Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute commentary on the Lama Chöpa, Kyabje Rinpoche provides detailed verse-by-verse guidance on receiving blessings from the guru through colored nectars. Working with verses 53–54, he shows how to recognize all assembled beings in the visualization as manifestations of one’s guru, then describes the purification and empowerment received: white nectars from the guru’s body purify physical negativities and confer the vase empowerment, red nectars from the speech purify verbal obscurations and confer the secret empowerment, and blue nectars from the mind purify mental negativities and confer the wisdom empowerment. He then turns to verses 84–86, introducing the graduated path’s mind-training: reflecting on how human life is rare and swiftly lost, and understanding that meaningful practice must serve future lives and liberation, not worldly pursuits.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1992-10-30 – 17A – KR.mp3
UUID: 93961e65-d434-4bae-ad0a-52fcdbd28067
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Guru Puja – Lama Chopa
Date: 1992-10-30
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,192
We’re looking at verse number 53 where we are visualizing the field of accumulation before us centered around Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang and Dorjechang. He was in fact the same entity as one’s own Lama. But all of the entire field assembled is in nature one’s own Lama. Addressing all of this field of assembly as one’s lama, one goes on to say that you are the Lama. You are the meditative deities, the Yidams.
You are the Dakinis. You are the Dharma protectors addressing the Lama. It’s all of these various things that you are my protector, you are my refuge. I have no other refuge than you. In this life, in the intermediate state, in my future, in my next life, in all my future lives up to the attainment of my Buddhahood.
I will follow only you. That please help me to be rid of all of my various sufferings and fears. Help me to attain all the common and supreme powerful attainments, help me to bring together all the conducive conditions of my practice and to eliminate all the various obstacles, making a request such as then praised one’s lama in this manner, having made requests in this way three times. And next comes verse 54. By the force of having thus requested three times nectars and rays, white, red, and dark blue, stream forth from the centers of our guru’s body, speech, mind.
And one by one in all together they absorbed into our own three centers individually and then together, the four obstacles are purged, four empowerments are planted, and the seeds of the four kayas received, the smiling emanation of the guru dissolves into us and we are blessed with inspiration. So having made three times out of the lama’s compassion and having been pleased by your manner of request. Firstly, from the crown of the Lama, from a white Om, white nectars begin to flow forth. From the ah, at the throat, red nectars and lights begin to flow forth. From the Hum, at the heart, blue nectars begin to flow forth.
So they flow into oneself, oneself as Heruka where you also have corresponding crown, and heart HUM. And the white the nectars from the crown flow from Om of the Lama to the Om of your own and by means of this one is purified of all the negativities, physical negativities and obstacles brought about by physical and unskillful actions and one receives the vase empowerment Then from the red nectars flowing from the at the lama’s throat to one’s own red at one’s own throat, when the various unskillful actions of speech, the negativities and the obscurations brought about by those are purified and one receives the secret empowerment. In turn, the lama’s heart, nectars flow forth to the HUM in one’s own heart and by means of this nectar, the negativities, the various negativities and obscurations brought about by the unskillful actions of mind are purified. One receives the wisdom empowerment. Then, so that’s done and then the three flow all together into one’s three corresponding sites of one’s own body and all together one’s various, the obstacles and negativity of physical, verbal and mental negativities are purified and one receives the word empowerment, the fourth empowerment.
And then once you have received the four empowerments which are able by means of receiving these four empowerments all the negativities and obstructions of one’s body, speech and mind have been purified. One received the seeds for the attainment of the four bodies of the Buddha, that is to say the Svabhāvikakāya, the wisdom truth body, the enjoyment body, and the emanation body are implanted. One achieves the state of union, Yuganaddha, and a replica of the Lama, it comes forth and dissolves into oneself and one achieves the state of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang and becomes that same entity So at this point comes the recitation of the various mantras. We should imagine that Lama comes to reside in one’s heart and within the heart of Vajradhāra, notice the Dorje Chang, Vajradhāra. At his heart is a sun disk upon which is a Hum and surrounding on perimeter of the sun disc is firstly the outer ring of one’s, the mantra of one’s lama.
Then within that circle of mantra there is the mantra of So the outer ring, the outer perimeter of the Samantabhādra’s mantra is one’s root lama, and within that is the circle of Samantabhādra’s mantra, which is not mixed into it. Within that is the ring of the mantra of which is, Om Mune Mune Maha Munaye. It’s not Muni. It’s not Muni. Vajradhāra. They know that is that is circling a series of. The Om is the seat syllable of the body of all the Buddhas, the Ah is the seed syllable of the speech of all the Buddhas, and the Hum is the seed syllable of the mind of all the Buddhas. So you want the mantras again? Sanskrit name, Samantabhādra.
Samantabhādra Kriti is. Samantabhādra is Losang. Kriti is While reciting the mantras, you should imagine that lights and nectars radiate out from the heart and the Hum at one’s own heart coming in contact with all living beings. Upon contacting them it purifies their body, speech and mind and they attain Buddhahood. And again the lights radiate out making all the four types of offerings to the various Buddhas and then in response, the blessing is poured forth to one.
One receives the four And these lights dissolve back into one. And one has fulfilled the two purposes. That is to say the purpose of establishing all living beings in the state of Vajradhāra and having made offerings to all the Buddhas and Lamas. There are four types of offering external, internal, secret and suchness. And at this point, one does the prayer.
Now so the the prayer that we usually recite, etcetera. Now we’re looking at the beginning of the verses on the reviewing the stages of the path, verse number 84, where it says, Through the power of having made offerings and respectful requests to you, all of our roots of virtue and merit, seek your blessings, your protectors, and roots of well-being and bliss that we may come under your joyful care. So this is to emphasize the fact that the devotion to the spiritual friend is the root of the path, whether it’s common to both the graduated path and to secret mantra. So here the Lama Losang Tubwang is the consummation of all excellent qualities. It is the kindness, remembering the great kindness of the Buddhas through their teaching of the Dharma, and additionally that they are the supreme field of accumulation since by making offerings to them.
There’s no higher field of offering by means of which we can accumulate and to developing a sense respect and faith. Explaining this precise experience, set out here. Recited the verse from the heart of the Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang and light and nectars radiate forth into one’s heart and one is purified of any negativities that one may have created with respect to the lama, the faults of devotion or any lack of faith, and one gains the realizations of the So so that that beginning with verse 85, so verse 84 was emphasizing the necessity to devote oneself to the lama. Here is the way in which one is to devote, begins how the actual one practices in accordance in the context of devoting oneself to the lama. It involves the mind training or transformation and there is two divisions.
There is the common mind training and there is the training unique to Vajra tradition, the Vajra vehicle. Within the common mind training, there is the training of being of small capacity, mind middling capacity and great capacity. Within the being of small capacity there is the method for developing aspirations to bring about the welfare of future lives and that is to say reflecting upon the welfare of not of this life, such as food and clothing, but the way of developing the aspiration in future lives, and secondly, method, the implementing the methods for achieving happiness in future lives. Then, so we’re looking at verse 85, which is the first of these. So we’re looking at verse 85 where it says realizing how this body of liberties and endowments is found that once is difficult to obtain is easily lost.
We seek your blessings to partake of its essence and make it worthwhile and not be distracted by the meaningless efforts of this life. So we have presently achieved a human life. It’s something which is extremely difficult to attain. And it’s going to be difficult to attain it again in the future. This could be the only time that we will attain such a life.
And it’s a type of life which has all the various conducive conditions and the absence of inhibiting conditions whereby to carry on a practice. And it puts such a human life, though difficult to find, is easily lost due to the impermanence in terms of death. And that if it lasted a long time then still it would be no problem but in fact it’s quickly lost. So it’s difficult to attain, it’s going to be lost and it’s going to be quickly lost. And we should not, and what are we to do in such circumstances?
We should not allow ourselves to simply engage in meaningless activities, but we should bring our life meaning. And then we shouldn’t waste our time, that we should take the essence of this human life which we have found. So we are managed to not to engage in meaningless activities, but in fact to engage in meaningful activities. And what do we mean by meaningless activities? These are types of activities which are solely for bringing about the happiness of this life.
They’re bringing about food, drink, overcoming one’s enemies, to gather around you very likable people, people catering to one’s loved ones. So what do we mean by meaningful activities? This life that we presently have is momentarily disintegrating and it’s going to be lost. It’s going to be soon lost and it’s quickly over. It’s only a very short time but future existence are without limit.
Should therefore engage in activities which bring about benefit to our future lives, make effort toward bringing benefit to our future lives both for oneself and others. These are said to be meaningful So we’re not going to stay long in this life, and therefore it’s necessary that we think about future lives, thinking about bringing about the welfare and thus striving for the welfare of future lives. I’m looking at verse 86 where it says, Aghast at the blazing fires of suffering in the lower realms. We take heart for refuge in the three precious gems and seek your blessings that we may eagerly endeavor to practice the various means for abandoning what is bound to misfortune and accumulating virtuous deeds. So if we were not to reflect upon death and the fact that this life is a short duration and simply only work for the happiness of this life, then through all of the negative karmas that we create and seeking happiness only for this life, we are going to go on in future lives to experience the sufferings of bad migrations which are extremely terrible to experience.
But on the other hand, so considering the possibility of future sufferings and the negative karma that we have created and the great suffering which could be experienced if we were to take rebirth within a bad migration. We are seeking some kind of protection from that future possibility. And who is it that is able to protect us from such types of future suffering? It is the Buddhadharma and the Sangha and therefore it’s extremely important to, as the means, as the method for protecting ourselves to go for refuge. Out of a sense of anxiety about possibility of future suffering, you go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
But simply not only that, but not only that, but additionally it’s necessary to engage in the practice of karma as the law, observe the law of cause and effect, karma as causes and the results. That we should abandon creating negativities, that is the unskillful actions of body, speech and mind, especially the 10 unskillful actions, the three of body, the four of speech, the three of mind. And we should engage, we should practice in the skillful actions, make great effort in bringing about creating skillful actions. To this end, in the observation of these practices, we ask the lama to bless us. This acts as the method whereby to bring about happiness in the future lives.
That is to say the practice of going for refuge and the practice of karma, the observation of the law of cause and effect is the method by which we can achieve, we can bring ourselves happiness in future lives.