Chenrezig Sadhana

Meditation: The Sadhana of Chenrezig

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The Sadhana of Chenrezig is open to anyone who feels inspired to practice it -- unlike most of the Tibetan Buddhist practices, which require prior initiation by a lama (meditation master).

Here is an explanation given by Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche, who served for many years as the Chief Meditation Master of the Kagyu Lineage, from his book Gently Whispered:

"Most tantrayana or vajrarana visualization and mantra practices require that an initiation and subsequent authorization and instruction be given by a qualified lama before the sadhana, or ritual practice, can begin. However, a few practices, those that were given publicly by Lord Buddha Shakyamuni, do not fall under such restrictions. Very definitely, all the practices given in the Sutras have the full blessing of the Buddha and therefore can be practiced if one has the aspiration to do so. Such practices include those of the noble Chenrezig and of the mother of the buddhas, Green Tara. Naturally, whenever it is possible for you to take the vajrayana initiation of Chenrezig or Green Tara, you are encouraged to do so."

Bokar Rinpoche wrote, in Chenrezig: Lord of Love, these clarifying remarks: "As long as one considers Chenrezig outside oneself, the initiation, in fact, is not indispensable. However, to meditate on oneself in the form of the deity and to actually accomplish the phases of creation and completion, the initiation is necessary."

While even hearing the name of Chenrezig, or seeing his image, is said to bring inconceivable blessings, performing Chenrezig practices will speed the development of ones compassion in this life, and performing them regularly, ideally every day, is even better. Chenrezig practices are even more effective when performed under the guidance of a qualified teacher. To begin working with such a teacher, you might contact one of the many Traditional Tibetan Meditation Centers that are now flourishing in many Western countries.

In visualization practice we imagine ourselves to be in the presence of a buddha, in this case the Buddha of Compassion, Chenrezig. By accepting the blessing of Chenrezig, you gradually reduce and eventually remove the fixation on your personal self, which expands your loving kindness and compassion, toward yourself and toward others.  In the same process, your intelligence and wisdom become enhanced, allowing you to see clearly what someone really needs and to communicate with them clearly and accurately. 

In most religious traditions one prays to the deities of the tradition in the hopes of receiving their blessing, which will benefit one in some way. In the vajrayana Buddhist tradition, however, the blessing and the power and the superlative qualities of the enlightened beings are not considered as coming from an outside source, but are believed to be innate, to be aspects of our own true nature. Chenrezig and his love and compassion are within us.

Buddhists all over the world like to keep a special place which they use only for meditation and for studying the dharma (Buddhist teachings). Depending on ones condition, as wealthy or poor or in between, that place might be just a certain corner in ones room, or might be a separate room, or even a separate building. In any case, it would be attractive, with fresh flowers if possible, or dried flowers or even plastic flowers or just colored pieces of cloth, and would have a raised area for special objects connected with the meditation. These might be pictures or statues of buddhas or ones meditation masters, or in this case perhaps a picture of Chenrezig. A book of dharma teachings is also often included. All of the things on this shrine are above ones waist, but low enough to be easily viewed when sitting in meditation posture.

A session of meditation might begin by lighting incense, and possibly a candle or light of some sort (Tibetans use butter lamps) and bowing or prostrating to the shrine. One then sits down comfortably on a cushion, in a cross-legged position, or in a chair if sitting on a cushion is physically difficult. The hands rest at the level of the navel, palms upward, one on top of the other, or palms downward on the knees.

The actual practice begins by connecting to Chenrezig's wish to save all beings from suffering by establishing them in the state of Buddhahood, and proceeds through the various stages of the liturgy, until we arrive at the section where we repeat the mantra,Om Mani Padme Hung. As we repeat the mantra, over and over, for as long as we wish to continue the practice, we visualize Chenrezig sending loving kindness and healing to all sentient beings throughout the universe.

When we arise from the practice, we might bow to the shrine again, to close the session, after putting out the candle if we have offered one. As we do this, we might dedicate the merit gained by the practice to the benefit of all beings.

Tibetan Buddhists often continue the mantra practice during ordinary activities, and they might also use a prayer wheel to amplify the benefit of the mantra. 

Different lineages of Tibetan Buddhism use somewhat different forms of the Sadhana, and if you have a connection to a meditation master from a particular lineage, then it would be best to use the version of the Sadhana that your teacher recommends. However, if you don't yet have a connection with a particular lineage, it would be fine to use any version of the Sadhana of Four-Armed Chenrezig. Links to versions that are available on the Web are given below in the Resources section. (If you decide use one of these from the Web, you will probably want to print it out, unless you plan on turning your computer into a shrine.)

Printed copies of the Sadhana are available from sources listed in the Resources section. One very nice version is printed, with detailed instructions and commentary, in the book Gently Whispered, by Kalu Rinpoche. If you are going to use it regularly, you might want to Xerox it, so that it will easily lay flat.

One last consideration, before we end this section. Some versions of the Sadhana are available with transliterated Tibetan pronunciation of all the words, some with English translations or translations into other Western languages, and some with both the transliteration and the translation. (Some versions that are available on the Web provide only the translation, but they aren't recommended -- it's better if you have some idea of what you are saying.) You can do the practice by saying the words in Tibetan using the transliterations, or just say the translated version in whatever language you prefer, if you have it. In any case, the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum is done in Sanskrit.

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