Author Topic: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?  (Read 22502 times)

Ensapa

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Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« on: February 04, 2012, 02:20:48 PM »
I am just wondering if Dorje Shugden can help people with broken samaya to repair them. Most Dharma protectors will require strong samaya before they will assist the practitioner, but what about Dorje Shugden? Does he require people to have strong samaya to provide assistance, or will he help those who have broken their promises to their Lama and provide the favorable conditions to repair them? Is there any indication that Dorje Shugden will help these people if they are sincere enough?

yontenjamyang

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #1 on: February 04, 2012, 03:18:06 PM »
Certainly! Any Dharma Protector will help repair samaya. The key is sincerity. If the student/disciple is sincere then any enlightened protector will help. However, the circumstances should be projected ie, there should be no conditions from the disciple. He cannot want such and such condition as that would not be  sincere. The disciple should just surrender.

Dorje Shugden, being the protector of our time would definitely be helpful to beings of this time if we are sincere!

Just one question! If we are sincere, why not just show it by our efforts in Dharma? That is real Guru Devotion. That is samaya.

thaimonk

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #2 on: February 04, 2012, 04:22:34 PM »
Certainly! Any Dharma Protector will help repair samaya. The key is sincerity. If the student/disciple is sincere then any enlightened protector will help. However, the circumstances should be projected ie, there should be no conditions from the disciple. He cannot want such and such condition as that would not be  sincere. The disciple should just surrender.

Dorje Shugden, being the protector of our time would definitely be helpful to beings of this time if we are sincere!

Just one question! If we are sincere, why not just show it by our efforts in Dharma? That is real Guru Devotion. That is samaya.

This is excellent writing. Sincerity is the key. Just show it in our efforts in dharma. It's like when you break the law and you do community work to make up to society for the damage you did. Just do dharma work and that is your practice.  :)


thaimonk

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #3 on: February 04, 2012, 04:30:45 PM »
I am just wondering if Dorje Shugden can help people with broken samaya to repair them. Most Dharma protectors will require strong samaya before they will assist the practitioner, but what about Dorje Shugden? Does he require people to have strong samaya to provide assistance, or will he help those who have broken their promises to their Lama and provide the favorable conditions to repair them? Is there any indication that Dorje Shugden will help these people if they are sincere enough?

This is quite entertaining in a way. You break the samaya, and you throw it back to Shugden to 'help' you repair. If you can break it then you can repair it.

Carpenter

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #4 on: February 04, 2012, 07:15:38 PM »
This is what I read from Wikipedia, wrote by Patrul Rinpoche:

To repair samaya, a practitioner may restore mindfulness and awareness of sacred view; confess the violation to another practitioner that holds samaya, recite the one hundred syllable mantra (Vajrasattva mantra), or use other methods determined by their guru.

Guru shows us the guideline, Protector shows us his assistance, but we must walk the steps with our effort and sincerity. As long as we follow all instruction from our guru, we give it the best we can, even without the help of protector, a samaya will be repaired. But if we pray on Shugden to help repair our samaya, we will eventually developed a mind of dependency, and will start to wish for Shugden’s help whenever our samaya is broken, and of course with this mentality in mind, our samaya will definitely break again.


Ensapa

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #5 on: February 05, 2012, 05:06:06 AM »
What if the practitioner due to his or her heavy karma finds even following the Guru's instruction difficult, or is unable to do to completion even if the practitioner gives it all to complete the given tasks? Can any Dharma protector or Dorje Shugden help in such situations?

No it is not throwing back to anyone to repair, but to find a way to repair it and getting assistance to do so. Some people have heavy karma due to whatever they have done in their past which makes it very difficult for them to get their Guru's instructions right, and they definitely need help to overcome this. I am thinking of recommending Dorje Shugden to someone who has broke their promise to the Guru and has ran away and has since even gave up Buddhism, but she went into a new age sort of thing to see if Dorje Shugden would help or if it is advisable to connect her to Dorje Shugden.

pgdharma

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #6 on: February 05, 2012, 08:23:45 AM »
Defintiely Dorje Shugden can help repair samaya? He is an Enlightened Being, but do we have the merits to receive his help?

When we have broken samaya, it shows that our faith and trust in our Guru is not strong and stable. It is our negative mind that perceives our Guru is wrong that we run away.

I agree with what Carpenter says, "Guru shows us the guideline, Protector shows us his assistance, but we must walk the steps with our effort and sincerity. As long as we follow all instruction from our guru, we give it the best we can, even without the help of protector, a samaya will be repaired. But if we pray on Shugden to help repair our samaya, we will eventually developed a mind of dependency, and will start to wish for Shugden’s help whenever our samaya is broken, and of course with this mentality in mind, our samaya will definitely break again." So if we keep having negative thoughts we will continue breaking our samaya no matter how many times Dorje Shugden help us.

"Is there any indication that Dorje Shugden will help these people if they are sincere enough?" If these people are sincere enough they would not have broken their samaya. They will instead follow their Guru's instructions, be sincere and do dharma work with great effort and integrity.


DharmaSpace

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #7 on: February 05, 2012, 02:27:44 PM »
Ensapa, If you watch the videos of oracles taking trance, Kache Marpo Dorje Shugden's minister keeps on wiping his face, as his vision keeps getting obscured by people's negativity and karma. Hence it takes two to tango, hope you get what I mean.

If you have a chance to do dharma work, don't lose your chance, everyone makes mistake, but how we deal with it shows our spiritual maturity and how much we value the buddha dharma. No one in the spiritual path can be free of making mistakes.

michaela

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2012, 04:04:11 PM »
Dear Ensapa

You are posing a very good question.  Actually, broken samaya with one's Lama, no matter how severe is a form of bad karma.  Just like other bad karma, it needs to be purified with the four opponent powers (the power of regret, the power of reliance, the power of antidote, and the power of promise).  For example:  one can generate sincere regret for offending the Lama and thus stopping the negative karma from increasing.  Once applying the power of regret, that person can ask sincere forgiveness to the Lama, and the Lama can give him/ her further instruction.

I think the role of DS as a Dharma Protector who has everyone's best interests at heart, can open up a condition for that practitioner to generate sincere regrets such as for example bumping her into a situation that reminded her of the Guru's kindness and thus helping him/ her to develop the wish to restore her broken samaya with the Guru.

Hopefully I answer your question  ;) 


Tenzin K

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #9 on: February 06, 2012, 04:10:17 PM »
If we have really broken our samaya with our Guru,what important is we realize it early and transform before it too late..

I think Lord Shugden will provide a conducive condition for us to repair of our samaya provided our motivation is correct in the sense that we really regretted with our action and learn from it. Follow strictly our Guru instruction and complete it with no mistake. This shows our devotion with sincerity.

Ensapa

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #10 on: December 06, 2012, 06:42:55 AM »
Actually, there's a catch 22 situation here, now that I really think about this:

For Dorje Shugden to help/assist us, we need to have clean samaya with our Guru. If we break our samaya, it is said that we will be in Dorje Shugden's blind spot as Trijang Rinpoche says it is like putting a blindfold over the protector's eyes; he wants to help us, but he cannot find us.

But for some people who have really heavy broken samaya to the point where they are unable to even able to repair their samaya directly, they would need assistance from the Dharma protector. So if they do not have help from Dorje Shugden or a Dharma protector, how would they ever be able to repair their samaya?

ChoDorje

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #11 on: December 06, 2012, 07:45:55 AM »
I think the answer to this question can be found in the text of the fulfillment ritual (kangso) of the Protector Dorje Shudgen:

HUM!

O Venerable Lozang Dragpa, peaceful and wrathful Manjushri
Root and lineage gurus and host of deities,
And especially Dharmapala, Mighty Vajra (aka Dorje Shudgen)
Please listen to me with great compassion!
......
......
......
Torn asunder the limits of the pratimoksha vows,
Received before the eyes of the abbots, masters, and sangha,
Transgressed the precepts of bodhichitta,
Vows taken before the eyes of the Guru, Buddhas, and Bodhisattvas,
Thrown away the close bonds and bowed commitments received
Which were witnessed by the Guru and the deities of the mandala (aka samaya, tantric vows)
The whole mass of such proscribed and naturally evil sins, downfalls, and faults,
I confess from the heart, quickly cleanse them please!

Hope this helps

psylotripitaka

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #12 on: December 06, 2012, 09:56:11 AM »
In general, if we're skillful and mindful, we can combine the four opponent powers of purification practice in conjunction with the emptiness of the 3 spheres with our entire day as well as particular virtuous actions throughout the day. When we do purification practices it is important to activate these opponent powers.

Kangso is a sort of self-initiation in relation to Dharma Protectors. ‘Kang’ means 'fulfilling', and ‘so’ means 'repairing'.

The sections of confession and offering the fulfilling substances are the most important parts of the Kangso. With confession we call upon the three vajras - Vairochana, Amitabha, and Akshobya to the space before us. In particular, this means they are stacked above the Protector/s and their retinue. At the hearts of the three vajras is the 100-syllable mantra of Vajrasattva. The mantra can be broken into sections - after a portion of reciting the mantra white nectar descends from Vairochana into the holy beings and ourself etc cleansing/purifying negative actions of body, especially those in relation to our samaya with the Guru-Protector. Then the red and blue nectars for speech and mind in the same way. This is the 'so' part of Kangso and is like self-initiation.

We are confessing our broken samayas. It is crucial to make sure the 4 opponent powers are alive for you in this for it to have the greatest impact. So, don't forget to conclude this section with a promise or strong determination to keep particular samaras...be skillful with what you commit to.

In the 'kang' section of Kangso, we are offering substances that fulfill our commitments to the Protectors. This is not different from the section in Lama Chopa when we offer our spiritual practice in the aspect of substances. It is important at this point in the sadhana to really feel that your spiritual practice and commitments are appearing as these substances. And remember, the special meaning of wrathful offerings is that because the holy beings experience uncontaminated great bliss when delighting in these offerings, we ourselves are creating the cause to transform the most wretched and horrific aspects of our samsara (our contaminated aggregates) into the experience of uncontaminated great bliss.

There are different degrees of help that we receive from the Protectors, and in a way this goes for all the holy beings. The purity of our samaya, the stronger our concentration, the power of our correct intentions such as renunciation and bodhichitta, the strength of our wisdom realizing emptiness, the power of our divine pride and clear appearance - the quality of all these things determines the power of our practice, of what karma will ripen, of how quickly realizations will ripen, of how much the holy beings can help us, and especially to what degree the Protectors can assist us (because they have special oaths regarding this).

Dorje Shugden helps everyone, and the more directly he is propitiated and the more qualified the disciple, the more powerfully he will manifest the power. His real samaya purification is the transformation of your mind into the living lineage through blessings. Ultimately, the most special help you will receive is the union of your mind with Dorje Shugden's mind of enlightened lineage.

It is important to keep our commitments to the best of our ability. If we are always breaking things that are definitely within our capacity to keep all the while we keep propitiating the Protectors, what nonsense. We need to not have this idea that 'its ok to break this commitment again because I can just purify the mistake'....that is missing the point of purification altogether. If we really appreciated the serious predicament we're in, we would be alot more careful, especially when it comes to propitiating the Protectors for their help.

A brief note on tantric samaya: I once heard someone say that certain tantric commitments only apply when you're a certain level practitioner. O really? This incorrect. If we take the vows and commitments of tantra, we are meant to keep all of them. Why? Because the purer our discipline, the purer our mind, the purer our realization, the more quickly we will approach the highest realizations. Even though Masters such as Drubchen Kelsang Gyatso Rinpoche have said to try our best, this isn't saying it's ok to break samaya. Of course it is impossible to keep everything perfectly until we are a perfect Buddha, but we must identify within our own mind how our self-cherishing uses this advice as an excuse to break samaya, especially samaya we are capable of keeping. For example, even if we are not ready to rely upon an action mudra, we still need to strive to keep the vows related to such a practice as they apply to reliance on the wisdom mudra as well. Yes, we need to keep the intention to maintain samaya, but this means our intention is to actively strive to keep them to the best of our ability and to keep refining our ability. Otherwise, our laziness gets the best of us, the vibration of our realizations and abilities do not increase, and then suddenly its time to die.

Ensapa

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #13 on: December 06, 2012, 11:40:21 AM »
I am aware about that part of the sadhana, but what I am wondering  now is that if Dorje Shugden will really help someone who has already broken their samaya, as it is said that he cannot even see the person who requests his help, so how can he help that person? Or that to do the kangsol, it is okay if the protector was not here or if the samaya is so damaged that the Guru withdraws the practice from that person? I am just trying to make sense here of how the Dharma protector can help.

psylotripitaka

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Re: Can Dorje Shugden help repair samaya?
« Reply #14 on: December 09, 2012, 11:47:34 PM »
I understand, and was responding to the subject heading. Of course he can help repair samaya. Samaya is repaired through the dependent-related actions of the practitioner and the Guru working together. It seems you are investigating how it is that the Protector can help in relation to different degrees of broken samaya, for there are certainly different degrees of how powerful an action is. Because Dorje Shugden is a Buddha, of course he is happy to help any practitioner with a sincere regret and sincere intention to rectify the broken samaya. But the degree to which the Protector can help will obviously depend on the extent of the damage, and how long it takes to repair it will also be affected. Whether or not the negative actions are repeated or one is able to maintain discipline and so forth.

The reality is we will break samaya constantly, and this will diminish in many different ways as we become more familiar with virtuous minds. Even if the Lama has overtly cut connection with a disciple (which has happened) due to broken samaya, it does not mean that the Lama no longer has compassion for them, but the actions were so heavy that this is what resulted. Everything can be purified, but how powerful that purification is depends entirely on the strength of the practitioners opponent powers and their ability to avoid the same negative actions.

We do know from certain stories that certain actions have huge ramifications that effect how long it will take a practitioner to attain certain realizations despite their strong effort, such as Je Rechungpa going against Je Milarepa's advice, or Je Marpa prostrating to Hevajra instead of his Guru Naropa. Je Rechungpa was unable to attain enlightenment in that life, and Je Marpa's son Darma Dode had an untimely death that was the demise of the lineage of Transference of Consciousness to another body.

Ensapa, in short, my understanding is that how much the Protectors can help depends entirely on the efforts of the practitioner to clean up their act, remain this way mostly, and only increase their ability to maintain samaya.