Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 29-minute Lam Rim session, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen teaches how to invite the merit field—the Buddha and assembly of enlightened beings—as a preparatory practice. He grounds the instruction in a story: a merchant’s daughter named Makanda Samo invokes the Buddha with incense and faith, and the incense smoke transforms into umbrellas and victory banners; the Buddhas and arhats descend to receive her offerings. Geshe Dhawa emphasizes practical details: keep your meditation room clean and unsmoked; visualize all offerings as celestial symbols; cultivate faith in the omnipresent Buddhas. The teaching concludes that faith determines blessing—the Buddhas are always present, but we lack sufficient faith to perceive them.
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File: 04 LR 1995 07 02.mp3
UUID: bbe7e5d5-1307-48a3-baf3-f16247376702
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Lam Rim 1995 Jan-Dec (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995-07-02
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 29.4 minutes
Words: ~1,687
So invite from the natural abode, which is here meaning the dharmakayas. And from the dharmakaya, invite the invite the emanation bodies. So so the reason that we invite the wisdom beings, like, in the form of emanation bodies in this context and and then resolving into the the merit field that one have visualized, into each of those merit fields that one have visualized. The reason for doing this is not not to, like, from from our side, not to differentiate the merit field from being good and bad. So so now Geshe-la here will explain the the way how the how what is it?
The story of the history of So this Makanda Samo is a daughter of one of the householder called Chidak. So so this this daughter was in a in a place called Pramshimba where they are a place called Pramshimba. So so the daughter went to this place called and then there is a merchant, a businessman who has a son called. So so these two they two got married. So the the son of that family, like, makes offerings and follows ascetic practitioners, you know, one of the hedonist.
So so then the daughter or the wife of that son told to him that it’s not the object of your the object of it’s not the right object to make offerings. That’s what he told to him. So then so then he asked that if if that is so, then what is the actual object, where is the real object that you make offerings? Where is to to what kind of object that you make the offerings? So then she told him that I’m not going to explain you, let’s say, the precious object to whom I make offering to.
So so then he insisted her to explain on it, and then she so so she started explaining. So so then she explained that that her I’m sorry, her merit field where she makes the offerings is like Buddha Śākyamūni who is who Buddha Śākyamūni who is surrounded by a circle of hearers and Pratyekabuddha. So so then if that if if you if that is so, then it is possible is it is it possible that we can invite them? So then she said, if you have faith, then if you have faith, then if you have faith, and if you invite, they will they will come. So so then finally, then she went she, like, went, like, to the second floor and of the house, and then she fold her hand holding incense between incense stick between palm palm, pulled his hand and made this did this what do say?
The prayers which which are inviting inviting those Buddhas. So so so while inviting making this invitation, the the smoke of the incense, all those smokes transform into into different objects, like object that she’s making offerings, which is like transformed, turned into some into like, what we call, umbrellas and victory banners and different and different objects. So so then at that time, like, those the followers of the Buddha, like the arhats and Pratyekabuddha, they saw this, and then they asked Buddha, what what what is this? So so then Buddha explained that in this place, son of this merchant, the merchant, and the daughter of daughter of that household called Makanda Samo, then she is making this invitation. And and that’s why all this happened.
And and then Buddha asked Buddha asked to distribute, like, who will be going there, to distribute different at that time, like, as casting a lot, that they distribute a different sticks, a small sticks among the mouth, among those hearers and Pratyekabuddha. So so so they distributed the the sticks to see how many how many of them are going. And then the next day, same thing happened She did the invitation prayers. And then at that time, then the Buddhas together with together with those arhats and Pratyekabuddha, they went they they flew down. So so so so they all the Buddhas and the what is it called?
And the they went down. They came. So same thing, like, if we to make make follow this Makanda Samo, how she made these prayers and inviting prayers. If we do follow her or do the same same in the same manner that folding our hands and offering incense and with a strong faith and reciting the prayer, then no doubt there’s no doubt whether the merit field will come or that. They will definitely come.
So so then when you’re when you’re doing this practice, one should keep clean the place where one is living or where where one is staying. Like, one shouldn’t like, if what if it’s your meditation room, then there you should you should keep it clean and shouldn’t, like, smoke inside your your place where you’re meditating, and shouldn’t, like, keep it dirty. You should make it keep it clean. So so for example, if you do keep dirty or or like smoke, then then the smoke the smokes comes out of the cigarette. That that also, like, goes outside, and then that when it comes to disturbs the enlightened beings like Buddha and so on.
In the same manner that when we with with with the faith, if you make offerings, just the the smoke of the incense, how it responds to different objects of offerings. In the same manner, it it it goes in that way and disturbs disturb the enlightened beings. So where one come to create negativities. So whatever object you offer, whatever object you use for offering, even if it’s just a stick of incense or a stick of flower, you should imagine them in the in the form of, like, umbrellas or or what I call parasol and like victory banners and and so on and, like, different the symbols, auspicious symbols. So so by doing this, that that’s how we accumulate merit and purify our obscurations.
So then here it completes the explanations of the merit field, which comes under the preparatory practices, the six preparatory practices. And this visualizes the merit field is the fourth one. And now, next teaching visual, I will explain the fifth preparatory practice, which is how you make the seven limb practice, how you do the seven limb practice. And that gives the explanations of how you do prostrations then how you make offerings and so on. So for today, we stop here and if you have any questions.
So so the reason is that to to strengthen the the faith within one towards the object, but put that’s one. Sorry. And if one have already a very strong faith, then actually one doesn’t need to invite the wisdom beings. So, one have visualized the merit field in the space before one, one may have this doubt whether is there actually a merit field there or not. And and also not to, like, differentiate them, like, some of them higher, lower.
Like all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, they are all, what do you say, they are all having the same qualities. So, to have a stronger faith in it, that’s the reason why we. So the natural abode is one one of that which we said was the Dharmakāya here, but then there are other many others. So so the explanation here, like, saying the dharmakaya dividing the the emanation body is according to the Guhyasamāja explanations. So according to the line that’s that, what you say, dharmakaya is explained there.
So so in other words, like, natural abode means whoever the Buddha is residing from that place, he’s inviting them. So in other words, like, inviting from different like, these countless state of Buddha Buddha places, places of Buddhas, like Sukhāvati, Akanishtha, and different pure lands. So so there’s like a it’s like saying that in Gelug teachings, they said one can, like, invite the lama from any any places. And and and that sort of a joke to other people says that the Gelug don’t know where actually their lamas reside. So so the reason that saying that can be invited from any places is because the body also pervades all all the Buddha fields to all places.
So if we just say that we can well, our lamas in Tuśita, Ganden, not in Potala. If we say that, then it it it somehow contradicts. So the the reason is that the omniscient mind, creates all the fields. Where there is his mind, is his body. So where there is his mind, there is his body.
So, like, you can invite from any places. So, like in one of the text, it says that there are countless Buddhas resides in one small atom. So so it’s not easy to to accept, but then like if you let’s say, if you use a binoculars and then in a long distance, you can sort of get the full picture of what’s happening there, that small thing. So in that way, you can think. So same thing like we have the eye organ which we have is the black thing inside.
The circle black thing, it’s very small, but it can like, all can fit there what you see. So in the similar way, that’s why the explanation is saying that in one atom, there is a countless Buddhas. So so we are we are sort of, what is it, left out only because we don’t have enough faith enough faith. Otherwise, the Buddhas or the enlightened beings, have, I would say, forbearing the blessings. They have they have no thought of near and far.
Are they are always there. So the the stronger the faith or conviction that one have towards the enlightened beings, the more powerful of blessings that one receives. The blessings are more powerful. Concentration of? Lot lot of Buddhas.
So it’s like as I explained before, it’s like same wherever like, every places, in every places there are Buddhas. So, as it is explained before. So we stopped.