Guru Rinpoche 蓮花生大士, The Lotus Born

When I was in ABC for teaching the other evening, I saw a new addition in the gompa - it was a big magnificent beautiful statue of Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche (蓮花生大士) !! Immediately, I fell down on my knees to do 3 prostrations to pay my respect to this Buddha and quickly proceeded to chant a few malas of his mantra "Om ah hum vajra guru padme siddhi hung" as well as his seven-line prayer.

Guru Rinpoche in Amitabha Buddhist Centre

I really love Guru Rinpoche a lot and there is a reason why. I previously had 2 dreams of Guru Rinpoche. The first dream was on Vesak Day. I saw from the dim sky above, the clouds suddenly parted and miraculously appeared a gigantic thangka which rolled down by itself slowly. When the thangka was fully opened, there was a stream of blinding bright light from the sky shining on the thangka which revealed a magnificent Guru Rinpoche! I was so awed.

The second dream was a long dream of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. In the dream, when I made an offering to His Holiness, he accepted the offering with his right hand. And when his right palm opened again, a small statue of Guru Rinpoche in magnificent glory was revealed. I teared when His Holiness gave me the statue of Guru Rinpoche in its colourful splendour. 

Recently, a Rinpoche has advised me to chant the mantra of Guru Rinpoche on a daily basis. Since these were auspicious signs, I am especially happy whenever I see Guru Rinpoche or whenever I chant his mantra/prayer.

Guru Padmasambhava, The Lotus Born is popularly known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru). He was born after the 24 years of Parinirvana of Buddha Shakyamuni and is renowned as the Second Buddha. He is the essence of Buddha Amitabha, who conceived the thought of enlightenment in form of Avalokiteshvara, and from the heart of Avalokiteshvara, Guru Rinpoche is born from the lotus, emanated from the seed syllable 'HRIH'. He is a great Tantric Buddhist Master.  Guru Rinpoche has 8 Manifestations and spent his life in Tibet between 747 A.D. to 765 A.D. He is said to remain in the "immortal rainbow body of transference". He had 25 great disciples who were instrumental in preserving the teachings of Lord Buddha till today through various manifestations. Here is a brief story of Guru Rinpoche.

What are the benefits of the sacred mantra of Guru Rinpoche? Guru Rinpoche revealed  these to his closest disciple, Yeshe Tsogyal. In his own words....

In the future, such times will befall sentient beings and both in a temporary and in a long term sense, the benefits of the Vajra Guru mantra can be definitely be felt. Since my spiritual instructions and the methods of practice that I offer are immeasurable, I have hidden a great number of treasure teachings in the water, rocks, the sky and so forth. In these evil times, even individuals with fortunate karma will find it difficult to encounter these teachings. It will be difficult to bring together the necessary circumstances for these teachings to be revealed. This is a sign that the collective merit of beings is on the wane.

However, at such times, if this essence mantra, the Vajra Guru mantra, is repeated as much as possible, a hundred times, a thousand times, ten thousand times, a hundred thousand times, a million, ten million, a hundred million times and so forth, if it is repeated in holy places, in temples, next to great rivers, in areas where gods and demons abound, if it is recited in these places by tantric practitioners with pure samaya, by people with monastic ordination who maintain their vows purely, by men and women who possess faith in the teachings, if they give rise to bodhicitta on a grand scale and recite this mantra, then the benefits and advantages and energy of such practice are truly inconceivable. This will avert all of the negative forces of disease, famine, unrest, bad harvests and all bad omens and indications in all the countries of the world, such that the rain will fall in a timely manner for the crops so there will always be a plentiful supply of water for agriculture and for human and animal life, and all regions and areas will experience prosperity and auspicious conditions."

In this life, in future lives, and in the intermediate state between death and rebirth, these individuals who practice in this way will meet with me again and again. The very best of these individuals will actually meet me in their waking consciousness. Those of middling degree of attainment will meet with me again and again in their dreams. Gradually perfecting the different paths and levels of their practice, they will attain to the ranks of the masculine and feminine holders of intrinsic awareness in my pure land in the continent of Ngayab. Have no doubt of this.

If this mantra is recited 100 times a day, merely a 100 times a day without interruption, one will become attractive to others and will effortlessly come by food and wealth and the necessities of life.

If one recites it a 1000 or 10,000 times on a daily basis, one is able to literally overwhelm others with one's brilliance, in the sense of becoming very charismatic and influential in exerting a positive influence over others, and one will gain unhindered force of blessings and spiritual power.

If one repeats it a 100,000 times or a million times on a regular basis, one will become capable of effecting an immeasurably great benefit for beings, exactly as one would wish to.

If one recites the mantra 3 or 7 million times, one is never separate from the Buddhas of the three times and one becomes inseparable from me. All the gods and demons of existence will attend to one and offer their praises.

In the most excellent cases, individuals will attain the rainbow body, and the final level of attainment in this lifetime. On a more middling level, at the moment of death, the mother and child aspects of radiant luminosity will meet. At the very least, individuals will behold my face in the bardo state and all the appearances of the bardo state will be free in their own ground such that these individuals will be reborn on the continent of Ngayab and from that vantage point, be able to accomplish an immeasurable amount of benefit to beings.

The Vajra Guru mantra is: 

OM AH HUM VAJRA GURU PADME SIDDHI HUNG

Together with this mantra, one can make supplication to and invoke Guru Rinpoche with his seven-line prayer.

Guru Rinpoche said, “To this very prayer, you can give your whole mind in devotion. When a disciple calls upon me with yearning devotion, and with the melodious song of the Seven-Line Prayer, I shall come straightaway from Zangdokpalri, like a mother who cannot resist the call of her child."