Details on the Puja

 
The Origin 

The 100 Deities are the attributes and activities of the 5 Buddhas and their female counterparts. They are the manifestations from the pure nature of our minds, and remain within us in the form of 5 faculties, 5 elements and 12 sources of perception and so on. By relying on the practice of the 100 deities or  hearing the mantra, seeing the mandala and picture of the 100 Deities, one may either instantly or gradually realize  the nature of one’s own mind is inseparable from the perfect wisdom of the 100 Deities. 

The Puja and Benefits 

During the performance of Jang Chog puja, the 100 Deities are invoked and various types of offerings are made to them. The merits accumulated from these offerings are dedicated to the deceased and karmic debtors to help them in their purification and liberation. The prayer is also an offering of assistance to those in the intermediate or Bardo state to show them the path to liberation and an accumulation  of merit. 

At the end of puja, the paper tablets of the deceased are burnt away. The fire used in the burning symbolizes the wisdom of the 100 Deities; the burning of the tablets symbolizes the cutting of the attachment of the deceased to a “self” which is the cause of their own suffering. Through the prayer and the ritual performed, the consciousness of the deceased are merged and become inseparable from the wisdom of the 100 Deities, thus they are liberated. By practicing the 100 Deities, like all tantric practices, one is able to purify one’s own mind’s manifestation  and transform ordinary thoughts to extraordinary thoughts that  leads to recognize the true nature of one self and nature of everything. 
  
Lamp offering

Lamp offering symbolizes the light of wisdom dispelling the darkness of ignorance, in order to attain Buddha’s luminous clear wisdom. It is also a skilful method to encourage harmony and generate merit while promoting success, prosperity, longevity, peace and love, as well as helping to avert obstacles, pacify the upheaval of the five elements and heal diseases. The enlightened ones do not require the offering of light, this is a means for us to dispel the darkness of our own ignorance and to clear our obscurations and defilements.

Because of the association with great good fortune,lamp offerings are made for any individual or family life event that is celebrated, such as the birth of a child, the marriage of a couple, the graduation of a son or daughter, the birthday of a friend, and the anniversary of one’s parents. A lamp offering also carries the wish to attain Buddhahood and the aspiration to recognize the clear light at the time of death, thereby experiencing liberation in that moment. In this way, lamp offerings are associated with transitions in one’s life.  

Lamp offerings are best made before consecrated representations of fully awakened wisdom, loving-kindness, and compassion.

Yours in the Dharma, 

Tana Dharma Society

Tel:    03-56326103 (Kathryn), fax: 03-5632 3995 

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