Three of the Body

1. Killing

2. Stealing

3. Sexual Misconduct

Four of the Speech

4. Divisive Speech

5. Harsh Words

6. Idle Chatter

7. Lying

Three of the Mind

8. Envy

9. Hatred and Malice

10. Wrong Views
 

The Refuge Commitments

1. Not to go for refuge to teachers who contradict Buddha’s view, or to Samsaric gods.

2. To regard any image of a Buddha as an actual Buddha

3. Not to harm others

4. To regard all Dharma Scriptures as the actual Dharma Jewel

5. Not to allow oneself to be influenced by people who reject the Buddha’s teachings

6. To regard anyone who wears the robes of an ordained person as an actual Sangha Jewel.

7. To go for refuge to the Three Jewels again and again remembering their good qualities and the differences between them.

8. To offer the first portion of whatever we eat and drink to the Three Jewels, while remembering their kindness

9. With compassion, always encourage others to go for refuge

10. To go for refuge at least 3 times during the day and 3 times during the night, remembering the benefits of going for refuge

11. To perform every action with complete trust in the Three Jewels

12. Never to forsake the Three Jewels, even at the cost of our lives, or even as a joke
 

The Benefits of Going for Refuge

1. We become a pure Buddhist

2. We establish the foundation for taking all other vows

3. We purify the negative karma that we have accumulated in the past

4. We daily accumulate a vast collection of merit

5. We are held back from falling into the lower realms

6. We are protected from harm inflicted by humans and non-humans

7. We fulfill all our temporary and ultimate wishes

8. We quickly attain the full Enlightenment of Buddhahood
 

With sincere intentions, one can offer jewellery on Buddha images, thereby creating the causes mentioned, a body beautiful to look at, and charisma to inspire others positively in future lives and in this life.

It is also a wish to achieve the Buddha body that is healthy and strong, and thrives on benefiting others. Last of all, making offerings towards a particular Buddha creates connection of blessings and protection with a specific Buddha.

In Buddhist practice, there are various specific methods to accumulate merits, which is the fuel for the actual inner practice of spiritual transformation.

The five great preliminary practices are well-known to do just that. They are water offerings, prostrations, Vajrasattva practice, Guru Yoga and mandala offerings.

Mandala offering is a complete meditation of visualising a universe in the form of a mandala that is purified and offered up to the Buddha or one’s lama who is inseparable from the Buddha.

The complete mandala offering requires one to have a mandala set along with precious jewels or grains of any sort to represent it. There are specific ritual verses and meditations to go along upon making the offering. When not in use, it should be covered in silk or any piece of clean cloth and stowed away respectfully.

Mandala offerings generate a lot of merit for the practitioner to gain spiritual insight and understanding into the teachings and also to gain the ability to see Buddhas directly.

Lama Tsongkhapa is renowned to have performed 1.8 million mandala offerings in a closed retreat to gain a clearer understanding of the most profound Buddhist teachings of Madhyamika and Guhyasamaja. Upon completion of his retreat, he gained the insight and a vision of Maitreya.

In the short term, he can bring us material wealth and help us out of poverty but more importantly, his practice can also bring us to spiritual wealth and personal growth to become a better person.

As with all Buddhas, his practice can help us gain the ultimate attainment of Enlightenment. His form is short, fat and stout, which comes from a time when it was widely believed that obesity is synonymous with wealth and luxury.

He also carries an arrogant expression on his face and sits in royal posture: this acts as a warning to tell us if we continue to look and act in this arrogant way in our attempts to get material wealth, we actually gain poverty instead. Think! Is our greed hurting others?

The royal ease of his form indicates that Dzambala is free from samsara – through his practice and attainments, he has also acquired all the money, fame and wealth of the universe and no longer experiences suffering.

He can afford to be laid back, chilled out – he’s got everything he needs! He shows us how our practice to him can ultimately lead us to Enlightenment, where we too can literally have everything we want.

At the same time, he steps on a conch shell with his right foot to mean that though he has attained all this great wealth, he is above it all and will no longer allow the ties of samsara to subjugate him again.

Dzambala holds a fruit in his right hand to signify that if we follow his practice, we can “bear the fruits” of our efforts to gain spiritual attainments and Enlightenment.

In his left hand, he holds a mongoose, which in ancient India stood as an omen of good things to come. The mongoose spits beautiful precious wish-granting jewels, and both work to attract us to practice Dzambala with an immediate promise of wealth.

Dzambala’s blessings and the value of his practice are universal. Keeping an image or statue of him, or giving a Dzambala statue away as a gift is beneficial to anyone, anywhere.

His spiritual energy in the form of sound that helps to transform the mind (Mantra):

OM DZAMBALA DZALENDRAYE SOHA