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Dear Ken,

Thank you for your interesting question! You are indeed right about needing initiation to engage in the corresponding visualization of lights emanating from one's heart to invite Dorje Shugden. This can be any deity initiation in which you are given permission to generate oneself as the meditational deity. In the case of Dharma protector practices, one engages in these meditational deity practices before one engages in Dharma protector practices. For those without initiation, we engage in the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa.

For those of us without initiation, when we recite the invitational verses, we can visualise Lama Tsongkhapa sitting on top of our heads. His size is similar to the size of our thumb. One should concentrate on visualizing Lama Tsongkhapa sitting on top of our head. When we recite the line that says "rays of light from my heart, invite from the natural sphere..” we imagine that lights shine out from Lama Tsongkhapa's heart, not ours, to invite Dorje Shugden. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Eddie,

Unfortunately, I do not know of any centres in Bangkok that practice Dorje Shugden. However, depending on where you live in the world, there are many centres all across the globe that practice Dorje Shugden and where you can learn more about his beneficial practice. You can search online, or you can even reply here to area you live and we can help you locate the nearest centre to your location. I hope this helps. Thanks.

Dear Geri,

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately, I am not in contact with any temples or centres in Australia that practice Dorje Shugden. However, you can search online for temples/centres that belong to the New Kadampa Tradition in Australia. I am aware that they have a few centres there. They do practice Dorje Shugden very strongly. Their spiritual founder is Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, a very learned and esteemed master. You can read more about Geshe Kelsang Gyatso here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/lamas/geshe-kelsang-gyatso. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Santosree Rath,

I'm very sorry to read about the health problems that your son has been facing. From a Buddhist perspective in these instances we should always do two things. The first is to seek professional medical help, as the illness can be treatable with modern medication if it is diagnosed. This will lead to your son being able to live a normal healthy lifestyle.

From the spiritual side, the psychical illness is caused by negative karma from previous lives. This negative karma manifests in this life as an illness. So, with Buddhism there are many methods of purifying this negative karma so that it no longer affects your son.

One of the best ways to purify this karma is for your son to engage in the practice of Shize Dorje Shugden. This form of Dorje Shugden is specifically for the healing of illnesses and for long life. You can read more about this practice and learn how to engage in it here: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/dorje-shugden/shize-a-practice-for-healing-and-long-life.html.

If your son is old enough, you can teach him the prayers and mantras and he can engage in the practice himself. Otherwise if he is young, you should try to teach him the mantra which he can recite for healing. The key to this practice is consistency. It should be done every day with great faith and trust is Shize and you will see that he helps you. He is a Buddha so only wants the best for people, when we make a connection with him through prayer and mantra recitation, he is able to help us.

This practice also helps to create the karmic causes for any medical treatment done to be as effective as possible. That is why you should visit your local medical healthcare professional to get the best treatment for your son as well. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Geri,

Thank you for your question. Yes, you can recite the mantra to Dorje Shugden at any time of the day, as long as you are in a respectful place (for example, not in the washroom). Usually mantras are recited in front of one's altar as part of a daily practice. However, if you do not have enough time to do this, you can of course recite the mantra whenever convenient.

Mantras are usually recited together with visualisation as part of a daily practice. This would be most beneficial but due to time constraints of a modern lifestyle, this can be hard to do. So of course, you can recite mantras whenever you can.

As Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being, he will not be angered if you don't recite his mantra in front of the altar. In fact, Dorje Shugden acts out of compassion for all sentient beings, therefore whenever you recite his mantra, you are making a divine connection with his energies. This is something that is very beneficial and can be done any time. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Rohit Sinha,

Thank you for your question. There are many lamas throughout India that can help you with this. You can contact Serpom Monastic University in Karnataka State as they are one of the biggest monasteries in India that practises Dorje Shugden. They should be able to provide you with current and up=to-date information about which lamas can help you in this regard, follow this link to their website for their contact details: http://serpommonastery.org/uncategorized/contact/

I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Hello Neeks,

Thank you for your question. In Buddhism we believe that we all have such emotional tendencies and that we react in different ways to different people in various situations. This is mirrored in secular psychology. However in Buddhism we have very effective methods to overcome these tendencies so that we can get along with people and have a better control over our own emotions. When people tell us we need to control our tendencies, this is easier said than done and most of the time we think that we cannot because it is just too hard. But stopping these tendencies takes time and practice, because they are so ingrained into our minds.

In Buddhism, this is achieved through meditation of which there are many forms. But luckily, the practice of Dorje Shugden not only calls upon his energies to transforms our lives but is itself a form of meditation. As for what karma you are dealing with, actually you shouldn't view it as what kind of karma that you are dealing with, but that you are in fact just dealing with karma. According to Buddhist philosophy we have all had countless previous rebirths and the actions we took in those lives affects us now because they have become tendencies. So these tendencies are a manifestation of our karma. That is why Buddhism places strong emphasis on controlling our body, speech and mind, so that we can overcome these tendencies and not let them affect our future.

Dorje Shugden's practice is perfect for this. You can begin the practice by reciting the short prayer here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/starting-on-dorje-shugdens-practice. And then recite as many mantras as possible. There is an explanation of the meaning of the mantra and the visualization here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugdens-mantra. You use the recitation of the mantra and the visualization as the object of your meditation. You may find this hard to do at first, but over time with consistent practice, you will see that your mind will start to become calmer and you are able to handle whatever life throws at you in a more balanced way. What's more, creating a connection with Dorje Shugden will help to make your life obstacle free as that is one of the benefits of his practice.

When most people engage in his practice, they want something or ask for something, like the clearing of obstacles, etc. But what you are after is something more higher, it is the ability to control your mind from negative emotions so that your life can improve, which is a very good intention to have. You can just say to yourself "through this practice may I be able to control my thoughts and disturbing emotions be lessened" before you begin the practice. This will be a very good way to set the intention or motivation when engaging in the practice. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Yong,

Yes, it is acceptable to recite the prayers and mantras without being in front of the altar. Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being and will hear your prayers no matter where you are. However, it is advisable to recite your prayers in front of your altar, because you altar acts as a physical connection with the enlightened beings. At the same time, you can make physical offerings before you engage in the practice, generating more merit which is something we all need, both in our every day life and our spiritual path. That being said, sometimes it may not be conducive to recite in front of an altar, therefore you can recite wherever you are.

As for the visualisation when reciting, it is ok if you cannot visualise at first. You can just recite for now, but as you get used to the practice, you can start by learning the visualisation part by part. That would be extremely beneficial. It is said to make the most of out any practice you should engage your body, speech and mind. You engage your body by sitting down to recite, not engaging in any other activity, you engage your speech by reciting the prayers, and you engage your mind when you do the visualisations. This is the best, but even if you cannot visualise, you are still engaging you body and speech, which is also very beneficial and will generate the spiritual merit and remove obstacles that are part of the practice. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Chong,

Thank you for your question. The way to generate spiritual merit that was mentioned is simply by engaging in the practice of Dorje Shugden. I have broken down the each of the points to make it easier to understanding:

1. Relying: this means that we understand that Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being who has manifested in a specific form to help us overcome our obstacles in life. Knowing this, we engage in the practice of Dorje Shugden and understand that in doing so he can help in both our worldly and spiritual lives.

2. Making offerings: this refers to two types of offerings. The first is actual offerings made on your altar. You can read more about setting up an altar here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/setting-up-a-tibetan-buddhist-altar. The second type is when we engage in the practice there are sections of the prayer that talk about making offerings, here you can visualise making these offerings to Dorje Shugden.

3. Visualisation: during Dorje Shugden's prayers, there are certain visualisations that you engage in, especially during the mantra recitation, serkym and the recitation of the kawang section. You can read more about these following the relevant links below:

Mantra: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugdens-mantra
Serkym: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/serkym-offering-prayers-to-dorje-shugden
Kawang:http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/kawang-confessional-prayers-to-dorje-shugden

4. Mantra recitation: this refers to the recitation of Dorje Shugden's mantra.

5. Propitation prayers and verses: refers to the prayers to Dorje Shugden (as part of the daily practice)

I hope this makes things clearer. Please feel free to ask more questions and I hope this helped. Thank you.

Hello Philip,

It's nice to see you here again. Bon is actually the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet. The first and oldest Tibetan Buddhist sect is actually known as the Nyingma tradition, which basis a lot of its teachings on the life and works of Guru Rinpoche. There are four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Gelug. As far as I am aware, the Bon tradition incorporated Buddhist elements over time as it came into contact with these four schools.

Fundamentally however, Bon philosophy is Tibetan in origin, whereas Buddhist philosophy and practice is Indian in origin as that is where Buddhism actually came from. Whereas Buddhist teachings trace back to Buddha Shakyamuni, Bon teachings trace back to a figure known as Tonpa Sherab. All Buddhist schools, as the name of the religion suggests trace their origins back to the historical Buddha. But Bon does not. That does not make Bon an negative tradition in any way. It is a religion in and of itself which should be respected, but from a logical angle is not Buddhist in origin.

Now, some people may say that Dorje Shugden is an evil being, or a spirit. In your comment, you mention that he is the ghost of an evil king. This is certainly not true, and this is clear from his previous life, in which he was a holy and practiced monk. As for being an evil being, I am sure you have read the various articles on the blog section of this website? In it there are many articles about high lamas of different Tibetan Buddhist traditions that all practiced Dorje Shugden. If one were to say that Dorje Shugden was an evil spirit, this would make all of these great masters wrong in their practice. If they were wrong in their practice then they were wrong in all their Buddhist practices. If that was the case, the entirety of Tibetan Buddhism would be invalidated, as these are the very same masters who have passed the teachings down over time.

But this cannot be the case, because we have seen how the high lamas have benefited so many people with their teachings, and how they themselves have shown many signs of being spiritually attained. You can read more about these masters and their works, on the blog section of this site, if you haven't done so already. I really hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Philip Strumolo,

It is nice to see you here again. From a strict Buddhist perspective, we do not include other deities together with the Buddhas (enlightened beings) on out altar. However, there is nothing wrong with doing so if your aim is to create a sincere connection with Dorje Shugden and given your circumstance.

The main reason for this is that Dorje Shugden is an enlightened being, that means everything he does comes from unbiased compassion. Since everything he does is from compassion, he will not 'conflict' with other deities if placed on the same altar. So, there is nothing wrong with doing so. It will not create a problem whatsoever.

If you prayer to and create a connection with Dorje Shugden, you should concentrate on the recitation of his mantra. Not just reciting, but concentrating on the sound and energy of the mantra. This is very important.

For your specific circumstance, Dorje Shugden's mantra can help, as can the mantra of Lama Tsongkhapa, which is included in the Diamond Path, which is the daily prayer text. This is available here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden. Lama Tsongkhapa's mantra has the benefit of calming one's mind and can help deal with OCD as well. Dorje Shugden's mantra can have the same effect, because in essence both Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden are both Manjushri in nature, but manifested for specific purposes and with certain practices to help people in their spiritual path. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Hello Meg,

It's nice to see you here. And let me just say that I know what you are going through. I have also been similarly afflicted by entities such as these in the past.

From the sounds of it, it seems that you have a karmic connection with a particular entity from a previous life, alternatively in this life you have the karma to be sensitive to these types of entities so you have these types of experiences.

There is an article here that may be great help to you given your particular situation: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-trakze-to-dispel-black-magic-spirits

The article starts off with a quick explanation how we can be afflicted by spirits and black magic and then goes on to explain a very powerful practice that helps to stop things like this from happening. It is a very long article, so please take your time to read it. While this particular form of Dorje Shugden may appear very frightening, he is actually very compassionate. The article will explain more.

This practice is very powerful and I have personal experience with this practice, as well as know people who have overcome similar disturbances using this practice. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Philip Strumolo,

Nice to see you hear again. The above centre is not associated with us. However, they do indeed practice Dorje Shugden very strongly. Their courses are known to be very good, as long as you yourself put in the effort in your learning and meditation, and the Dharma that they practice stems from our same Gelugpa lineage. Their teacher is very learned and has spiritual attainments, therefore his centres can be trusted. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Philip Strumolo,

You can use any space you like that is available to you, as long as it is a respectable area. Actually, there is no way to offend the enlightened beings, as they are above all emotions and concepts. However, from our side we should be as respectful as possible when setting up an altar space for the representations of the enlightened beings.

If you are using a space that has been used for something else before, you should clean it well. And then you purify it with incense reciting the mantra "Om Ah Hung" are you do so. So, you light incense, and then wave it over the space while reciting the mantra. Then you can set up the altar there.

If you are making offerings on the altar, then you can use the same procedure to purify and bless the offerings once they are made. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Philip Strumolo,

I'm glad you have come across Dorje Shugden practice. It is indeed a very powerful practice that can help in all areas of our lives. You can start the practice by following this particular post: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/starting-on-dorje-shugdens-practice which includes a short but effective prayer and the mantra of Dorje Shugden. If you recite this every day you will most certainly see a difference in your life for the better.

There are other things that you can do such as set up an altar. But you should follow the above prayer for some time before you set up an altar: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/setting-up-a-tibetan-buddhist-altar. Altars are extremely beneficial for our lives as they provide us with a stable environment, beneficial energies and a focus for our prayers.

If you want to go deeper into the practice, there is an article here:http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden. This article provides you with longer daily prayers to make a stronger connection with Dorje Shugden and get the most benefit from the practice. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Hello Ken,

It's nice to see you asking more questions here. They are both actually the same mantra but with slight variations, which may be due to the fact that they were passed down through different practice lineages. Both mantras are equally as powerful in invoking upon the enlightened energies of Wangze. For our own practice purposes, we follow the variation as taught to us by our guru. If you have a guru, then you should consult him/her and practice according to which mantra they teach you. If you have a connection with the guru, the blessings of the mantra and practice flow through the guru, so it would be better to follow the mantra they teach.

For us here, our guru is His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche, who has taught us the mantra: OM BENZA WIKI BITANA WANGSHA GURU OM. Therefore this is the variation that we use in our practice.

If you do not have a guru, you can follow whichever variation you find more affinity with during your Wangze practice. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Ken,

Thank you for your question. The syllables Om and Ho are not the same pronunciations as the syllable Hung. They are meant to be recited as they are written. There are many different types of mantras and not all of them end in Hung. The syllables in each mantra will have its own individual meaning, depending on which deity the mantra is associated with. Usually the syllable Hung can also be spelt HUM (is being transliterated directly from the Sanskrit rather than the Tibetan) but they are in fact the same syllable. I hope this helps.

Hello Ken,

Thank you for the clarification. Unfortunately, we do not have an English translation of this particular Request for Activities prayer at this time. But there are translations of equally powerful prayers, as I mentioned earlier.

Dear gurumart,

Thank you for your question. I hope that your prayers are answered soon, and you are able to learn the Dharma as you so wish. Since, you know Lama Gangchen, who is a very qualified and authentic teacher, perhaps you should get into contact with his centre and ask for my guidance. You seem to have a connection with Lama Gangchen, so you should nurture this connection because it is a very good one.

In regards to which practice you can do, the joint practice of Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden is extremely beneficial. We have a short practice available here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden It is a lot shorter than the full Kangso text to Dorje Shugden, and can be done on a daily basis. This will be very good for you. There is a video here that explains how to engage in practice to make it easier for you: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/media/how-to-begin-dorje-shugdens-practice

Alternatively, there is an even shorter prayer available here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/starting-on-dorje-shugdens-practice if you recite this prayer, then you can concentrate on the recitation of Dorje Shugden's mantra.

Either of these will be extremely beneficial as a daily practice for you to engage in. I hope this helps.

Thank you

Dear Trip Out,

Thank you for your question. As a practitioner of Buddhism from the Gelug tradition, I do not have a relationship with His Holiness the Karmapa. This is because the Karmapa is the supreme head of the sacred Karma Kagyu tradition, as i have not received teachings from this tradition before, I have no connection apart from my deepest admiration for the Karmapa as the holder of his tradition.

In regards to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, even though we belong to the same lineage, I also have no relationship with the Dalai Lama, apart that His Holiness is one of the teachers of my Guru, but not my Guru's main teacher. I hope this helps answer your question. If it does not, please do ask more. Thank you.