Q: Would you talk about the benefits of practicing the Six-armed Mahakala?
A: As to the definition of benefit, all the deities are equal, all the protectors are equal, as long as they are enlightened and highly realized beings. That’s one thing that we have to make it very clear.
The second, it is very obvious that the Six-armed Mahakala is widely practiced throughout different traditions, like in Jonang lineage, like in Guluk lineage, Shangpa lineage, and also in Karma Kagyu lineage, you know, everybody practice the Six-armed Mahakala. It is a little bit like an universal protector.
The very history of the Six-armed Mahakala protector…of course in terms of the manifestation of the Bodhisattva, it has an endless beginning, so you cannot say this is the beginning of the Bodhisattva’s activities, you know, there are so many limitless activities that we cannot even continue to finish. But the one thing is, the Six-armed Mahakala lineage, the actual history starts from around 950 years ago, or around 1000 years ago. There was a Six-armed Mahakala lineage that was initiated by Nagarjuna, in Tibetan we say that Gongpo Lodro, there was a lineage in the time of Gongpo Lodro, then that lineage was kind of disappeared. You know, there were so many different traditions at the time of Gongpo Lodro, but then that Six-armed Mahakala lineage, the way of practicing, chanting, the visualization method, all of that disappeared shortly after that time. So, the very Six-armed Mahakala that we are practicing is in the Shavaripa’s method, starting not far away from the Bodhgaya.
The six-armed Mahakala is the emanation of Avalokiteśvara, and it’s the protector of all the Lord Buddha’s teachings, and most importantly, the protector of the truth, and the protector for those who are genuinely dedicating themselves in term of being a genuine Dharma practitioner.
So, the Six-armed Mahakala is not just a worshipping protector, it is an enlightened being, therefore it’s the protector in this life, the life between death in Bardo, then also in the next life. so that’s the unique state of the Six-armed Mahakala introduction.
With love and respect from your Kalu Rinpoche
6th, Dec. 2018 @ Facebook Q&A
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