029-038 Regarding the Tsok Offering

029 Regarding Tsok Offering (1)

Doesn’t Guru Rinpoche only appear on the tenth day of the lunar month? If I perform the offering every day, is it possible for him to appear every day?

Disciple asks: Venerable Master, doesn’t Guru Rinpoche only appear on the tenth day of the lunar month? If I perform the Tsok offering every day, is it possible for him to appear every day?

Venerable Master’s reply:

On page 52 of the Guru Rinpoche Thirteen Deities Sadhana, it is written:

“Before Guru Rinpoche, I pray, may my wishes be naturally fulfilled through his blessings,

When the degenerate age reaches its end, he descends every morning and evening for the benefit of sentient beings,

Descending on a beam of sunlight, he personally descends on the tenth day of the waxing moon.”

Because Guru Rinpoche made a vow to specifically liberate sentient beings in the degenerate age, if you don’t have a specific deity you want to invite for the Tsok offering, you can invite Guru Rinpoche to receive the offering.

030 Regarding Tsok Offering (2)

Which Buddhas and Bodhisattvas should I invite to receive the Tsok offering?

Disciple asks: Venerable Master, which Buddhas and Bodhisattvas should I invite to receive the Tsok offering?

Venerable Master’s reply:

Any of them are fine. The abilities of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are the same, but their merits differ. You can choose any Buddha or Bodhisattva you like, or one with whom you have a connection. Ideally, it should be your main deity of practice, or a Buddha or Bodhisattva you frequently practice with. For long-term practice, you can invite Guru Rinpoche or Vajrasattva for the Tsok offering. Guru Rinpoche is chosen because of his very special vow to specifically liberate sentient beings in the degenerate age of the five defilements. Vajrasattva primarily purifies our karmic obstacles; he is the embodiment of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, manifesting in the form of a Bodhisattva. However, as mentioned at the beginning, it’s best to choose your main deity of practice or a Buddha or Bodhisattva you frequently practice with. 031 Regarding Tsok Offering (3)

If one wishes to confess sins, can one invite Buddhas and Bodhisattvas such as Vajrasattva to descend and accept the Tsok offering?

Disciple asks: Venerable Master, if I have a special wish or want to confess sins, can I invite Buddhas and Bodhisattvas such as Vajrasattva to descend and accept the Tsok offering?

Venerable Master’s answer:

Yes, you can. Vajrasattva is the embodiment of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, manifesting as a Bodhisattva image. Especially when you want to confess sins, you can recite the Vajrasattva mantra or the hundred-syllable mantra before making the Tsok offering, and then invite Vajrasattva to descend and accept your confession and Tsok offering.

032 Regarding Tsok Offering (4)

How can I confirm that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have accepted my Tsok offering?

Disciple asks: Venerable Master, how can I confirm that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have accepted my Tsok offering?

Venerable Master’s answer:

Faith! Due to ignorance, sentient beings cannot see the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, nor can they connect with them. Therefore, it is also difficult to connect with the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in their practice. In reality, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have never left sentient beings. Whenever you have faith, whenever you have bodhicitta, whenever you pray, They will appear before you. As Guru Rinpoche said in the ritual of the Thirteen Deities of Guru Rinpoche, whether you pray in the morning or at night, twenty-four hours a day, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not need to sleep; they are constantly present before us. When you offer to them in your heart, and you have the ability to offer, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have the ability to accept. Because they are Buddhas endowed with all perfect merits, no matter how much you offer—the three thousand great thousand worlds, Mount Meru, the four continents, the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers, etc.—they can accept it all. They have the ability to accept everything you can think of. However, in their vows, they accept such offerings not because they want them, but to fulfill the wishes of all sentient beings and to enable sentient beings to accumulate sufficient merit and resources. Therefore, they accept the offerings.

When we make offerings, we don’t need to think about whether they can use them or whether they have received them; there is absolutely no need to worry.

033 Regarding Tsog Offering (5)

How to perform a Tsog Offering oneself?

Disciple asks: Venerable Guru, how can I perform a Tsog Offering myself?

Venerable Guru answers:

Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva has a thousand methods of practice, and every Rinpoche also has a thousand methods (the Guru laughs, this is a joke). Therefore, if you want to perform a Tsog Offering, you should request the empowerment or oral transmission of the Tsog Offering ritual from your guru. If you cannot obtain the oral transmission from your guru and don’t know how to do it, in this case, making offerings can substitute for a Tsog Offering.

How to make offerings? If you have an altar, place the offerings in front of the altar. If you don’t have an altar, place them on a clean table, using the same arrangement as in folk customs. Next, recite the mantras or names of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Then, imagine in your heart that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are truly and actually present before you. With this kind of faith, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will surely appear in the place where you are making offerings. At this time, in your heart, it’s not just a cup of water or an apple, but all the three thousand great chiliocosms are transformed into offerings. With such a vast Bodhicitta, for the sake of liberating all sentient beings, for the sake of the complete accumulation of merit and virtue for all sentient beings, and to attain perfect Buddhahood, with this kind of heart, pray to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to mercifully accept the offerings.

After making the offerings, dedicate the merit. When dedicating the merit, think in your heart that the good deeds I have done today are dedicated to all sentient beings. Please, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, bless all sentient beings so that they may all attain complete merit and virtue. When I dedicate the offerings to all sentient beings, it’s not just one portion or half, but every sentient being receives complete merit and virtue. I hope that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will bless my vows today so that they may be successfully fulfilled.

If you are a disciple of Renqing Qianbao, in the Dharma texts left behind by Tsawang Norbu, there is a very simple ritual and mudra. Add the Seven-Line Prayer of Guru Rinpoche before the short Ganachakra ritual, take refuge and generate Bodhicitta, then recite the short offering ritual, and after the short offering ritual, dedicate the merit.

034 Regarding Ganachakra (6)

Why can’t we just recite the short Ganachakra ritual?

Disciple asks: May I ask, Master, should we repeat the short Ganachakra ritual on the 10th and 25th of each month?

Master Bao answers:

Yes, you can just keep repeating this very short Ganachakra ritual and mudra, but this can only be called an offering, not a Ganachakra.

Ganachakra originally only appears in the Highest Yoga Tantra, and it has a specific ritual. It must be combined with the ritual of the Highest Yoga Tantra. Reciting it this way can only be called an offering, and to make a proper offering, you must first practice the deity’s practice before performing the Ganachakra. That is the rule of the ritual.

035 Regarding Ganachakra (7)

What is the difference between the Guru Rinpoche Ganachakra on the 10th and the Dakini Ganachakra on the 25th? Disciple’s Question: Venerable Master, what is the difference between the Tsok offering I perform and the Guru Rinpoche Tsok offering on the tenth day of the lunar month, and the Dakini Tsok offering on the twenty-fifth day?

Venerable Master’s Answer:

The Tsok offerings on the tenth and twenty-fifth days are particularly auspicious because these are the days when Guru Rinpoche vowed to descend from the Copper Mountain to the娑婆 world. Therefore, the Tsok offerings performed on these days are especially auspicious. Whether you are repenting or making offerings to Guru Rinpoche, you will receive special blessings. The same applies to the Dakini Tsok offering on the twenty-fifth day; this is due to the blessings of their vows.

036 Regarding Tsok Offerings (8)

Conditions for participating in a Tsok offering?

Disciple’s Question: Venerable Master, what are the conditions for participating in a Tsok offering?

Venerable Master’s Answer:

Anyone can participate, but those who have broken their Samaya vows cannot participate, nor can they perform a Tsok offering with someone who has broken their Samaya vows.

037 Regarding Tsok Offerings (9)

What should be prepared for a Tsok offering to be proper?

Disciple’s Question: Venerable Master, what should be prepared for a Tsok offering to be proper?

Venerable Master’s Answer:

Food and drink should be prepared. It shouldn’t be all food or all drink. In Tibet, each participant in the Tsok offering prepares a little bit of tsampa and other food, and then all the items are combined for the Tsok offering. After the Tsok offering, the received offerings must be distributed equally.

038 Regarding Tsok Offerings (10)

Can one repent during a Tsok offering?

Disciple’s Question: Venerable Master, can one repent during a Tsok offering?

Venerable Master’s Answer: If you have the intention to repent or want to repent, then you can participate in the Tsok offering.