Teaching of Smoke Offering Practice

Smoke Offering Practice, Five Sublime Offerings of Food, Clothes, Residence, Means of Travel, and Happiness

Homage to Reverend Liao Ming, Vajra Guru Sakya Zheng-kong, His Holiness the 16th Karmapa, and Vajra Guru Thubten Dargye. Homage to the homa's main deity Yamantaka. Homage to the Triple Jewels of the shrine mandala. Master Lian-xiang, every Acharya/Vajra Master, Reverend, Senior Reverend, Dharma Instructor, Dharma Assistant, fellow school members, along with all the honored guests. May everything be auspicious for everyone.

Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Guanyin Bodhisattva in Chinese) and Yamantaka had descended respectively into the shrines at Seattle Lei Zang Temple's Avalokitesvara Ceremony yesterday and Rainbow Villa's Yamantaka Homa today. Hence, both ceremonies were very extraordinary. Today, many of the honored guests from yesterday's Avalokitesvara ceremony along with new guests have joined us at the Rainbow Villa. Let us welcome all the honored guests.

Perhaps I was overly excited after finishing my talk yesterday because this senior citizen had a hard time falling asleep. Tossing and turning in bed, I kept thinking, why can't I fall asleep? I thought about it for a while and it came to me. It was because Vajra Master Lian-bao said to me, "Old people sit in the back." I felt really uncomfortable being called old. (Grandmaster laughs)

Of course, Grandmaster was born with two very short legs, and being malnourished, I just never grew very tall. There is nothing that can be done about that. So today, I am intentionally wearing a taller hat and it made me feel taller as I was leaving my residence. I wanted to tell Acharya/Vajra Master Lian-bao, "Don't feel that you are very young just because you have a new baby boy. You are about the same age as me!" I feel that recently Acharya/Vajra Master Lian-bao has been in a very good mood, very joyful, and very happy. I was thinking, can a person be considered a young man just because he has had a new baby boy? This old-timer just can't take this lying down. I really wanted to show him up. But, tossing and turning in bed for a long time, I thought that Vajra Master Lian-xiang is still around, so forget it. I'll let him win this one! Of course, this is a joke. But I urged Acharya/Vajra Master Lian-bao, please don't always have this big grin on your face. This happiness of your is a private joy. Yet, you keep grinning at us, and it's affecting us emotionally.

Speaking of exuberant smiles, Chuan-fang Chen told a funny joke. Three people died, and when they were taken to the funeral home, people noticed the happy expression on these three dead people's faces -- they were all smiling. The people in the funeral home thought that this was very strange, and asked what happened to the first dead person. Why was he so happy when he died? It turns out that when he was getting old, he went to Mainland China to start a new business, and married a very young wife. On his wedding night, he was way too excited that he died, so that's why he has a big smile on his face. What's the story with the second dead person? It turns out he had won a lottery jackpot. He felt like he was floating on air and he lost all sense of direction. He was still thrilled when he walked into the middle of the road where he was run over by a car, so that's why he has a big smile on his face. What happened to the third dead guy? The third dead person was struck by lightning. He was mountain climbing and suddenly there were flashes of light. He thought someone was taking a picture of him, so he smiled as he was struck by lightning. That's why he has a big smile on his face. Chuan-fang Chen told me this joke.

Yamantaka Practice has Three level of Accomplishments and Thirty Seven Aids to Enlightenment

Today we conducted the Yamantaka homa ceremony. Yamantaka is an incredibly great Dharma Protector, and is also Grandmaster's root Dharma Protector. Yamantaka has nine heads, representing the nine levels of Vajrayana cultivation. His front face is black and is in the form of a buffalo with two horns. One horn represents the Generation Stage and the other horn represents the Completion Stage. He has thirty-four arms and hands, which all form the tarjani (karana) mudra. Add his body, speech, and mind to the thirty-four arms, and you have thirty-seven. Overall, these are called the Three Great Accomplishments and Thirty-Seven Aids to Enlightenment. He also has sixteen legs symbolizing the sixteen states of emptiness.

Yamantaka is the wrathful manifestation of Manjushri Bodhisattva. Long ago in Tibet, a holy saint revived himself as the Lord of Death, Yama, after he was murdered. Unleashing his wrath, he took the lives of many Tibetan people and threatened to kill off the rest. To subdue Yama, Manjushri Bodhisattva formed an emanation in the image of Yama, only infinitely fiercer and more mighty. This emanation is Yamantaka, who subdued Yama. If you practice the Yamantaka sadhana, the merits would be enormous, because the Lord of Death, Yama, was conquered by Yamantaka and became his subordinate, so if you practice his sadhana, you can gain mastery over your natural life and death, and can live to an old age.

It's a shame that several acharyas/vajra masters have passed away rather young. Originally when I conducted the Kalachakra ceremony for the first time in Hong Kong, I saw that the color of an attending vajra master was not good because there wasn't much light from his body. I asked him, "Do you know Yamantaka's mantra?" and he couldn't answer. He had never received the Yamantaka empowerment nor did he know Yamantaka's mantra. If he had devotedly chanted Yamantaka's mantra, the Lord of Death would not be able to take him away, even to today, so this is a shame. Sometimes Grandmaster will tell everyone that although you haven't cultivated a particular practice, you should still chant the heart mantra of that deity. So even if you don't cultivate the Yamantaka practice, you can still chant his mantra, and it can generate a lot of merits and benefits. For example, not all Tibetans practice Vajrayana, but they still chant Om Mani Padme Hum, or the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's mantra. Amitabha Buddha, Amitayus Buddha, Manjushri Bodhisattva, Yamantaka, Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva, and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva -- they are all linked. Amitabha Buddha transformed into Amitayus Buddha, and his attendants are Avalokitesvara and Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva; Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva also manifested as White Tara and Green Tara, while Mahasthamaprapta Bodhisattva manifested as Red Tara. Amitabha Buddha and Manjushri Bodhisattva are also linked, and Manjushri Bodhisattva manifested as Yamantaka. So if you have success in cultivating any one of their sadhanas, you too can go to Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Grandmaster Got a Perfect Score on His Road Test

Yesterday when I was teaching the Smoke Offering practice, I did it very quickly, and it was over just like that. The main points were all mentioned. We don't know if today's honored guests are from the Pan Blue or the Pan Green camp (the two opposing sides in Taiwanese politics -- the 2008 Taiwanese Presidential election was only about five weeks away at the time of the talk). I am going tell a joke that was told to me by Chuan-fang Chen. It is a political joke, and it goes like this: The President of a country took part in the festivities on Children's Day. One of the events involved splashing water, like Thailand's water festival. You sing a song while splashing water, and everyone is happy. To be close to his people, the President joined in the fun with the children to splash water. After the water was splashed on the President, the President angrily exclaimed, "How could you splash this on me?" The Presidential aides tried to smooth the matter over by telling the President that splashing water is part of this event, and that this is how you join in the fun with the people. The President informed them that the children were using hot water! This was the joke that Chuang-fang Chen told me. I don't know if this President was a man or woman or which country's president is in the joke, so it has nothing to do with me. If you have any questions, go ask Chuan-fang Chen.

This simplified Smoke Offering practice is very good. Before this ceremony, I was at the Seattle Lei Zang Temple for a week giving divination and guidance. My heart was saddened when I saw that many students who came for guidance were severely ill. I thought to myself, why are sentient beings' karma for illnesses so severe? Why is there no remedy to free them of these diseases? Some people's illnesses are just like the saying, "You are what you eat." I know I don't speak very good English. On the subject of speaking English, I often think back to my early days in America. Do you know how I passed the road test to get my driver's license? Do you know how I took the test? The road test administrator told me what he wanted me to do several times during the road test, but I just couldn't understand what he said. I tried to come up with a solution, so I told him, "My name is Sheng-yen Lu. I'm just new coming," so he would know that I was new to the country. "I speak English just a little. Please, you say slow." Talk slowly, that sentence he understood.

But no matter how hard he tried to tell me what to do, I still couldn't understand him, so I told him, "I write down the pictures." The first picture that I drew was "10 Miles Stop," the second picture was "Change lane," the third picture was "parallel parking," the fourth picture was "parking in reverse," the fifth picture was "parking on a hill." For that picture, I drew a slanted car and that was my parking on a hill. I drew them all. "I write down the picture, you see? What kind you like? You tell me." The road test administrator was very happy and said ok! [He must have thought] "Today I've actually met someone who needs diagrams to pass a road test." After that I started my driving test. He pointed at the first picture "10 Miles Stop," and then I knew to come to a stop after driving ten miles. Then he showed me the second picture, "Change lane" and so I signaled for a lane change and turned my head to look back. He said it was well done. Then it was parallel parking - parallel parking took me a long time to learn. I moved my car parallel to the first car, then reversed in half way, turning the steering wheel until it couldn't turn any further, and slowly slid in. Parallel parking. He said "Good." Then, I had to park in reverse, okay this 90 degrees turn was done. For parking on a hill, I also parked like this. Then, I had to turn the wheels to brace the curb, so it won't roll down, and then I also pulled the hand brake. I got a perfect score. The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas helped me by giving me the idea of drawing pictures. By doing this, I passed my driving test. Later, I also passed my green card and then my citizenship test. It was just like this, very easy.

Cultivate the Smoke Offering Practice, Enabling Success and Good Health

Let's discuss the Smoke Offering. What is the Smoke Offering good for? I've found that people not only have tangible hindrances, but they also have formless hindrances as well. All forms are illusory. Shakyamuni Buddha had taught that, "All appearances are delusion." The real obstructions are karmic hindrances you've accumulated over your countless previous lives. They are your past karmic creditors (all the people and living beings that you have offended, harmed, persecuted, injured, or killed in your numerous previous lives). If they are currently gods or ghosts, they will look for you. Even though you may be healthy, you need to be careful with what you eat and drink, and you have to exercise -- this is common knowledge. However, if these formless past creditors find you, they will cause you to get sick or have cancer. It is not that if you watch what you eat, you won't get cancer. If you are depressed, you can also get cancer. If you are moping around all day with all these anxieties and worries, your body's immune system will be weakened and you can develop cancer. Thus your state of mind will affect your body. The formless still can influence that which has form, so this Smoke Offering practice is very important.

You body will get sick. When you get sick, you should perform the Smoke Offering, but you should also perform this practice when you are not sick. Those who can do a fire offering (homa) should do a fire offering. Those who can do feast offering (called tsok in Tibetan) should do feast offering. If you can do water offering, then do water offering. These are all types of offering practices. But, this Smoke Offering practice is specially for making offering to past [karmic] creditors, gods and ghosts. The offerings items are just some incense, some powders of five grains, fabrics of five colors, white and red sugars, and some milk. Mix them together and bake them dry. When these items are dried and ready, you can use them for your offering. Why would this offering make the gods and ghosts happy? There are a couple of reasons. When you chant the mantra, "OM AH HUM," this means that first you had transformed these small offerings into a great amount of offerings. The OM syllable will transform the small offering into a great amount to fill the entire universe. This OM is the universe. AH is purity. This AH syllable purifies everything and makes them very good and pure. HUM transforms them into dharma flavor. The fabrics become very good clothing, the powders of five grains become very delicious food, the incense powders become very sublime perfume, and the sugar transforms bitterness into happiness, turning a bitter taste into a sweet taste. We Taiwanese have a saying, eat something sweet, and have a new baby boy next year. This is a good saying enabling you to achieve your goal successfully, to turn a bad situation into a good one. The milk is to pacify all misfortunes. The color of milk is white and pure. It pacifies all misfortunes.

So, when you chant "Om Ah Hum" and "Lang Yang Kang," although the Smoke Offering is small, it transforms into a great offering. By performing this practice, all the illnesses, bad karmas, god and ghosts, those spirits, which came to harm you, they will all receive your offerings and accept your offering. It is hard to bite the hand that feeds you, that's what this means. Of course, this is not a bribe - we performed these offerings sincerely. The offering's goal is to request the karmic creditors not to harm you. They originally came to seek reparations, but they will leave you now because you performed this offering.  Thus, you business will flourish, your restaurant will be jam-packed, your supervisors will give you raises, you will be healthy, and you will be in a good mood. Those who hate you will adore you, and you will gain respect. You were originally sick, and now you will gradually get better. If you weren't sick, you will be even more healthy. This is the benefit of performing the Smoke Offering practice.

The Smoke Offering practice can also to be used to make offering to the Buddhas. The Smoke Offering for Buddhas is performed between 5 to 9 AM. Offering to gods and ghosts is done between 5 to 9 PM. I have also already explained about the incense burner. For rectangular incense burner, the offering cake (dough) should be made into a long shape. If you roll your offering into a round shape, then use the type of burner (round) that I used for the practice yesterday. Kindle the offerings like this. After you kindle the offering, you can start a group Smoke Offering as well. You can even use alms bowls, the alms bowls of monks and nun, as the incense burner (offering container and burner), or you can also use the Buddhist ching bell as the incense burner. As I already explained earlier, the things you have to prepare are some incense powders, five grains powders, fabrics of five colors, brown and white sugar, some milk, mix them together, and bake them dry. When these offerings are completely dry and combustible, use an incense stick to kindle it. Then, you can start the practice.

The Golden Winged Garuda Mudra Signifies the Smoke is Soaring in the Air

Yesterday, I explained that this Smoke Offering practice has to be performed at an area where air can circulate. Students from Singapore have said that their residences don't have balconies. Then, you should open your windows and perform the practice facing toward the windows. I mentioned the main deity of yesterday's ceremony was the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. The Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's mantra is "Om Mani Padme Hum Seh." This syllable "Seh" doesn't sound good in English. It sounds like you are cussing at someone "shit on you." That is not good. In reality, this "Seh" is a mantra syllable in Vajrayana. What good is this "Seh"? It is a mantra! It is Amitabha Buddha and Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's seed syllable. Starting from a moon disc, a "Seh" syllable transforms into Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. You need to know the Merging of the Self and Deity contemplation. Of course, before hand, you should perform the Great Homage, Great Offering, Four-fold Refuge, Armor Protection, chant the Hundred-Syllable Mantra, and you can also chant the High King Sutra. After you performed all these procedures, you start to practice the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara practice, cultivate until you merge yourself with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Merging of the Self and Deity contemplation with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva). Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has many mudras. One mudra has a thumb on the inside and a thumb on the outside, This is another one of Avalokitesvara's mudras. Avalokitesvara also has the lotus flower mudra, some are partially blossomed, fully blossomed, and there is also a closed lotus flower mudra. These are all Avalokitesvara's mudras. There is also the Thousand-armed and Thousand-eyed Avalokitesvara mudra. Your hands join like this, or open like this. These signify many arms. This is the Thousand-armed and Thousand-eyed Avalokitesvara mudra. Avalokitesvara has many mudras, you can use any one of them. When you become Avalokitesvara in the practice, then you can start performing the Smoke Offering practice. So, you can add on the Smoke Offering practice to the Principle Deity practice.

Now, you can start this Smoke Offering. After kindling the fire and the smoke starts to form, you have to visualize your container. Chant the Emptiness Visualization mantra , "Om si-ba-wa su-da sa-er-wa da-er-ma si-ba-wa su-duo hang." This is the Emptiness Visualization mantra, this Emptiness Visualization mantra represent the entire empty space of the universe. You should visualize your Smoke Offering becoming a great offering, as large as the entire empty space. Then, visualize the emerging smoke transforming into the five sublime offerings, all the things that gods and ghosts favor such as the seven jewels and eight treasures. You have to visualize them. Visualize the mansion that the gods and ghosts love, no matter how big, you have to visualize them. Visualize cars like Ferrari sport cars filling the entire empty space. Visualize the best food, some greens vegetable, these are less expensive. You can also visualize abalone, shark fins! Just visualize the most expensive food, swiftlet nest, and lobsters, etc. Let them eat the best food. I heard that one vajra master has this expression on his face that he only eats abalone and shark fins. It is as if everywhere he goes, school members must give him offerings of abalone and shark fins. It is always on his face, like that is the only thing he would eat. So, everyone just call him abalone and shark fin vajra master.

For these five sublime offerings, offer them the very best. Next time, when you make offerings to an acharya/vajra master, you can just use this practice to make the offering! Use this Smoke Offering to transform [the smoke] into the five sublime offerings of food, clothing, residence, means of travel, and joy. This offering includes them all, including even the offering of joy. Then, form the great Golden-Winged Garuda mudra. The garuda represents smoke because the garuda can soar into the sky. This mudra is very easy to remember because it is flying! The smoke is soaring like the garuda, flying to all corners of the Universe, and all of the gods and ghosts receive your offering. When you have completed the offering, you have to chant a mantra, this is the completion of offering mantra. "Om Ah-bu-la-di Pu-ba-ye Soha" -- chant one time and snap your fingers once. Do this a total of seven times. Chanting the mantra and snapping your fingers seven times represent perfect completion. Why do you need to snap your fingers? If there are gods and ghosts who are sleeping when you are making the offering, you will wake them up when you snap your fingers. The snapping of fingers symbolizes that you want to make an offering to them.

The Dedication of the Smoke Offering Practice Can Be Simple and Easy to Understand
With regard to the dedication, many people expressed the concern that they can't remember the dedication recited by Grandmaster! Then, I will just recite it slowly again. Everybody listen carefully:

"Making this five sublime offering to
Gandharva king Buduga
Kinnara king and his retinue
Five hair-knots Gandharva king and his retinue
Naga king and its retinue
Gods of mountain, water, and the seas,
Especially all those beings who lost their previous bodies and are not yet reborn
Currently passing through the bardo state
All those who reside in suffering and sorrow
Wishing to obtain sublime wondrous offerings
Those of you in the bardo state must awaken
There is liberation from this fear and suffering
Emulate the Buddha and attain his perfect emanation form
Vow to swiftly realize the Buddha's enlightenment
Even if you do not have the power to do so now
Nor the ability to be reborn in a good realm
Vow to practice and follow the highest true dharma
Vow to use this blessing power
Eliminate all your previous hindrances
The four great sufferings are like crashing waves
Vow to rescue all sentient beings in the Saha world."

Trying to recite this entire dedication is a bit troublesome. We can say the dedication in plain language, and I am good at speaking in plain language. You can say:

This smoke offering is an offering to all gods and ghosts.
Making offering to all my past karmic creditors and enemies,
Making offering to all my creditors, both with and without form,
Enable them to gain fulfillment and happiness.
Hoping my karmic creditors will leave me alone
Go far away
I hope all my karmic creditor's cultivation will be successful.
I hope all their sorrows turn into happiness.
Then I can have peace and good fortune.
Enjoy good health and cultivate diligently.
Om Mani Padme Hum.

This doesn't have to be complicated like you are speaking in a foreign tongue. In actuality, the long dedication and this plain language version is praying for the same thing. "Hope my offerings to all the gods and ghosts, offering to all the karmic creditors and angry past associates, don't keep coming to collect on old debts! I am repaying you all of it now, so I can live in peace and good health, and diligently cultivate. I hope you follow my example and learn Buddha-dharma, chant Buddha's name and achieve accomplishment. I will be able to be reborn in the Pure Land. You all can also be reborn in the Pure Land as well. Om Mani Padme Hum." It is like this. This is even simpler. You know that this is the offering to all karmic creditors and all gods and ghosts.

Dharma Practice Halls Exist Between Heaven and the Earth

Yesterday, I mentioned Xian-zheng Song. He is an accomplished cultivator. He is planning to build the Three Wheel Lei Zang Temple in Dallas. He is not seeking donations. He owns the land himself and plans to use his own means to build his own Lei Zang temple. I named this temple Three Wheel Lei Zang temple. Don't take these three wheels as the three wheels of a tricycle. These three wheels signify the three turnings of the dharma wheel by the Buddha, and hence it is named Three Wheel. He is a great sponsor of Buddhism. Originally, he was cultivating at Seattle. He left and continued to develop. You see his accomplishment is pretty good. So, I hope True Buddha students don't put all their energy into building temples. We should build temples because it allows fellow cultivators to join together for group cultivation, and for good merit. However, these temples (dharma practice halls) exist between the heaven and earth, and do not belong to anybody.

Grandmaster has said that although I am officially the abbot of Taiwan Lei Zang temple, that is really a honorary title. Vajra Master Lian-zhe is the acting abbot. All the executive, personnel, and financial decisions are made by the administrative staff at the Taiwan Lei Zang Temple. I don't deal with any of these matters. On financial terms, the assets of Taiwan Lei Zang Temple such as temple land and the structure should be worth around $100 Million Taiwan Dollars (approximately $3.13 million USD at the time of this translation). If I am really a greedy person, one hundred million dollars is great! Everyone knows that Chuan-fang Chen has said, "Money, it doesn't come with you and you can't take it with you. But, everyone still loves it." If Grandmaster really loves money, I should go back to Taiwan Lei Zang Temple. I am the abbot of temple, so the acting abbot and the assistant abbots can all take a break. All of this is mine! I should go look at all the big gold foiled plated temple columns, I should have such a joy in my heart that I need to hug them all. Those columns are too big to put your arms around. They are seven stories tall! The bodhisattva statues are seven stories tall as well. I should be ecstatic. I should be extremely happy. Look at the Amitabha Buddha statue, the more you look at it, the more dignified it is. I really should take it home with me. However, I can't budge it, nor can I move it. Although it is all legally under my name, it really belongs to this great earth. Can a person's life span be longer than that of the Lei Zang Temple? If your life span is longer than the temple, then eat it as cake. However, your life span will not be longer than that of the Lei Zang Temple! It really belongs to the great earth, you have to have an open mind.

Chuan-fang Chen said that she is really carefree these day. She doesn't desire anything now. She asked me, "Grandmaster, based on your observation, how is my cultivation progressing lately?" I took a look and said, "Oh! Your joke telling ability is getting better and better. I discovered that all four big moms have very good cultivation and are progressing very well. One of them has already merged with Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. One of them can go to the Pure Land. Another one of them can go to the heavens. Another one of the moms will become president. All their cultivations have progressed and their accomplishments are all very good."

Understand the Key of Vajrayana Practice, Cultivate Practice to Achieve Accomplishment

Cultivating the Smoke Offering practice can aid efforts in worldly enterprises and efforts to become enlightened. You should know that this practice is basically a resource accumulation practice. Smoke Offering is a resource accumulation practice and a very good practice, especially for personal cultivation. I will now give a general overview of Vajrayana practices. Those of you who understand, you'll understand. If you don't, then you don't. Vajrayana practice - at the brow point (or ajna chakra) there is a "HAM" seed syllable (note: this is HAM, not HUM) and four fingers below the navel chakra there is a half "AH" seed syllable. After being blown by the wind or qi, the Inner Fire (Tibetan: tummo) will be generated. There is a blue "HUM" seed syllable in your heart. This "HUM" seed syllable will transform into your principle deity. After the principle deity has been bathed in both the Inner Fire and drops in succession, it will become your "illusory body." If you can cultivate in your dream, you can achieve Dream Yoga. You will be able to cultivate in your dreams. Join into union with the clear light and you attain the Clear Light. Then, seal off the eight openings, leaving only one opening open. Strive to push out your consciousness and heart's prana using the wind. This is Phowa (Consciousness Transference). After you exit, you see your principle deity. If you merge with your principle deity as one, this is "parakaya pravesha." I just covered, Inner Fire, Illusory Body, Dream Yoga, Clear Light, Phowa, and bardo body.

If you understand, if you have the illusory body, you can use your illusory body and go directly to the Buddha Pure Land using your own power. Directly become the Buddha using your illusory body -- this is called achieving Buddhahood in the present body. If you cannot do this, you have to visualize your principle deity to be seated on your head, your central channel linked to the principle deity's central channel. You move the wind that you have cultivated upward. Push your consciousness into the consciousness of the principle deity. Push your consciousness into the principle deity's central channel and become one with the principle deity. When the principle deity goes to the Pure Land, you enter the Pure Land. If you can't do that either, if you cannot achieve illusory body, you only have the bardo body. Then you have to learn the Phowa practice (Consciousness Transference practice) quickly. You must remember to recite mantra, visualize your principle deity appearing, and merge into your principle deity; then, you use Phowa. If you want to be President, a future president, then you must learn visualization. Use your visualization to find the woman who will be the mother of a future president. After you find her, your bardo body must enter her womb. This is call parakaya pravesha. After you enter her womb and assume the vessel, you will be born to this mother of the future president, and then you are destined to become a future president. This is called parakaya pravesha.

Most normal people's bardo body don't have enough power, and thus they cannot decide their own fate. They can only attach themselves onto a butterfly. They attach their bardo bodies onto the butterfly flying by and fly to their relatives' shoulders. The relatives should not kill these butterflies because maybe their grandfather or grandmother is attached on the wings of these butterflies. Sometime, the bardo body of the dead will attach themselves on other insects. When you are performing a deliverance rite, sometimes an insect that you haven't seen before will suddenly climb onto your offering table.

While I was performing a deliverance rite once, a bug showed up and was crawling in the room. The deceased person's relatives saw the bug and were going to kill it. I told them, "Hold off. It's your brother!" Their brother's bardo body attached itself onto the insect and came back to see them. This is a form of parakaya pravesha. But, this kind of taking possession of a vessel is the lowest form. They can only attach themselves onto an insect or butterfly. They can't attach themselves onto a bird and fly back to see their families. They will leave after seeing you. Don't harm it.

[High level] Vajrayana practitioners know this kind of practice. Some people want to be born into Bill Gates' family. Then, as soon as you die, your bardo body must find his wife and enter into her womb to become their child. When you are reborn, you would be Bill Gates's son and then you would be born rich. To do this, you must have sufficient cultivation, and then you can control your own destiny. If you want to go to the Pure Land, you go to the Pure Land. If you want to become a Buddha, you become a Buddha. If you want to reincarnate to become a president, you reincarnate and become a president. If you want to reincarnate into a rich family, then reincarnate into a rich family. You can go wherever you want to go - this is an achievement of Vajrayana cultivation.

In a moment, I will be giving the Yamantaka empowerment. I will ask one of the True Buddha Foundation vajra masters to write down the sadhana for the Smoke Offering practice. After I approve it, everyone can follow this sadhana to practice. I think everyone already knows the basics. We have cultivated the principle deity practice for so long now! You are only adding on a Smoke Offering. For the mantra that you will chant seven times in this practice. Let's chant "Om Ah-bu-la-di Pu-ba-ye Soha," Don't chant "Om Ah-Bu-La-Di Bu-La-Ya Soha." Just chant "Om Ah-bu-la-di Pu-ba-ye Soha" and write up a standard Smoke Offering procedure. That way everyone will perform the same practice. You can also continue to chant the High King Sutra.

I will give out the Yamantaka empowerment shortly. Although you don't cultivate the Yamantaka practice, you still can chant the Yamantaka mantra. This will give you longevity. Those of you who are able to be here today are fortunate. As long as you know the Yamantaka mantra and often devotedly recite it, you will be free from many ills and live a long life.

Om Mani Padme Hum