The Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor

Short & long practices translated and composed by

Lama Zopa Rinpoche

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Set in Calibri 12.5./15, Century Gothic, Lydian BT, and Tibetan Machine Unicode.

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Credits: Line drawings by Robert Beer. Used here with permission.

Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor 3

Contents

The Protecti on Wheel of Vajra Armor (short practi ce) 5

The Protecti on Wheel of Vajra Armor Meditati on 7

Practi ce Advice 14

4 Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor

Practice requirementsWhen doing the short practi ce, unless one has received the empowerment of this aspect of Vajrapani, one can-not visualize oneself as the deity. Instead, visualize the deity in the space in front of you, of one nature with all your Gurus.

Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor 5

The Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor

Herein is the Protecti on Wheel of Vajra Armor meditati on and recitati on:

Oneself arises as dark blue Vajrapani, very ferocious, holding a vajra and snake lasso in his hands.

His holy body is adorned with complete atti re and ornaments of the charnel grounds. With his holy feet spread widely on a lotus and sun disc, he stands amidst a blazing transcendental wisdom fi re. From his holy body emanates fi re garudas, iron scorpions, black pigs, wind, and fi re, with hurricane force winds like a violent hailstorm destroying all disease, epidemics, spirit harms and hindrances.

HUM VAJRA PHAT!

OM PÄDMA SHAWA RI PHAT / NÄN PAR SHIG / NAGA NÄN/ TAD YA THA / SARVA BI RI TA / HANA HANA / VAJRE NA RAKSHA RAKSHA SVAHA

Recite this as many ti mes as possible. At the end of the recita-ti on, [blow over] water to bless it and drink. [You can also recite the mantra and blow on cream or butt er, then apply it to infected areas on the skin.]

6 Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor In your daily practi ce, blow into your nostrils.

[Aft er you fi nish reciti ng the mantra, hold your hand in front of your mouth and blow the air up, so it goes into your nostrils.]

At the conclusion of the session think that all disease, spirit harms and hindrances are totally destroyed. Then, abide for awhile in the state of meditati on on the actual mode of existence [empti ness], beyond what is to be protected and what protects [conventi onal truth].

While empty, one arises again into the deity’s holy body.

Then, make prayers, dedicati ons and prayers of auspiciousness [such as on pp. 12-13.]

This is taken by Ghana for daily practi ce from the most Wrathful Chakra of Protecti ng the Root Att achment.

Colophon:

Initi ally translated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, March 2003 and scribed by Holly Ansett . Edited by Kendall Magnussen, August 2011, relying on a similar transla-ti on by Ven. Thubten Pemba, May 2009. Words in “[ ]” were added by Lama Zopa Rinpoche or the editor for clarifi cati on.

Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor 7

The Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor Meditation

Taking Refuge & Generating Bodhichitta

I go for refuge unti l I am enlightened To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme AssemblyBy my practi ce of giving and the other perfecti ons, May I become a Buddha to benefi t all senti ent beings. (3x)

Eight Verses of Thought Transformation

Determined to obtain the greatest possible benefi tFrom all senti ent beings,Who are more precious than a wish-fulfi lling jewel,I shall hold them most dear at all ti mes.

When in the company of others,I shall always consider myself the lowerst of all,And from the depths of my heartHold others dear and supreme.

Vigilant, the moment a delusion appears in my mind,Endangering myself and others,I shall confront and avert itWithout delay.

8 Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor Whenever I see beings who are wicked in natureAnd overwhelmed by violent negati ve acti ons and suff ering,I shall hold such rare ones dear,As if I had found a precious treasure.

When, out of envy, others mistreat meWith abuse, insults, or the like,I shall accept defeatAnd off er the victory to others.

When someone whom I have benefi tedAnd in whom I have great hopesGives me terrible harm,I shall regard that person as my holy Guru.

In short, both directly and indirectly,Do I off er every happiness and benefi t to all my mothers.I shall secretly take upon myselfAll their harmful acti ons and suff ering.

Undefi led by the stains of the supersti ti onsOf the eight worldly concerns,May I, by perceiving all phenomena as illusory,Be released from the bondage of att achment.

The Four Immeasurable Thoughts

How wonderful it would be if all senti ent beings were to abide in equanimity, free from hatred and att achment, not holding some close and others distant.

May they abide in equanimity. I myself will cause them to abide in abide equanimity. Please Guru-Deity, bless me to be able to do this.

Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor 9 How wonderful it would be if all senti ent beings had happiness and

the causes of happiness. May they have happiness and its causes.I myself willl cause them to have happiness and its causes. Please Guru-Deity, bless me to be able to do this.

How wonderful it would be if all senti ent beings were free from suff erings and the causes of suff ering.

May they be free from suff ering and its causes. I myself will cause them to be free from suff ering and its causes.Please Guru-Deity, bless me to be able to do this.

How wonderful it would be if all senti ent beings were never sepa-rated from the happiness of higher rebirth and liberati on.

May they never be separated from these. I myself will cause them never to be separated from these.Please Guru-Deity, bless me to be able to do this.

Tong-Len (Taking and Giving) PracticeGenerate great compassion towards senti ent beings and think:

“How wonderful it would be if all senti ent beings were free from all suff erings and their causes.”

Take all of their problems, especially relati onship problems and sickness. Take all the suff ering and the causes of suff ering, all the obscurati ons – all the undesirable things – in the form of polluti ons which are then absorbed to the self-cherishing thought. The self-cherishing thought is completely destroyed and the real ‘I’ that the self-cherishing thought grasps and thinks is so precious, becomes empty. Then place the mind in empti ness as much as you can.

Spend some ti me on taking and then some ti me on empti ness.

10 Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor Also, from ti me to ti me, with loving-kindness, dedicate your own body, possessions, and three-ti me merits towards others, especial-ly to the person who hates you. However, mostly do the practi ce of taking.

Destroying the Self-Cherishing Thought

What you should remember most, again and again:

These problems are the shortcomings of the self-cherishing thought; that is who gave them to me. There is no reason why I should experience them, so I am returning them back to the self-cherishing thought and letti ng him suff er.

All the ti me, whenever there’s a problem, use this. Try to recognize self-cherishing easily and then use it as a weapon to destroy itself by giving the problem back to it.

Whenever a problem arises, instead of blaming it on the outside, blame it on the self-cherishing thought, and give it back to the self-cherishing thought. Conti nuously, keep the self-cherishing thought as your worst enemy. In this way, keep yourself away from the self-cherishing thought, as you would from a poisonous snake. This way, no matt er how many problems you have, even if they equal the size of this earth, even if you have hailstorms of problems, im-mediately they are no longer problems. This is the very essenti al Mahayana thought transformati on, how you can immediately stop the problems.

Visualization

Visualize the deity, as pictured in a thangka (see descripti on below), in oneness with all the Gurus that you have relied upon and made a connecti on with (i.e. having received teachings from them in a guru-disciple relati onship).

Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor 11 [Dark blue Vajrapani is very ferocious, holding a vajra and snake lasso in his hands. His holy body is adorned with complete atti re and ornaments of the charnel grounds. With his holy feet spread widely on a lotus and sun disc, he stands amidst a blazing transcen-dental wisdom fi re. From his holy body emanates fi re garudas, iron scorpions, black pigs, wind, and fi re, with hurricane force winds like a violent hailstorm destroying all disease, epidemics, spirit harms and hindrances.]

Mantra Recitation

As you recite the mantra, fi ve-colored nectar comes to your fi ve places separately: white from the forehead, red from the throat, blue from the heart, yellow from the navel, and green from the secret place. This purifi es the fi ve delusions, their impressions left on your mind and the negati viti es accumulated out of them; all obscurati ons and negati ve karma accumulated from beginningless lifeti mes, as well as naga and other beings’ harms. They all come out through the pores and lower doors of your body in the form of dirty black liquid, like when you wash very dirty clothes or the body. All diseases such as cancer or whatever the main disease is that you have, come out in the form of animals, snakes, frogs and sea animals.

Protection Wheel Vajra Armour (Dorje Gotrab) Mantra

OM PÄDMA SHAWA RI PHAT / NÄN PAR SHIG / NAGA NÄN/ TAD YA THA / SARVA BI RI TA / HANA HANA / VAJRE NA RAKSHA RAKSHA SVAHA

With each mala recited purify oneself for 87 recitati ons and other senti ent beings for the other 21. Blow on the water aft er that. Another method is to bless the water by visualizing diff erent col-ored nectar beams emitti ng from Vajra Armor and going into the boiled water, which is in a big jar, bucket, or any container in front of you. Again, blow on the water.

12 Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor Generate faith that the water becomes nectar of the highest tran-scendental wisdom, understanding, infi nite compassion for all sen-ti ent beings, and perfect power to immediately purify and pacify all diseases such as cancer or whatever you have, and all defi lements.

Aft er one round of the rosary, blow on the water. In this way, do however many sessions a day – maybe three or four. Each session do one to one and a half hours or more of recitati on. Keep going like this, purifying yourself and blessing the water.

Concluding visualization

At the end of the session, all those negati ve karmas and diseases that came out in various forms are piled up like mountains around you, covering the whole earth. A crack appears beneath you, nine stories below. The Lord of Death appears and opens his mouth. Then all this goes inside his mouth and is transformed into nectar. The Lord of Death is completely sati sfi ed and his mouth becomes sealed with a golden vajra. He then returns to his own place, which is far away and from which it is impossible to return, and the earth closes up. This way it becomes a method for long life.

Dedication

JANG CHHUB SEM CHHOG RIN PO CHHEMA KEY PA NAM KEY GYUR CHIGKYE PA NYAM PA ME PA YIGONG NÄ GONG DU PHEL WAR SHOG

Due to all the three ti mes’ merits accumulated by myself, buddhas, bodhisatt vas, and senti ent beings,

May the precious bodhichitt a, the source of all happiness, not yet generated be generated

And may that which has been generated never degenerate, but always increase.

Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor 13 Meditate on making charity of one’s own body, speech and mind, possessions, and three ti mes merits, as well as all the resultant happiness – including enlightenment – to every hell being and so forth, to all senti ent beings.

Whatever suff ering senti ent beings have, may I experience it. Whatever merit and happiness I have accumulated, may others

experience it.

Due to all the three ti mes’ merits accumulated by myself, buddhas, bodhisatt vas, and senti ent beings, In whatever life I am in, may my acti ons never cause even the slightest harm to any senti ent being.Instead, may they only bring the greatest benefi t.

Whatever suff ering or happiness I experience, may it always be only the cause for all senti ent beings to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

Due to all the three ti mes’ merits accumulated by myself, buddhas, bodhisatt vas, and senti ent beings, however many sick senti ent beings there are, who have cancer and so forth – all diseases – and those who have the karma to become sick, may they be liberated from these. From now on, may they never experience sickness again.

Due to all the three ti mes’ merits accumulated by myself, buddhas, bodhisatt vas, and senti ent beings, which are empty from their own side; may the I which is empty from its own side; achieve the guru-deity’s enlightenment, which is empty from its own side; in order to lead all senti ent beings, who are empty from their own side; to that enlightened state, which is empty from its own side; by myself alone.

14 Protection Wheel of Vajra Armor Practice Advice

It is good to conti nue at least one session a day, but do more sessions a day, if you can. Drink three, four, or fi ve mouthfuls of blessed water at the end of each session. Think that every disease is purifi ed as well as its cause: negati ve karma, delusions and defi le-ments. Aft er drinking the water, think that you have received omni-science, perfect power and infi nite compassion embracing all living beings, and all the infi nite qualiti es of a fully enlightened being.

This is one of the most powerful mantras to cure cancer. It is also commonly used for any disease, black magic and spirit harm. If you recite it many ti mes every day, you can become a great healer, helping other people. You can give others the water blessed with this mantra to drink and, in this way, heal them.

Colophon:

Composed by Venerable Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, in Genti ng, Malaysia, April 1997. Typed and slightly edited by Ven. Jampa Lundrup. Further editi ng by Kendall Magnussen, August 2011. Words in “[ ]” for the descripti on of the deity were extracted from the short practi ce and added here for convenience.

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