Prabhutaratna is the principal deity of the enrichment practice. Living Buddha Lian-sheng reiterated that the Smoke Offering Sadhana cannot be altered. ''Four-armed Guanyin'' should be the principal deity of the practice. One must not practice the Smoke Offering Sadhana in a cemetary! However, group practice at temples, chapters or cultivation venues is permissible.
【Reported at Nantou by Master Liandian, Translated by DJ Chang, and Edited by Henry Wolf】
On Saturday, January 30, 2016, Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu presided over a Prabhutaratna Homa Ceremony at Taiwan Lei Tsang Temple. After the homa, Living Buddha Lian-sheng first talked about today's Prabhutaratna Buddha who is known by many names. ''Baosheng Buddha'' mentioned in the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra is namely Prabhutaratna Buddha.
Prabhutaratna is a buddha residing in the Eastern Baojing World. After entering into nirvana in the human world he made a vow that whenever anyone (including buddhas) gives a discourse on the Lotus Sutra he will manifest himself before that person and support him. After Prabhutaratna attained enlightenment, no one supplicated him to remain on earth and teach the dharma because nobody knew of him. As a result, he quickly entered into nirvana without ever giving any dharma teachings.
Shakyamuni Buddha, during his era, was once giving a discourse on the Lotus Sutra at Vulture Peak. As he was giving his discourse a stupa rose up suddenly from under the ground. Prabhutaratna manifested inside the stupa and praised Shakyamuni. (Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4, Verse 11, Stupa) This was due to the vow made by Prabhutaratna.
Prabhutaratna praised the Lotus Sutra taught by Sakyamuni Buddha as a true and authentic sutra.
Normally it was ''one stupa, one buddha'' and Prabhutaratna was the only buddha residing within it. However, when he manifested, Prabhutaratna made space next to himself. When Shakyamuni Buddha entered the stupa he sat side by side with Prabhutaratna so that there were two Tathagatas sitting together in one dharma throne. This was to demonstrate that Prabhutaratna and Shakyamuni Buddha are equals. Since then, it has been a much-told tale. It also showed the greatness of Prabhutaratna!
The merits of cultivating the Prabhutaratna practice are:
By hearing the buddha name ''Prabhutaratna,'' sentient beings will have abundant wealth. Whatever wealth or riches one may visualize one can receive it and use it infinitely.
When ghosts recite the name ''Prabhutaratna,'' their evil habits of stinginess accumulated over many lifetimes will be destroyed and they will become full of good fortune and merit.
This Tathagata is the principal deity of the enrichment dharma of the Lotus Sutra. Especially when one spreads the dharma of the Lotus Sutra, Prabhutaratna will definitely come up from under the ground and rise high into the sky. Prabhutaratna is actually a wealth deity. That's because Prabhutaratna is the principal deity of the enrichment dharma and the principal deity of the enrichment dharma is a wealth deity.
Living Buddha Lian-sheng then gave the discourse about the principal deities for the four karmic practices in Vajrayana:
Calamity Eradication: deities such as Avalokiteshvara...;
Enrichment: deities such as Prabhutaratna (the only principal deity who is a buddha), Red Jambhala, Yellow Jambhala, Green Jambhala...;
Magnetization: principal deities who are red in color such as Kurukulle, Ragaraja...;
Subjugation: principal deities who are blue in color, vajra dharma protectors...
During this year's Fortune God Ceremony at Emperor Temple, Living Buddha Lian-sheng will transmit the practice of Taisan, The Eastern Peak Emperor in charge of both Yin and Yang Realms, and the Fortune Enhancing Practice.
When one speaks of ''Prabhutaratna'' by association one also speaks of wealth.
Living Buddha Lian-sheng then told a story about how he once searched for a good feng shui location and found a place so great that whoever was able to own the place would become the wealthiest person in the world. This place was located in the vicinity above what is now Seattle Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple (LSCTT). It was later occupied by Microsoft, founded by Bill Gates, who is indeed the wealthiest man in the world.
The reason that the True Buddha School has been able to blossom and spread all over the world and reach five million disciples is because Grandmaster Lu also recognized another great property that scored the highest in feng shui. This property is today's LSCTT, located in the vicinity right below Microsoft!
Living Buddha Lian-sheng talked about what was ''rich'' and what was ''poor?'' Just ''don't talk about it!'' (witticism) Therefore, practitioners must understand not to desire too much. Having ''just enough'' is ''good enough!''
In Thailand, it is very popular to make unusual amulets or Buddha pendants from aborted baby spirits or ashes from cremation. This is a kind of black art which uses the supernatural power of ''ghosts'' to assist people. Although one may receive a certain response by ''keeping ghosts'' this is of no benefit to one's cultivation. On the contrary, one may end up reborn in a ghost family.
Living Buddha Lian-sheng once again mentioned certain points practitioners must pay attention to in performing the Smoke Offering Practice.
The lineage of True Buddha School's Smoke Offering Practice comes from Thubten Nyima - Thubten Dali - Thubten Dargye - Thubten Qimo (Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu)
The texts of both the Smoke Offering Practice and the Yamantaka Practice have been passed down to Master Lianling.
The main purpose of the True Buddha School's Smoke Offering Practice is to eradicate one's karmic hindrances. By making a smoke offering to one's karmic creditors one pleases one's karmic creditors. They will then either leave one alone or provide help. In order to help disciples who cannot practice the Smoke Offering at home, Living Buddha Lian-sheng has now lifted one of the prohibitions recently announced by the True Buddha Foundation, namely, ''Do not hold any Smoke Offering group practice at temples, chapters, and cultivation venues.'' Living Buddha Lian-sheng explained that as long as one performs proper boundary protection that fences well, invokes Four-armed Guanyin as the principal deity of the practice, and properly follows the steps of the Sadhana, one may practice the ritual by making the smoke offering to karmic creditors either alone at home or at cultivation venues via a group practice.
Living Buddha Lian-sheng further explained that both Taoist Sacrificial Ceremonies and King Boat Burning Ceremonies are universal deliverance and grand offerings. The steps are very strict and the ceremonies must be performed on certain special days. The ceremonies must include all the residents of a village who must also invite many Taoist masters to perform the ceremonies. Living Buddha Lian-sheng knows these practices so well that he can be truly recognized as the ''patriarch'' of these Taoist practices.
When Grandmaster Lu was twenty-seven years old, he stayed in the Jiying Temple in Muzha for two months while he was surveying in the proximity of Muzha, Taipei and Jingmei. He became an acquaintance of Zhang Xun (King Baoyi), the main deity of the temple, and of General Xu Yuan.
Following is an excerpt from Living Buddha Lian-sheng Book 19, Spirits and I:
''I stayed in the Jiying Temple on the Jiying road in Muzha while on a business trip in the northern part of Taiwan. This Jiying Temple was not small. It enshrined and worshipped King Baoyi and General Baoyi. The legend says that they were Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan. This was therefore a temple with one martial general and one civil officer. I paid homage to them and retired to my room. That night I had a strange dream. In the dream, I saw a small cloud floating slowly into my room. Where the cloud faded away there was a general wearing a metal helmet and armor He stretched out his hand and touched my head. My head then manifested three rays of light in white, red, and golden color respectively. The helmeted and armored general smiled then touched my head again. The three lights disappeared. So did the general.''
Hence, if one makes offerings to ghosts, one will be reborn in the ghost worlds; if to gods, reborn in the god worlds; to bodhisattvas, reborn in the bodhisattva lands; and to buddhas, reborn in buddha lands. If one makes offerings to the root guru, one will then be reborn in the Vairocana Pure Land, because the root lineage of Grandmaster is Vairocana.
Today Grandmaster clarified confusion in the human realm concerning the various levels among ghosts, immortals, and bodhisattvas.
At the end of the ceremony, Living Buddha Lian-sheng bestowed an empowerment of Prabhutaratna Uncommon Practice which concluded the ceremony perfectly and auspiciously.
Video link：
《抵達．上香》
https://youtu.be/fiKmIyxx2Bs
《禮敬諸佛》
https://youtu.be/qYVzLOyBTTw
《為壇城開光、加持大悲咒水、作總加持》
https://youtu.be/ifg8Rg1zw0s
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True Buddha Dharma-character Treasury - Prabhutaratna
Prabhutaratna Homa Ceremony 3:00pm Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016 at Taiwan Lei Tsang Temple followed by the empowerment of Prabhutaratna Uncommon Practice and the teaching of the ''Nine Stage Dharma of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen).''
【Prabhutaratna Mudra :】
Form the Shrine Mudra and keep the palms apart slightly in front of chest.
【Prabhutaratna Seed Syllable :】
Ah (yellow in color)
【Prabhutaratna Mantra :】
「Namo-bo-hu-la 。da-na-ye。da-ta-ge-da-ye。」
【Prabhutaratna Dharmalakṣaṇa Brief Introduction】
Yellow Prabhutaratna seated on a lotus platform wears a red kasaya, shows all thirty-two buddha marks, and forms Prabhutaratna mudra with his hands.
【Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu Dharma Talk - Prabhutaratna Background and Key Cultivation Formula】
Prabhutaratna, also called ''Abundant Treasure Buddha,'' is in the Eastern Baojing World. In a past life this great Buddha made a great vow: ''After I attain buddhahood and enter nirvana, in all the ten directions wherever the Lotus Sutra is being transmitted, I will rise up from under the ground to be in front of the temple to listen to the discourse of the sutra as a witness and praise the discourse.''
Prabhutaratna is a buddha residing in the Eastern Baojing World. After entering into nirvana in the human world he made a vow that whenever a buddha gives a discourse on the Lotus Sutra he will manifest himself before that buddha and support him. After Prabhutaratna attained enlightenment, no one supplicated him to remain on earth and teach the dharma because nobody knew of him. As a result, he quickly entered into nirvana without ever giving any dharma teachings.
''Prabhutaratna'' is known by many names. ''Baosheng Buddha'' in the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra is also Prabhutaratna.
In the era of Shakyamuni Buddha he was once discoursing on the Lotus Sutra at Vulture Peak.
As he was giving his discourse a stupa rose up suddenly from under the ground. Prabhutaratna manifested inside the stupa and praised Shakyamuni. (Lotus Sutra, Chapter 4, Stanza 11, Stupa) This was due to the vow made by Prabhutaratna.
As Shakyamuni Buddha was about to conclude his discourse on the Lotus Sutra at Vulture Peak, the ground split open and a stupa containing a full-body relic of Prabhutaratna rose up. The seven-jewelled stupa was 500 yojanas tall and 250 yojanas wide and towered high into the sky. From inside the stupa a voice loudly proclaimed ''Very good indeed! Very good indeed! Shakyamuni's teaching of the bodhisattva dharma with universal great wisdom merits the protection of all the buddhas. Shakyamuni's teaching of the marvelous Lotus Sutra to sentient beings today is true and authentic.'' Afterwards, Shakyamuni Buddha told all the gathered sentient beings that inside the stupa was a tathagata relic of Prabhutaratna, a buddha residing in the Eastern Baojing World of the past innumerable Asaṅkhya worlds. When Prabhutaratna was still a bodhisattva he made a great vow that ''If I become a buddha, after I enter nirvana, wherever in all ten directions a teaching on the Lotus Sutra is given my stupa will manifest in front of the teaching for me to listen to the teaching as a witness and to praise the teaching!''
Prabhutaratna praised Shakyamuni Buddha's discourse on the Lotus Sutra as ''excellent.''
Not only did flowers rain down from the sky, but also a stupa emerged from under the ground. Prabhutaratna praised Shakyamuni Buddha's discourse of the Lotus Sutra as ''true and authentic.''
Normally it was ''one stupa, one buddha'' and Prabhutaratna was the only buddha residing within it. However, when he manifested, Prabhutaratna made space next to himself. When Shakyamuni Buddha entered the stupa he sat side by side with Prabhutaratna so that there were two Tathagatas sitting together in one dharma throne. This was to demonstrate that Prabhutaratna and Shakyamuni Buddha are equals. Since then, it has been a much-told tale. It also showed the greatness of Prabhutaratna!
Prabhutaratna's mudra is formed by placing both hands in the form of an opening lotus, but keeping them apart slightly as two half-lotuses. The Prabhutaratna Mantra is: ''Namo-bo-hu-la 。da-na-ye。da-ta-ge-da-ye。'' You can recite the Prabhutaratna mantra. There is the mudra and the mantra, and his seed syllable is the ''Ah'' syllable. There is also his image. He wears a red kasaya and his body is yellow. His image, mudra, and mantra form a Vajrayana sadhana.
The merits of cultivating the Prabhutaratna practice are:
By hearing the buddha name ''Prabhutaratna,'' sentient beings will have abundant wealth. Whatever wealth or riches one may visualize one can receive it and use it infinitely.
By ghosts reciting the name ''Prabhutaratna,'' their evil habits of stinginess accumulated over many lifetimes will be destroyed and they will become full of good fortune and merit. This Tathagata is the principal deity of the enrichment dharma of the Lotus Sutra. Especially when one spreads the dharma of the Lotus Sutra, Prabhutaratna will definitely come up from under the ground and rise high into the sky. Prabhutaratna is actually a wealth deity. That's because Prabhutaratna is the principal deity of the enrichment dharma and the principal deity of the enrichment dharma is a wealth deity.
If one makes offerings to this deity, Prabhutaratna, he will bestow many treasures on one.
People rarely mention Prabhutaratna, and very few people make fire offerings to him or cultivate the practice of Prabhutaratna. This is because when he attained buddhahood no one knew about him and he entered nirvana before teaching any dharma. He just left the human realm immediately. There are very few sentient beings who know about him. I have said: ''If you will all now supplicate Prabhutaratna, he will bestow wealth and treasure upon you.'' This is because there are few people who pray to him! Hence, when one prays to him he will be very happy! The names Prabhutaratna and Baosheng Buddha are not recited by many people, As Prabhutaratna has little to do, when someone suddenly recites ''Prabhutaratna'' and performs a homa for him, he will be extraordinarily happy. Since his mood is lifted sky high, he will bestow all kinds of wealth and treasure on one. It is very easy to attain spiritual union with Prabhutaratna.
Prabhutaratna sadhana
2011-12-31 Prabhutaratna Tathagata, the Principal Deity of Enrichment Dharma
2012-07-22 GM Dharma Talk - Prabhutaratna's ''Seamless Stupa''
!!Please be aware that before anyone can practice the above uncommon practices, it is advised and recommended that they take refuge and the respective empowerment; alternatively one must face inherent resulting cause and effect!!
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