Day 9: Instructions, Empowerments and Conclusion

Instruction before the Empowerments

Today is the day for empowerments. In a while, when you come up, the important thing to bear in mind is to chant the appropriate mantra and visualize the Deity corresponding to each empowerment.

Just now, I have made a `collective invocation` to invoke all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as all devas from all times and spaces to emerge from the spiritual realm. Thus, during the empowerment, when you visualize a particular Deity to reside above your head, the Deity will appear. I, myself, at the same time will transform into that particular Deity during the empowerment. This is tantamount to having the Personal Deity perform the empowerment for you ?a direct transmission from the Divine Realm of Consciousness. [audience applause] Let us begin.

Instruction before Empowerment for Fire Puja

When you come up to receive the empowerment and when I place the empowerment vase upon your head, you should visualize fire descending upon you to burn up your whole body. The mantra to be chanted is: `Om, Be-ja, Da, Du, Fan.`

Instruction before Empowerment for Employment of Vajra and Bell

This empowerment enables you to use both the vajra and bell compassionately and wisely, in ways that are specific to each yogic intent you make: purification, enhancement, magnetization, and subjugation. During the empowerment, visualize Vajrasattva appearing above your head. Vajrasattva holds the vajra and the bell in his hands, and he may be considered to be the root transmitter of all Tantric practices. Apart from visualizing Vajrasattva, also chant the Vajrasattva Mantra: `Om, Be-ja, Sat-Do-Ah.`

Instruction before Empowerment for Manjushri

In the past, Manjushri Bodhisattva was the teacher of many Buddhas. He is a Bodhisattva of great wisdom and power. Generally, practitioners of Manjushri Yoga can achieve great intelligence and wisdom. Manjushri is also the Personal Deity of many lineage gurus, including Tsongkhapa. At the same time, many lineage gurus are human incarnations of Manjushri. During the empowerment, visualize Manjushri and chant his mantra: `Om, Ah-la-ba, Zha-na, Di.`

Instruction before Empowerment for Twenty-One Taras

The Twenty-One Taras are different manifestations of Tara who is, in effect, equivalent to Kuan Yin. Besides the White and Green Taras, who personify compassion, each of the Twenty-One Taras is in charge of a specific karma yoga. Thus the scope of the Twenty-One Taras covers a wide array of human affairs. If you know the collective mantra as well as each individual mantra of the Taras, you may do their practices to bring certain yogic intents into materialization in the physical realm. In the past, many Tibetan Buddhists engaging in the Twenty-One Tara Practices achieved great accomplishments. So, by learning to visualize the Twenty-One Taras and chant their mantras, you may, in the future, practice the Tara Yogas and enter into communion with Tara or Kuan Yin. The mantra is: `Om, Dah-le, Du-dah-le, Du-le, So-ha.`

Conclusion

There are requests for demonstrations of mudras used in deliverance rituals. Also, I need to give empowerments to several of the masters. Since remote empowerments may be given for the Treasure Boat Practice, Morici Deva Practice, Wealth Gods of Five Directions, Dream Guidance Practice of Deva of Auspiciousness, the Skeleton Visualization, and Body Offering, you may write to me later to request their specific remote empowerments. Or, perhaps in the future, when another occasion arises, you may receive the empowerments directly. Thank you for coming. [audience applause]

Om Mani Padme Hum.

An Overview of the Buddhadharma Day 9
A discourse by Living Buddha Lian-sheng at Rainbow Villa, May 13th, 1993.
Translated by Janny Chow