Please Enlighten Me Regarding Ngondro Variations 🙏

[2ndchance]

Please Enlighten Me Regarding Ngondro Variations

There seem to be differences and variations in Ngondro Practices from different Tibetan Buddhist masters and different sources of Internet Articles.

I will be embarking on my first official Ngondro practice very shortly & I will like the most complete information on the easiest and shortest variation of official Ngondro practice which I can find.

Maybe some kind Buddhists can recommend easy short official Ngondro practices which can be found in Ngondro ebooks or even Ngondro articles on the Internet.

Thank You

[zerwe]

Please Enlighten Me Regarding Ngondro Variations

There seem to be differences and variations in Ngondro Practices from different Tibetan Buddhist masters and different sources of Internet Articles.

I will be embarking on my first official Ngondro practice very shortly & I will like the most complete information on the easiest and shortest variation of official Ngondro practice which I can find.

Maybe some kind Buddhists can recommend easy short official Ngondro practices which can be found in Ngondro ebooks or even Ngondro articles on the Internet.

Thank You

Ngondro, usually is given to you by your teacher. You should request it from your teacher.
Shaun

[zerwe]

There are typically Nine Ngondro practices in Gelug done within a particular Guru Yoga practice (usually Ganden Lhagyama);

100,000 of each

Prostrations (35 Buddhas)
Mandala Offerings with
--Refuge and Bodhicitta
Water Bowls
Guru Yoga (Migstema)
Vajrasattva
Samayvajra
Tsa-Tsas
Vajradaka

Alexander Berzin's site has some information.

Other schools have a different approach/view beyond practice accumulations regarding Ngondro.


Shaun

[pemachophel]

You must receive ngondro from your Teacher. You can't just pick a ngondro you like and do it. Well you can, but you definitely shouldn't. Also, you do the ngondro your Teacher gives you, whether long or short, easy or hard, the one you like or not.

I think you need to read quite a bit more about Vajrayana Buddhism. Then you need to find a Teacher.

Good luck & best wishes.

[2ndchance]

You must receive ngondro from your Teacher. You can't just pick a ngondro you like and do it. Well you can, but you definitely shouldn't. Also, you do the ngondro your Teacher gives you, whether long or short, easy or hard, the one you like or not.

I think you need to read quite a bit more about Vajrayana Buddhism. Then you need to find a Teacher.

Good luck & best wishes.

The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso appeared in my inner visions and telepathically orally channel my voice to instruct me to do 100,000 prostrations and other parts of the Ngondro practice right now from today onwards.

I have been bedridden due to negative spiritual energetic attacks on my heart, my emotions, my back and my head for over a decade now and I was instructed not to waste time finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist Teacher in physical real life but to instead use my time and energies most productively during the day time when I am awake to chant mantras, do prostrations and meditate on my own.

The 4 major leaders of the 4 major Tibetan Buddhist schools including my first Tibetan Buddhist teacher the deceased Penor Rinpoche of Nyingma have appeared in my waking visions often to beseech me not to waste time and energy finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life but to practice from ebooks available on the internet and learning from various Tibetan Buddhist practitioners on various internet Buddhist meditation discussions forums.

They told me that I have no affinity with physical Tibetan Buddhist Teachers in physical real life and I was to practice on my own without finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist Teacher in real life until the various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other Buddhist Deities appear in my daytime waking visions further to instruct me on how to cultivate further.

Their message is that there is a lot of disinformation on the internet about the need to find a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life when there are already a lot of material on the internet to practice Buddhism.

Otherwise why would the Buddhist pantheons allow such Buddhist ebooks to be published?

Various humans require various different methodologies of practicing Tibetan Buddhist techniques. No size fits all.

Instructions to begin practicing Ngondro prostrations Now Today even if you do not have a Tibetan Buddhist teacher in real life

0F562C63-01C5-4BB4-A663-9B67DE66D33A.png (474.73 KiB) Viewed 2549 times

[climb-up]

You must receive ngondro from your Teacher. You can't just pick a ngondro you like and do it. Well you can, but you definitely shouldn't. Also, you do the ngondro your Teacher gives you, whether long or short, easy or hard, the one you like or not.

I think you need to read quite a bit more about Vajrayana Buddhism. Then you need to find a Teacher.

Good luck & best wishes.

The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso appeared in my inner visions and telepathically orally channel my voice to instruct me to do 100,000 prostrations and other parts of the Ngondro practice right now from today onwards.

I have been bedridden due to negative spiritual energetic attacks on my heart, my emotions, my back and my head for over a decade now and I was instructed not to waste time finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist Teacher in physical real life but to instead use my time and energies most productively during the day time when I am awake to chant mantras, do prostrations and meditate on my own.

The 4 major leaders of the 4 major Tibetan Buddhist schools including my first Tibetan Buddhist teacher the deceased Penor Rinpoche of Nyingma have appeared in my waking visions often to beseech me not to waste time and energy finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life but to practice from ebooks available on the internet and learning from various Tibetan Buddhist practitioners on various internet Buddhist meditation discussions forums.

They told me that I have no affinity with physical Tibetan Buddhist Teachers in physical real life and I was to practice on my own without finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist Teacher in real life until the various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other Buddhist Deities appear in my daytime waking visions further to instruct me on how to cultivate further.

Their message is that there is a lot of disinformation on the internet about the need to find a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life when there are already a lot of material on the internet to practice Buddhism.

Otherwise why would the Buddhist pantheons allow such Buddhist ebooks to be published?

Various humans require various different methodologies of practicing Tibetan Buddhist techniques. No size fits all.

0F562C63-01C5-4BB4-A663-9B67DE66D33A.png

Since this is a Tibetan Buddhist forum, and the Tibetan Buddhist tradition has insisted on the necessity of a teacher for centuries, this presumably is not a great place to ask your question (or, idk, maybe it is; maybe folks are DMing you right now).
If the teachers you mentioned told you what you say, then they are going against what they taught when they were alive and the tantras themselves. Of course there is a history of teachers giving teachings in dreams, but there is also a history of gyalpos and others giving false teachings in dreams that cause problems, and of interrogating dreams deeply to make sure they are in line with the teachings.
Of course you can physical do the ngondro without a teacher, but if you do so you’re operating outside of the tradition. In that case, again, it seems li this would be the wrong place to ask and you just as easily ask your dream teachers which ngondro to, or to give you a new one.

[climb-up]

Their message is that there is a lot of disinformation on the internet about the need to find a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life when there are already a lot of material on the internet to practice Buddhism.

If the (accurate) message is that there is a lot of misinformation online, then it seems like going online to ask mostly anonymous strangers for advice might be potentially difficult. I’m which case, perhaps a qualified teacher would help?

The 4 major leaders of the 4 major Tibetan Buddhist schools including my first Tibetan Buddhist teacher the deceased Penor Rinpoche of Nyingma have appeared in my waking visions often to beseech me not to waste time and energy finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life but to practice from ebooks available on the internet and learning from various Tibetan Buddhist practitioners on various internet Buddhist meditation discussions forums.

The leaders of the 4 major schools highly recommended to you personally that you rely on Internet forums and ebooks.
I mean, I have received some very good and helpful advice here myself, it can be a very useful resource but …

[zerwe]

Could you feel like you benefit from these practices? Sure.

However, The teacher is the root of the path. Without a teacher there isn't any practice in Vajrayana.

No one will tell you any different.

I would put my energy into prayers and aspirations to meet a teacher.

Slow down and be well.

Shaun

[Lingpupa]

What Pema Chophel said.

So... if you are drawn to practice of the dharma in the Tibetan style - great! If you are inspired to do many, many prostrations to the Buddha (perhaps as Shakyamuni, or the 35 Buddhas, or some other suitable form) - great! If you are inspired to make offerings (pure water, flowers, lights, food etc.) - great! If at quieter moments you just want to recite, for example, the Mani - great!

What you can't do is pretend that you are doing the ngondro of an actual lineage. (Well you can, but it would be like me pretending to be the Duke of Acock's Green.)

And to save yourself embarrassment, if and when you do make proper contact with a proper teacher, and s/he asks you what practices you might have done, you can tell them that, but do please avoid saying you did the ngondro of some tradition or other whose text you got of the internet or out of a book. It would be likely to create a very poor impression.

So please, please, prostrate away and collect merit, and make whatever efforts you can, even if only praying, to make a proper connection to a real lineage. And good luck!

[Sādhaka]

2ndchance,

You said that your first Teacher was Penor Rinpoche; well did you meet him when he was alive and receive teachings from him? Perhaps you could do the Ngondro associated with the teachings that you received from him...?

[PeterC]

The 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso appeared in my inner visions and telepathically orally channel my voice to instruct me to do 100,000 prostrations and other parts of the Ngondro practice right now from today onwards. …

The 4 major leaders of the 4 major Tibetan Buddhist schools including my first Tibetan Buddhist teacher the deceased Penor Rinpoche of Nyingma have appeared in my waking visions often to beseech me not to waste time and energy finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist teacher in physical real life but to practice from ebooks available on the internet and learning from various Tibetan Buddhist practitioners on various internet Buddhist meditation discussions forums.

They told me that I have no affinity with physical Tibetan Buddhist Teachers in physical real life and I was to practice on my own without finding a physical Tibetan Buddhist Teacher in real life until the various Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and other Buddhist Deities appear in my daytime waking visions further to instruct me on how to cultivate further.

Ok - if something actually appeared to you, it was not an emanation of any actual teacher, living or dead.

Every single lineage of Vajrayana stresses that the teacher - a living, human teacher - is essential. HHDL says this repeatedly. It is absolutely impossible that any would advise you to practice on your own without a teacher. Zero chance. So one of two things is happening:

1. You are imagining things; or
2. You are being misled by malicious entities.

Either way the conclusion is the same:

1. Get a teacher.
2. Don’t practice Vajrayana, including preliminary practices, without a teacher.

Nobody here will tell you any different from this.

[Natan]

Your best move would be to pray to the lama from afar. Practicing the Mani mantra would be ok as well as the 7 Line Prayer. Common Mahayana prayers will help, like refuge and Bodhicitta prayers as well as the 7 Limb Prayer of Shantideva. If you stick with what's possible with your current circumstances then later new possibilities will open up.

[Konchog Thogme Jampa]

And you could practice this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uṣṇīṣa ... raṇī_Sūtra

[pemachophel]

2ndchance,

I do not question that you have had these visions. However, one of the reasons we need a living Guru in the flesh (a Nirmanakaya) is to help us discern which visions are true and which visions are the work of malevolent spirits seeking to lead us astray. Tibetan Buddhism is full of stories of false visions of Gurus and Deities.

That being said, it does not take a vision to know that doing ngondro is a wonderful thing. I highly applaud your desire to do ngondro. The good news is that, during this time of COVID, many Lamas are now willing to give lung on-line via Zoom and Youtube. So my suggestion to you is to do some research. Find a Lama that you respect and who will give you lung for ngondro either over Zoom, Skype, or even a simple phone call. I can tell you 100% such Lamas exist. With a little research, perseverance, and luck, you may even be able to get on-line or over-the-phone lung from H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama. Further, it would be good if there was a Lama (not necessarily the same one you received lung from) who can guide you through ngondro and insure that A) you are doing it right and B) are getting the correct results. The Lama you get lung from may even be able to delegate one of his or her followers to act in such a capacity.

Good luck & best wishes.

[Malcolm]

[Archie2009]

Sweet or salty?

[Malcolm]

Sweet or salty?

Parmesan and truffle oil.

[PeterC]

Sweet or salty?

Parmesan and truffle oil.

Bourgeoisie

[Tenma]

Sweet or salty?

Parmesan and truffle oil.

Now that sounds like something I should really try!