is exactly as Lord Jigten Sumgon had expounded before that you do not think that because your illness has been cured, you do not need to practice very hard or diligently. So long as you give up the Dharma, your karma will ‘come back’ to get you. Provided that you have stopped practicing, your karma will appear immediately. This is very strange.

Why? Because before you have achieved accomplishments, your karma is still capable to come back to you. Even after Shakyamuni Buddha had attained Buddhahood, He still had karmic retribution. Who do you think you are that you will not have karmic retribution? Do you wish there will be no karmic retribution to you if you recite the Universal Gate Chapter? Do you wish by reciting the Medicine Buddha Sutra, you will be ‘fight over the world to be invincible throughout the world’? These are impossible to happen. In the Dharma text, it has been mentioned very clearly that one needs to practice through the generation stage and the completion stage of Dharma methods, and only then can one get longevity. Hence, you should listen to your guru. In the age of Dharma Decline, this world is very chaotic, and it will still be in such chaos for a little over a year. Everyone needs to be prudent, and do not slacken or give up your practices absolutely!

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Updated on December 6, 2023