The Inconceivable Power of the Six Syllable Mantra (2)

Today is Amitabha Buddha’s birthday. We did an Amitabha Buddha Practice under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche. After which, he shared with us that a former masseuse who had served Mayumla in the past visited them at home last night. This masseuse is a Chinese about 50 year-old. Several years ago, she brought her son to Acho Rinpoche, asking for his blessing. Her son liked to go to beach but he would end up feeling unwell after every visit. However, after receiving the blessing from Acho Rinpoche, her son recovered from his illness completely; he continued to go to beach without problem ever since. This round, the masseuse herself has fallen very ill, as she was being diagnosed with a turmoil. She went back to China for her medical treatment and she has just returned to Singapore recently to visit her son. She looked very sick. However, when Acho Rinpoche patted her on her back, she felt that all the feelings of discomfort just suddenly disappeared completely from her body. She said it was just an inconceivable experience!

After relating this story, Acho Rinpoche re-iterated the importance of the Six Syllable Mantra. He said, when a practitioner who has accomplished his recitation of the Six Syllable Mantra swims in the water, this water will transform into a holy water which could cure the sickness of sentient beings who drink from it. When such person pats the body of another person, the soul of the other person could be delivered to the Pureland. When a wind blows on the body of this practitioner, it will bring along the power of blessing that could benefit other sentient beings touched by it.

It is mentioned in the sutra entitled “The Sublime Jewel Sutra of the Mahayana As Expounded by the Buddha” (佛说大乘庄严宝王经) that none of the Buddhas could tell the level of attainment of Avalokitesvara. Avalokitesvara has been helping the numerous sentient beings tirelessly for a long time. He also assists Sakyamuni Buddha and Amitabha Buddha in their teachings and helping the sentient beings. Avalokitesvara could emanate in myriad forms, in order to help all sentient beings. When a person has completed his recitation of the Six Syllable Mantra for 10,000,000 times, for 100,000,000 times, he will certainly accomplish the inconceivable rainbow body attainment.

The Six Syllable Mantra embodies the true state of being. Therefore, a person who merely recites this mantra could attain the state of enlightenment, even if he has not studied the Five Treaties (五部大论). Acho Rinpoche reiterated that there is nothing more important than the recitation of the Six Syllable Mantra in our life.

          Finally, we ended our prayer by reciting the names of the Buddhas under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche and dedicated the merits to all sentient beings - may all sentient beings be happy, free of sufferings and attain enlightenment swiftly. 

Reported by Sun Moon KFS on 3-1-2018 @Singapore   

The Inconceivable Power of the Six Syllable Mantra

Tonight, we did an Avalokitesvara Practice under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche. After which, he shared with us the inconceivable power of the Six Syllable Mantra of Avalokitesvara (“Om Mani Padme Hom”), which is the most important mantra among all mantras. The Six Syllable Mantra is also the Heart Mantra of all Buddhas. In fact, the Heart Mantras of all Buddhas are just manifestations of the Six Syllable Mantra. The quintessence of The Great Compassion Mantra is none other than the Six Syllable Mantra, and all Buddhas of the past and present are just the manifestation of Avalokitesvara, including Vairocana Buddha and One Thousand Buddhas of the current Bhadrakalpa (where one thousand buddhas would appear during this period).

During the time of Sakyamuni Buddha, he expounded a sutra entitled “The Sublime Jewel Sutra of the Mahayana As Expounded by the Buddha” (佛说大乘庄严宝王经) which illustrated the inconceivable state of enlightenment of Avalokitesvara. In the past, the great Tibetan adepts who had learnt the numerous mantras and practices during their younger days would let go of all such practices and focused solely on the recitation of the Six Syllable Mantra in their old age, and finally attained the highest state of enlightenment in the form of a rainbow body.

The Tibetan Ganggyur (The Tripitaka of Tibetan translation) mentioned ten types of merit which could be derived from the recitation of the Six Syllable Mantra:

1.     Eradication of harms caused by ghosts and evils.

2.     Eradication of illnesses including different types of sputum etc.

3.     Eradication of sufferings caused by fire, flood or wars.

4.     Accumulation of wealth and longevity.

5.     Eradication of all anxieties caused by lust, hatred and ignorance.

6.     Eradication of negative karma caused by transgression of precepts.

7.     Eradication of karmic obscurations and accomplishment of the Five Paths and Ten Stages of spiritual practice.  

8.     Eradication of a rebirth into the Three Lower Realms of Existence (animal, hungry ghost and hell being) after completing 100,000 recitations of the Six Syllable Mantra.  

9.     Accomplishment of the ability to help the sentient beings of the Six Realms of Existence after completing 1,000,000 recitations of the Six Syllable Mantra.

10. Attainment of the state of Buddhahood after completing more than 10,000,000 recitations of the Six Syllable Mantra.

Finally, we ended our prayer by reciting the names of the Buddhas under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche and dedicated all merits to the sentient beings - may all sentient beings be happy, free of sufferings and attain enlightenment swiftly. 

Reported by Sun Moon KFS on 30-12-2017 @Singapore

Cyclic Existence is an Illusion

Tonight, we did a Guru Rinpoche Practice under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche.

After the prayer, Dharma Sister Xia told us that she “saw” a ray of golden light rising from the coffin of her late father continuously for a period, when Acho Rinpoche was performing a soul deliverance practice to help her late father at his funeral wake just two days ago. Her sister also kept burping during the whole period and could sense the presence of the numerous holy beings.

Next, Acho Rinpoche told us that when a Vajrayanist considers a cup as a real cup, he has actually transgressed a minor precept in the practice of Vajrayana. Another word, we ought to view all things in life as illusory. If we view them as real existence, we have transgressed a minor precept. Fortunately, in our daily sadhana, we chant the One Hundred Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva which could cleanse away our faults in transgression. In a nut shell, we just ought to view this world as illusory, empty in nature and false.  

Finally, we ended our prayer by reciting the names of the Buddhas under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche, and dedicated the merits to all sentient beings - may all sentient beings be happy, free of sufferings and attain enlightenment one day. 

Reported by Sun Moon KFS on 27-12-2017 @Singapore

An Extraordinary Tour to Laos (Preface)

This trip came as a surprise to us. We hardly returned to the same country which we travelled to on the following year. Originally, we planned to visit Nepal in December 2017 as we were invited by Princess Roshana to participate in the enthronement ceremony of her son (who is a reincarnated Buddhist master well known in Nepal), which will be held at the Bodnath Stupa. However, in November 2017, she informed us that the ceremony might be delayed. So, Dharma Sister Kan suggested that we could visit Melborne in Australia instead. She asked Christie to help arrange the tour, as the latter works for Chan Brothers Travel. Next, we were told that the summer in southern Australia would be hotter than the usual weather in Singapore. So, I suggested casually that maybe we could go to Vientiane in Laos instead, where the weather could be more cooling. Meanwhile, we could also catch up with Serd again; he was our tour guide for our visit to Laos last year. This was how this tour came about.

          On 18 December 2017, 24 of us took a flight from Singapore to Vientiane. On the following day, we had to wake up very early to catch a domestic flight to the southern most part of Laos, Pakse in the Champasak Province, which shares its border with Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. I saw an interesting airplane with two huge propellers on its wings and it was my first time taking an airplane of such design. The taking off and landing of the airplane were both steady and nice.

          I sat next to a window on the airplane, with one of its wings clearly visible outside my window. When I saw the propeller spinning at high speed and its leaf blades started disappearing right before my eyes, I suddenly realized the meaning of “form is just emptiness”. 

          Pakse was highly recommended by Serd in view of its rich history, especially Vat Phou which was built around the same time as Angkor Wat in Camdodia; they were only 200km apart from each other. Serd told us that Angkor Wat and Vat Phou were built by the same king in the past. Of course, the many famous waterfalls on the Bolavan Plateau were equally attractive to us. Besides, this tour would certainly enrich the contents of our new X-Tour book on Laos.

          When we arrived at Pakse, we came to the Mekong River which runs through Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. The water in the river appeared yellowish and muddy. When our boat reached the resort located just beside the river, the water in the river suddenly became very rough. At this juncture, someone whispered to me, “Master, are the dragons here to welcome you?”

          We stayed at the river resort for two days. This mind-training tour was indeed very relaxing, with no itineraries planned in the afternoons. So, we just did our retreat at the resort when we were not going out.

          One morning, we went to Vat Phou. It was built in the 11^th century and listed by UNESCO as one of the world heritage sites in 2001. However, due to the lack of government funding, it simply remains a ruin. It was in a much poorer state compared with Angkor Wat of Cambodia and Borobudur of Indonesia. Even its main temple was badly damaged, with only a few pillars left standing and some broken walls. We did an Avalokitesvara Practice within the temple with no roof above our heads; the sun was above our head and the wind was blowing around us. Quite a few Dharma Sisters wept during the prayer. It was indeed very disheartening to see a once majestic looking ancient Hindu temple being reduced to the current state of ruin; this is impermanence.

          When we returned to Vientiane, we went to the Pha That Luang of Laos (Big Stupa) and did a Medicine Buddha Practice there, followed by circumambulation of the stupa. The sunlight seems alive, with the sun beams shining towards me several times, and a triangular shape formed by sunlight appeared right above our group like a parasol, shrouding us. It was just an inconceivable experience.

           Our cameras and handphones captured many rainbow lights around Tad Yeuang waterfall on the Bolaven Plateau. Without fail, the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and the Dharmapala (protectors of the Dharma) always kept us company during every X-Tour. This world is just a playground to them.

          We did a White Tara Practice while cruising along the Mekong River. We did an Avalokitesvara Practice at Vat Phou. We did several rounds of prayer at the river resort and Bolavan resort. We did Medicine Buddha Practice at Pha That Luang and circumambulation of stupa. We did a Heart Sutra Reversal Practice at Mecure Hotel in Vientiane.

          This time, the temperature of the local weather dropped by 10 degree Celcius, lower than the weather forecast provided by the Meteorological Department of Vientiane. It was only 10 degree Celcius at night when we were in the Bolavan Plateau. We were shivering as it was very windy and cold. The owner of the resort told us that it was the coldest weather to them in the past 10 years. We had to put on our winter clothing.

          During this entire mind-training tour, we did nothing else but prayers. All the places we went were blessed by the lights of Buddha and the rain of Dharma. My homage to the Sun Moon Light Buddha.          

Acho Rinpoche

31 December 2017, in Singapore (it has been raining cats and dogs the whole day).

 Pha That Luang (Big Stupa)

Tad Yeuang Waterfall

Posing with the Manager and chef of a Café

 

Another Waterfall

Wat Si Saket

 Doing White Tara Prayer on Mekong River

 Vat Phou

River Resort

A Huge Buddha Statue Overseeing Pakse Across Mekong River

Blind Faith

          Tonight, we did a Guru Rinpoche Prayer under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche. After which, he mentioned a recent teaching given by Asong Rinpoche of Yaqing Monastery who said, “Even if all the people in the world dislike you or feel unhappy about you, let them be, no matter. However, when your guru is feeling unpleased, dislikes and unhappy about you, you will only fall into a Vajra Hell. This is true. A Guru is really someone whom you should be taking seriously. Similarly, even when all the people in the world love you and are fond of you, no matter, let them be. However, when your Guru is fond of you, you will earn the most precious and unique spiritual attainment including the fruit of Buddhahood in your present and future lives through his grace.” Acho Rinpoche opined that such teachings are the highest guiding principle for our spiritual practice according to the traditional Tibetan Buddhism. It worked in ancient Tibetan society which produced many great adepts. However, in the current degeneration age, we have seen many spiritual teachers falling in their practice and therefore, a Buddhist student should not blindly accept such guiding principle for his spiritual practice.

          Acho Rinpoche opined that there must be a pre-condition for this guiding principle to be followed by a student in the current era, that the teacher must be a truly enlightened master! Otherwise, it will be a very dangerous advice given to a student. Those spiritual teachers who are not acting in accordance to the teachings of the Buddha are not truly enlightened masters, and they cannot expect blind faith from their students. Mingyur  Rincpohe reminded us that if a spiritual teacher acted violently against his students, that teacher must be in the wrong! Spiritual masters who are great adepts hardly use violent methods to teach their students. Besides, such methods are not suitable for the current society that we are in. So, Acho Rinpoche reminded us that if a spiritual teacher continues to transmit such teaching of blind faith, we ought to be cautious.

Finally, we ended our prayer by reciting the names of the Buddhas under the guidance of Acho Rinpoche, and dedicated the merits to all sentient beings - may all sentient beings be happy, free of sufferings and attain enlightenment one day. 

Reported by Sun Moon KFS on 20-10-2017 @Singapore