Kalu Rinpoche Podcast – Episode 7 – March 10, 2021 (13 min) – Mahakala Tchadrupa part 1
Hello everyone, this is Kalu Rinpoche’s podcast, and thank you for being here with me again.
Today I will explain briefly some things you need to know about Mahakala Tchadrupa. Six Armed Mahakala is an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, and the most important to know is that there are many, many different protectors in the different traditions. Some of the protectors are little bit like a worship spirit and have no historical link with the Buddha’s teaching. It’s more like “Oh, this one’s powerful, and spirit, and so on, so forth”, and then you just make prayers, and offerings, and so on, so forth. And then it’s just simply a protector, nothing more or less.
But this Six Armed Mahakala, is a protector that has been mentioned by the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni. The origin of the Six Armed Mahakala is coming from the 84,000 teachings of the Lord Buddha. There have been many buddhas in the past, and then there are more buddhas to come, but our era is the Buddha Shakyamuni era. So, in his time, the Buddha Shakyamuni gave teachings, and a person named Kungao repeated the teachings afterwards, and then all the teachings have been written down. And now of course, all these teachings have been translated into so many different languages.
Six Armed Mahakala is not something like “Oh, it’s something like Tibetan culture” or only my tradition or my lineage, it’s coming from the mention of the Buddha Shakyamuni. So that’s one thing that you have to keep in mind.
Being said that, then there’s a different version of biography. There’s the Buddha Shakyamuni version of biography, and then there’s a biography that is coming from Shawaripa, and then Metripa, and Rahula Gupta and Khyungpo Naljor and so on, so forth. So, there are two versions of Six Armed Mahakala’s biography. I’m going to explain one briefly.
The Shawaripa version of biography I have explained to you: in this one Tchadrukpa is an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, in order to liberate all the sentient beings and especially those who are also unable to find a path in the state of the bardo. The very reality of the bardo is that when you have too much attachment, then you create the illusion of bardo. So that’s the reality of bardo.
The Buddha Shakyamuni version is the following: it took place in the cemetery of Tsil Ouel Tsel, where Six Armed Mahakala was present, not as an enlightened being yet, just a very powerful spirit. And then Avalokiteshvara transformed himself into Hayagriva, the Six Arms Hayagriva, Two Arms Hayagriva, along with the Four Kings, the Four Noble Kings, Gyalchen De Shyi, and then along with it, and then he just simply appeared, as Hayagriva, and then in that very moment, Six Armed Mahakala appeared in front of Hayagriva, and then Six Armed Mahakala offered his own name and his own spirit, and said “This is my name, Om Benza Mahakala Kching Kche Tra Biganen Binayaka Hung Hung Pe Pe Soha, so if you have anything you want me to do, I’m at your service” So since then, he became an enlightened protector, blessed by Avalokiteshvara.
The other version is that Avalokiteshvara blessed by Amitabha transformed himself into Thousand Arms, and then there’s a Hung syllable appeared and then the Hung itself transformed into Six Armed Mahakala, became the protector of all the heaven, and then later on, the Nagarjuna also started the lineage of the Six Armed Mahakala, in his vision, but that lineage no longer exists, it maintained for only few lineage. And then the other lineage was the Shawaripa lineage, and then that continued until now.
So now I think I’m going to tell you something I haven’t told you before in my life, and I think it’s important to tell you to demystify. I believe Six Armed Mahakala does exist, but not into our idea of the world. I think Six Armed Mahakala does exist, but don’t get any crazy idea from what I’m trying to say. Don’t try to copy what I said, I’m just saying this out of my experience. You know, there’s a such strong existence of the Six Armed Mahakala. If you are practitioner, seeing a vision, hearing a sound, without any desire, hearing a sound, some prediction about the future that is bound to happen, that you cannot change. That’s very important.
Hearing, seeing, that is bound to happen, that you cannot change, but will happen. So such vision can appear. And sometime, even such appearance like, “Oh I’m an attendant of Six Armed Mahakala, and I just came here to forward my message to you, and this is what it is, so that’s that” I mean, when we practice Six Armed Mahakala, we have this big imagination. We have this big imagination about “Oh, this is how it should look, like a painting, and in all the colorful, and rainbow, and all”. No, it’s not even close to that.
So, Six Armed Mahakala from my experience, at least his attendant, so far saying, they appear very simple, very humble, very noble. Not in a way we imagine. Because what we see in the painting is more, very much influenced by culture mentality. So the real appearance of the Six Armed Mahakala is very noble, very gentle, very noble, and if you are good practitioner, there will be some vision, there will be some sound that you hear, like a voice message, not by a phone, but some voice message that you hear, in that very moment, you don’t have a desire that you want to hear anything more, you don’t have a desire that you want to hear anything less. You just simply hear it. You just simply see it. You don’t have this grasping idea “Oh, I want to see more”.
Little bit like if you watch a good movie, or a documentary, you have this desire “Oh, I want to watch more, I want to see more, I want to hear more”. If it’s a physical pleasure, with a man or woman, then we say “I want to feel more”. And then when we imagine about the visualization of the deity that may have the contact with us, we have this imagination. We just simply, trying to copy that and say “Oh”, similar to that maybe, if it’s something good, then it maybe has something to do with the feeling that with the continuity of some sense of wanting, if you have a feeling of wanting more, then maybe it will exist more longer. So we have that idea.
But with that kind of habit and that kind of mindset, will never come, any kind of this clear vision. So if you practice well, without any expectation of “Oh, I want to get miracle, I want to have magical, or I want to foresee the future”, if you don’t have any of these intentions, if you simply practice, with the basic principle, and then some of the positive quality will come.
But that does not give you the legitimacy that you are enlightened being. That does not give you the legitimacy that you are perfect state. You are not in a perfect state, you are not a perfect being. Yet you can experience all these things, it’s a possibility. But that does not give you the stamp of, that you are perfect being from now on, and anything you do, you are good, you are safe. No. You are still in an imperfect being.
The reason why I’m telling you is that we all have a possibility to see and hear things if we are good practitioner. If you have a clarity in mind. But if you go in a direction where you think that “Ah, I want to get miracle, I want to get blessing, I want to be unique, I want to be more superior than other practitioner, because”, and then it’s your arrogance. Then such blessing will never appear, will never come.
So if you keep your mindset very simple, and the repetitive simplicity maintained, and then such positive sign, such positive vision, little bit like a lucid dream, it’s a possibility. It’s not impossible. It’s a possibility. Yet, still, that does not give you the guarantee that you are perfect being. You are capable of experiencing many things, but you still have to be careful, you still have to be humble, and continue as a practitioner and I think that is very important to keep in mind.
Because many of us, when we get little bit of “Oh, I heard this before, I feel this before”, then we start to have lots of dramas in our head, little bit like “I think I’m a good fortune teller”, then you’re lost. All the things that you may experience, it will be lost momentarily. So you should never get excited, you should also not be fearful of getting excited either. “Oh, Kalu Rinpoche said I should not be excited, if I am excited, then I will lose the positive quality”, if you have that, also that is wrong.
So, you need to go to some certain extent, of some form of clarity of mind. Some blessing does exist . Some foreseeing the future does exist. I have experienced many things, yet I don’t claim “Oh, I justify my wrongdoing”, I don’t claim “Oh, I’m a perfect being” because you should not. Until you can illuminate hundred beings of yourself, hundred speech of yourself, and hundred different places by yourself, hundred different languages by yourself. Then you say whatever you want. Until then, some positive qualities, you will be able to experience it, but don’t be excited by that, don’t be fooled by that. So, it’s very important not to go in that direction.
We all are capable of experiencing many things but the moment you get excited with all these ideas “Oh, I had this dream, oh, I had this, I foresaw this, foreseen this future, or that happened, now I think I have reached somewhere” that does not give you any guarantee, from that moment on. Keep your mindset, simple as possible, and whatever the positive, negative, just, just let it be. And then just continue, it will help you, it will help you for long lasting way.
Thank you for listening, bye for now.
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