On 26th
August 2017, a group of thirty plus of us flew from Singapore to the capital city of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, to attend an Amitabha Buddha Soul Deliverance Prayer
jointly presided over by Konde Rinpoche, Acho Rinpoche and Khenpo Shedrup (the current abbot of Dzongchen Monastery in India). The prayer started around 10am, with
Konde Rinpoche presenting sacred objects (mandala, stupa and sutra) to Acho
Rinpoche, praying for the good health and longevity of the latter for the
benefit of sentient beings. The prayer proper commenced after that.
After
the prayer, Konde Rinpoche gave a teaching to the participants which could be summarized
in three key points. First, it takes a great deal of merits for us to be able
to practise together with a precious teacher, Acho Rinpoche. He advised us to
take this opportunity very seriously and learn well under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche.
Second, all the Buddhas relied on their teachers to show them the way to the
ultimate state of enlightenment. So, we must have 100% faith in our root
teacher - cherish his presence and follow
his teachings, in order to succeed in our spiritual practice. Third, we must
work hard on our spiritual practice in this very lifetime by chanting the
Hundred Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva to eradicate our negative karma and reciting
the name of Amitabha Buddha, aspiring for a rebirth in the pureland of Amitabha Budhda when
our life in this world comes to an end. Only when we strive hard during our present
lifetime on earth that, when we are finally reborn in the pureland of Amitabha
Buddha, we will be able to meet him in person instantaneously when we appear from
a fully blossomed lotus. A deceased who aspired to be reborn in the pureland of
Amitabha Buddha will not be able to meet Amitabha Buddha in person instantaneously
as he will be born into a closed lotus bud in the pureland due to his negative
karma. It will take a very long time for his lotus bud to blossom fully, after his negative
karma has been purified; only then he would be able to meet Amitabha
Buddha in person.
Konde
Rinpoche invited Acho Rinpoche to give his teaching to the audience too. Acho
Rinpoche’s teachings could be summarized in four key points. First, we are spending
too much time on our mobile phones today. We should make use of our mobiles
phones to search for useful information but not waste too much of our time and
energy reading all contents without selection; no one can finish reading all
the contents available on the Internet in this lifetime. We should also verify
the authenticity and accuracy of the information presented to us through our
mobile phones, for there is too much fake news on the Internet. Second, he
advised that a practitioner should keep a low profile and avoid the lime
lights, or his false sense of ego will continue to grow bigger and eventually lead
himself and others to a downfall instead. Third, he explained that the
Vajrayana practice can help a practitioner attain a higher state of realization
more swiftly in this lifetime, thus securing a higher state of attainment when
he is reborn in the pureland of Amitabha Buddha. This will allow him to meet
Amitabha Buddha instantaneously when he appeared from a fully blossomed lotus
in the pureland when he reaches the pureland. Third, the pace of practice in
this world is faster than that in the pureland of Amitabha Buddha. Reason being,
this world has a mix of good and evil which can help train and purify our minds
more effectively. Pureland is a world of kindness – safe but without challenges
to help completely uproot the lust, hatred and ignorance in us. Therefore, a practitioner
will need to spend a much longer time in the pureland to purify his mind but
finally he still must come back to this world to help all sentient beings in
order to attain the ultimate state of enlightenment. Fourth, he commended Konde
Rinpoche for his spiritual accomplishment while remaining still very much a humble person. He told the audience that the Malaysians are indeed blessed to
have Konde Rinpoche guiding them in their practice.
After lunch, we did a
smoke puja. This is one of the methods of making offering to the deities and
sentient beings by burning the items of offering in fire. It was then followed
by another teaching given by Konde Rinpoche on the visualization method used in
the Amitabha Buddha Practice. Acho Rinpoche also gave some key teachings on the
Vajrayana practice. Finally, the two precious masters performed the soul
deliverance prayer for all the deceased and conferred blessing to all
participants in this prayer.
Reported by Sun-moon
KFS in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 26 Aug 2017.
