Requesting A Very Important Supplication (Before the Opportunity Slips Away)
- February 15, 2016
“If our way of life is the lamrim, if our philosophy is the lamrim, if our faith is the lamrim, then this decision must be taken, the decision to fight for spiritual. And by spiritual the role of a spiritual guru is of utmost important. If we want the guru to have a long life, if we want Rinpoche to be always healthy, we have to always make the request for him to live long. Long life request is very important.”
Ven. Bhadra Ruci
A Supplication Not to Enter Nirvana
The sixth limb is a supplication not to enter nirvana. It is declared in the sutras that “a Buddha does not enter nirvana.” This means that, in general, Buddhas do not enter nirvana and the dharma does not disappear. However, because a Buddha’s supreme emanation body does give the appearance of entering nirvana, it is necessary to make supplication to him that he not do so.
It is a great error not to make this supplication. Just before entering nirvana, Buddha Shakyamuni told Ananda the following. Because a Buddha has long cultivated the four self-confidences and the four elements of supernatural power and because he has also achieved the adamantine body, he could remain living for a kalpa or even longer if he so wished. Nevertheless Ananda, due to the influence of demons, failed to understand the point being made and so he made no supplication to the Buddha requesting that he remain in the world. Consequently, the Master displayed the appearance of entering nirvana at the age of eighty years. In short, it is important to make this supplication before the opportunity slips away.
When performing the supplication, you should prepare a mandala of five heaps and visualize it as a vajra throne. Then reflect that you offer thrones equal in number to the deities in the merit field. If this is too difficult, reflect that you offer a single throne. These throne offerings dissolve into the existing thrones of the merit field. For this practice and also for the request that the wheel of dharma be turned, you should imagine that the merit field has agreed to your request.
*Excerpt from Liberation in Our Hands, Part One: The Preliminaries, Pabongka Rinpoche, Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Press, New Jersey, 2011, page 215-216.
A Special Long Life Ceremony in France (14 February 2016)
On Sunday morning, 14th February 2016, the Center in France, i.e. the Ganden Ling and Guepele Ling, hosted a special Long Life Ceremony offered to His Eminence Dagpo Lama Rinpoche. The ritual was attended by Rinpoche’s students in Europe, i.e. France, Netherland, Switzerland, etc. The occassion was also attended by Ven. Mogchok Rinpoche. The day before, on Saturday, the France Center also host a special Tara Puja with one thousand offerings.
Indonesian Long Life Projects Dedicated for Ven. Dagpo Rinpoche
The Indonesian Center (Kadam Choeling Indonesia) has been organizing several long life projects solely dedicated for Ven. Dagpo Rinpoche’s long life. Two of the main programs include:
1. Ten Million Light Offerings
2. One Hundred Thousand Stupas.
The light offerings are collected gradually and lighted continuously inside the Lamp House of Indonesia Gaden Syeydrub Nampar Gyelwey Ling, the on-going monastery project located in Desa Sumberoto, Kec. Donomulyo, Kab. Malang, Eastern Java Province, Indonesia.
The One Hundred Thousand Stupa project is a program to produce the tsa-tsa (gypsum plaster casted into Stupa). A stupa is a holy sacred object of the buddhist tradition, symbolizing the mind of the Buddha. Constructing stupa is believed to produce immeasurable benefits and extensive positive energy. The merit and the positive energy collected are the offerings presented for Rinpoche’s long life.
If you want to participate in these Long Life Projects, please contact your Center.
