Sangchöd

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kalden yungdrung
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Sangchöd

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Tashi delek,

Sangchöd, a smoke ritual done for the 4 Guests. For the Sang chöd ritual, is used the Sang Kang, where the leaves etc. are burnt.

Mutsug Marro
KY.


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Sangchöd - 03.jpg
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Teaching given by Lopön Tenzin Namdak Rinpoche.
Transcribed and edited by C.& D. Ermakovi .


Lopön La:

Today I'm going to explain how to perform the Sangchöd practice we do every morning. I think it is important for everyone to know how to do it properly.

I will start with the Preliminary Practices.

Before I start to go through the ritual text, I'd like to explain a little bit about the practice in general.

The word 'sang' is actually the name of the good-smelling herbs which we use. We can also use this word to mean 'purification', 'cleaning'.
So there are several different purposes or meanings to the practice of Sang. Very generally speaking, this is a very popular practice.
Throughout Tibetan society. If you go to any Tibetan monastery or family, they will all have a Sangkhang outside, a 'sang house'. If you go to a typical Tibetan village in the morning around sunrise you can see smoke everywhere.

You can also see prayer flags. These two - Sang and prayer flags – usually go together, like rice and dhal! It is also something distinctly Tibetan; if you want to distinguish between Tibetan and Chinese, this is a very clear border. Otherwise if you go to Tibet now the people look very similar and you cannot always distinguish between Chinese and Tibetans; the smaller nations are becoming more Chinese, the clothes are changing.

So Sang is very, very popular and it is a very important ceremony for all Tibetans, whether they are practitioners or not, lay or in robes. Some people know the real meaning of Sang, but many people don't know the real meaning, yet the ceremony still goes on.

Especially if someone goes on a journey or has some important business, they generally do Sang or hang prayer flags, to raise their Lungta or 'wind horse' so that their business will go well, their journey will be safe and so on.

People always believe that. In the monastery, it is one important source of income! If someone is going somewhere or has some business to do, they come to their monastery with some money and offerings and ask to do some Sangchöd. That is a very widespread custom among Tibetans.

We can explain the meaning of Sang on two levels.


General Level

Most people have the idea of making offerings to deities - worldly deities or Enlightened Deities, whatever - using this good-smelling smoke. When we do this offering, we use many, many different substances and different texts have different recipes, although generally we use juniper leaves and Artemisia [mugwort].

These are very easy to find. In Nepal and India we also use pine leaves. Many people use this as a purification which can clean our discursive thoughts. When we human beings dig earth to make a building or fell some trees or pick some herbs, we believe that in this way we disturb all the nature spirits and beings which abide in those places and in those particular features such as rocks, water and high mountains.

We believe that there are always spirits abiding in these various features. In particular, some particular [classes of] deities know as:

Zhidag and Yulsa are very sensitive and pure. We call them Tsangrig Lha. They are very sensitive to pollution.

We humans create many different types of pollution. For example, when we burn some kind of dirt it makes a bad smell and we consider that as pollution. Internally, people also behave badly towards each other, so if there is too much killing or war going on, then that creates a very bad atmosphere and pollution. So in this way these beings somehow become affected by those pollutions, and as revenge they send different kinds of disturbances. Some don't send them deliberately, but nevertheless there is the karmic cause and these actions come back to humans.

These spirits have different energies and powers. Some of them possess real super-powers, others have special qualities which mean they are able to create many different kinds of disturbances. Or, if they like to, if they like the other beings, they can help them a lot. In our daily lives we create various types of pollution and disturbance for these spirits and that is why we can get sicknesses, obstacles and misfortune.

One of the purposes of doing Sang is to clean or purify these pollutions.

Nowadays the weather is changing throughout the world, we have storms and tsunamis which scientists would put down to global warming, but if you ask a Tibetan who has no idea of science, they would immediately say it is because of the Yulsa or that kind of thing.

Both could be true. Normally we think that one thing is true and the other is not. Maybe scientists understand on the external level, but then there is also always something connected to other beings. That is true for every element; there is always something.
Take for example of a house, or a building. If someone is living in that house, then there is energy there and the house becomes lived
in and lively.

But as soon as the person moves out of that house, if you go back one or two months later there is much less energy there.
Maybe it is because people are not living there physically, but it is not only that. The house can easily become a ruin; if no-one lives there it becomes old and ruined much more quickly. If on the other hand someone lives there and it is inhabited, somehow the house stays more alive. This is true for all the elements or certain places; when the original Owner or Inhabitant is there, then energy and everything is there, too. But as soon as the Owner becomes disturbed, and is no longer there, the place or element looses its energy and somehow takes on a different shape. That is the idea.

We say that if we cut a special tree or dig into a special mountain we believe we can get some sort of sickness or harm. This is not because the tree has some mind or something, but we believe that special tress, springs or mountains are inhabited by special beings.

We call them Sadag, Lu, Nyen and Tod.

There are different kinds of spirits which abide in different elements and features. In early times, in Tibetan history, we have many records showing that Tibetan people had a very close relationship with the spirits. They could even communicate with each other and in some cases even see each other. There are even histories about humans who could marry some other spirit or being, such as Lu or Tsen.

It is very possible. If we go to very remote areas where there are not so many modern distractions or disturbances, there are many stories and people have seen strange things.

When we hear about those strange things here we don't believe it and think that it is some fantasy or something, but in fact they could be real. Where there is no disturbance, the spirits are always there. If there are no disturbances, they manifest more and are not hiding or running away from normal human beings. But because we produce more and more disturbances and an increasingly unfavourable atmosphere for them, somehow they run away and finally move to another place. That is the very general idea, and it is real.

In this way, we always somehow have to maintain a relationship with them. It is the same among humans.If for 'example someone disturbs us in some way we often try to take revenge or we run away. Usually we do one of these two. If we are powerful and can do so, we try to take revenge. If we can't do that and can't stay near them, then we run away, and so our relationship becomes ever-more distant. These beings and spirits have superpowers.

It is said that they control many aspects of the natural environment such as the weather; they can somehow influence or control changes in the elements, and in that way they can affect others.

There are so many different spirits and if we were to speak about each of them it would be too much. Indeed, all the Four Ways of the Bön of
Cause are very much related with dealing with these kinds of things, with healing practices, with Do,and all these things are based on these kinds of relationships. Among the Do rites we have a very extensive kind of Do offering which contains many stories about communications with different kinds of beings, detailing what kind of relationships we had with them, between humans and these spirits.

We call this Nangshen Thegpa, the Second Vehicle of Bön of Causality. The practitioner of this Way should perform his practice as a translator or interpreter, interpreting communications between human beings and other spirits to make harmony and peace on both sides.

That is the main duty of a practitioner of Nangshen Thegpa.

That is one general view of Sangchöd. But that is not the only significance of Sangchöd. In fact, Sangchöd is one of the ways of making
offerings to all the 4 Guests. Whatever offerings we do - except in particular cases - we always invite the 4 Guests. Even if we do Ganapuja, we have these 4 Guests.

When we do Chutor we invite these Four Guests and we invite them when we do Surchöd, too.



The 4 Guests are:

Honorary Guests
This refers to all enlightened beings and includes all the 3 Jewels, Lama, Yidam and Khandro or Sangye, Bönlam, Shenrab. We always regard these as somehow higher than ourselves and we respect them very highly. That is why we call them the 'honorary' guests. Why do we make offerings to them?

It is not because they need them. We make offerings to them in order to accumulate merits for ourselves.


Guests with Virtuous Qualities
This group includes all the higher classes of Guardians who protect the practitioners and the Teachings. 15 This includes the local deities which we call the 'White-side Deities'. That means any kind of deity or local deity possessing supernatural powers who is more favourable towards us, who is oriented towards helping beings not disturbing them. That includes all the Guardians or Protectors.


Guests who claim karmic debts
Basically that includes what we call the 8 Classes, or all kinds of wrathful spirits which tend to harm people, who try to cause obstacles and disturbances for humans and other beings. They also possess super-powers.

What do we mean when we say they are seeking to claim karmic debts? It means that they are very much connected to our own previous karma. So if we have done something bad or killed some being, we believe that that being can come and take its revenge on us either in that same lifetime or in a later life, as a result of our previous deeds. If we make offerings and purify [the cause], we can make peace with them and they can be satisfied.


Guests that require our compassion
What do we mean when we say they need our compassion? Generally, we can develop compassion for all sentient beings, but in the Tibetan system when we say Nyingje or compassion it means that I can help someone who is much weaker than me, that he cannot get what he wants without my help.

So this word always refers to something lower or weaker; we don't use this word for higher or more powerful people - if we did, it would be a big insult! This includes all the beings of the Six Realms who are weak and powerless and lack many things - food, shelter, protection.

They need many things but they have no power to get these things themselves. So this group includes all those very, very helpless beings. We make offerings of generosity to them out of compassion, to satisfy them so that they can get what they need. This is not like the third group of Guests.

We make offerings to them mainly as a kind of exchange: we offering something to them telling them that it is much better than we are, and so then they are satisfied and will stop harming and disturbing us.

As for the second Guests, we make offerings to them in order to ask them to be engaged in protecting the Teachings and ourselves.
So we ask then for any kind of help we need. So there are different reasons why we make the offerings according to the different kinds of guests.
The best meditation is no meditation
Vasana
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Re: Sangchöd

Post by Vasana »

Thank you for sharing. Sangchöd really is an excellent activity.
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Sangchöd

Post by kalden yungdrung »

Vasana wrote:Thank you for sharing. Sangchöd really is an excellent activity.
Tashi delek Vasana,

Indeed Sang Chöd is very good / positive karma.
We cause sometimes many pollution to the Nature like woods etc. which is not nice for some spirits.

All these collective spirits who are harmed can cause many troubles sometimes,
Then Sang Chöd is a positive way to satisfy these local spirits.

Some of these local spirits can be very powerful.

So we have a local water Naga who is there since a very long time.

he did welcomed once a Catholic Monk. When the monk walked along the ponds, a voice out of the water welcomed this Dampa man.This story is written in the Chronicles of the Abbey and the rector does not know exactly what to say. It is something which dates a long time before the coming up of Christianity, the times of the unbelievers etc.

This monk the later abbot, erected there a nice monastery. This monastery which was built 1300 years ago, was never destroyed by war or fire. Our area was many times conquered like by the Romans, Spanish, Austrians, Preusen (Germans) and the French.

All in all this water Naga is protecting our area here , where i am living very near to. Its a very peaceful place, with a little old oak wood.

So i am intended to perform a Sangchöd in the old oak wood, to honour the powerful water Naga.

Everybody can cause with Sang Chöd in his/her area, many positive vibrations, which will benefit all sentient beings who are living there.

Mutsug Marro
KY.
The best meditation is no meditation
Vasana
Posts: 2231
Joined: Thu Aug 22, 2013 11:22 am

Re: Sangchöd

Post by Vasana »

Thanks for sharing that story.

Yes it's a much needed activity in this day and age of outer,inner and secret disharmony. A great way to settle any outstanding karmic debts too.

Chogyal Namkai Norbu Rinpoche often gives a lung for a Sang practice.

Lama Tsultrim Allione also frequently gives the lung for the Riwo Sangchöd terma of Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé.
... the cycle called Rigdzin Sokdrup, ‘Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas’, emerged in a pure vision while he was in retreat in the cave of Lhari Rinchen Nyingpuk at Drakkar Tashiding. These teachings, of which Riwo Sangchö forms the mengak or innermost instruction, are unsurpassed instructions on Dzogchen Atiyoga.
'When thoughts arise, recognise them clearly as your teacher'— Gampopa
'When alone, examine your mind, when among others, examine your speech'.— Atisha
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Sangchöd

Post by kalden yungdrung »

IN ADDITION:

The best meditation is no meditation
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kalden yungdrung
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Re: Sangchöd

Post by kalden yungdrung »

IN ADDITION:

For Surchöd see here:

viewtopic.php?f=78&t=23689
The best meditation is no meditation
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