Proper Knowledge and View
after the Correspondence
of
Cultivating the Jambhala Practice
(Part 1)
| Many fellow practitioners yearn to cultivate the Jambhala (wealth deity) Practice of Vajrayana; most of them even anticipate that they can earn a fortune promptly after receiving the Jambhala Empowerment. However, a lot of them were often disappointed subsequently and such circumstance is generally caused by the misunderstanding as well as misconception of Buddhist doctrine. Esoteric methods are so extraordinary that they can enable one to attain Buddhahood in a lifetime. Comparing this with all the glory, splendor, wealth and rank in the world that are achieved in the cultivation of the Jambhala Practice, the gain from the (latter) worldly dharma is basically nothing at all. Yet, there are prerequisites for one to be granted the achievement of wealth in the world by Jambhalas. |
| The fruit of a blessed reward comes necessarily from the cause of a blessed reward | |
| ‘Reap what you have sown’, the effect one reaps depends on the cause one has sown. Cultivating the Jambhala Practice does not mean that the Theory of Causality in Buddhism can be changed. If a practitioner has not made any mental initiation to give offerings up to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and below to the six paths of sentient beings as well as accumulating merits and virtues in doing good deeds, one’s practice cannot be said to be ‘ineffective’ but the response received is neither obvious nor playing a great role even though one has cultivated the Jambhala Practice diligently. For example, when the practitioner buys a lottery ticket of the Lotto in France/Europe or the Mark Six in Hong Kong etc. (this serves only to cite an instance instead of preaching one to gamble or buy lottery tickets), he/she is unlikely to hit the jackpot. This sort of wealth belongs to the ‘reap without sowing (get something for nothing) fortune’; it is just like the ‘practice-for-offerings’ story mentioned in 《The Words of My Perfect Teacher 大圓滿前行引導文》. | |
| Once upon a time, there was a practitioner who lived in the hill. He was extremely poor that he looked very much like a beggar. So he started to visualize and cultivate ‘Damchen Guardian Deity’ which he eventually attained the real correspondence. He was able to achieve the realm that he could have a conversation with Damchen Guardian Deity like a talk with each other between people; however, he did not acquire any siddhi (accomplishment). Damchen Guardian Deity said to him, “Since you didn’t possess even a tiny bit of ‘the cause of Dana (alms-giving) in the past’, how can the retribution for wealth and rank become accessible? Therefore, I’m afraid I can’t bestow you any fortune.” |  |
| One day, the practitioner got a bowl of watery gruel after lining in a queue which beggars begged for food. When he returned, Damchen Guardian Deity asked him, “Do you know that I offered you a fortune today?” | |
| “I’ve barely got a bowl of watery gruel. It’s not only me, all the beggars got the same, what’s exactly the fortune that You’ve granted?” “The hunk of grease that you got in the bowl when the congee was being ladled was the fortune that I’ve granted you.” |
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| It is thus evident that if one did not accumulate any causes of Dana in the past, it is very difficult for one to dispel the retribution of poverty in this present life even one has practised Esoteric methods industriously as well as forging ahead vigorously to cultivate the Jambhala Practice etc. | |
| Note: Damchen Guardian Deity is also known as ‘Damchen Dorje Lekpa’ who is a Dharma Pala (guardian deities) of the Jambhala that belongs to a worldly guardian; He is one of the guardian deities of the Nyingma Sect and the primary guardian deity of the Gelukpa Sect. | |
| The reasons for not having correspondence in the Jambhala Practice | |
| The worldly wealth guardian deities (some of them vow to devote the mind of Bodhi voluntarily while some others are entrusted by Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to enrich sentient beings) can certainly grant (people) the Siddhi of enjoying fortune. Nevertheless, the respect-inspiring virtue as well as the supernatural transformation of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas surpass theirs a thousandfold. Moreover, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are able to enrich all sentient beings without any need to be entrusted. In addition, they can also manage to descend the benefit of wonderful fortune to the world so that poverty of all sentient beings can be dispelled instantly. Yet, it appears that the reality is not like that. All sentient beings still have to undergo the process of Theory of Casuality. According to【Sutra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets／Sandhinirmocana Sutra 解深密經】, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva said to the Buddha, “World-honoured One, since various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas possess inexhaustible wealth and treasures as well as accomplish great compassion, why are there still sentient beings in the world suffering from poverty?” The Buddha said to Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, “Bodhisattvas, who possess inexhaustible wealth and treasures, always intend to benefit others. If their vows are not realized, it is caused by the karmas and faults of sentient beings. If sentient beings are not hindered by their own evil karmas, why is there still poverty in the world? For example, hungry ghosts are always compelled physically by extreme heat and thirst. However, when they see the water in an immense sea, the water dries up. It’s not the fault of the sea, but the fault of the hungry ghosts. Similarly, just as the water in the immense sea, the wealth and treasures granted by Bodhisattvas to sentient beings has no fault. The fault lies in the evil karmas of sentient beings, like that of the hungry ghosts, which results in nothing gained.” Hence, whenever sentient beings ask for fortunes, Bodhisattvas, with their great compassion, will surely satisfy sentient beings’ wishes and have already granted you immeasurable treasures; Nonetheless, due to your own karmas, the wealth that is granted to you by various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will naturally be faded away. It proves that wealth cannot be owned by ‘beseeching’ but is ‘sown’ by the accumulation of one’s virtue instead. As the saying of great favours from ancient, “It is better to accumulate a spark of merit than to make efforts that is as great as a high mountain.” | |
| The reasons why Jambhala Deities grant you a fortune | |
| Under the condition that one has the cause of meritorious rewards (in previous lives or at earlier stage of this life); the cultivation of the Jambhala Practice can truly increase one’s wealth. However, it is not entirely ‘unconditional’. Jambhalas are guardian deities who have vowed to devote their minds of Bodhi (the mind that perceives the real behind the seeming and that all have the Buddha-nature and aim at Buddhahood) and vows have also been made; after receiving more money, if the practitioner can give it to sentient beings whom in turn are benefited from their being liberated to some extent, the probability that this practitioner is blessed and protected by Jambhalas is higher. For example, in business like the setting-up of restaurants or eateries which provide food that ‘involve the killing of livestock and fowls’, if its performance gets better with thriving and prosperous trade after the cultivation of the Jambhala Practice, it is certainly nothing to do with the blessings and protection of the Jambhalas. It is because the better your business is getting, the more sentient beings (livestock and fowls) will be killed and the karma resulting from killing is more serious. Hence, the Jambhalas of Vajrayana will not take the side of evil-karma. Disregarding the primary good luck or the power of karma of oneself, the Jambhala Practice of Vajrayana will never make him earn more money in his business. | |
| Another example: if someone cultivates the Jambhala Practice with the only wish of gaining more money whereas according to one’s personality, he/she will merely be a miser when more money is earned. Moreover, he/she will spend the money on making his/her own life more comfortable which is totally out of sync with the mind of Bodhi. Then that person who cultivates the Jambhala Practice will probably be unable to get any response. | |
| There may be counter-effect in the Jambhala Practice | |
| During the dharma assembly of Jambhala Empowerment, Rinpoche has ever discoursed, “If one’s mental initiation’s impure and not clean (without making up one’s mind to benefit sentient beings), the cultivation of the Jambhala Practice will not only be unable to bring about an increase in one’s wealth, but also damage one’s wealth. Practitioners of the Jambhala Practice must vow that after the correspondence (a lot of money is gained), one’ll have a mental initiation to do charity works as well as helping other sentient beings with the wealth gained except the expenses in his/her everyday life.” | |
| It is a real allusion during the early Republic period; Venerable Dorje Chopa complied with the request of a Han disciple to impart him the Jambhala Practice. Cultivating diligently, the disciple managed to make a great fortune. However, the disciple had never used the wealth gained to do any good deeds and he died suddenly three years after that. When Venerable Dorje Chopa learnt about it, he felt remorsefully that he was unable to make the disciple spend his ‘surplus’ money on good deeds. The money which the disciple got was actually from the continual extraction of the blessings he had accumulated in his previous lives. Hence, after withdrawing his accumulated blessings for three years, the disciple died when all the blessings he had had were used up for enjoyment (that is exactly what modern man describes as, “Spending the money from the future”). Perhaps the Jambhalas find that you are never changed or with only a slight change after they have granted you the fortune, they then reclaim your wealth … | |
| Such circumstances (the death of those who have correspondence of the Jambhala Practice after a few years) do not happen much currently. This may due to the fact that people are not industrious enough when cultivating the Jambhala Practice. The correspondence they receive is of average only or there is even no correspondence at all! | |
| The goals of cultivating the Jambhala Practice | |
| ‘Having caught one with the hook of desire, one is then introduced into Buddha wisdom’, the Jambhala Practice is also the great compassion and a convenient method of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to rescue sentient beings. Furthermore, it is acceptable to cultivate the Jambhala Practice in Vajrayana. Nevertheless, (the nature of) Mahayana Buddhism is to seek Bodhi above and save sentient beings below, the cultivation of whichever Dharmaparyaya (the doctrines of the Buddha are regarded as the door to enlightenment) should never be departed from the root of Buddha Dharma. As written in 【The Buddha Speaks the Sutra of Ritual Procedure of the Wealth Deity 佛說聖寶藏神儀軌經】, “… the Practice of Jambhala, the great king of Yaksha (who is a Wealth Deity), is for all Buddhas’ parents as well as all Buddhas to enter into the state of Nirvana. You are the Tathagata (Buddha) but transform into the image of a Yaksha to benefit all sentient beings…” From this, Jambhalas in Buddhism are in fact the various Buddhas who have cultivated the practice of Dana (donating) for a long time. For the convenience of benefiting sentient beings, they manifest images of wealth deities so that destined disciples can have an increase in both blessing (good luck) and wisdom by means of making offerings to, believing in and cultivating (the Jambhala Practice). Therefore, when we cultivate the Jambhala Practice now, we should first have a clear apprehension of ‘Why is one suffered from poverty in this life? One was avaricious, offended against stealing or unwilling to do alms-giving in one’s previous lives’ in our minds. The Buddha had said that stinginess, covetousness as well as stealing in one’s previous lives are the main cause of poverty and these two karmas would bring about our suffering of poverty for generations (life after life). As a result, at the same time when we cultivate the Jambhala Practice, we should first repent our two karmas to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions and Jambhalas. We should then vow that we will never violate again (commit the sins) in the future before we cultivate the Jambhala Practice and chant the mantra. After that, we should dedicate the merits and virtues to all sentient beings so that all of them can stay away from the suffering of poverty and the afflictions of pain. | |
| Differ from the aims of worldly people who merely ask for making a fortune or winning the lottery, the goals of cultivating the Jambhala Practice in Buddhism are not only the elimination of the karma of poverty, the changing of our pernicious habits of stinginess, covetousness and stealing, but also the initiation of the mind of Bodhi, saving both oneself and others. Therefore we should cultivate the Jambhala Practice with proper knowledge and view. | |
| Jambhalas in Buddhism are indeed the metamorphosis and manifestation of various Buddhas and Bodhisattvas after the practice of Dana Paramita (Dana means charitable-giving) for a long time. The cultivation of the Jambhala Practice is to pray for Jambhalas’ blessings so that one can also possess the same meritorious virtue and competence which can benefit both oneself and others like the Jambhalas in one’s future life. With the correspondence of the Jambhala Practice, ‘Proper Knowledge and View’ after correspondence that one must know is to enhance: | |
| • | Make offerings to the Three Jewels (the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha) and learn the extensive practice of Dana from Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Jambhalas We take all of our meritorious virtue of good deeds to make offerings to our Guru and the Three Jewels as well as dedicating it to sentient beings of the dharma-realm so that they can form causes and conditions of Buddhadharma. This in turn enables sentient beings to initiate the mind of Bodhi so that they can complete Sambodhi (the wisdom of Buddha) speedily in the future. At the same time when we put all these good deeds into practice, we will naturally feel the joy in our hearts and it is this joy that achieves the accumulation of blessings and virtue of our being well-provided with food and clothing generation after generation. In contrast, there are people who do everything for self and selfish profit, despise the impoverished sentient beings and refuse to do even a little charity. Living in their narrow and limited world which is only filled with their fame and gain, stinginess as well as selfishness, the distress and worry in the hearts of these people are ablaze but without their realization of it. Yet, they still find pleasure in it like worms inside pits. All these make the cause of falling into the path of hungry ghosts in the future. |
| • | Being filial piety to parents |
| • | Respect teachers |
| • | Protect lives, not killing livestock, fowls, etc. |
| • | Give the field of Dana (to sentient beings of the six paths), do good works/do charity works and practise Dana, cultivate diligently and practise widely of all blessed virtues as well as good deeds |
| • | Benefit sentient beings, being convenient to others |
| • | In accordance with the vast offering made up to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and give below to sentient beings of the six paths, one will gradually be admitted into First Bhumi Bodhisattva and even the stage of attainment of the Buddha in His supreme reality (attaining Supreme Enlightenment and having a complete comprehension of the truth). |
| Reference Information: | ||
| Our website | ||
| ＞ | Wisdom Plaza | |
| ＞＞ | • | Better Meritorious Rewards than a King |
| • | 罪福報應 (will be translated in future) | |
| • | Never Enjoy Blessing to the Fullest | |
| • | Desires | |
| 佛學理論 | ||
| • | 菩提心 (will be translated in future) | |
| • | 三輪體空與布施 (will be translated in future) | |
| • | 四攝法 (will be translated in future) | |
| • | 七聖財 (will be translated in future) | |
| • | 偷盜的結果 | |
| 佛教金剛乘慈善基金會 http://www.vajrayanacf.org.hk | ||
| ＞ | 智慧寶庫 | |
| ＞＞ | 佛學淺談 | |
| ＞＞＞ | • | Four Immeasurable Hearts |
| • | Six Perfections and Myriad Practices | |
| • | 上師與門徒，齊布施 (will be translated in future) | |
| • | Wealth and Good Fortune | |
