The Benefits of Guru Padmasambhava Statues eBook

By FPMT

The vast and far-reaching benefits that accrue from building statues of Guru Padmasambhava and making offerings to the Guru are presented in this newly translated text.

Here, Guru Padmasambhava—deeply revered as the embodiment of the three times’ buddhas—is quoted as saying, “representations of the Guru that the Guru himself has not consecrated do not exist”. Everyone involved in the building of a Guru Padmasambhava statue, therefore, gains incredible merits:

”The sentient beings of the future who will not have met me
But who build a statue ...
In the form of an object of offering—a representation of Padmasambhava—
Will attain the goal of the three kayas and will establish the victory banner of the teachings.
Whoever aspires to and has devotion in this,
Will gather all they wish for,
Like a heap of jewels that has no increase or decline, and is a source of permanent bliss.”

Guru Padmasambhava also indicates that, with regard to the practice of generosity, offerings to representations of the Guru have unsurpassable benefits, and that the potency of such practice will be greatest on the tenth and twenty-fifth days of the lunar month (which we know as ‘tsog offering days’).

The translation of this Tibetan composition, which belongs to Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s personal collection of Dharma texts, coincides with Rinpoche’s initiative to build a 60-foot (18-meter) tall statue of Guru Padmasambhava at a special spot of blessing close to the Maratika Treasury Cave, where the Guru and the wisdom mother, Princess Mandarava, accomplished immortality.

2021 Edition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: FPMT
• Release date: Dec 13, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005652715

FPMT

The FPMT is an organization devoted to preserving and spreading Mahayana Buddhism worldwide by creating opportunities to listen, reflect, meditate, practice and actualize the unmistaken teachings of the Buddha and based on that experience spreading the Dharma to sentient beings. We provide integrated education through which people’s minds and hearts can be transformed into their highest potential for the benefit of others, inspired by an attitude of universal responsibility and service. We are committed to creating harmonious environments and helping all beings develop their full potential of infinite wisdom and compassion. Our organization is based on the Buddhist tradition of Lama Tsongkhapa of Tibet as taught to us by our founder, Lama Thubten Yeshe and our spiritual director, Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche.

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Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, Inc.

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Portland, OR 97214 USA

www.fpmt.org

© 2021

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, Inc.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or developed, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Image of Guru Padmasambhava statue in Lama Zopa Rinpoche's room, Kopan Monastery, Nepal, used with permission.

A Guide to Pronouncing Sanskrit

The following points will enable you to easily learn the pronunciation of most transliterated Sanskrit terms and mantras:

Ś and Ṣ sounds similar to the English sh in shoe. The difference between the two is where the tongue is positioned in the mouth.

C is pronounced similar to the ch in chap. CH is similar but is more heavily aspirated.

Ṭ, ṬH, Ḍ, ḌH, Ṇ are retroflex letters and have no exact equivalent in English. These sounds are made by curling the tongue towards the front section of the palate. They correspond roughly to the sounds tra (Ṭ), aspirated tra (ṬH), dra (Ḍ), aspirated dra (ḌH), and nra (Ṇ).

All consonants followed by an H are aspirated: KH, GH, CH, JH, TH, DH, PH, BH. Note that TH and ṬH are pronounced like the t in target and tr in trap respectively, not like the th in the. The PH is pronounced like the p in partial, not like the ph in pharaoh.

Long vowels with a dash above them (Ā, Ī, Ū, Ṝ, and Ḹ) take approximately

Reviews for The Benefits of Guru Padmasambhava Statues eBook

[james carroll · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If you're looking for benefits to making or having; supplicating; circumambulating; prostrating Guru Padmasambhava images, look no further. A cut and dry read but for me very helpful thus, entertaining.