Malcolm wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:55 pm
Schrödinger’s Yidam wrote: ↑Mon Nov 29, 2021 9:37 pm
ibid p.144: [of the old edition]
Thrangu R. wrote:
Q: Could you talk about the relationship between purification and blessing?
A: These two--purification and receiving blessings--are distinct. They are not exactly the same. Purification means that the obscurations--the cognitive obscurations, which is ignorance, and the afflictive obscurations, which are the mental afflictions and the karmic obscurations or the negative karma that you have accumulated--are gradually purified, which means removed from you. And receiving blessing means that through your supplication of the Buddhas or of the Dharma, you receive their blessing. For example, when you supplicate the Medicine Buddha, through the power of you own supplication combined with the power of the twelve aspirations made by the Medicine Buddha, something happens, and that is called blessing. On the other hand, while purification and blessing are distinct, either one can cause the other. The removal of obscurations allows you to receive the blessings (more fully) and receiving blessings brings about the removal of obscurations.
(formatting mine)
Okay, so "something happens"? Tell me more! Oh well, I guess he just doesn't want to go there.
we start to feel faith, and then we become diligent. We feel love and compassion, and we develop tranquility and insight.
There is your something.
I remember an incident with the previous Kalu R. that I've posted here on DW before. I personally witnessed this. It was the first time I'd come across the idea of "blessing".
Rinpoche was walking down the beach (Aptos, CA., fall of '77) and turned to walk up the pier. At one point a seagull got tangled in a fisherman's line. One of out guys, Yeshe, untangled it. The bird was in a complete panic, pecking anybody or anything he could to get free. Yeshe brought it over to Rinpoche to bless. Rinpoche was saying 'Om Mani Padme Hung', the simplest and most basic mantra. Rinpoche reached out, and the moment he hand touched the bird, the bird froze, then cocked its head to look at Rinpoche as if surprised. (Seagulls have 360 degree sight, so I'm projecting that bit of information.) In any case the bird had completely forgotten its mortal terror just moments before. After a few seconds Rinpoche motioned for Yeshe to let the bird go. The bird started moving again, squirming, but not panicked as it had been before. Yeshe took it to the side of the pier and let it fly away.
So I'm going to say that Kalu Rinpoche was giving the bird a "blessing"--whatever that means. Can I describe what the bird was experiencing? Obviously not. Have I personally experienced a blessing like that? No. But as I said before, whatever Rinpoche was communicating to the bird was powerful enough to make the bird forget its mortal terror. My guess is that the bird was experiencing something good. But that's just my guess.
So yeah, I believe that there are things, or events/experiences that we can call blessings that are out of the ordinary. Of course I won't ask somebody else to believe my story, it's now just a second hand story. But as I often do, I would like to suggest people keep an open mind about such things, 'cause you never know....
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Oh, and later that night Rinpoche gave a talk on the Precious Human Rebirth and gave Refuge. He made no mention of the walk on the pier or the bird. About 50 people had been with Rinpoche that afternoon, and they were all present that night. So if he had wanted to make an issue out of it he would have had plenty of eye witnesses to support his story. But that isn't how he was.