Connecting with Je Tsongkhapa by thinking of him with faith, reciting his holy mantra, meditating on his omnipresence and practising his Guru Yoga blesses us with a deep sense of peace and clarity of mind we never thought possible. It is simple, complete and effective for today’s modern individual.

Invocation

GA-DEN HLA-JI NGON-JYI THUG-KA NEY
RAP-KAR SHO-SAR PUNG-DEE CHU-DZIN TSER
CHO-KYI GYEL-PO KUN-CHEN LOZANG DRAG
SEY-DANG CHE-PA NE-DIR SHEG SU SOL

From the heart of the Lord of the Gaden devas (Maitreya Buddha)
emerges a brilliant white cloud, like a great mass of fresh yoghurt.
Atop sits Tsongkhapa all knowing, King of Dharma;
we request your coming to this place along with your great disciples.

Requesting to Stay

DUN-JYI NAM-KHAR SING-TI PEE-DEE TENG
JE-TSUN LA-MA JYEH-PI DZUM-KAR CHYEN
DAG-LO DE-PE SO-NAM SHING-CHOG TU
TAN-PA JYEH-SHIR KAL-DJAR JUG-SU SOL

My Lord Guru is seated before me upon a lion-throne, lotus and moon cushion.
His body is white and he smiles blissfully.
Please remain many eons and serve as the great merit field for the growth of my mind’s faith,
and for the increase of Lord Buddha’s teachings.

Prostration and Praise

SHE-JYEH CHON-KUN JAL-WEY LO-DO THUG
KAL-ZANG NA-WEY JYIN-JUR LIK-SHEY SUNG
DRAG-PI PEL-JYI HLAM-MER DZEY-PI KU
THONG-THO DRAN PI DON DHAN LA-CHAG TSAL

His omniscient wisdom-mind encompasses all that is existent.
His voice is a profound teaching, which ornaments the ear of the fortunate pupil.
His body’s beautiful radiance evokes wondrous admiration.
To Lama Tsongkhapa whom merely viewing, hearing or contemplating earns one great merit, I make prostration.

Offering

YIH-WONG TCHO-YON NA-TSOG ME-TOG DANG
DRI-JEM DUG-PO NANG-SAL DRID-CHAB SOG
NGO-SHAM YIH TUL TCHO-TIN GYA-TSO DI
SO-NAM SHING-CHOG CHE-LA CHO-PA BUL

I present to you, great field of merit, Tsongkhapa,
beautiful offerings, water, a display of flowers, fragrant incense,
butter-lamps, perfumes and more both physical and mental offerings,
vast as the clouds and wide as the ocean.

Confession

DAG-GI TO-MEY DU-NEH SAG-PA YI
LU-NGAG YIH-KYI DIG-PA CHI-JYI DANG
CHEY-PA DOM-PA SUM-JI MI-TUN SHO
NYING-NEH JO-PA TRAH-PO SO-SOR SHAG

The unwholesome actions of body, speech and mind,
which I have accumulated over a measureless period,
especially actions contrary to the three vows (Vinaya, Bodhisattva, Vajrayana),
I regret extremely from the depths of my heart, and I reveal each and every such action.

Rejoice

NIK-MI DU-DIR MANG-THO DRUP-LA TSON
CHO-JYED PANG-PI DAL-JOR DON-YO SHYE
NGON-PO CHEY-KYI LAP-CHEN DZE-PA LA
DAG-CHAG SAM-PA TAG-PEH YI RANG NGO

We totally rejoice in your magnificent achievements, my Lord,
who received numerous teachings and performed the practices with utmost diligence,
who abandoned the eight worldly objectives
and made the most meaningful use of the eighteen opportune conditions during these degenerate times.

Request to Turn the Wheel of Dharma

JE-TSUN LA-MA DAM-PA CHEY-NAM KYI
CHO-KU KA-LA CHEN-TI TIN-TIK NEY
JI-TAR TSAM-PI DUL-SHIH DZIN-MA LA
ZAB-JI CHO-KYI CHAR-PA WHAP-TU SOL

All you holy Gurus, unerring in conduct,
may you precipitate a rain of realisation of Bodhicitta and Shunyata
from the clouds of all-knowing compassion which fills the Dharmakaya sky,
providing for the field of disciples precisely what is needed.

Requesting to Remain

NAM-DAG WO-SAL YING-LEY JING-PA YI
ZUNG-JUG KU-LA CHAR-NUB MI-NGA YANG
THA-MAL HNANG-NGOR ZUG-KU RAG-PA NYI
SEE-THEE BAR-DU MI-NUB TAN-PA SHUG

May the Vajra body of Tsongkhapa created from the purity of clear light,
free of the rising and setting of cyclic existence
but visible to the ordinary viewer only in its unsubtle, physical form,
stay on unchanging, without waning, until Samsara ends.

Dedication

DAG-SOG JIN-NYEH SAG-PA GE-WA DEE
TAN-DANG DRO-WA KUN-LA GANG-PHAN DANG
CHE-PA JE-TSUN LO-ZANG DRAG-PA YI
TAN-PI NYING-PO RING-DU SAL-SHEH SHOG

May this merit accumulated by myself and others,
beneficially serve all sentient beings and the Buddhadharma
and especially may the essential teachings of the unerring master Tsongkhapa,
become clear and enduring.

Migtsema (Mantra of Je Tsongkhapa)

This can be recited anytime, anywhere, as many times as possible.  It has the benefits of receiving the blessings of Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri and Vajrapani.

MIG-MEY TZE-WEY TER-CHEN CHENREZIG
DRI-MEY KHYEN-PI WANG-PO JAMPAL YANG
DU-PUNG MA-LU JOM-DZEY SANG-WEY DAG
GANG-CHEN KE-PEY TSUG-GYEN TSONGKAPA
LO-SANG TRAG-PEY SHAB-LA SOL-WA DEB

(Recite 21x or more, depending on time)

Je Tsongkhapa, crown jewel of the holy Masters of the land of snows,
You are Avalokiteshvara, great goldmine of Compassion untainted by ego’s delusion.
You are Manjushri, great Master of stainless wisdom.
You are Vajrapani, great subduer of all the gatherings of demons.
At your feet, famed Lobsang Drakpa,
I humbly bow and earnestly request that all sentient beings achieve Enlightenment.

(Recite 21x or more, depending on time)

Dissolving Je Rinpoche into Ourselves

PAL-DAN TSA-WEY LA-MA RINPOCHE
DAG-SOG CHI-WOR PE-ME DAN-JUG LA
KA-DRIN CHEN-PO GO-NEY JE-ZUNG TE
KU-SUNG THUG-KYI NGO-DRUP TSAL-DU SOL

Dear worthy root Guru, please ascend the lotus seat
atop the head of myself and the other beings,
and in your great kindness please remain with us.
Bestow upon us the blessings of your body, speech and mind.

PAL-DAN TSA-WEY LA-MA RINPOCHE
DAG-SOG NYING-KHAR PE-ME DAN-JUG LA
KA-DRIN CHEN-PO GO-NEY JE-ZUNG TE
CHO-DANG THUN-MONG NGO-DRUP TSAL-DU SOL

Precious, noble, root Guru, please occupy the lotus seat
within our hearts and in your great kindness remain with us.
Please grant us your blessings for our temporal success
and for the supreme attainment.

PAL-DAN TSA-WEY LA-MA RINPOCHE
DAG-SOG NYING-KHAR PE-ME DAN-JUG LA
KA-DRIN CHEN-PO GO-NEY JE-ZUNG TE
JANG-CHUB NYING-PO BAR-DU TAN-PAR SHUG

Beloved, noble, root Guru, please occupy the lotus seat
within our hearts and in your great kindness remain with us.
Please stay on until we achieve the great goal of Enlightenment.

Every metal manifests its individual sound and harmonics, offering its own exceptional medicinal sound.

According to tradition, singing bowls are made from seven metals, each metal representing one of the “planets”:

1. GOLD – Sun
2. SILVER – Moon
3. MERCURY – Mercury
4. COPPER – Venus
5. IRON – Mars
6. TIN – Jupiter
7. LEAD – Saturn

How to Choose and Commune with Your Bowl

Place the bowl in the palm of your hand, strike it softly with the wooden mallet and with your eyes closed, listen and enjoy the sound. Listen not only with your ears but also get in touch with how it makes you feel and how your body responds. The labyrinth of over-laid sounds and harmonics is always a unique experience for each person.

Then strike the bowl lightly again and with pressure, slowly rub the mallet firmly around the edge. It starts to `sing’ quietly and increases in volume with successive rotations. Do not force the sound louder than it wishes to vibrate, otherwise it will rattle unpleasantly.

If you have no immediate results, persevere and you will slowly gain the necessary skill. Each bowl has its own resonance and `sings’ its unique song. If you do not respond to one particular bowl, try another for there is indeed, a special sound for you.

We all react to sound in accordance with our accumulated experiences, therefore making this choice an entirely personal one. You will recognize your own sound with your experiments.

The bowl may be put on a small firm cushion or rubber ring. A ‘gong beater’ or mallet for percussion produces different sounds especially those covered with tape, felt, leather, cork, rope or wood.

When the bowl is `singing’, place it close to your lips. By opening and closing your mouth you will hear the various harmonics. You can hum or intone directly into the resonating bowl. Your voice reinforces what your ears are hearing and creates a circuit connecting the ears with your voice, resulting in a more focused, listening mode. The difference between hearing and listening now become obvious.

The shape of sound becomes visible when you rub your bowl, which has been filled with some water. It then horns, the vibrations of which can even cause a fountain of tiny, sparkling droplets. These sounds pattern themselves in the water much like a Mandala.

Two of the advised guidelines for meditation are the focusing on breath or alternatively on sound. The vibratory sounds of the singing bowl are ideal for stilling the mind and bringing it into a centred clarity.

Adored throughout eastern Asia, devotees of Amitabha, Amitayus or Amida (as known in Japan), pray to be reborn from a Lotus in his Pure Land.

As the Buddha of Infinite Life and Infinite Light, Amitayus has special popularity amongst Buddhist practitioners due to the infinite benefits that can be received, the immediate result being the feelings of peace and joy within us.

In the sutras, Buddha Shakyamuni, at the request of Manjushri explained that before enlightenment Amitabha or Amitayus had made 12 great vows to benefit and help sentient beings. Thus Amitayus functions as the Buddha of Increase, not just for long life, but also in all things beneficial to our lives.

Outwardly, his practice grants us an abundance of necessities, good health, helpful friends, good family and good living conditions. Inwardly, we attain a greater understanding of Dharma, by practicing Morality within the Three scopes. And Secretly, we reduce the habituations of a self cherishing, grasping mind.

Thus, Amitayus helps us to dispel the darkness of Ignorance and to attain Wisdom and Compassion, which is represented in this icon by the father-mother union.

Amitayus usually holds a long-life vase filled with the nectar of immortality, the elixir of eternal life. It is a very significant and auspicious practice for Dharma students to offer Amitayus to their Lamas, as a request for the Lamas to live long and to spread the doctrine of the Buddha to the world.

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

OM AMARANI ZEWONG DEYEE SOHA

The peaceful eleventh face of Buddha Amitabha signifies that Avalokita is a Buddha and that he represents the compassion of all the Buddhas.

The first pair of hands are held at the heart, holding a magic wish-fulfilling gem. The second right hand holds a rosary the meaning being, we must recite his holy mantra, the third eliminates the hunger and thirst of pretas, and the fourth holds the wheel of all spiritual teachings.

The second left hand holds the white lotus of compassionate action, the third a vase containing the nectar of immortality, and the fourth a bow and arrow symbolizing meditation and enlightenment.

There is a peaceful eye in the palm of each of the remaining 992 hands. His radiant body is adorned with all kinds of jeweled ornaments.

This form of Avalokita has a special fasting and purification practice associated with the eight Mahayana precepts. The precepts are upheld in order to purify our negative karma of body, speech and mind, and to pacify our strongest delusions arising from desirous attachment and hatred – two causes of our sufferings in all our lifetimes.

Another very special benefit is that this practice creates bountiful merits that lead us over time to let go of our self-cherishing tendencies thus filling us with Bodhicitta (Compassion) and bringing happiness to all sentient beings.

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

OM MANI PADME HUNG

The Buddhas of Wisdom, Compassion and Skilful Means (Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara, Vajrapani) incarnated in this divine child.

By his genius, his example of perfect balance of study and practice, his utter humility and boundless energy, he restored the holy Buddhadharma to its original purity and caused it to spread like a wildfire all over Tibet, Mongolia, China and India.

Already practising the most profound tantric methods as a five-year-old, having been given his ordination vows by H.H. the 4th Karmapa, Je Tsongkhapa went on to study at the feet of no less than forty-five Gurus of all existing traditions.

After an eight-year retreat, eating only one seed of a tree per day and offering 3.5 million prostrations and 1.5 million mandalas, many deities appeard to him directly and he remained in constant communion with Lord Manjushri for the rest of his life.

Vajrayogini advised him to use the colour yellow for his teaching hat and the lineage that originated with him, the Gelugpa school, has often been called “Yellow-Hat School’ for that reason.

Lord Tsongkhapa founded the three main monasteries of Gaden, Drepung and Sera whose many attained Masters uphold his enlightened tradition and share it with the world. He is the author of many texts unsurpassed to this day in depth and clarity, most famously his work “The Stages on the Path to Enlightenment”.

Hailed as the second Buddha by contemporary Buddhist masters of his time, Lama Tsongkhapa comes from the mystical land of snows, Tibet. He is an incomparable pure monk, scholar and great teacher to thousands then and millions now.

This simple monk has become a limitless treasure trove of love, wisdom and compassion. He is an ideal spiritual inspiration for everyone throughout the ages.

Some look upon him for simple career advancement and some for a guide on a spiritual path. It simply doesn’t matter, as Lama Tsongkhapa grants wealth, business and career to the practical minded. He thus allows us to look deeper into spirituality with minds freer off mundane matters.

Having Lama Tsongkhapa’s image has the immense benefit of harmonizing the energy wherever his image is placed. A direct result of having him in your home would be stabilizing wealth and happiness. Essentials of food, money, shelter and clothing will cease to be a problem.

Lama Tsongkhapa’s image is well known to have a calming effect on aggressive minds and those with destructive emotions. Making offerings to him and doing his meditations and practice allow us to cultivate the inner qualities of wisdom, compassion and inner strength.

This practice’s other benefits are destroying all problems and obstacles. This is displayed with the flaming sword of wisdom on a lotus on his right. The Book of Dharma on the left lotus indicates by taking refuge in him, one can attain the higher wisdom of achieving true inner peace, tranquility and ultimately, Enlightenment.

Je Tsongkhapa’s Guru Yoga meditation (Gaden Lhagyama) is open to all, easy and pleasant to do, yet infinitely profound. Healing of depression, restlessness and sickness, protection from negative energies, enhancement of intelligence and clarity, deep joy and peace are experienced by those who practice it.

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

MIG-MEY TZE-WEY TER-CHEN CHENREZIG
DRI-MEY KHYEN-PI WANG-PO JAMPAL YANG
DU-PUNG MA-LU JOM-DZEY SANG-WEY DAG
GANG-CHEN KE-PEY TSUG-GYEN TSONGKHAPA
LO-SANG TRAG-PEY SHAB-LA SOL-WA DEB