Ask A Question

Dear Julie,

Thank you for your question. You can receive the Dorje Shugden sogtae from any qualified lama who holds the lineage of the practice. That being said, since the sogtae is tantric in nature, one would need to have the initiation into a Anuttarayoga Tantric practice, such as Yamanataka, which is the most common initiation given before receiving Dorje Shugden sogtae. Therefore in order to receive the sogtae you would need to have a guru, or spiritual teacher to bestow tantric empowerment and then the life-entrustment.

If you have a guru already, you can humbly with offerings request your guru to bestow the sogtae and explain why you would like to receive it. However it is not necessary to have the sogtae in order to prayer to Dorje Shugden or make a connection with Dorje Shugden. They key is regular practice. With regularly practice, as we purify our karma, Dorje Shugden is able to help in our lives more and more.

As for the monthly commitment, it is best if you do it yourself. If not, you can ask a friend knows how to do the puja, or the monastery to do it on your behalf. Generally speaking, the monastery will engage in the puja once a month anyway but it is better for you sponsor the puja specifically for yourself if you are able to. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Ryo Hakuta,

Thank you for your question. Yes, according to Buddhist philosophy, after we pass away from this life, we reincarnate into another life. But this life is not necessarily human, and depends on what type of karma that opens up at the time of our death. As the Buddha taught, we are all ruled by karma. In short, if we do good things, help other people, animals and beings, in our next life we will be reborn in a good and happy environment. If we do bad things, kill, lie, cheat, we will be reborn in an environment that is full of suffering.

There are generally speaking six realms we can take rebirth in: the god realm, the demi-god realm, the human realm, the animal realm, the spirit realm and the hell realm. When we take rebirth in one of these realms, we live there, and we will again die. Then we will take rebirth in another one of the realms. This whole process is governed by karma.

But the Buddha taught that you can be free of this cycle of existence, by becoming an enlightened being. Once you are enlightened, you are out of this cycle completely. Therefore the ultimate aim of practicing Buddhists is attain enlightenment. All the practices in Buddhism are meant to get you to enlightenment or to support you to get to enlightenment. The practice of Dorje Shugden is a practice that supports you in transforming yourself to become a better person, and ultimately enlightened. He does this by removing obstacles that we may be facing and providing you with what you need to concentrate on transforming yourself to become a better person.

In the youtube video shared by Julie above, you can see that His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche gives a very concise explanation of reincarnation. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Malna Cannon,

Thank you for your question. The best way to remove curses caused by black magic and to get protection against evil is to engage in the practice of Trakze, which is the most wrathful form of Dorje Shugden. The practice of Trakze is very well known to combat black magic and grant extremely powerful protection.

You can find out more about the practice and how to engage in it here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-trakze-to-dispel-black-magic-spirits

This practice should be engaged in daily if you require protection against all forms of evil and curses. It is a practice that you can engage in safely as invokes the energies and blessings of Dorje Shugden, who is by nature a Buddha, and Buddhas can never harm any living being, only help them. The practice does not require any form of initiation, so anyone can do the practice.

If you believe you are under the influence of a curse or black magic, you should engage in the practice every day, and accumulate as many mantras as possible, until the symptoms of the curse start to reduce. Even then, you should not stop the practice but continue until all traces of the curse or negativity in your life are completely gone. At the beginning of the practice, there is a short explanation about karma, which is a must to understand how Trakze helps to protect us. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Paul Griffith,

I am not entirely sure where you can buy small Dorje Shugden statues in the UK. But you order them online here, and they can ship to you in the UK:

https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-statue-2-75-inches
https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-gold-resin-statue-5-5-inches
https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-colourful-resin-statue-5-5-inches
https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-brass-statue-with-gold-finish-8-inches
https://www.vajrasecrets.com/dorje-shugden-brass-statue-with-oxidised-finish-8-inches

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Wei,

Thank you for your question. There are actually many different forms of meditation. Roughly speaking there are those that lead to a quiet, more concentrated mind, and the other is meditation on a particular object, such as meditation on a specific topic or emotion.

To begin meditation, here is a very introductory article that you can follow to quiet the mind: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-accidental-meditator.html.

The other form of meditation that one can engage in, which also acts as a practice to generate merit, is engaging in the practice of daily Sadhana or prayers. In this, when you engage in the prayers, there are certain visualisations that you engage in. When you engage in these, they act as the object of meditation, fulfilling the same function as meditation without relying on a particular deity figure. This is the one of the many benefits of engaging in a daily practice.

One such daily practice you can engage in is the Diamond Path, which is the practice of Lama Tsongkhapa and Dorje Shugden: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden. There are multiple prayers in this practice that you can concentrate on and through visualisation, use it as your daily meditation. For example when engaging in the mantra recitation of either Lama Tsongkhapa or Dorje Shugden, there are visualisations that you can focus on, and doing so turns the prayer into meditation itself.

This is a very good way to start a steady meditation practice on a daily basis. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Jairo Jamyang Pawo Moreno,

Thank you for your question. Propitiation means to do something which please the being you are asking help from. In the case of propitiating Dorje Shugden this refers to practicing the Dharma and engaging in his practice, so that he can aid you by clearing obstacles and creating conducive conditions. When this connection is established, he is able to help you even more in your practice of the Dharma and progress along the spiritual path. This is because he is an enlightened being, and operates from enlightened compassion.

Therefore to propitiate a spirit means to do something that please the spirit in order to get something in return. Certain spirits are very powerful, and can interact with and influence the physical world. For people who propitiate spirits, they are creating a connection with this being, most of the time for a worldly matter. This can be done by making physical offerings to the being, and asking them for things.

In doing so, a karmic connection is created during the process. This karmic connection can be either beneficial or detrimental, as with all karmic links. In the future when the seeds of this karmic connection manifest, both parties will once again be linked in some form or another. Since the nature of samsara is suffering, as taught by the Buddha, as this karmic connection manifests again, the way both parties react will lead to another karmic connection being created. This in turn will most probably become negative in the end.

This also explains why some people have spirit disturbances and others do not. In a previous life, the two parties would have created a karmic connection, and in this life that very same karmic connection manifests as a person being afflicted by a spirit.

Technically you could propitiate a recently deceased person, but even if you did, you do not know what would happen. For example if the person has already taken rebirth, for example in the animal realm, even if you propitiate them, nothing would happen. This is because the animal form they are in is not capable of granting you what you want. On the other hand, if the person had be reborn into the spirit realm, if you propitiate them, they could grant you what you want if they had the ability.

The propitiation of spirits however, is not something that is encouraged in Buddhism. One of the many tenets of Buddhism is not to take refuge in or engage in the propitiation of beings, apart from the enlightened beings themselves. A lot of people ask why, and the reason is quite simple, as I have stated above. When you take refuge in or propitiate a non-enlightened being, you are actually creating a karmic connection with them, which can very easily turn negative in the future, and keeps you bound to samsara, which Buddhists seek to transcend. On another level, since these beings are not enlightened, they have their likes and dislikes, are attached and have emotions. Therefore they can easily turn against you if they perceive that you have made a mistake, not given them enough offerings, or offend them somehow.

On the other hand, the enlightened beings do not have such worldly emotions, therefore they do not behave like samsaric beings. In fact they operate from the basis of enlightened compassion for all beings and enlightened wisdom, without traits such as the three poisons: ignorance, desire/attachment and hatred/jealousy. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Tugsuu,

Thank you for your question. A puja is the act of worshiping or propitiating a deity, through invocation, making offerings, and prayers, usually in a ritualistic manner. By doing so you engage your whole being to invoke upon the energies of the enlightened deity to bless you or the person the puja is dedicated to, for a specific reason. For example the Medicine Buddha puja is usually engaged in to help those who are ill overcome their illness. Dorje Shugden’s puja is engaged in to clear obstacles in both ones secular and spiritual lives, and create conducive conditions for spiritual practice.

The full Dorje Shugden puja is usually engaged in once a month, however there is a daily practice available here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden. The daily practice is in essence a shorter daily version of the puja. If engaged in daily it creates a very strong connection to Dorje Shugden and his enlightened energies, which definitely bring a benefit to your life. I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Muzsh,

Thank you for your question. Generally speaking both Gaden Tradition and Gaden Doctrine can be used interchangeably. Both refer to the teachings and practices as taught within the Gelugpa tradition stemming from Gaden monastery, which is the mother monastery of the lineage, as it was Lama Tsongkhapa’s own monastery, built and offered to him by his student Duldzin Drakpa Gyeltsen (who was a previous incarnation of Dorje Shugden). You can read more about the previous lives of Dorje Shugden here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/overview/the-previous-existences-of-dorje-shugden. However, depending on the context, there could be a slightly different meaning. The Gaden Tradition can refer to the Gelugpa tradition as a whole, as it was founded in Gaden, whereas the Gaden Doctrine, can specifically refer to the teachings and practices of Gaden monastery or the Gelugpa tradition. I hope this short explanation helps. Thank you.

Dear Jason,

Thank you for your question. Yes, it can be confusing to figure out what and how to visualise when you are reciting the Dorje Shugden mantra. There are different visualisations during the mantra recitation depending on the form of Dorje Shugden you are concentrating on. Most people concentrate on the main form of Dorje Shugden for their daily prayers, so this visualisation is one that is used the most.

For prayers that concentrate on Dorje Shugden in his main form, such as the Diamond Path (http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/diamond-path-a-daily-sadhana-of-dorje-shugden), you can find out more about mantra recitation and the visualisation here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugdens-mantra. I have copied the visualisation below for your easy reference.

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Visualisation (main form)

First visualise Duldzin Dorje Shugden (primary form) in front of you at arm’s length. Surrounding him are Shize (peaceful form), Gyenze (increasing form), Wangze (controlling form) and Trakze (wrathful form). Surrounding them are the remaining entourage. At this point we should visualise and believe strongly that Dorje Shugden and our Guru are one. This is very important for the practice of Dorje Shugden, and you should have great faith in this.

You then visualise that lights go out from Dorje Shugden, making offerings to all the Buddhas of the ten directions. The lights gather back into Dorje Shugden, together with the enlightened energies and blessings of all the Buddhas, into the seed syllable “HUM” that sits at the heart of Duldzin Dorje Shugden. This seed syllable represents the enlightened mind of Dorje Shugden. Surrounding this “HUM” is the primary mantra “OM BENZA WIKI BITANA SOHA” which moves around the “HUM” seed syllable in a clockwise direction, which is known as a mantra garland.

Some of the light branches off and strikes the “HUM” seed syllables at the heart of Dorje Shugden’s other main forms as visualised above – Shize, Gyenze, Wangze and Trakze. You should visualise Shize with a white mantra garland circling the “HUM” at his heart and Gyenze with a yellow mantra garland circling the “HUM” at his heart. Similarly Wangze and Trakze have a red and a dark-red mantra garland respectively circling the “HUM” seed syllables at their hearts.

Light of the corresponding colour then shines forth from all five forms of Dorje Shugden and enters the crown of your head, filling your body with light and the blessings of Dorje Shugden. This acts as a request to Dorje Shugden to perform the peaceful, increasing, controlling and wrathful activities. You can think strongly at this time that you have gained the power to easily understand and practice the Dharma, leading to attainments. You can also visualise yourself being healed of any ailments, or being protected from negative influences. Lastly, visualise that all your requests are fulfilled by Dorje Shugden.

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The four cardinal emanations of Dorje Shugden all have their own associated mantras and visualisations as well. See below for links to these prayers, which include the associated visualisations.

Shize – For healing and long life (http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/dorje-shugden/shize-a-practice-for-healing-and-long-life.html)

Gyenze – To increase life, merits and wealth (http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth)

Wangze – For power and Influence (http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-wangze-for-power-and-influence)

Trakze – To dispel black magic and spirits (http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-trakze-to-dispel-black-magic-spirits)

I hope this helps to answer your question.

Thank you.

Dear Baldev Anand,

Thank you for your question. In order to find a qualified Guru, we must ensure that we study the Guru's qualities, qualifications and achievements. Once you have done this, you can make the decision to take this person as your Guru.

There are many ways these days to find a qualified Guru. For example you can search the internet for a Dharma centre near you. This is a good way to start. Once you make a connection with this centre, the Guru there will be able to guide you on the path.

I, myself, actually stumbled across His Eminence the 25th Tsem Rinpoche's blog online. After reading and studying the Dharma from the blog, I visited his Dharma organisation - Kechara Buddhist Organisation. From that moment onwards i considered His Eminence to be my Guru and have been fortunate to be able to serve him now as a Kechara Pastor.

You can find His Eminence's blog site here: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Preeti Yaksh,

Thank you for your question. Unfortunately I do not have clairvoyance to be able to answer this question. Neither am I trained in astrology to be able to give you any guidance from the astrological point of view.

That being said, the level of our 'success' in this world depends on our karma. If we have the karma to have good business, then it will come naturally. However there are methods we can employ to increase the chances that our business will do well. Once such method is the practice of Gyenze, who is the increase form of Dorje Shugden. This practice when engaged in properly with a good motivation leads to success and brings us what we need in life.

You can find the practice here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth

Thank you.

Dear Vincent,

I am happy to hear what I wrote has given you confidence back. It seems that you have already experienced the benefits of mantras and for that I rejoice for you. The Buddhas, out of their compassion, manifested their energies in the form of sound. There is no doubt that there is benefit. By engaging in other aspects of Dharma practice, such as mind transformation, the benefit of mantras is increased. This is because we tune our minds further to the energies of the mantras, which are compassion and wisdom. By studying the scriptures, learning under a qualified Guru and sincere practice we can all progress on our spiritual path. I wish you well.

Thank you.

Dear Vincent,

Thank you for your question. Mantras are actually the energies of the enlightened beings in the form of sound. Therefore reciting mantras taps into the sounds that embody the essence of the Buddhas and doing so allows their enlightened energies to permeate our bodies and our lives, bringing us benefit.

On an outer level, reciting mantras can help clear obstacles, grant protection, increase our outer wealth, etc. This is because the mantras allow the energies of the Buddhas to come into our lives. As the Buddhas are compassionate, reciting mantras can help solve our outer problems.

On an inner level, when the energies of mantras permeate our bodies, we can develop certain qualities necessary on the spiritual path. For example the mantra of Chenrezig helps to develop compassion and the mantra of Manjushri helps develop wisdom, both of which are necessary to attain complete enlightenment.

Though mantras do have power to be beneficial, the more we practice the Buddhas teachings of transforming ourselves for the better, we will see that the effects of reciting mantras will also increase. This is due to the purification of negative karma.

We are all born with negative karma. That is simply a fact of being in samsara or cyclic existence. Our negative karma is what stops us from not only reaching enlightenment but also from benefiting from the compassionate energies of the Buddhas. Our negative karma acts as a barrier for the blessings of the Buddhas, to achieve their same enlightened state. Therefore, even though we gain benefit from reciting their mantras, we would gain even more benefit when we have less negative karma.

The methods to purify negative karma and ultimately be liberated from karma and cyclic existence, are what the Buddha taught. This is basically a compassionate transformation of the mind and ultimately understanding the true nature of reality. I would say, from my own personal experience that both the recitation of mantras and practicing the Buddhist teachings are something that goes hand in hand.

You mentioned that the Buddha cannot help us, but I don’t find this statement accurate. The Buddha did help us, because he taught the methods to be liberated from our suffering. As a fully enlightened being, he definitely has the ability to aid us on our spiritual path, however it is our own negative karma that stops this from happening. That is why purification practices are stressed in Tibetan Buddhism, together with refraining from committing negative acts and encouraging us to perform positive acts instead.

This purification of negative karma is a part of many different deity practices. For example the 35 Confessional Buddhas (http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/the-35-confessional-buddhas.html). Another example would be of the Kawang prayer to Dorje Shugden which helps to purify our negative karma as well (http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/kawang-confessional-prayers-to-dorje-shugden).

I hope this helps to clarify your question. In addition to this, you can read more about the collected mantras of Dorje Shugden here: (http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/the-collected-mantras-of-dorje-shugden)

Thank you.

Dear Terry,

Thank you for your question. The emblem is actually in Tibetan, it says “Gyalchen Dorje Shugden Tsel”. This translates as the ‘Great king, Dorje Shugden, who is powerful’. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Forster Cosby Amoh,

Thank you for your questions. I have tried to answer the questions as per the order you asked:

1. Those who have developed clairvoyance would be able to answer this question for you, however I do not have that ability so I cannot answer that question . However, from your point of view, do you love or care for your wife? It is not about your partner being your ‘rightful’ wife, it is more that you love each other and are devoted to each other. That after all is what marriage is about. This is the key to any marriage.

2. From a Buddhist perspective, everything that happens in our life, both good and bad is due to the law karma. This is also known as cause and effect. According to Buddhist cosmology, each and every one of us has had countless previous lives. In these lives, we have engaged in either positive or negative actions. Positive actions mean those that benefit others, and negative actions means those that harm others, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. These previous actions are the cause, and the results are the circumstances we go through in this life and in future lives. Therefore Buddhism places a lot of emphasis on the teaching of karma. That is why people undergo so much suffering, even those that are good people. The difference is that those who are good, do not engage in negative actions so do not create more negative karma to suffer from in the future. Therefore it is because of karma that situations in life may not be working out the way you wish them to.

3. What are you confused about? Perhaps if you explain more we may able to help you through this challenging time.

4. Yes of course. The prayers on this website can be recited by anyone. Although they are Buddhist in nature, anyone can recite the prayers. This is because the Buddhas are compassionate beings who listen and aid those who call out to them. Being ‘Buddhist’ or not is a label we ourselves have made. From the side of the enlightened beings there are no labels, so as long as you engage in recitation of the prayers with sincerity they will definitely help as they are compassionate towards each and every sentient being.

5. The prayers to Gyenze are very beneficial in financial matters. Gyenze’s practice is known to purify negative karma and create conducive conditions in one’s life. This practice is especially beneficial for increasing one’s life-span, merit and wealth. I would suggest that you can engage in these prayer to help you in your business endeavours. Here is a link to the practice: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/practice/dorje-shugden-gyenze-to-increase-life-merits-and-wealth

6. Yes, you can engage in both yoga and these practices at the same time. The yoga taught most commonly these days is based on physical movements and calming the mind through these movements. If you are practicing this type of yoga then it is perfectly fine to engage in both these practices.

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Maheswaran,

Thank you for your question. I believe you mean that you would like to visit Kechara Forest Retreat to see the largest statue of the holy Dharma protector Dorje Shugden in the world.

You can contact Kechara House, which is our temple in Petaling Jaya and the front desk can give you more information and make arrangements to visit Kechara Forest Retreat, which is located in Bentong, Pahang. In fact on Mondays at Kechara House at 8pm there is a Dharma protector puja (prayer) which invokes on the enlightened energies of both Dorje Shugden and Lord Setrap. You are very welcome to attend if you would like.

You can telephone Kechara House on +603 7803 3908, email at [email protected] or you can even visit in person.

The address is: Kechara House
No. 7, Jalan PJU 1/3G,
Sunwaymas Commercial Centre,
47301 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia.

Opening Hours
Monday – Wednesday: 1pm – 10pm
Thursday & Friday: 1pm – 6pm
Saturday: Closed
Sunday: 9am to 1pm

I hope this helps. Thank you.

Dear Brehanna Walker,

Thank you, this is a very good question. In Buddhism we believe in the law of Karma. This is also known as cause and effect. According to Buddhist cosmology, each and every one of us has had countless previous lives. In these lives, we have engaged in either positive or negative actions. Positive actions mean those that benefit others, and negative actions means those that harm others, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. These previous actions are the cause, and the results are the circumstances we go through in this life and in future lives. Therefore Buddhism places a lot of emphasis on teachings of karma. That is why people undergo so much suffering, even those that are good people. The difference is that those who are good, do not engage in negative actions so do not create more negative karma to suffer from in the future. However, both good and bad people have negative karma.

In Buddhism a lot of emphasis is placed on the purification of negative karma so that we do not suffer from its effects. This is necessarily included in all Buddhist meditation practices that focus on the Buddhas. Within Buddhism there are also practices centred on Dharma protectors such as Dorje Shugden. These practices help to purify this negative karma and create conducive conditions for our spiritual practice. You can read more about the role of Dharma protectors here: http://www.dorjeshugden.org/overview/what-is-a-dharma-protector.

You can also watch a very good teaching on karma here: http://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/buddhas-dharma/discovering-yourself-a-teaching-on-karma-mindstream.html. I hope this helps.

Thank you.

Dear Lhuntrul Trakze,

You can invite a Trakze statue online here: http://www.vajrasecrets.com/trakze-brass-statue-18-inches. This particular statue is made of brass and is 18 inches tall.

It is very good that you would like a Trakze statue, the practice is very beneficial as I am sure you already know. It can clear a lot of obstacles in your spiritual path for you. I hope this helps.

Thank you.