2. The Qualities of Chenrezig

All the time, even when we are dying, we should think of benefiting others by giving teachings, etc. Usually our own happiness is more important. Which would we choose, the happiness of our mummy or of ourselves? If our mummy could get sick instead of us, or if we had to choose between her health or ours, the answer is, “I want happiness and don’t want suffering.” This is always the answer, from the depths of our heart, although we may speak otherwise. Actually, we should want to separate all sentient beings from suffering and should always be involved in that thought. It’s difficult for us to [choose] the separation from suffering for our own mother in this life, who’s been extremely kind.

These two offerings are equal—offering food to a bodhisattva or to someone who is doing nyung nä the next day. If we make offering to one person on the first day of a nyung nä, it’s like making offerings to the five arhats. These two merits are equal and the benefit we get is equal. Offering food to the arhats and to someone who has taken the Mahayana precepts are equal. If we offer lunch to our father who took the eight Mahayana precepts that day, it’s the same merit as offering lunch to an arhat. There is benefit in this life too: we will be affluent and not short of food. We won’t face the difficulty of being short of money, without enough to buy food and clothes. We won’t face illness, starvation or other difficulties because of this, and we will have high stages of rebirth, being born in a pure realm.

Even making the smallest statue of Chenrezig, we receive merit equal to making statues of all the buddhas. If we visualize Chenrezig for one minute, it’s the same merit as visualizing all the buddhas. If we visualize Chenrezig in front and sincerely make one prostration, we get the same merit as prostrating to all the buddhas. Even if we don’t have a statue, if we visualize Chenrezig and offer incense or flowers, it’s like offering to all the buddhas.
 
The reason we get the same merit is because Chenrezig does the actions of the buddhas of all three times and he benefits sentient beings limitlessly. He manifests as sravakas or arhats or in various worlds to benefit sentient beings. He may also manifest as gandharvas, yakshas, devas or as a king, as His Holiness the Dalai Lama or as a commander. Sometimes he may appear as a woman, a crazy man or a prisoner in order to benefit sentient beings.

How Chenrezig Mantra Protects Us

Chenrezig promised that whoever says his mantra will be protected, saved from the lower realms and given refuge. Since he promised this, we won’t be deceived. If we make connection with Chenrezig by reciting his mantra, he won’t deceive us at any time. Chenrezig himself said, “Whichever sentient being recites my mantra, memorizes it, counts it while reciting, remembers me all the time and recites the mantra all the time, if this person is born in the lower realms, may I never be enlightened at all.” This is a promise he made as a bodhisattva. “If such a person who does like this is born in the lower realms, may I never be enlightened.”

But Chenrezig is enlightened, so it proves we won’t be born in the lower realms if we do this action perfectly. If this fact were deceptive, Chenrezig wouldn’t be enlightened; but he was enlightened eons ago. Chenrezig said, “Whoever recites the mantra with a kind heart, if they are not born in the pure realms, may I not be enlightened.” If a person who is kindhearted always recites the mantra but doesn’t get what they wished or have their wishes actualized in this life, then this mantra wouldn’t be called the compassionate deity’s mantra. Those who are skeptical or doubtful of the benefits of the mantra and don’t visualize Chenrezig, then their wishes won’t be fulfilled.

Those born as a woman have lots of hindrances for Dharma practice. “If a woman, with the intention of getting a male rebirth conducive for Dharma practice, doesn’t get a male rebirth next time, may I not be enlightened.” For those who lack faith or doubt the benefit of the mantra, when this thought comes up, then whatever prayers they make or wishes they have, won’t be fulfilled.

There isn’t any disease which can’t be cured by recitation of Chenrezig’s mantra. By chance, if sometimes we don’t get cured, it’s not because of the mantra but because of our doubt and lack of faith. In Tibet, there were lepers, people full of wounds from nagas, or those suffering from stroke, who with single-pointed recitation of the mantra were cured. There are many examples. One blind woman, with effort and a pure mind recited the mantra, then she blew into her handkerchief and wiped her eyes. Then one morning, she could see everything. Sores, poisoning, there’s nothing which can’t be cured by reciting the mantra with strong faith. In the lineage of gurus of Chenrezig, there are many instances of those infected by leprosy or having strokes; but by saying the sadhana and reciting the mantra with faith, they were cured.

Any obscurations or defilements can be purified by recitation of the mantra. For example, obscurations resulting from depriving the Sangha of materials, embezzling of Sangha materials or wasting it without doing what we’re supposed to do with it, depriving the Three Jewels or the guru of their materials, using materials dedicated to the Three Jewels by wasting it ourselves—all these obscurations can be cleansed by recitation of the mantra. Nonvirtuous actions such as the five heinous crimes or the five close-to-heinous crimes can also be cleansed by mere recitation.¹ By merely committing one heinous crime, we can be born in the hell of no respite where the lifespan is one great eon. Because the suffering in the Avici naraks is so long, so extensive, these heinous crimes are called demarcationless; no demarcation can be transcended. In the same way, casting aspersions on the Sangha, desecrating stupas or temples containing holy scriptures or statues, destroying the vows of others, making business with scriptures or statues, is all very heavy negative karma.

In Tibet, there was one benefactor who was very rich. He owned a Prajnaparamita text and sold it. Using this money to buy food, the man invited one great lama. The lama rejected the invitation since he knew what kind of food would be served and the source of it. He asked a disciple to go instead, along with four other monks. Just after eating the food, which was purchased with money from selling the text, the disciple had acute pain. He was a great yogi of Chenrezig, with high realizations, so he checked up what the pain was from and saw a white AH moving up and down in his stomach.
 
The disciple made a strong request to Chenrezig, who manifested. He asked Chenrezig why he had such pain and Chenrezig answered that it was because he ate food which had come from money from selling the sutra. The other four monks, who didn’t have high realizations, enjoyed the food and had a good time. Chenrezig told the disciple, “Since you have thin obscurations, the maturation of eating the food is experienced now. But the four others, because their obscurations are thick, will experience the result in hell.” Chenrezig told the disciple to write the Prajnaparamita sutra in gold letters for purification.

If we are healthy and think that karma doesn’t work for us, this is wrong, because the result is experienced in future lives. If we don’t purify in this life, we’ll go to the lower realms. If we have money from selling scriptures, what should be done with it? Offer it to the guru, to lamas or monasteries, or to buy scriptures. Don’t keep one rupee for yourself.

These negativities as said here can all be purified if we recite the mantra. If we think of Chenrezig properly and recite the long mantra 108 times, then we’ll go to the pure realms. The merits are equal to reciting the mantras of a billion buddhas or, for one instance, thinking of Chenrezig and reciting the mantra. By reciting the mantra or taking the name Chenrezig, we can receive high realizations, the non-returning stage and freedom from illnesses. If we recite the mantra, visualize and think of Chenrezig all the time, enlightenment will be handed to us.

Chenrezig wished as a bodhisattva to manifest especially in times of the five degenerations, when people have heresy and cast aspersion on lamas. For example, ; when people say “Dharma doesn’t fill your stomach. Doing Dharma is of no value, it’s better to do business. You don’t have a happy life if you do Dharma.” Or when they have heretical thoughts and cast aspersions on Dharma; when they say, “If I practice Dharma, I’ll get sick, so it’s better if I don’t practice.” Or when they commit heavy negativities, like butchers or fishermen.
 
Chenrezig made the promise, “By thinking of me and reciting mantra, may they be protected and led from the lower realms. May I have a thousand hands with a thousand eyes.” It happens because of the truth of his words. So may we all the time take refuge in Chenrezig and be protected.

If the long mantra is recited 108 times with a kind heart at dawn each morning, there are ten benefits that are received, even in this life. We will have less illness and all the time we will be looked after and supported by the buddhas and protectors who are aligned with virtue. Without much difficulty, we will be able to find materials like money. The vicious minds of our enemies will be subdued, for example, the vicious intent of jackals and other animals will be pacified. We will be free from fears and our family will be scrupulously revered. Harms from poison won’t be received, nor will hindrances from ghosts, spirits or pretas who hold strong grudges against their enemies. Even if we don’t wear fragrance, we’ll have a good smell or morality. We won’t hear harsh words, contract contagious disease or die an untimely death. We’ll receive four attributes and at death time, we’ll be received by Brahma and the buddhas will manifest.

In Tibet, one lady who had nothing died on the road. Rainbow rays came from her body and there were lots of other signs when she died. While alive she possessed nothing, but with a kind heart she recited mantras and begged for food. That’s all she did while alive.

Other people have different signs at death. They roll in their beds, their eyes staring and repulsive, they yell and cry out due to visions, illusions of their negative karma appearing. There are hallucinations like a tiger-headed man with an axe chasing them. It is seen as solid and real because of engaging in nonvirtuous actions during their entire life. One man who was treasurer of a monastery embezzled a chest of tea and at deathtime he shouted that a big chest of tea was pressing down on him. He had not purified this nonvirtuous action before he died. One village leader during his life had done an injustice to another, beating him. At death he cried out that “All the villagers are coming to beat me.” This is foretelling rebirth in the hells. Before leaving the body, signs of rebirth in the lower realms appear.

If we recite the long mantra with a kind heart at dawn every day, we will not be reborn in the lower realms. At death, there are good signs--rainbows and flowers--like at the death of lamas. We will be born in the pure realms and will soon become a bodhisattva.

The Meaning of OM MANI PADME HUM

Now, the explanation of the short mantra. OM symbolizes the qualities of Buddha’s holy body, speech and mind. MANI symbolizes method; PADME, wisdom; and HUM, the great blissful wisdom of Buddha, the five wisdoms of buddhas. HRIH symbolizes the mind of Chenrezig. MANI, or method of other paths is different. To the Sravaka, it is renunciation and in the Mahayana, it is the first five paramitas. The tantric method is the wisdom of great bliss, according to Maha-anuttara Yoga Tantra. It transcends the lower tantras because its method is great bliss, and this is why it is quicker. The achievement of enlightenment isn’t because of wisdom but because of method.
 
According to Maha-anuttara Yoga Tantra, MANI signifies great bliss as method and PADME, the wisdom of voidness. MANI is the wisdom of great bliss which pervades all voidness, the realization of voidness. In the name Dorje Jigje, dorje represents method and jigje, wisdom; in Dorje Sempa, dorje is method and sempa symbolizes voidness. For Heruka, heru symbolizes method and ka, voidness.

In deities with a consort, the consort is wisdom and the deity himself is method.

We will receive the powerful attainment of long life and hindrances to our Dharma practice by enemies and non-human interferers will be pacified. The eight common powerful attainments and the supreme powerful attainment can be received by recitation of mani. Buddha said that even if it rained continuously for twelve years, we can count the drops of rain, but we can’t count the benefits of reciting this mantra.

Those who recite this mantra all the time and wear the written mantra of Chenrezig on a string can be protected from wild animals, can be saved from the lower realms and can purify much negativity. If such a person touches other people or even animals, their obscurations will be purified by that touch.
 
By merely seeing a person who recites the mantra, does the practice and visualizes Chenrezig, others’ obscurations will be purified. For those who recite the mantra single-pointedly and all the time remember Chenrezig, after death they will see Chenrezig and receive powerful attainments. At deathtime they’ll be taken by all the buddhas to the pure realms, where, by obtaining birth from a lotus, they can directly behold Amitabha.

Keeping these benefits and advantages in mind, do the fasting puja. Also, we should pray to be able to do this again.

[End of discourse]

Notes

¹ See the five immediate negativities and the five near immediate negativities. [Return to text]