It is time again for the very popular Grand Puja which many Singaporean Buddhist devotees look forward to! Happening at the end of this month 24-26 Feb and organised by Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling, the very large scale pujas are conducted by 15 monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery, as well as personally graced by His Holiness Dagyab Kyabgoen Rinpoche.
Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling is a direct collegiate affiliate of Gaden Shartse Monastery, (whose gurus are His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, the late Kyabje Lati Rinpoche, the late Kyabje Trijiang Rinpoche and Zong Rinpoche, among many great high lamas). The name, Dro-Phen Ling, was auspiciously conferred upon by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, which means "a place to benefit beings".
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| His Holiness Dagyab Kyabgoen Rinpoche and entourage of monks from Gaden Shartse Monastery |
This will be a long post as I am excited to share with you these grand pujas and initiations in detail, because some of these will be conducted for the very first time in public. Past pujas of this scale have benefitted so many Singaporeans who came seeking to clear their illnesses, and/or obstacles, or simply for the blessings from the Three Jewels. In these Dharma degenerating times, whilst teachings are of extreme importance as they plant the karmic seed and affinity to meet the Buddha Dharma again in future lifetimes, PUJAS are also equally relevant as they help to clear our present problems, illnesses and obstacles, cutting away our karmic delusions and afflictions, so that we are able to practice the Dharma without hindrances, without obstacles, without delay.
This Grand Puja also coincides with Losar, the Tibetan New Year, which starts on 22 Feb 2012. It is the beginning of very important 15 holy days where the Buddha had performed miracles and where merits are multiplied by 100 million times. How incredibly wonderful and auspicious to be able to participate in this Grand Puja during Losar and to receive huge blessings and merits!
GRAND PUJAS
1. Powerful Tara Demon-Subduing Obstacle-Clearing Grand Puja
During Dharma degenerating times, Green Tara is a very effective practice to counter the occurrence of diseases, supernatural harassments, natural disasters and terrorism. This is an extremely powerful puja amongst all Tibetan Buddhist rituals, and has the swift efficacy to drive away calamities, huge obstacles, supernatural harassments and destroy black magic spells. It is especially beneficial for patients who have been ill for a long time, as well as those who are in perpetual bad luck or failed business.
This powerful ritual employs the use of many special and rare ingredients, and enables one to
- repay karmic debts to our past lives’ karmic debtors
- subdue demonic forces and evil spirits immediately
- swiftly destroy black magic and evil spells
- restore peace immediately
- subdue demonic forces and evil spirits immediately
- swiftly destroy black magic and evil spells
- restore peace immediately
2. Grand Leng Chag Torma Debt-Repayment Puja
24/02/12 (Friday) 3:00pm to 5:00pm
24/02/12 (Friday) 3:00pm to 5:00pm
Since beginningless time, we have been trapped in this uncontrolled cyclic existence of samsara, and have undergone countless rebirths. Although we are unable to recall what we did in our previous lives, it is certain that we would have committed many acts of greed and hatred out of our ignorance - which explains why we are still unable to be liberated from samsara. It is also certain that we would have accumulated many debts in all lifetimes, like owing someone a sum of money, or harming or causing the death of other sentient beings.
When we do not repay such debts and they accumulate, these debtors may one day return to seek revenge, especially during times when we are experiencing low luck. They can cause various obstacles, from illnesses to problems at work, sleepless nights,nothing seems to go smooth, or in worse scenarios, could even be fatal.
Through this Leng Chag Torma Puja, by offering torma (ritual cake offerings) to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Protectors, and together with the immaculate blessings by the Holy Speech of the Buddha’s scriptures, we purify our negative karma that we have accumulated over previous lifetimes and pay off these incurred debts.
Through this Leng Chag Torma Puja, by offering torma (ritual cake offerings) to the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Protectors, and together with the immaculate blessings by the Holy Speech of the Buddha’s scriptures, we purify our negative karma that we have accumulated over previous lifetimes and pay off these incurred debts.
3. Grand Fortune Puja of Calling Back The Soul & Luck
This is the first time this rare puja is being conducted in public. So do not miss this.
It is a samsaric phenomenon that the sentient beings are reborn due to karmic relation and delusions, where their lives are interrupted and endangered by the acts of gods, demi-gods, nagas, lords of land and terrifying spots/sights etc. On realizations with love and compassion, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have disclosed this tantric ritual where the benefit is immense and effective in saving lives.
The Immediate Cause of Losing Soul:
The Immediate Cause of Losing Soul:
- occurrence of frightening and terrifying dreams in sleep.
- visiting dreadful and scary places like high mountains, dense forest, isolated spots and houses where violent spirits live.
- unconscious wandering of mind and sleeping on peaceful, pleasant meadows etc.
The Visible Signs of "Lost Soul":
- appearance of dull body complexion
- appearance of dull facial complexion
- loses skin texture and richness
- loses personality charm and confidence
- appearing complicated fearful dreams
- intense terrible thoughts in the mind are the clear signs of being "Lost Soul". Due to these circumstantial immediate causes, the individuals lose their "soul" and eventually "die". The practical approach to triumph over the lost soul and to save the life and; this specific Tantric Ritual could invoke the soul and bring back good luck.
4. Career Blessing and Business-Boost Grand Puja
25/02/12 (Saturday), 3.00pm to 5.00pm
For businesses and careers to progress smoothly, there are many underlying conditions, many of which we are unable to influence with our own limited strength. For us to accomplish success in our business or career, we need to have the merits; for without which there can be no form of attainment. Without merit, even if a promotion is impending, for some reasons the promotion will go to someone else. Without merit, despite being friendly and nice to others, they do not appreciate and instead find opportunities to pick on you. Without merit, even if you had done everything conscientiously, problems crop up at the last moment and affect the whole project. Without merit, even if someone were to recommend a client to you, for some reasons, you will not be able to take up the job. Or even if you have completed a job, you will not be able to receive its payment. Such are the obstacles which make the journey tough and arduous.
Participating in this puja and making offerings to the Three Jewels, as well as the surrounding deities and land gods, increases our bank of merits. This puja invokes the blessings of all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Deities and Protectors, and also appeals to the area gods for their timely assistance. With divine protection and blessings, obstacles are cleared, positive conditions in workplace improve and opportunities for businesses also increase. Interested participants can bring along personal namecard.
5. Red Tara Attraction of Wealth & Power Grand Puja
This puja attracts blessings of power and wealth and this is the very first time it is being conducted in Singapore. Red Tara, who is one of the 21-Tara emanations, is a very powerful deity who subdues the three realms – desire, form and formless realms. She is red in colour, symbolizing the activity of power and magnetizing.
The Red Tara puja confers the power of magnetising everything beneficial, summoning and attracting all the positive and helpful conditions in all aspects (career, business, family, and of course spiritual practice) - with the ultimate aim of benefitting all sentient beings. By engaging in the Red Tara practice, we can draw the essence of magnetizing power, health, wealth, wisdom, obstacle-clearing... to successfully accomplish both the temporal and ultimate happiness of all sentient beings.
With pure motivation, we will beable to receive great blessings of the inconceivable magnetizing power of Red Tara; and every action becomes a direct cause for enlightenment and all virtuous minds.You can bring along your Red Tara power & wealth vase for recharge of energy during the puja. Or if you are interested, you can sponsor and invite a Red Tara power & wealth vase home.
With pure motivation, we will beable to receive great blessings of the inconceivable magnetizing power of Red Tara; and every action becomes a direct cause for enlightenment and all virtuous minds.You can bring along your Red Tara power & wealth vase for recharge of energy during the puja. Or if you are interested, you can sponsor and invite a Red Tara power & wealth vase home.
6. 21 Taras Grand Offering Puja for Success & Fulfillment
26/02/12 (Sunday), 3.00pm to 5.00pm
Tara is a fully enlightened Buddha, her enlightened activities are numerous and powerful beyond comprehension. At a relative level, she is associated with conferring blessings of obstacle-clearing, longevity, prosperity, protection and so forth. At an ultimate level, she confers all the wisdoms for the realization of the ultimate state of Buddhahood. There are many aspects of Tara, of which the 21-Tara emanations perform different activities and confer swift blessings of health, prosperity, success and power and so forth.
Tara’s colour also corresponds to each enlightened activity as mentioned above - White Tara for pacifying; Yellow Tara for increasing; Red Tara for subjugating; and Green Tara for wrathful activity.
There are four different types of enlightened activities, and each activity isrepresented by a different colour:
There are four different types of enlightened activities, and each activity isrepresented by a different colour:
1. Enlightened activity of Pacifying (white colour)
2. Enlightened activity of Increasing (yellow colour) - Increasing positive conditions for merit, success, happiness, health, longevity, peace and prosperity in one’s life and dharma practice
3. Enlightened activity of Subjugating (red colour) - Subjugating and overcoming external forces (both human and non-human), which cannot be tamed through peaceful methods of the earlier two activities.
4. Enlightened activity of Wrath (black colour) - Involves wrathful and forceful methods to accomplish activities for enlightened purposes, which cannot be achieved by engaging in any other methods
INITIATIONS
1. Vajrasattva Purification Jenang Blessing Initiation
There will come a time when we enter the dark age when Shakyamuni Buddha's teachings will no longer exist, and beings' minds will be increasingly obscured by emotional afflictions and unhappiness. For thousands of years, delusions, negativity and misfortune continue to grow, and beings will degenerate. Their lives will be fraught with many misfortunes and calamities, and their lifespans will decrease to only ten years old.
As our late guru, Kyabje Lati Rinpoche said, in order to have the realizations of the path, we have to make our mental continuum receptive and ripe for such realizations, by purifying negativities and accumulating positive potential. Another Kadampa master said, "Because the nature of all functional things is impermanent, if someone engages in the practice of purification, accumulates positive potential, practices visualizing the celestial mansion, and does the sadhana with great effort, what may now seem impossible to achieve, like high realizations, will come about one day."
Therefore, the practice of Vajrasattva meditation and recitation is very important and effective in purifying all obstacles. Unless we do purification practices to eliminate the negativities, our present store of negativities will continue to increase. As explained in the tantra - Ornament of the Vajra Essence - doing the Vajrasattva practice and reciting the 100-syllable mantra 100,000 times is said to purify the negativities if done properly, together with the four opponent powers. Refer here for the Vajrasattva practice.
2. Buddha Maitreya Jenang Blessing Initiation
Buddha Maitreya is the next Buddha after Buddha Shakyamuni, the 5th Buddha of this Fortunate Aeon, and is the embodiment of the loving-kindness of all Buddhas.
5000 years after Shakyamuni Buddha, driven by overwhelming compassion, Maitreya will manifest in the world as a great spiritual teacher, demonstrate the path of virtue, and inspire countless beings to take on the path of practice. Maitreya will particularly spread the teachings on loving kindness, resulting in the fortune of the beings in this world to change. As beings gradually abandon their deluded attitudes and unskillful actions, their lifespan increases, and after many ages, the life expectancy of humans will grow enormously and then slowly decrease again - until the human lifespan is about a hundred year.
According to the prophecy of all Buddhas, this will be the time when Maitreya Buddha will appear in this world as a universal teacher. Buddha Maitreya will give direct spiritual guidance to millions of disciples, leading countless beings to become Arhats, Bodhisattvas and fully-enlightened Buddhas.
This initiation specially conferred by His Holiness Dagyab Rinpoche is to make special karmic connection with Buddha Maitreya, so that we can become his disciples and receive his teachings directly when Buddha Shaykamuni’s doctrine has degenerated in this world. In order that our accumulated root virtues may not disappear (over time), we will entrust them to Buddha Maitreya. When he comes to this continent, displaying his supreme Nirmanakaya form and performing the deeds of a Buddha, we shall be among the followers of this Victorious One through the power of these root merits. We shall enjoy the nectar of his speech and be able to receive from him the prediction of our own peerless enlightenment.
3. White Tara Long Life Jenang Blessing Initiation
26/02/12 (Sun) 7:30pm to 9:30pm
The human body and life is not only precious and rare, it also has great and far-reaching potential to bring us vast benefits. We must know how to correctly utilize it. From a mundane perspective, it is ironic that many of us pursue wealth and fortune, happiness and health, yet we do not realize the very human life that we already possess, is in fact harder to achieve, and can bring about much greater benefit, than all those temporal desires.
To a true Buddhist practitioner, the ultimate state of liberation can only be attained by utilizing one’s precious fully-endowed human life - to contact the precious dharma, to meet the perfect teacher, to continue their practice.
In this degenerating times, many phenomena such as accidents and calamities may take away our precious life prematurely. The human life is extremely fragile; and we do not know when death will occur, it is essential that we cherish our life, perform virtuous acts, practise giving; and would be most beneficial if we can also engage in a long life practice.
Participating in a long life puja and receiving a long life initiation are some ways to protect our precious human life. The White Tara practice is specially known for bestowing long life benefits. The correct motivation to engage in a long-life practice should be that of a great wish to have extended time for dharma practice and benefiting other beings, and not that of wishing to enjoy the luxuries of life.
During the initiation, Dagyab Rinpoche will invite the presence of the White Tara Goddess to confer the blessings onto the participants as well as conferring the oral transmission of the heart mantra of the deity during theinitiation. Long-life pills and long-life nectar will also be distributed, when upon consumption it is believed to bestow special blessings for a healthy long life. Also, should one be able to chant the mantra daily without interruption, it shall have vast benefits on one’s life and general well-being.
As our late guru, Kyabje Lati Rinpoche said, in order to have the realizations of the path, we have to make our mental continuum receptive and ripe for such realizations, by purifying negativities and accumulating positive potential. Another Kadampa master said, "Because the nature of all functional things is impermanent, if someone engages in the practice of purification, accumulates positive potential, practices visualizing the celestial mansion, and does the sadhana with great effort, what may now seem impossible to achieve, like high realizations, will come about one day."
Therefore, the practice of Vajrasattva meditation and recitation is very important and effective in purifying all obstacles. Unless we do purification practices to eliminate the negativities, our present store of negativities will continue to increase. As explained in the tantra - Ornament of the Vajra Essence - doing the Vajrasattva practice and reciting the 100-syllable mantra 100,000 times is said to purify the negativities if done properly, together with the four opponent powers. Refer here for the Vajrasattva practice.
2. Buddha Maitreya Jenang Blessing Initiation
25/02/12 (Sat) 7:30pm to 9:30pm
5000 years after Shakyamuni Buddha, driven by overwhelming compassion, Maitreya will manifest in the world as a great spiritual teacher, demonstrate the path of virtue, and inspire countless beings to take on the path of practice. Maitreya will particularly spread the teachings on loving kindness, resulting in the fortune of the beings in this world to change. As beings gradually abandon their deluded attitudes and unskillful actions, their lifespan increases, and after many ages, the life expectancy of humans will grow enormously and then slowly decrease again - until the human lifespan is about a hundred year.
According to the prophecy of all Buddhas, this will be the time when Maitreya Buddha will appear in this world as a universal teacher. Buddha Maitreya will give direct spiritual guidance to millions of disciples, leading countless beings to become Arhats, Bodhisattvas and fully-enlightened Buddhas.
This initiation specially conferred by His Holiness Dagyab Rinpoche is to make special karmic connection with Buddha Maitreya, so that we can become his disciples and receive his teachings directly when Buddha Shaykamuni’s doctrine has degenerated in this world. In order that our accumulated root virtues may not disappear (over time), we will entrust them to Buddha Maitreya. When he comes to this continent, displaying his supreme Nirmanakaya form and performing the deeds of a Buddha, we shall be among the followers of this Victorious One through the power of these root merits. We shall enjoy the nectar of his speech and be able to receive from him the prediction of our own peerless enlightenment.
3. White Tara Long Life Jenang Blessing Initiation
The human body and life is not only precious and rare, it also has great and far-reaching potential to bring us vast benefits. We must know how to correctly utilize it. From a mundane perspective, it is ironic that many of us pursue wealth and fortune, happiness and health, yet we do not realize the very human life that we already possess, is in fact harder to achieve, and can bring about much greater benefit, than all those temporal desires.
To a true Buddhist practitioner, the ultimate state of liberation can only be attained by utilizing one’s precious fully-endowed human life - to contact the precious dharma, to meet the perfect teacher, to continue their practice.
In this degenerating times, many phenomena such as accidents and calamities may take away our precious life prematurely. The human life is extremely fragile; and we do not know when death will occur, it is essential that we cherish our life, perform virtuous acts, practise giving; and would be most beneficial if we can also engage in a long life practice.
Participating in a long life puja and receiving a long life initiation are some ways to protect our precious human life. The White Tara practice is specially known for bestowing long life benefits. The correct motivation to engage in a long-life practice should be that of a great wish to have extended time for dharma practice and benefiting other beings, and not that of wishing to enjoy the luxuries of life.
During the initiation, Dagyab Rinpoche will invite the presence of the White Tara Goddess to confer the blessings onto the participants as well as conferring the oral transmission of the heart mantra of the deity during theinitiation. Long-life pills and long-life nectar will also be distributed, when upon consumption it is believed to bestow special blessings for a healthy long life. Also, should one be able to chant the mantra daily without interruption, it shall have vast benefits on one’s life and general well-being.
And prior to the Grand Puja, there will be an auspicious Fire Puja to be conducted in Dro-Phen Ling centre (at 12 Guillemard Lane).
Increase Fire Puja
18/02/12 (Sat) 7:30pm to 9.30pm
A fire puja is a Buddhist ritual that purifies the environment, bestows blessingson the participants, and promotes world peace and harmony. There are 4 types of ritual fire offerings:
(1) Peaceful (2) Increase (3) Subduing (4) Forceful
There are 4 objects of offering, the offering to deities being the main focus:
Offeringto (1) all Buddha, Bodhisattvas and deities
Offeringto (2) Protectors and highly-realized worldly gods
Givingto (3) all mother sentient beings
Giving to (4) all spirits and hungry ghosts.
All the offerings and ingredients used in the fire puja are very precise and rare, hence the fire puja is a very special ritual. Each offering also has a specific purpose. The general purpose of the offering is to remove obstacles to enligtenment by removing stains left by ordinary unwholesome actions,especially broken pledges, and to prevent all inauspicious circumstances.
Participating in the Increase ritual fire puja can increase our merits, health, lifespan, wisdom, wealth and the wisdom of hearing, thinking and meditation. All auspicious things will grow and expand. Dagyab Rinpoche will be personally conducting this fire puja.
For more information on His Holiness the 9th Dagyab Kyabgoen Rinpoche who is based in Germany, go to Rinpoche's website or Dro-Phen Ling's website.
Participating in the Increase ritual fire puja can increase our merits, health, lifespan, wisdom, wealth and the wisdom of hearing, thinking and meditation. All auspicious things will grow and expand. Dagyab Rinpoche will be personally conducting this fire puja.
For more information on His Holiness the 9th Dagyab Kyabgoen Rinpoche who is based in Germany, go to Rinpoche's website or Dro-Phen Ling's website.
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| His Holiness Dagyab Rinpoche seen here with His Holiness Dalai Lama in Germany |
See you at the Grand Puja!!!
Date: 24-26 Feb 2012
Time: 10:00am to 9:30pm daily
Venue: Tai Pei Buddhist Centre
Address: 2 Lavender Street, Singapore 338823.
Venue: Tai Pei Buddhist Centre
Address: 2 Lavender Street, Singapore 338823.
For more information and updates on the Grand Puja, visit Gaden Shartse Dro-Phen Ling's website or 'Like' their Facebook Page, or call/drop in at the centre for a copy of the brochure.
May all be auspicious according to the Dharma.
May all be auspicious according to the Dharma.
WOWWWWW!!! What a wonderful post!!! THANK U FOR SHARING Stumpbo!!
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