How to Help the Victims of Earthquakes and Tsunamis

Thank you for your messages asking how to help those who have died and have suffered so much in Asia as a result of the great earthquake and tsunami.

I have been doing the five great powerful mantras and Medicine Buddha puja as well as extensive offerings.

Regarding the prayers to help those who have died, this is my suggestion for practices that the centers and students can do:

• Recitation of the five powerful mantras
• Medicine Buddha puja: recite the Medicine Buddha name mantras
• Sur offering
• Recitation of OM MANI PADME HUM, with tonglen
• Nyung nä practice
• Tsog offerings

The five powerful mantras are:

1. Kunrig
2. Mitukpa
3. Namgyälma
4. Stainless Pinnacle
5. Wish-granting Wheel Mantra (which I would like to now translate as: the Lotus Pinnacle of Amoghapasha, the heart of the Stainless One.)

Benefits of the five powerful mantras

The five powerful deities manifested to purify negative karma; these mantras are extremely good and are the main mantras used in jangwa practices for the dead. They are the key mantras for blessing mustard seeds that are used to throw on the [body] of those who have passed away so that the consciousness can be hooked. These mantras are very important and very powerful in the jangwa prayers.

In powa first there is the purification and then there is the recitation of these mantras that make it more possible to reach the pure land. The five powerful mantras can be used in holy objects, for blessing water, blessing seeds (for example, black sesame seeds which are then used to sprinkle on a dead body). The mantras when written can be put on the head of a dead person.

Any one of these five powerful mantras can be recited for any person who has died in order to liberate them from the three lower realms. You recite the mantra while thinking of the person(s) who have died.

These five great powerful mantras have an unbelievable positive effect for those who have died. The benefits of reciting these mantras are mind-blowing.

What to think while reciting the five powerful mantras

Before reciting the mantra of each deity you can do the seven limbs from the King of Prayers of Good Deeds. Within the seven limbs you can perform extensive offerings. According to the physical space you have, try to set up as many offerings as possible, especially light offerings. You can do it at your home and you can even set up many Christmas lights over the trees and offer as light offerings. Within the seven limbs do extensive rejoicing.

These practices are creating merit which you then completely dedicate to those who have died. At the same time you can dedicate the merit to all those who have died in war. This is such an excellent thing to do. We create so much merit this way and we have so much to give to those who have died and those who are suffering. Many have died a terrifying death.

Do the seven-limb puja with each deity and when reciting the mantra of each deity make strong requests to purify all the six-realm sentient beings, especially those who have just died. When you finish each deity’s mantra recitation then you can do extensive dedication. The more we recite the mantra the more we dedicate; the more extensively we do the seven-limb puja the more merit we create, which we then dedicate to those who have died and have suffered so much.

After reciting each mantra of each deity visualize that all sentient beings have been purified and also visualize that each sentient being receives all the qualities of the Buddha. You can visualize that each sentient being achieves enlightenment in the form of that deity. If you are not familiar with how that deity appears then you can just think of the aspect of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Visualize the deity absorbing into you and then go on to the next deity. At the end of the practice of the five great mantras then again try to do dedication as extensively as possible.

Other practices you can do

Medicine Buddha puja and after completing Medicine Buddha puja then do the King of Prayers, and again do extensive dedications as we have in the FPMT prayer book. Especially do the dedication sealing with emptiness.

Other ways to benefit those who have died, if people are very keen to help, is to do nyung nä for them.

Another way to help is to do tsog offering.

Of course, reciting OM MANI PADME HUM is excellent, or any mantra that you can do for those who have died.

Also you can recite OM MANI PADME HUM with tonglen practice, taking on all their sufferings and giving away all your happiness.

Then there is the Yeshe Tala mantra. When recited 21 times it definitely liberates beings from the three lower realms.

Another very powerful method is sur offering (burning puja offering aroma.) This is a way of helping those who have died and are in the intermediate state. I try to do this as much as I can, almost every day. This is an excellent method to help those in the intermediate state. Intermediate state beings have clairvoyance so when you think of them they can be present.

In the sur practice there is a very important prayer where you ask the intermediate state beings to remember the past advice of their gurus etc., and in this way you can help them to be reborn in the blissful pure land of Amitabha. You can also add instructions on bodhicitta using the stanzas from Lama Chöpa.

Generally any virtuous action can be dedicated to helping the victims, even eating Chinese noodles, McDonald's burgers or gelato ice-cream.

With much love and prayers ...