5/14/2016 Thousand-Armed Chenrezik Garchen Rinpoche

Empowerment
When we lose our mindfulness, we lose our freedom and become controlled by our
afflictive emotions. We take empowerments to become free just as the yidam deities are
free. In the Mahayana there is purification called the Sojong. Taking empowerments is
the Sojong of the tantric system.
We speak of and think of Chenrezik as one being, and in one sense this is true; realized
beings are totally beyond duality. The enlightened mind is non-dual, so in this way
there is one Chenrezik, father of all yidams. Lord Jigten Sumgön said that there is
ultimately no duality between relative and ultimate truth.
Yet there are many different forms of Chenrezik. He has 100 different names, and
depictions have different colored bodies, different numbers of arms, etc. But what is
most important is his essence, the one mind of love: bodhicitta. When we let go of the
“Self,” we become like the yidam. Love, in essence, is always the same. The love for all
beings is the nature of mind for all wisdom beings; no wisdom being lacks the mind of
love for all beings.
Just as Chenrezik is said to be the father of all the deities, Tārā is the mother of all
yidams. Tārā is the Mother of All Buddhas, the Great Mother Prajñāpāramitā. Thus
they are the union of wisdom and compassion.

Empowerment lineage
Gelongma Palmo (daughter of King Indrabodhi and indivisible with Vajrayogini in the
form known as the Beheaded One)  …  Siddha Chimé Dorjé  Garchen Rinpoche

Yidam deities manifest in myriad forms in the Nirmanakaya due to the various
capacities of sentient beings (highest, middling, low). It is sufficient to only practice a
single yidam and recite their mantra. Some people have a connection to a certain deity
from past lives, so they practice that. But beginning practitioners don’t usually
understand that each yidam is the essence of all the buddhas, so they practice various
yidams to invoke certain activities or develop certain qualities. But for advanced
practitioners, they can practice few yidams or just one.
Visualizing the deity as oneself purifies the body, reciting the mantra purifies speech,
and maintaining bodhicitta purifies the mind.
Nyungné – nyung means “ill,” a metaphor for fasting. Fasting by itself is not so
beneficial; more important is to maintain silence.
All practices we do are to tame the mind and destroy self-grasping. In the mind there is
no duality of self and others; looking for the mind, there is nothing to be found. To
eliminate self-cherishing, the Buddha taught the method of generosity. Thus we offer
5/14/2016 Thousand-Armed Chenrezik Garchen Rinpoche

the mandala, imagining/visualizing that the buddhas of all directions and times shower
us with altruism.
“The outer empowerment is to receive the vase on the crown of your head. The inner
empowerment is to visualize yourself as the deity and cultivate the altruistic mind of
bodhicitta.” ~ Milarepa

The essence of the sangha’s mind is the altruistic mind.

The essence of the sangha’s speech is karma (cause and effect).
The essence of the sangha’s body is _________________.

Refuge purifies pride

Confession purifies hatred
Bodhicitta purifies delusion/ignorance
Rejoicing purifies jealousy
Dedication purifies [attachment/greed?]

The samaya of bodhicitta is the life-force of the yidam deities.

During the empowerment, we made the aspiration,“May I benefit the whole world,” and
visualized a white HRIH ( ཧྲཱིཿ) with eyes closed.
When the vase is placed on the crown of your head, visualize a rain of nectar descending
and going into your crown, down through the central channel.
The actual meaning is to realize the mind of Chenrezik, the altruistic mind of bodhicitta.
In Tibetan this is jangchub. Jang is “purified” — we are purified of self-grasping — and
chub means “mastered” — we have mastered altruism.
We visualize the Buddhas of the Five Families as a jeweled crown atop our heads.
Amitabha is the crown itself, Vairocana is the front white jewel, etc.
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Sadhana Teachings
According to the Sarma system, accomplishing the deity is a gradual process:
1. Approach – visualize the mantra surrounding the seed-syllable atop the lotus
and moon disc (the size of a watch face).
2. Close Approach – the mantra begins to spin, slowly at first, but eventually
becomes so fast that you can’t even see it (like the fan blades on a jet engine at
full speed).
3. Accomplishment – rays of light radiate from the mantra and seed-syllable,
first reaching those dear to us, then our city, country, the entire world, and
eventually all world systems throughout space and time.

Even if one accumulates the specific number of recitations of the yidam’s mantra, that is
not a guarantee that you’ve accomplished the deity. Most important is to have a stable
mind constantly suffused with bodhicitta, and to maintain clear visualization. At the
beginning it’s hard to visualize the deity, hence we habituate ourselves by glancing and
looking at the deity card (tsakli) over and over again. At first a vague form in the mind’s
eye is okay.
1. Visualize the deity clearly.
2. Recollect the purity – understand that afflictions are purified upon their arising.
3. Develop divine pride – sometimes beings believe themselves to be so low, and
the yidam to be so high and special that there is a large gap between them; but,
really, the deity is your true nature, [your core of basic goodness]. Divine pride is
actually more important than visualizing clearly!
In brief, the outer universe contains the five elements and beings experience the Five
Aggregates:
1. Form
2. Feeling
3. Sensations
4. Karmic Formations
5. Consciousness/Mind
The five afflictive emotions are transmuted in the Five Wisdoms.

The essence of the six syllables (of the Mani mantra) is the Six Paramitas. Actually, all
qualities/activities/benefits are accomplished through a single deity.
Garchen Rinpoche first practiced Yamantaka (said in that sadhana to be “the king of all
yidams”), and then Vajrakilaya. Each practice text says that each yidam is the supreme
deity. What this really means is that each ______________________________.
5/14/2016 Thousand-Armed Chenrezik Garchen Rinpoche

“The karmic ripening is a reflection of thought.” ~ Lord Jigten Sumgön

All beings are nirmanakayas, because we all have buddha-nature. Some people speak of
the gurus being the only true nirmanakayas, and this is true to a degree, but only for
now. There are realized nimanakayas and not-yet-realized nirmanakayas. We are not
yet realized because we still need to purify our karmic obscurations, afflictive emotions,
and negative habitual patterns. Right now we are kind of like “useless nirmakayas,” but
not for long if we practice [sincerely and regularly].
The essence of the mantra is bodhicitta. The yidam connects through the mantra to help
sentient beings out of love.

Benefits of the Mantra Garland:

1. Blessing
2. Purification of Obscurations – you are purifying karmic obscurations, not
making new ones.
3. Offering – when light rays radiate, offerings are made through devotion.
4. Yidam Deity – each rotation sends out emanations.
5. Siddhi (Accomplishment) – upon realizing the yidam, one need not even rely
on the guru any longer.
6. Wish-Fulfilling Jewel – through the mantra, we actually can accomplish
anything.

Suffering, just like wrathful compassion, is like necessary surgery. It purifies, so we

should see it as helpful.
The actual siddhi of accomplishing the deity is the fruition of bodhicitta; when we give
rise to bodhicitta, we understand that we are the ones who mainly benefit. Those who
are poor are actually giving you the opportunity to gain the merit of generosity; those
who are unkind to you are allowing you to practice patience, etc.
When we want to help the deceased, we actually don’t think of them or ourselves as
ordinary, but rather as the yidam deity. This is like hot water, whereas the ordinary,
self-cherishing mind is like a solid block of ice; embodying the yidam melts the fixation
of others through love and compassion.