Pujas - Chanted Meditations

Lama Chöpa
(Offering to the Spiritual Guide)

A special Guru yoga practice of Je Tsongkhapa's tradition

Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a special Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa in conjunction with Highest Yoga Tantra. It was compiled by the first Panchen Lama, Losang Chökyi Gyaltsän, as a preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra. The main practice is relying upon the Spiritual Guide, but it also includes all the essential practices of the stages of the path (Lamrim) and training the mind (Lojong), as well as both the generation stage and completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra.

The essence of Guru yoga is to develop a strong conviction that our Spiritual Guide is a Buddha, to make prostrations, offerings, and sincere requests to him or her, and then to receive his or her profound blessings. According to the Guru yoga of Offering to the Spiritual Guide, we develop conviction that our Spiritual Guide is the same nature as Je Tsongkhapa, who is an emanation of the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri.

By relying upon Je Tsongkhapa, our compassion, wisdom, and spiritual power naturally increase. In particular, because Je Tsongkhapa is an emanation of the Wisdom Buddha Manjushri, his faithful followers never experience difficulty in increasing their wisdom. There are many other benefits from practising Offering to the Spiritual Guide. These are explained in the book Great Treasury of Merit, which contains a complete commentary to the practice.

These Pujas normally take place on the 10th & 25th of the month, but exact days may vary.

Please see our latest calendar for exact days & times.

Kangso

Melodious Drum Victorious in all Directions

The extensive fulfilling and restoring ritual of the Dharma Protector, the great king Dorje Shugdän, in conjunction with Mahakala, Kalarupa, Kalindewi, and other Dharma Protectors

This practice consists of five parts: Praise to Manjushri, the Guru Yoga of Je Tsongkhapa, Self-generation as Heruka, the Fulfilling and Restoring Ritual of the General Protectors, and the Fulfilling and Restoring Ritual of the Great King Dorje Shugdän. Of these, the last is the principal practice.

A Dharma Protector is an emanation of a Buddha or a Bodhisattva whose main functions are to avert the inner and outer obstacles that prevent practitioners from gaining spiritual realizations, and to arrange all the necessary conditions for their practice. Beings in this present time have a strong karmic link with Dorje Shugdän, and so he is the Dharma Protector who is most able to help them. Therefore it is said that, Now is the time to rely upon Dorje Shugdän. Dorje Shugdän always helps, guides, and protects pure and faithful practitioners by granting blessings, increasing their wisdom, fulfilling their wishes, and bestowing success on all their virtuous activities.

There are many brief and middling-length sadhanas of Dorje Shugdän, such as Heart Jewel and Wishfulfilling Jewel. This extensive sadhana is called Kangso in Tibetan, which means Fulfilling and Restoring Ritual, and it is usually performed once a month in Dharma Centres. During this puja we make extensive offerings and perform other practices:

To fulfil our heart commitment to rely upon the Protector sincerely, regarding him as inseparable from the Guru and Yidam, and to practise the pure Dharma of Lamrim, Lojong, and Mahamudra

To restore any degenerate or broken commitments we may have incurred

We begin the practice with Praise to Manjushri to remember that the Guru and Protector are in reality emanations of the Wisdom Buddha. We then perform the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa and, after dissolving the Guru into our heart, perform self-generation as Heruka. We then invite the general Dharma Protectors such as Mahakala, Kalarupa, and Kalindewi, before beginning the actual sadhana of Dorje Shugdän. The fulfilling and restoring ritual of the general Protectors is interwoven with the sadhana of Dorje Shugdän.

Further information on the Guru yoga of Je Tsongkhapa and on the Dharma Protector Dorje Shugdän can be found in the book Heart Jewel, and further information on self-generation as Heruka can be found in the book Essence of Vajrayana.

This Puja normally takes place on the 29th of the month, but may vary so please see our latest calendar for exact day & time.

Tsog Pujas

Tsog’ means ‘collection’ and when we make Tsog offerings we do them collectively, as a group. In this way we accumulate collective karma - we create the cause to progress along the Spiritual Path together. We also accumulate a great deal of merit - positive mental energy - the cause of good fortune.

During a Tsog puja we arrange a table of food and drinks - making it look as beautiful as we can. We imagine that we are preparing a banquet of delight for the holy beings to enjoy. We then invite the holy beings to the place of offerings and imagine they enjoy this blissful banquet.

Afterwards, we enjoy the Tsog offerings with our Spiritual friends. These Tsog puja’s are a great way to get to know your Spiritual friends and to feel a part of a Spiritual Community.

It’s good to bring an offering of your own to add to the table - any food or drink that you feel is beautiful and can offer without attachment. No meat or alcohol please though.

Check your calendar for Tsog puja’s - they’re highlighted in green for easy spotting, and just come along. If you want, you can arrive early and help arrange the Tsog offerings.