Dharma Wheel

WeiHan wrote:I love the Riwo Sangcho practice alot too. It is easy to practice. The wordings is Dzogchen. It solves many problems related to karmic debt without creating new problems etc...

But I have read about merit of offering pretas..and then I start to like Sur offering also. The sutras say that offering to pretas is like saving their lifes, the merit is similar to offering to all Buddhas and Bodhisattva in the ten directions. Well...I read it somewhere. There is a specific Mahayana sutra preaching the merit of offering pretas.

So...actually, does the Riwo Sangcho offering satisfy the pretas, the way Sur offering satisfy them?

When we burn 3 white and 3 sweets, but are really reciting the Riwo Sangcho liturgy, do these pretas and bardo beings get to smell the burnt food and get benefits from it? If so, then Riwo Sangcho seems to include the merit of Sur offering. am I right or wrong?

WeiHan wrote:

Sherab Dorje wrote:

WeiHan wrote:I love the Riwo Sangcho practice alot too. It is easy to practice. The wordings is Dzogchen. It solves many problems related to karmic debt without creating new problems etc...

But I have read about merit of offering pretas..and then I start to like Sur offering also. The sutras say that offering to pretas is like saving their lifes, the merit is similar to offering to all Buddhas and Bodhisattva in the ten directions. Well...I read it somewhere. There is a specific Mahayana sutra preaching the merit of offering pretas.

So...actually, does the Riwo Sangcho offering satisfy the pretas, the way Sur offering satisfy them?

When we burn 3 white and 3 sweets, but are really reciting the Riwo Sangcho liturgy, do these pretas and bardo beings get to smell the burnt food and get benefits from it? If so, then Riwo Sangcho seems to include the merit of Sur offering. am I right or wrong?

Riwo... satisfies all classes of beings.

Sur satisfies all classes of beings also and also include offering the Triple gems and 3 roots..So what is their difference?

WeiHan wrote:Hi,

I am wondering if the Shechen red box incense can be used for doing Riwo Sangcho practices?

Kunzang wrote:

WeiHan wrote:Hi,

I am wondering if the Shechen red box incense can be used for doing Riwo Sangcho practices?

Yes.

pemachophel wrote:If your intention is to specifically feed pretas and those in the bardo, do sur.

When Khandro Kamala, Chatral Rinpoche's Sangyum, was in the U.S. earlier this summer (and last summer as well), She did several different sang-chods followed by several different sur-chods followed by Protectors offerings each morning. During the sang, She made sure the fire was burning with visible flames. During sur, She made sure there were no visible flames but that there was a steady column of smoke. Also, She put somewhat different offerings in each.

IOW, these two practices each have their specific intentions and strong points. They are not identical and interchangeable. Of course, "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." IMHO, if you specifically want to feed pretas and/or those in the bardo, receive transmission for sur. Pretty much any Lama can transmit this, and there are many, many short sur liturgies that are convenient and easy to do.

BTW, Lama Acharya Dawa Choddak will be in Boulder, CO Nov. 8-13. Among the teachings He will be giving, one night He will teach specifically on Riwo Sang-chod and another night He will be teaching on Barched Kunsel Nor-lha (Wealth Deity) Sang. I will post more information on these events in the Events section when I get more details.

WeiHan wrote: My guess is Sang is offering the smoke wheareas Sur is offering the aroma of the food.

WeiHan wrote:

Kunzang wrote:

WeiHan wrote:Hi,

I am wondering if the Shechen red box incense can be used for doing Riwo Sangcho practices?

Yes.

Thanks for your confirmation.

I know most incense will do. even just Juniper alone will do. However, I am concern that some incense may contain thing like guggul (myrrh) that has the effect of driving spirits or hungry ghosts away making it unsuitable for practices like Riwo sangcho and Sur especially.

Adamantine wrote:
yeah guggul is not ideal. actually, to do riwo sang cho you should really have some "mother sang" powder which includes a number of essential ingredients like 5 color cloths, 3 sweets 3 whites, medicinal herbs, etc. you can mix a small amount of this in with a larger mix of juniper or sage, etc. to make it last. there are some "riwo sang cho" incense sticks that contain trace "mother sang" ingredients but most normal incense you get will not have it. You can get a mother sang powder mix herehttp://www.tibetantreasures.com/product ... 5&group=84 or herehttp://www.dharmaware.com/incense&herbs.html note the latter also sells the riwo sang cho sticks made by Dakpa Tamdin

WeiHan wrote:

Adamantine wrote:
yeah guggul is not ideal. actually, to do riwo sang cho you should really have some "mother sang" powder which includes a number of essential ingredients like 5 color cloths, 3 sweets 3 whites, medicinal herbs, etc. you can mix a small amount of this in with a larger mix of juniper or sage, etc. to make it last. there are some "riwo sang cho" incense sticks that contain trace "mother sang" ingredients but most normal incense you get will not have it. You can get a mother sang powder mix herehttp://www.tibetantreasures.com/product ... 5&group=84 or herehttp://www.dharmaware.com/incense&herbs.html note the latter also sells the riwo sang cho sticks made by Dakpa Tamdin

My guess is, but I drag to say it, that riwo sangcho usually requires a big fire and it will cost a bomb if one were to use expensive wood like sandal wood which better incense will conatin a larger quantity. Thus most Riwo sangcho incense and powder has a larger composition of filler wood like Juniper and Cypress and more prized incense will only be recommended for indoor offering to Buddha purpose and not outdoor, big quantity purpose like Riwo Sangcho.

Adamantine wrote:
And Riwo Sang Cho is really meant as a vast offering to all the realms of beings, if you just offer one stick of incense, it really is not so generous. Although, offering a single stick of the highest quality incense to one's shrine in the morning may be wonderful, when doing a sang offering if using incense sticks then you should not offer less than three so as to generate sufficient offering smoke.

Sherab Dorje wrote:Don't buy the charcoal from a head shop, go to a Greek grocery store. They should be infiinitely cheaper there. Here in Greece, I buy them from the supermarket.

I was just wondering about the use of sage. American Sage is burnt for cleansing and purifying by American Indians, so I imagine that means it has the capacity to dispel (like myrrh/guggul). Wouldn't that render it unfit for use in a sang given we wish to attract/invite all beings to the offering?

WeiHan wrote:

Adamantine wrote:
And Riwo Sang Cho is really meant as a vast offering to all the realms of beings, if you just offer one stick of incense, it really is not so generous. Although, offering a single stick of the highest quality incense to one's shrine in the morning may be wonderful, when doing a sang offering if using incense sticks then you should not offer less than three so as to generate sufficient offering smoke.

Beside taking longer time to setup, the charcoal is actually more expensive than the incense or powder.

I find a website to buy very cheap incense but it has to be in bulk.

http://www.creativehandnepal.com/shop.p ... ct_id=3725

Looking at the low price compare to other shops, you can't help but conclude that middleman has strip off a huge percentage of the profit.

Sherab Dorje wrote:Don't buy the charcoal from a head shop, go to a Greek grocery store. They should be infiinitely cheaper there. Here in Greece, I buy them from the supermarket.

I was just wondering about the use of sage. American Sage is burnt for cleansing and purifying by American Indians, so I imagine that means it has the capacity to dispel (like myrrh/guggul). Wouldn't that render it unfit for use in a sang given we wish to attract/invite all beings to the offering?