Getting what you want...

[Dolce Vita]

There is the old adage - be careful what you pray for because you may just get it.

When we pray for something - be it to have more patience, to be kinder.. I do think that the Protector will create the circumstances for us to learn patience and kindness, forgiveness, etc. Hence we will be put in a position where situations will make us impatient so that we can practice patience, and people will send harm to us so we can practice forgiveness. it's ironic but true.

Also, as we go through our day to day, we need to be constantly aware that we are not driven by the 8 worldly concerns. If we do, we're screwed. I notice that when I do get depressed it is completely because of the 8 worldly concerns - i want praise, i want to avoid blame, i want people to think well of me, i don't want to have a bad reputation. I want material comforts and not be without them, and I definitely want pleasure and not pain (no, i'm not a masochist). Thank Buddha that I know about these 8 evil worldly concerns that I can be mindful of what's going on in my monkey mind.

I pray i won't be subject to these 8 worldly concerns but you know what, i bet they'll ALL just come and have a private party in my life and turn everything upside down precisely so that i will have to learn how to be free of them.

Well said! It is so true that if we want to be compassionate but there is no situation for us to practise that, how are we going to cultivate that value? If there is no failure, if there is no problems, we won't be able to grow.

[Ensapa]

I would like to see of prayers with this way: We are actually consulting the deities for help, the same way we consult a lawyer or accountant for help. Because we want to get something done and we do not know how, thus we consult them for help. If we know what to do, then we need not consult their help anymore to solve our problems, right? The reason why we pray for their help is because we cannot find a solution to our problems and we want one.

If we request help from an accountant with our taxes or finances, do we actually tell him the exact way we want our accounts done? Tell him where the numbers should go in the ledger book…or what way he should use to work out our finances…and if the numbers come out not to our satisfaction do we blame and scold and say that they did not do their job? they did, but just that the outcome is not what we wanted. We don't because we trust that they did it correctly.

If we can apply the adage "trust me, I'm a professional" to worldly professional services that we have, why can't we trust our Dharma protectors and lamas when we pray for something such as good business, or to heal a disease and we balk whenever something turns out "wrong"…when in reality it is the situation purifying itself. By losing trust and faith so easily in the instructions given, especially when they don't follow what we expect, might as well do it on our own.

Sometimes it depends also, on how educated in Dharma that person is, or how much they actually think logically and realize that Samsara and the enlightened state has many similarities: namely both also need a lot of effort to succeed in. The people who expect quick results and they get upset when not usually will not end up anywhere because in Samsara, from business to relationships, everything needs patience, effort and persistence. So why does it not apply to Dharma related matters?

[dondrup]

We should surrender to Dorje Shugden just like we had surrendered to our guru because Dorje Shugden is the Guru and vice-versa. We trust that Dorje Shugden will provide us favourable conditions for our Dharma practice and remove obstacles to our Dharma practice.

Dharma protectors like Dorje Shugden are protecting us by holding our hands if we rely on them and are sincerely engaging in Dharma Practice.  Holding our hands means that we will be guided along the path to liberation and full enlightenment.  Had Dorje Shugden not hold our hands, we will be at the mercy of our karma. 

Surrendering to Dorje Shugden doesn’t mean we don’t have to do anything and let Dorje Shugden provide us everything.  Spiritual practice is about transformation of our mind. No one (not even Dorje Shugden) can do the practice for us or transform our mind.  We are personally responsible for the transformation of our mind, our liberation from samsara and full enlightenment. 

[pgdharma]

By surrendering to Dorje Shugden, we put our faith and trust in him that he will clear away our obstacles and provide a conducive condition for us to pursue our spiritual path.  As a dharma protector, he is here to protect the dharma and dharma practitioners. But that doesn’t mean we don’t do anything and wait for miracles to happen. We need to create the cause to be connected with him for his help and guidance.

When obstacles arise due to our karma, Dorje Shugden will find the best method to help us purify those negative karmas and will not let our negative karma pull us away from our spiritual path. Sometimes the obstacle can be a blessing in disguise. Obstacles can come in many forms and this is the time to apply what we learn to overcome the obstacles. We need to put in the effort to succeed and we come out of the situation as a stronger person.

[Ensapa]

Hmm, i seemed to have forgotten to mention something somewhat important..whether or not a difficult situation is in reality a blessing in disguise. In some situations, a seemingly negative situation may prove to be positive when it brings people in towards the Dharma and towards the spiritual path, for example a person turning to the Dharma after a disastrous relationship.

People tend to view situations on the surface rather than wanting to see the bigger picture of the situation, because it is easier and because they are insecure and they want to  have their results verified. They are too afraid to trust and want to see "results", or rather just what they perceive as results rather than actually following through and doing deeper reflection on the situation. They are quick to give up and are afraid.

As serious practitioners, if we wish to consider ourselves at that direction, we should not balk at the sight of a bit of suffering. In fact we should see unfavorable conditions to be positive, depending on where it leads our mind to. If what we perceive as bad happens when we petition the protector's help, it could be that it would have been worse if it happened even later. Therefore, the whole thing is in reality a blessing in disguise.

If we are willing to go through some painful medical procedures such as surgery to heal ourselves, would it not make sense that we also need to go through some painful or unpleasant points in our journey to our spiritual goals? It does not make sense at all that we are wiling to put up with surgery but not willing to put up with unpleasant situations that help us to grow and mature. That is why i find people who give up when the protector does not work their way very, very silly.

[Tenzin K]

It’s quite a norm for most people pray for what they want. Obviously they are their own doctor who prescribe their own medicine without consulting the doctor and when thing doesn’t work the blaming come into the picture to say that the medicine is not working.

I think we can pray for the removal of our obstacle but the method or result might be different with what we thought. It doesn’t matter because we don’t have the Buddha clairvoyant to see what we really need in order to solve our problem permanently.

Is true what triesa mentioned that “we are the one created the problem and should be the one to resolve it. No one to blame but to Lord Shugden we seek the light or direction. Faith is important and should be getting stronger as time goes because we are the one should face our karma.     

[Tenzin Malgyur]

I agree that no one, not even Buddha can remove our bad karma. But it is so comforting to know that we can purify our negative karma and Dorje Shugden can prevent the negative karma from ripening so that we have more time to purify the negativities. Most of the time, in our prayers we will wish for things based on our selfish mind and usually only for our very own benefit. When our wish is not granted/fulfilled, we should look at the whole situation in a bigger perspective. And we should always have strong faith and trust that our protector is with us always.

[Ensapa]

It’s quite a norm for most people pray for what they want. Obviously they are their own doctor who prescribe their own medicine without consulting the doctor and when thing doesn’t work the blaming come into the picture to say that the medicine is not working.

I think we can pray for the removal of our obstacle but the method or result might be different with what we thought. It doesn’t matter because we don’t have the Buddha clairvoyant to see what we really need in order to solve our problem permanently.

Is true what triesa mentioned that “we are the one created the problem and should be the one to resolve it. No one to blame but to Lord Shugden we seek the light or direction. Faith is important and should be getting stronger as time goes because we are the one should face our karma.   

Its more like most people have a fixed idea of what they want and they have a closed mind on how they want a solution to be implemented. It's because people in general are quite skeptical and they do not develop faith easily. That is also one of the reasons why education is very, very important when it comes to adopting a Dharma protector practice. We have to make sure that our friends and family is well educated about the nature of the Dharma protector.

People these days tend to want a quick fix instead of a proper solution because everything these days just comes so easy for them. It makes the people lazy to actually do investigation and learn up. This might be a good way to bring people in to Dharma when we introduce them to Dorje Shugden but over time they should be educated on the ways of a standard Dharma protector so that they will learn more.

This helps to prevent the next generation of Buddhists from seeing Dorje Shugden as some sort of godfather and allow the sacred practice to degenerate into blind faith of something that they just pray to and get…although they will be connected to the Dharma somehow, but wouldn't it be much better to help these people have at least some value in their lives and to learn more Dharma in the long run?

Dorje Shugden, after all has only one goal for all his practitioners: for them to attain the perfect and unsurpassed enlightenment. As his practitioners we should also help others to be on that way whenever we can, especially for those who have already made a connection. It cannot be that we leave everything to Dorje Shugden, alone.

[ratanasutra]

Normally when people pray to any Buddha, they always make wishes for them self, family and love one as that only the way they were brought up and know about it.

Now a day with hi-technology stuff and social media which people can find, search for any information with just a finger click so people are more educate and understand more than just pray by blind faith or just do as been told like in the past.

i came across with some people who have problems and seeking for way to solve their problems and they feel that they have hope when they know about the Dharma protector.

Of course, in the beginning they already thought that thing will be easy just by praying and they will get the result as they want. So explanation is needed in order for new people to enter to their spiritual path otherwise it just a hope of miracle and later on they will say that the Dharma protector has no power. Sad isn't it but these the truth.

A few years back, my guru told me how to pray to the Dharma protector which is you can pray what you want but accept what you get.. that really true, how Dharma protector can provide things that i wish if i don't have karma to get it or that things doesn't bring ultimate benefit to me.
The Dharma protector has power but i don't have karma to receive it. Therefore i have to create a cause to have good karma to receive it by stop negative actions, enter in purification practice and do positive actions to generate good karma or merit. it seems to be easy but it not otherwise lot of people will be enlightenment by now in this degeneration time.

We always judge what we see form our delusion mind, hence we don't understand and have wrong view  from the wisdom beings. 

   

[honeydakini]

I would like to see of prayers with this way: We are actually consulting the deities for help, the same way we consult a lawyer or accountant for help. Because we want to get something done and we do not know how, thus we consult them for help. If we know what to do, then we need not consult their help anymore to solve our problems, right? The reason why we pray for their help is because we cannot find a solution to our problems and we want one.

I agree with you. I was talking to someone about devotion recently which got me thinking about how we do all have devotion. Like you say, Ensapa, we're very devoted and have a lot of faith in our lawyers or accountants. We entrust our entire lives and fates to them! We have a lot of devotion for a lot less - often even for inanimate objects like our money or our things. I've met people who you could say are very devoted to their houses and cars and possessions!

So to have faith in a Dharma protector and devotion towards your path (including your teacher, the deities and your practices) isn't something unusual. It's just different from what we are used to.

The thing is we are devoted to things or people because we grow up being told that these things (or people) are good for us and will bring us happiness: like money, property, husbands and wives. So we give our complete devotion to these things, believing completely that they will bring us something good.

The same can be said for any of our practice and our relationship with our teacher. There are many, many countless proven examples that following the path and practices will yield us wonderful, beautiful results. We can see these "results" in the many practitioners who live this path. But we are still hesitant to trust it fully. I suppose then, we are still choosing our paradigm over another - as long as we don't have full devotion in our Gurus, Yidams, Dharma protectors, sadhanas etc it usually means it's because we still have some kind of strange devotion to something else. You can't be fully devoted to both samsara and dharma at the same time. So the devotion is the same - it's just switching it to something else, and understanding the higher benefit that one has over the other.

[Dolce Vita]

Before I became a buddhist and started my protector practice, just like most of the people, I prayed for what I want. I pray that I'm going to get rich, be with the person that I like, I prayed that there would be no problems. Most of the time, I don't get what I want. Then I started to doubt the higher beingsn how come they didn't answer my prayers?

Then I have the good fortunate to have met Dharma. I began to understand what Karma and Merit are. Then a deeper understanding of the role oif a Dharma Protector to a practitioner. I realised what we want might not be what will be good for us. Simple example, when were young, we liked to eat candy, most likely not proper meal. Our parents would do everything to make sure we no candy for us but proper meal. Not getting the candy upset us. Little  did we know, our parents didn't want to grant our wish because candy in effect did no good to us.

Now, I don't wish for what I want. I leave it in the hand of the protector. With this understanding in mind, I can handle problems and difficulties easiier because I know they happen because I will gain something out of it and they are for sure for me to become a better person and be of benefit to others.

[pgdharma]

Quote from Dolce Vita: Now, I don't wish for what I want. I leave it in the hand of the protector. With this understanding in mind, I can handle problems and difficulties easiier because I know they happen because I will gain something out of it and they are for sure for me to become a better person and be of benefit to others.

When we have understanding of the dharma, we surrender ourselves to our Guru and dharma protector. We have full faith and trust in them. So even when problems and difficulties arise, it is a blessing in disguise as through overcoming those obstacles we will gain something much more beneficial out of it and the results will be good. Dorje Shugen is an enlightened Dharma Protector, He will never harm us but will guide us through those difficult times.

[Ensapa]

Before I became a buddhist and started my protector practice, just like most of the people, I prayed for what I want. I pray that I'm going to get rich, be with the person that I like, I prayed that there would be no problems. Most of the time, I don't get what I want. Then I started to doubt the higher beingsn how come they didn't answer my prayers?

Then I have the good fortunate to have met Dharma. I began to understand what Karma and Merit are. Then a deeper understanding of the role oif a Dharma Protector to a practitioner. I realised what we want might not be what will be good for us. Simple example, when were young, we liked to eat candy, most likely not proper meal. Our parents would do everything to make sure we no candy for us but proper meal. Not getting the candy upset us. Little  did we know, our parents didn't want to grant our wish because candy in effect did no good to us.

Now, I don't wish for what I want. I leave it in the hand of the protector. With this understanding in mind, I can handle problems and difficulties easiier because I know they happen because I will gain something out of it and they are for sure for me to become a better person and be of benefit to others.

However, that still does not mean that we can stick all of our responsibility into the protector's hands and just say "I leave all my responsibilities into the protector's hands because I trust the protector" and stop studying for exams because you "trust" the protector or letting people hurt you repeatedly, doing nothing about it and saying that the protector will do something about it. No.

Trusting the protector means we let the protector determine the best possible method to help us but it does not mean that we do nothing or put in no effort to actualize the task or do nothing about the situation. It means we still do what we need to in order to achieve our goals, but when things get difficult we do not blame the protector for not helping us, or if something unexpected happens we drop the protector like a hot potato.

The Guru, Yidam and Dharma protector is in reality, one. If you do not have faith in either one of those three, nothing works. You can be devoted to the Guru and Dharma protector but if you take your Yidam lightly, nothing happens as well. Why? because you still act in ways that contradict the Dharma protector's energy. He cannot help someone who digs their own hole in the ground and sticks their own head in there.

In general, taking refuge in a Dharma protector, Guru or Yidam would mean that when things go wrong, we do not blame and bemoan anyone, that nobody helped us, that the protector does not help us and so on but take it as a training ground because at the end of the day the funny thing is there will be no permanent and lasting damage but every time something "bad" happens, you learn something new and you improve and become a better person. That is how the protector protects you in the long run: by training you to prevent you from failing in the future.