Advice on Yidam Practice

Advice on Yidam Practice

by Khenpo Shenga

At times, chant the mantra while experiencing naturally arising rigpa, a state of wholeness, beyond change or fluctuation, in which all that appears and exists is equality, the pure realm of the dharmakāya.

At times, consider that the lama arises in the form of the yidam. In the confident assurance that the maṇḍala, which is the great display of the Awesome Heruka, is, and always has been, spontaneously perfect, combine deity, mantra and reality itself. Through this, all that appears, all sounds and all thoughts arise as the naturally appearing pure realm of the wrathful deity.

At times, enhance the strength of your practice by meditating on referenceless and unbiased compassion.

Fulfil your commitments by offering the tsok feast and tormas on auspicious days. Make offerings and recite praises to the dharmapālas regularly, and generate heartfelt commitment to the teachings and beings.

Take the oath-bound deities as your servants,
Assign tasks to the gods and demons of phenomenal existence,
Experience both happiness and suffering as the great equalness of single taste,
And blend all changing experience with the dharmakāya.

“I am the great and glorious Heruka!
My food is the life-force of living beings,
My seat, the three worlds and three planes of existence.
I am the Guru. I am the Yidam.
I am Samantabhadra, the mighty Vajradhara.
Without me, in the time before me,
There was no saṃsāra, no transcendence.
Now, the phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa
Are all perfect within me, the great Heruka.
The blazing fire mountain is my realm.
The vīras and ḍākinīs are my retinue.
The Great Perfection is my Dharma.
I am the Heruka of equalness and perfection.”

At all times, such pride is necessary.

By Shenpenpa (Khenpo Shenga).

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2013.

Bibliography

Tibetan Editions

gzhan phan chos kyi snang ba. Zhal gdams ’bel gtam gyi skor. Rewalsar, Distt. Mandi, H.P., India: Zigar Drukpa Kargyud Institute, 1985, pp. 87–88

______ . gsung 'bum/_gzhan phan chos kyi snang ba/. 6 vols. dkar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul/ sde dge rdzong / rdzong sar khams bye'i slob gling /: rdzong sar khams bye'i slob gling /, 2004. (BDRC W1PD2074) Vol. 6: 365–366

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