Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Buddhist prayer services for anyone who needs help


Buddhist prayer services for anyone who needs help. Buddhist prayers on this website http://monlam.org/mainprayers.html are offered frequently. These prayers can done for you or your family very soon. Most of the prayers are performed by the monks of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling. Tara Praises and Chöd are done by the nuns of Nagi Gompa.

Monlam means "wish-path" - the Buddhist path of helping others through kind prayers. Monlam.org is a service of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling, a Buddhist monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal; and Nagi Gompa, a Buddhist nunnery on Shivapuri Mountain near Kathmandu.

Through this site you can request Buddhist prayers for yourself and others. Your donations help support the monks and nuns who perform the prayers. Some of the monastics are Tibetan refugees. All money raised goes to the monastery and nunnery, except for the small costs of having a website and using Paypal. Prayers and pujas are supervised by Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche and Chokling Rinpoche, accomplished teachers of meditation and ritual.

People in Buddhist cultures have relied on the prayers of monks and nuns for centuries. Full-time spiritual practitioners develop deep wisdom and great kindness, which make their prayers especially effective. Sacred rituals, originated by highly realized masters, enhance the blessing power of the prayers.

Pujas are beautiful and powerful. Body, speech, and mind are all involved. Prayers and pujas can involve reciting sutras, chanting mantras, performing mudras, visualizing Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and offering water, flowers, incense, lights, food, music, etc. All these methods generate merit. Merit is necessary for health, long life, happiness, and spiritual realization.

Anyone who needs help can request prayers. You don't have to be a Buddhist. You can ask for prayers for healing, long life, prosperity, support for the dying and the dead, etc.

We ask that you donate to support the monks and nuns. Buddhist prayers, teachings and rituals are traditionally given without a price tag. Monks and nuns pray for people without asking for anything in return. Buddhist lay-people donate as generously as they are able. Many people are unfamiliar with this culture of mutual giving, so donation amounts are listed for each service. Giving creates merit. Merit is essential for happiness, good health, long life, worldly success, spiritual realization and good rebirth.

Monday, September 01, 2008

Talks


Here are a few talks by the lamas shown above that I just came across that you may like to check out:

Chatral Rinpoche offers Words of Advice

Dudjom Rinpoche on meditation

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Never Born, Never Ceasing

(Please note that as there were questions about the authenticity of the originally posted teaching by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, I have replaced it with a link to a translation by Matthieu Ricard)