How to pick a practice...

[unofficialsamurai]

Hello!

With some many different practices Rinpoche teaches and talks about in his videos and blogs.  Tsongkhapa,  Tara,  Setrap, and even a practice for non-initiate to Vajra Yogini. How to pick one for myself?  or do you do them all one after another?  or do you finish one then start another?

hmmm....

any thoughts?

Many Bows

[Joey]

best scenario is to do all.

if you cant, stick to Lama Tsongkhapa. His practice has everything in it and he's not much different than Vajrayogini in reality as what Rinpoche has mentioned before

[unofficialsamurai]

Thank you for your response.

But is it do all one after the other, or one day this, then next day this in a cycle?

Anyway..might just stick with Lama Tsongkhapa.

Thank you

[Joey]

Thank you for your response.

But is it do all one after the other, or one day this, then next day this in a cycle?

Anyway..might just stick with Lama Tsongkhapa.

Thank you

do all everyday. the key is to be consistent.

[WayBackHome83]

Hi Rafael,

Lama Tsongkhapa's practice is very effective and worthwhile; I wouldn't worry too much about picking from numerous practices - it is very beneficial for practitioners to do Lama Tsongkhapa's practice.  Concentrate on developing what you know; everything else will follow on naturally with time.

I'm not sure if you're aware of the web site http://www.lamatsongkhapa.com  Two of Rinpoche's students constructed the site and it is a fantastic resource for anyone wishing to find out more about Lama Tsongkhapa, prayers and practices.

In my opinion, it is much more important to be consistent, committed and focused on one practice at a time. If you feel you'd like to do more after a while, that's OK, but better to be familiar and strong in one practice than to be unsure of many.

Besides, if you look at every available practice and try to select them all too quickly, it'll drive you crazy!

Take your time, practice well and enjoy! Proper cultivation of anything takes time. Be patient with yourself and you'll do just fine.

Kind regards,
Sandy

[unofficialsamurai]

Thank you Joey and Sandy for you advice.
And as you both stated the most important thing is to be consistent .

Thank you again!

Bows

[Joey]

Thank you Joey and Sandy for you advice.
And as you both stated the most important thing is to be consistent .

Thank you again!

Bows

doing one practice and being consistent with it is alot better than doing many at an arbitary basis.

[SharpPudding]

 Vajrasattva is my favorite non commitment practice.

 Vajrasattva is very applicable to everyone and it often makes the difference between success and failure in the future, I know in one of Rinpoche's videos he said something like, "the people that do the purification practices are the ones that attend until the end of the teaching but people who don't do purification drop off throughout the teaching". And you know what, that's true, and it's true for 2 reasons, without Vajrasattva 1) you aren't checking yourself and correcting and 2) you aren't replacing your bad habits of body, speech, and mind with the Buddha's body speech and mind.  So, as you can see, you don't do these things and your mental afflictions grab you by the collar and back into samsaric ways fast.

 You asked about Vajrasattva in another thread, so you're already interested or doing the practice, you should run with it. I don't mean to demean other practices because they create merit and qualities just like Vajrasattva, but in terms of your future practice, you can take Vajrasattva with you until the end of training, some other ones that are for the most part only kriya you probably won't ever do again after you get highest yoga tantra, but Vajrasattva will still be your regular companion.

[unofficialsamurai]

Thank you!

Actually I have not started Vajrasattva 's practice yet. But I will!  It's funny because when I first read about it on Rinpoche's website I said to myself that I would bother with that because it didn't seem interesting (or whatever excuse I made up at the time) but now I feel more and more drawn to purification practices. I guess it is my inner Buddha just wanting to get rid of all the negative Karma.   

I just wanted to know where in my practice should I add Vajrasattva 's practice?  and I would like to do it correctly. 

Thank you again.

[SharpPudding]

 If you are doing a yoga where you assume the body speech and mind of the deity, then before that practice.

 If you are doing general prayers and meditation, you do it at the end of the day to correct yourself where you have made mistakes, establish yourself in the right direction, and repair your vows/samaya.

 Also if you have made a serious offense, you can stop what you're doing and immediately repair at any time.

[SharpPudding]

 It is always critical to get the most extensive commentary you can on any practice, I don't know if Rinpoche has a extensive explanation of Vajrasattva online, so if you can't get teachings from him, then google Thubten Chodron Vajrasattva and download her recordings on this, she is the same school and there should be no confusion between Rinpoche's teachings and this Venerable Nun. 

[Joey]

the best purification practice is to not react in pain whenever you experience unhappiness as it directly stops the creation of more suffering.

[unofficialsamurai]

Very true Joey, Thank you!
Thank you so much SharpPudding for the info!!!

[Paris]

Hi Samurai,

Rinpoche has often advised us that as a core practice, we should do Lama Tsongkhapa. He represents Guru and Yidam to us, so it is very completel. Within Lama Tsongkhapa, we visualise our Lama and all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, dakas, dakinis and Dharma protectors dissolving into him - so it is a very simple practice but complete. I don't know if you know, but we have created a Lama Tsongkhapa book set, including a book with the commentary and explanation of the practice, a prayer book and a tsatsa (small image) of Tsongkhapa for you to start your practice. You can see more here: http://www.kechara.com/publications/publications/vajra-series/tsongkhapa-a-simple-guide-to-a-powerful-practice/

Of course, you can add other practices in as well. Usually, what we will do is the Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga, and if you wish to recite any other prayers/ praises / mantras (e.g. Tara, Vajrasattva, Manjushri), you insert it after the "dissolution" part of the Guru Yoga.

It is also very good to do a Dharma Protector practice as it will help to clear a lot of obstacles to your spiritual practices; it clears both outer obstacles (e.g. sicknesses, difficulties that physically prevent you from doing practice) and your own inner obstacles too (sleepiness, laziness, doubt etc), so that your practices become smoother and more effective. We usually do a Dharma Protector practice right at the end, after Lama Tsongkhapa's Guru Yoga and the other prayers.

If you wish, a simple but complete practice to do would be:
- Recite Refuge prayer (namo guru beh....)
- Lama Tsongkhapa's Guru Yoga
- Setrap
- Dedication prayers (to end the prayer session and seal our merit)

I agree with what has been said by Joey that it is better to do one practice but be very committed and consistent with it, than to do lots of prayers but not be consistent.

You could start with something simple and minimal first (as described above), and when you become more comfortable, add on other prayers.

I remember when I first started Dharma, I was advised by a fellow Dharma friend that I shouldn't overwhelm myself with too many different prayers and too many mantras. He even advised me I don't need to do like 10 malas of mantra a day as we can burn out if we're very new or simply because we have way too much going on in our daily lives. So just start small but steady and be committed to it every day.

Good luck!

[unofficialsamurai]

Thank you so much for that reply Paris! 

I will begin as soon as I finish writing this!  Right now I am going to try to learn Guru Yoga in Tibetan so wish me luck with that


Many thanks!!


Rafael