On Sunday, Sep. 9, 2018, 2:00 pm, at Rainbow Temple, True Buddha School Dharma King Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu will preside over a Guhyasamaja Homa Ceremony and bestow empowerment for Guhyasamaja Uncommon Practice. (Live Webcast Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLl20r-KQlapX_5fT-N3cOw)

(Attention: Text written or picture border in blue indicates web link.)

【Guhyasamaja Mudra:】


Place the palms together and interlace the fingers inward. Straighten the index fingers and touch the fingertips together.

【Guhyasamaja Seed Syllable:】


Hum (Blue in color)

【Guhyasamaja Mantra:】

「Om。ah。bei-zha。da-ke。hum。hum。so-ha。」
「Om。bei-zha。da-ke。hum。hum。so-ha。」



【Guhyasamaja Dharmalakṣaṇa Introduction】

Guhyasamaja Vajra, one of the Five Herukas of Tibetan Buddhism, is also called Secret Assembly Vajra. His full name is Guhyasamajatantra Akshobhyavajra. He is the principal deity of the Father classification of Anuttarayoga Tantra, one of the three principal deities of the Gelug School, and the protector of the founder of the Gelug School, Je Tsongkhapa.

Guhyasamaja is blue in color. He has three faces, six arms, and two legs. He wears colorful silk garments, and is adorned with human bones and a necklace made of jade and pearls. Guhyasamaja sits in lotus position upon a lotus dais. The body of Guhyasamaja is blue in color symbolizing the absolute truth of Buddhism. Guhyasamaja has three faces and six arms. The colors of his faces are black, white, and red which represent the merits of compassion, calamity eradication, and subjugation respectively. He may appear wrathful, happy, or a combination of the two. Each face has three eyes representing past, present, and future. He wears a five leaf crown symbolizing the Five Buddhas or the Five Bodhisattvas. Akshobhya Buddha is his crown ornament. Each of his six hands holds an implement. While his two front arms embrace his consort Sparshavajra, the two hands hold a vajra bell and a vajra sceptre, symbolizing wisdom and expediency respectively. In his upper right hand is a dharma wheel symbolizing that the dharma wheel is constantly turning. A lotus in his lower right hand represents wisdom and purity. A jewel sphere held in his upper left hand represents fulfilling wishes while a sword held in his lower left hand signifies completely severing ignorance.

Praise Verse:
Blue wrathful deity
With Akshobhya Buddha as his crown ornament
Undertaking deliverance of sentient beings
I pay homage to Guhyasamaja

【Living Buddha Lian-sheng Sheng-yen Lu Dharma Discourse - Guhyasamaja Background and Key Cultivation Formula】
All the mountains in the Guhyasamaja mandala were volcanoes laid out in a square. Inside the square are vajra walls of a palace built upon a vajra foundation covered by a vajra net. In the center of the palace is a lotus. Within the lotus is the seed syllable ''hum,'' a sun disc and a moon disc. The ''hum'' syllable transforms into Guhyasamaja. The visualization is simple. One first visualizes the Guhyasamaja mandala beginning with visualization of vajra flames surrounded by mountain ranges. Every mandala has nine levels of ''round sky and square earth.'' The meaning of ''round sky'' is that the palace in the center is round in shape. The area outside the palace is square in shape. In the center of the palace is a precious throne. On this precious throne is a lotus. There is a ''hum''syllable inside the lotus. The ''hum'' transforms into a Guhyasamaja in unification with his consort Sparshavajra, Vajra Contact Buddha Mother. What I have written down here is, ''Following visualization of emptiness, a vajra foundation, walls, and a palace surrounded by flaming mountain ranges emerge from a ''hum'' syllable. A lotus then emerges from a ''hum'' syllable in the center of the palace. Within the lotus is a sun disc and within the sun disc is a crossed vajra sceptre. The crossed vajra sceptre then transforms into a Guhyasamaja.''

How does one visualize Guhyasamaja? Guhyasamaja is blue with three faces and six arms. The faces are black, white, and red respectively. His two front arms embrace his consort Sparshavajra, while the hands hold a vajra bell and a vajra sceptre respectively. His other right hands hold a dharma wheel and a lotus respectively. His remaining left hands hold a precious jewel and a sword respectively. Sitting upon on a lotus dais, he appears simultaneously joyful and wrathful. It's difficult for a facial expression to appear simultaneously joyful and wrathful.

Akshyobha Buddha is the crown ornament of Guhyasamaja. The Guhyasamaja mantra has two versions: There is ''Om。ah。bei-zha。da-ke。hum。hum。so-ha.'' This version includes an ''ah'' syllable. The other version of the mantra, which is also permissible, is ''Om。bei-zha。da-ke。hum。hum。so-ha.'' Either version of the mantra is acceptable. The mudra also has two versions. One version is with the fingers of both hands interlaced inward while the index fingers are standing up straight and touching each other. The other version is with the fingers of both hands interlaced inward with the index fingers standing up straight and touching each other while the thumbs are also interlaced inward. With mantra, mudra, and visualization, the Guhyasamaja Sadhana is established.

What is the Praise Verse?
Blue Wrathful Deity
With Akshobhya Buddha as his crown ornament
Undertaking deliverance of sentient beings
I pay homage to Guhyasamaja
One may use this verse as the supplication prayer for calamity eradication, enrichment, magnetization, or subjugation.

Generally speaking, vajra dharma is practiced for eradication of greed. This is extremely important. Guhyasamaja practice includes eradication of anger and ignorance as well. This practice counteracts anger and ignorance. What is the meaning of ''Mi Ji? '' [Guhyasamaja in Chinese] I will make it simple for everyone: ''The collection of secrets of the body, speech, and mind of all Tathagatas.'' Why is it it called Mi [secret] Ji [collection]? It means Guhyasamaja is the collection of all the secrets of the body, speech, and mind of all buddhas of the past, present, and future. The name can also be Ji Mi (collection of secrets.) In other words, the name can be either Mi Ji Vajra or Ji Mi Vajra.

Two individuals were responsible for bringing Guhyasamaja dharma to Tibet from India. The first, Drogmi Lotsawa Shakya Yeshe, went to Vikramshila in India and learned the Akshyobha Buddha Guhyasamaja Practice from the first East Gate scholar. Later, Marpa, of the Kagyu Sect, also went to India and learned Manjusri Guhyasamaja Practice from Naropa. Therefore, Marpa of the Kagyu Sect also learned the vajra practice and brought it back to Tibet. Guhyasamaja is the vajra protector of Tsongkhapa.

Of Tsongkhapa's 12 treatises, five are totally devoted to Guhyasamaja. Therefore, Tsongkhapa, the patriarch of the Gelug Sect, did indeed study Guhyasamaja. Tsongkhapa considered Guhyasamaja to be ''the absolute of the holy teaching, bright and pure as the sun and moon, and the one and only treasure in the three realms.'' Tsongkhapa praised Guhyasamaja in this way.

The Exposition of the Five Stages by Nagarjuna Bodhisattva discusses Guhyasamaja. The Shexing Treatise by Aryadeva also talks about Guhyasamaja. In Tsongkhapa's 12 treatises, the treatise Guhyasamaja Perfection of the Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp of the Five Stages is entirely a discussion of Guhyasamaja.

By attaining spiritual union with Guhyasamaja, one will attain, first of all, virtuous willpower. What is virtuous willpower? One will never fall into the three evil realms. One will definitely be reborn in the pure land because one has the three virtues.

The first of the three virtues is the virtue of liberation. If one attains spiritual union with Guhyasamaja through cultivation of Guhyasamaja Practice, one will be liberated. The second virtue is that one attains enlightenment. This is namely the accomplishment of fruition. Therefore, one not only attains the fruition of enlightenment, but also the fruition of liberation. Actually, there are two kinds of liberation; the path of liberation and the path of bodhi. By cultivating Guhyasamaja Practice, one will attain both. Just through Guhyasamaja Practice alone, one is able to obtain the three virtues.

The ''om'' syllable is the treasury of wisdom, whereas ''ah'' is the enlightenment of no-self. Hum is the mandala, the cultivation of one's own palace (indestructible vajra body.) Guhyasamaja is able to purify one's body, speech, and mind and eradicate one's greedy thoughts, one's hateful thoughts, and all of one's ignorance. If one is able to attain the highest wisdom of the tathagata, fame and fortune are superfluous.

What I am discussing today has within it the most important essence of Guhyasamaja. As I just mentioned, whether one pursues the world or transcendence, Guhyasamaja has both.

Guhyasamaja manifested today. He was accompanied by the Five Herukas and even Kalachakra. All the Herukas manifested right before my eyes. I could see them all. I could also hear them discoursing their essential teachings. The essential teachings of the Five Herukas are not all that much different from each other, although there are slight differences in their methods of cultivation. However, the actual cultivation methods of the five Herukas are the same.



Guhyasamaja Practice of Sheng-yen Lu corpus Book 251, Dreamy Prose and Poems
Feb. 24, 2018 Dharma Discourse - Guhyasamaja Practice



!!Please be aware that before engaging in any True Buddha Vajrayana practices, one must first take refuge and receive the respective empowerment.!!

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
31. 
32. 
33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39.