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Someone said:"pursuit of merit is the Buddhist way to develop a wise sense of self"

Soh replied:

I would say it should be the other way round. Truly practicing without sense of self gives rise to the highest merit.

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Soh Wei Yu

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Sariputra: What is the worldly, and what is the supramundane perfection of giving?

Subhuti: The worldly perfection of giving consists in this: The Bodhisattva gives liberally to all those who ask, all the while thinking in terms of real things [that are unchanging and substantial]. It occurs to him: "I [who is unchanging and substantial give, that one [who is unchanging and substantial] receives, this is the gift [that is unchanging and substantial]. I renounce all my possessions without stint. I act as one who knows the Buddha. I practice the perfection of giving. I, having made this gift into the common property of all beings, dedicate it to supreme enlightenment, and that without apprehending anything [that is unchanging and substantial]. By means of this gift, and its fruits may all beings in this very life be at ease, and may they one day enter Nirvana!" Tied by three ties he gives a gift. Which three? A perception of self, a perception of others, a perception of the gift.

The supramundane perfection of giving, on the other hand, consists in the threefold purity. What is the threefold purity? Here a Bodhisattva gives a gift, and he does not apprehend a self [who is unchanging and substantial, nor a recipient [who is unchanging and substantial], nor a gift [that is unchanging and substantial]; also no reward of his giving [that is unchanging and substantial]. He surrenders that gift to all beings, but he apprehends neither beings nor self [who are unchanging and substantial]. He dedicates that gift to supreme enlightenment, but he does not apprehend any enlightenment [due t non-attachment to it, thus truly attaining it]. This is called the supramundane perfection of giving.

Pañcavimsatisahasrika, 263-64

Buddhist Texts Through The Ages

Translated & Edited By Edward Conze, I.B. Horner, David Snellgrove & Arthur Waley

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Soh Wei Yu

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https://www.wisdomlib.org/buddhism/book/maha-prajnaparamita-sastra/d/doc225233.html

There is also mundane generosity (laukikadāna) and supramundane generosity (lokottaradāna), the generosity approved of by the āryas (āryavarṇitadāna) and the generosity disapproved of by the āryas (āryāvarṇitadāna), the generosity of the buddhas and bodhisattvas (buddhabodhisattvadāna) and the generosity of the śrāvakas (śrāvakadāna).

1) What is mundane generosity (laukikadāna)? Mundane generosity is the generosity of ordinary people (pṛthagjanadāna) and also the generosity used by the āryas with an impure mind (sāsravacitta). Some say that [only] the generosity of worldly people constitutes mundane generosity, whereas the generosity of the āryas, even though carried out with impure mind, is supramundane because their fetters (saṃyojana) are cut (chinna). Why? Because these āryas have obtained the concentration of non-thought (apraṇihitasamādhi).[1]

Furthermore, mundane generosity is impure (aviśuddha), whereas supramundane generosity is pure (viśuddha).[2] There are two kinds of fetters (saṃyojana): i) those that depend on craving (tṛṣṇāpekṣa); ii) those that depend on wrong views (dṛṣṭyapekṣa).[3] When these two kinds of fetters are present, the generosity is mundane; when they are absent, the generosity is supramundane.

When the three obstacles (āvaraṇa)[4] fetter the mind, the generosity is mundane. Why? Dharmas, resulting from causes and conditions (hetupratyaya) are truly without substantial self (anātmaka); nevertheless, we say: “I am giving and someone is receiving”; this is what is called mundane generosity. Besides, [the notion] of self (ātman) has no precise attribution (aniyatasthāna): sometimes it is the self that is taken as ātman and not as other; sometimes it is other that is taken as ātman and not as self.[5] As a result of this imprecision, there is no true ātman. Moreover, the thing given (deyadravya) exists solely as a result of the complex of causes and conditions (hetupratyayasāmagrī) and all the dharmas are in themselves nonexistent (anupalabdha). They are like a cloth (paṭa) that results from a collection of causes and conditions but which ceases to exist as soon as one pulls out the silken thread or threads of which it is composed. In the same way the dharmas have as sole characteristic the absence of own-characteristic [142b] (animittalakṣaṇa); they are eternally empty of self nature (svabhāvalakṣaṇa). But people have hallucinations (abhiprāya) and take them to be existent. This mistake (viparyāsa) and this error characterize the mundane generosity. – But when the mind is free of the three obstacles (āvaraṇa), the characteristic of dharmas (lakṣaṇadharma) is truly cognized and the mind is free of error (viparyāsa): then generosity is supramundane.

2) Supramundane generosity is the generosity approved of by the āryas (āryavarṇitadāna); mundane generosity is the generosity disapproved of by the āryas (āryāvarṇitadāna).

Moreover, pure (viśuddha) generosity free of stains (vimala) and conforming to the true nature (bhūtalakṣaṇa) of dharmas is the generosity approved of by the āryas; the impure (aviśuddha) generosity, mixed with fetters (saṃyojana), errors (viparyāsa) and obstinacy (cittasaṅga) is the generosity disapproved of by the āryas.

Finally, the generosity associated with the knowledge of the true nature (bhūtalakṣaṇaprajñā) is the generosity approved of by the āryas; in the contrary case, it is disapproved of by the āryas.

3) When one gives without seeking [the welfare] of beings or without wanting to know the true nature (bhūtalakṣaṇa) of dharmas, but only for the purpose of escaping from birth (jāti), old age (jarā), sickness (vyādhi) and death (maraṇa), this is the generosity of the śrāvakas. When one gives for all beings or again in order to know the true nature of dharmas, this is the generosity of the Buddhas or bodhisattvas.

When one is incapable of fulfilling (paripūrṇa) all the qualities (guṇa) [required for true generosity] but one is seeking to obtain a small portion of them, this is generosity of the śrāvakas. When one wishes to fulfill all the qualities, this is generosity of the Buddhas or bodhisattvas.

When one gives out of fear of old age, sickness and death, this is generosity of the śrāvakas; when one gives to acquire buddhahood, to convert beings and without fear of old age, sickness and death, this is generosity of the Buddhas or bodhisattvas.[6] At this point, the story of the P’ou sa pen cheng king (Bodhisattvajātakasūtra) should be told.

Good video that John Tan shared with me. The video points out progression from I AMness to Anatta and discusses psychedelics. John Tan however cautioned, “To me, any meddling with the mind is dangerous.”

ChatGPT: Here is the image that captures the essence of a profound spiritual journey, illustrating the diverse paths converging towards the realization of anatman or no-self, with figures representing contemporary and historical teachers from different traditions.

Someone said: "This has been my realization as well. I have been having a hard time finding many who espouse emptiness teachings. Obviously Buddha, but the only major practitioner I can find any info on or videos by is Greg Goode. "

He continues to lead sesshins (intensive meditation retreats) and genzo-e (Shobogenzo study) retreats at Sanshin-ji (Sanshin Zen Community) and at various other centers in the US and around the world. Shohaku Okumura's bio on Sanshin Zen Community.

• See our livestream web site and audio page for dharma talks and other events.” - https://www.sfzc.org/teachers/shohaku-okumura

Also see

Spiritual Inspiration of Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) Bodhisattva Miracle Testimonies of Tara, Guanyin & Other Buddhist Saviours Chanting Da Bei Zhou — Great Compassion Dharani Journey Through Enlightenment: Visual Guide to Buddhas & Bodhisattvas On “Supernatural Powers” (Siddhis) & Past Lives

I recently sent the following message to someone regarding manifestation:

Some time ago, I wrote about my experiences with manifestation:

Soh Wei Yu:

My experience with manifestation relates to praying to Green Tara and concerns some personal life situations from my past which I prefer not to discuss. I haven't tried other manifestation methods (including New Age ones like 'The Secret').

However, suffice it to say, I had some miraculous encounters where I felt Green Tara's presence (though not visually) and received mental communication from her. She informed me that my wish would be "granted" that day. Indeed, after many months of waiting, it was fulfilled that very day. Months prior, Tara had also communicated that my wish would come true and advised me not to worry but to “focus on helping others.” Without that specific communication, I would have had no indication of when it would happen. During that encounter, there was also a strange, pleasant smell when I felt 'her Presence'. The last time that happened was in 2012 when I did the Garab Dorje guru yoga for the first time after receiving Chögyal Namkhai Norbu's transmission. My bunkmates also smelled that pleasant fragrance. (Incidentally, burning incense was forbidden in the army barracks, so the origin of the scent was inexplicable).

[Update, 2024: I just met Sim Pern Chong, and he told me that in 2012, he too smelled an otherworldly fragrance the first time he practiced the Garab Dorje guru yoga after the transmission he attended with me from Chögyal Namkhai Norbu. An amazing synchronicity. He also related other miraculous encounters he experienced during mantra recitations.]

While this might sound superstitious, this event convinced me of the truth behind the promise found in this sutra:

Praise to Tārā with Twenty-One Verses of Homage

Excerpt (1.28):

Those who want children will come to have them, Those who seek wealth will come to have that, Each and every wish will be fulfilled, And obstacles, entirely vanquished, will be no more. (Emphasis by Soh)

(Update: ¹ I should also mention that I knew I had a close connection with Tara since 2012. When Dzogchen teacher Chögyal Namkhai Norbu was holding a 5-day Dzogchen teaching retreat in Singapore, I had a dream the day before he gave the Tara empowerment. I didn't know he was giving the Tara empowerment the next day, but the night before, I had a very peculiar dream where many dakinis were singing the Green Tara mantra in a unique tune I hadn't heard before. I woke up right after the dream. It left a strong impression, and I felt I must have had some kind of connection with Tara.)  

(The following section appears to be from a comment thread)

Aditya Prasad: Soh Wei Yu, Was it just the Green Tara prayer (Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha) you were reciting? I've been drawn to that one lately for some reason.

Soh Wei Yu: Aditya Prasad, I recited the Green Tara mantra (Om Tare Tuttare Ture Soha) a lot over many months, but I think on that specific day, I was reciting the Praise to Tārā with Twenty-One Verses of Homage.

I also wrote previously:

I've had a strong affinity with Guan Yin since a young age. I started going to my mom's dharma center at the age of 13, and since then, I have also received teachings from other teachers. In more recent years, I started chanting the Da Bei Zhou (Great Compassion Dharani) and the Tara mantra daily.

Guan Yin has told me to be compassionate in my visions. Also, the last time I saw her in a dream, I entered a blissful samadhi state. Guan Yin pointed me to rest in my true nature, and then I experienced instant samadhi and an intense presence and blissfulness of my true nature while asleep.

Tara also appeared to me previously, telling me my wishes would come true six months later and on the day before it happened (otherwise I wouldn't have known). She told me to focus on helping others. When she appeared, there was a fragrance from another world, even though I was not burning any incense in my air-conditioned room.

Also, this thread on the importance of cultivating merits is absolutely crucial for any successful 'manifestation': On the Importance of Merits

That said, manifestation is not the main point of dharma practice for me; liberation and awakening are far more vital and important on my path.

The concerns of this life are not so important in the long run. You may or may not believe in past lives, but many people in my community, and practitioners/yogis starting from the Buddha, can and do recall past lives. Therefore, liberation concerns not just the well-being of this life (and certainly not only its material aspects), but liberation from the cycle of rebirth in samsara.

(Also see: On "Supernatural Powers" or Siddhis, and Past Lives)

In the 'importance of merits' link above, I mentioned why merits are also important, both in spiritual life and for worldly success. My mentor, who [info redacted], attributes his success to cultivating merit.

In short, from the perspective of Buddhism, particularly Mahayana Buddhism, the main purpose of dharma practice and awakening is to achieve freedom from all suffering and the cycle of rebirth (samsara), attain omniscience, and develop the capacity to tirelessly help all sentient beings attain the same liberation and awakening, without turning away from samsara.

Check out this post I created (with assistance from ChatGPT); the descriptions and generated images explain who Tara and the other Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and masters are: Journey Through Enlightenment: A Visual and Insightful Guide to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

I feel particularly connected with Avalokitesvara (Guan Yin) and Green Tara. In my visions and encounters with them, they told me to be compassionate and to focus on helping others.

I recently told John Tan:

“Just now I was searching for my AirPod casing for quite some time, like half an hour. I searched here and there and couldn't find it. Then I prayed to a bodhisattva. I suddenly heard an inner voice confidently tell me something like, ‘Why are you searching everywhere when it’s with you right there all along?’ Then I tried to search my pockets again, for what felt like the hundredth time, but couldn't find it. Then, about half an hour later, the AirPod casing fell out from inside my jeans – I suspect it had fallen down into my pants earlier when I was in the toilet 🤣

I hear inner voices like that sometimes that I believe are from bodhisattvas when I pray sincerely.

I patted my jeans when I heard that voice but somehow didn't find it then.”

John Tan replied, “U must be something wrong, why bother bodhisattva for such a matter?”

He added, “That said, over the years, I have come to realize and believe despite my overly logical and pragmatic mind 🤣 that such "phenomena" are not uncommon in practice, it is hard to sweep all under the carpet in the name of "science" and "coincidence".”

I (Soh) responded, “I see... yes... especially since my encounter with Tara and the otherworldly fragrance when she ‘came’. And previously, when I received the Dzogchen transmission from ChNN (Chogyal Namkhai Norbu) and practiced the guru yoga of Garab Dorje for the first time, I also experienced that otherworldly fragrance. It’s hard to deny and attribute it purely to coincidence. My mother also knows that otherworldly fragrance well; I think she experienced it when chanting the Da Bei Zhou in the past.”

Further Accounts of Tara's Blessings

Besides my own experiences, countless others have had miraculous encounters with Tara. For example:

• Mama Buddha Tara: Compassionate Action; Stories of Green Tara the Rescuer — How She Can Help You (Buddha Weekly)
• How Tara Buddha saved my life — appearing beside my hospital bed (Buddha Weekly)
• How Tara Saved Me from Great Dangers: Narratives by H.E. Garchen Rinpoche (H.E. Garchen Rinpoche)

Also recently, someone on Reddit shared this experience (Link):

I did Tara practice religiously for many many months and finally one night in a dream she revealed herself to me. She came with a retinue of dozen of monks and they gave me spiritual teachings in a dream for what seemed like a long time. They told me that tenderness was one of the highest spiritual qualities. I was also visited by Yeshe Tsogyal after a retreat where we had been doing Yeshe Tsogyal prayers. She briefly put my mind into samadhi as she merged her mind with mine, and I felt the most unfathomable bliss, peace, joy, and love I had ever felt. Then she told me: "on the path to enlightenment, there will always be obstacles, but suffering is optional"

The Vajrayana View of Deities

However, it should be emphasized that Tara practice, within the Vajrayana framework, goes beyond merely praying to an external being. It is important to keep this perspective in mind and receive appropriate instructions from a qualified Vajrayana master.

Dzogchen teacher Acarya Malcolm Smith:

Tara, as a deity, is just a name for our own state. As ChNN puts it, "Tara is the state of Dzogchen." ... When we practice deity yoga, we are realizing our own state, not the state of some other being, buddha or not.

…

There is also the fact that in kriya tantra people practice by addressing the deity as external, like Tāra, for example, for common siddhis; a kind of practice that is enjoyed by brahmins, which also depends heavily on ritual purity and so on. So, because Vajrayāna is a path of skillful means, it employs people's theistic tendencies. But this vanishes in carya tantra, where the deity is understood as a symbol of the nature of the mind and one visualizes oneself as the deity. By the time we get to HYT, this is all completely abandoned, since now we are to understand, at the time of the result, that all phenomena we experience—aggregates, sense bases, and sense elements—are the display of our own gnosis.

…

But generally, if you want mundane siddhis, then you need to practice some creation stage practice, like Tara, Kilaya, Amitayus, etc. depending on one needs.

Krodha / Kyle Dixon:

You are the deity in Vajrayāna.

…

Green Tara is a powerful practice, has benefited me greatly in times of need.

...

Let’s put it this way: they’re as real as you and I are, which ultimately isn’t real at all, but we can still ride a bike, go to the store, help someone else, etc.

...

As for Buddha nature, Buddha nature can replace God for the meantime, as long as it is understood that buddhanature is your own, personal potentiality to become a Buddha. Buddha nature or tathāgatagarbha, has many of the same qualities as the qualities the Christian God is said to have, but it is something within you.

You start with Buddha nature as like a seed inside you, and then you cultivate it and at the time of buddhahood, everything will be buddha nature, so to speak.

There are many beings, buddhas, ārya-bodhisattvas, dharmapālas, lōkapālas, etc., we can pray to for help and guidance. You can also pray to your own buddhanature, and set your intention on your own awakening so you can help to benefit and liberate all sentient beings.

Mahamudra teacher Thrangu Rinpoche:

The practice of deity meditation consists fundamentally of three elements: clear appearance of the deity’s form, stable pride or confidence, that you are the deity, and recollection of purity by recalling the deeper meaning of the various aspects of the deity. It is difficult to cultivate clear appearance and the recollection of purity in post- meditation. Therefore, the principal post-meditation practice is to maintain the stable confidence that we are actually the deity. We try to maintain the confidence that the true nature of our body, speech, and mind is the body, speech, and mind of the deity being practiced. The commentaries on deity meditation commonly state, “In post-meditation, never part from the confidence of believing you are the deity.”

SEEING OURSELVES AS THE DEITY

In practicing we are trying to ameliorate the traces of our previous wrongdoing, especially our obscurations, which consist of the cognitive obscuration and the afflictive (or emotional) obscuration. Because of the presence of these obscurations, we experience the world in an incorrect and deluded way; our experience of what we call samsara consists of deluded projections.

What we are trying to do in our practice is to transcend these deluded projections and experience the pure reality, or pure appearances, that lie behind them. It is not sufficient simply to tell ourselves, "I know that what I am experiencing is adulterated by delusion," and then to stay with these deluded projections. As long as you continue to invest energy in them they will continue, even though you recognize them, at least theoretically, to be invalid. We have to reject, to cast aside, our involvement with delusion and actually consciously attend to and cultivate attention to pure appearance. By doing so you can gradually transcend and abandon delusion.

It is for this purpose that we make use of iconography, or, in other words, deities. In the Vajrayana the deity is something very different from what we normally mean by that term. Normally when we say "deity," we imagine some kind of external protector or higher power, something superior to us, outside of us, that can somehow lift us up out of where we are and bring us to where we want to be. Therefore, concurrent with our conventional idea of deity is the assumption of our own inferiority to deities.

In comparison to the deity, we consider ourselves as an inferior, benighted being that has to be held up by something outside ourselves. But the Vajrayana notion of deity is not like that, for in the Vajrayana, practitioners visualize themselves as the deities with which they are working.

This body that you now consider to be so impure and afflicted is an extension of the nature of your mind. Therefore, in practice you consider this apparently impure body to be the body of your yidam, the deity upon whom you are meditating. Since buddha nature is the most fundamental essence of your mind, and since your body is the projection of that mind, your body is pure in nature. You acknowledge that fact in practice by imagining your body to be pure, not only in essence, but in appearance.

Through cultivating this method, eventually the actual appearance or experience of your body comes to arise in purity. The creation stage is necessary in order to work with the deluded projections in this way.

~Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

Update:

I shared this with my admins days ago:

"I see. I think doing some deity practice or simple ones like the 21 praises to Tara may help ward off negative influences.

I always have the feeling that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are helping me and have had many miraculous encounters (in a waking state, not psychedelic-induced), including experiencing pleasant smells from other realms and receiving telepathic messages.

Just the other day, I had difficulty finding a cockroach that was hiding in my home. It hid from me for hours. Then, after chanting the 21 Praises, I asked Tara to please let the cockroach come out because the helper was coming to clean my place the next day, and she would definitely kill it. As soon as I finished that thought, the cockroach ran out towards me. I was able to gently catch it with a wet tissue and release it outside. I felt some compassion for the cockroach when I saw it.

Later, rereading the 21 Praises, I was reminded that it mentions warding off things like pestilence, negative entities, and so on."

Also see

Spiritual Inspiration of Avalokiteśvara (Guanyin) Bodhisattva Miracle Testimonies of Tara, Guanyin & Other Buddhist Saviours Chanting Da Bei Zhou — Great Compassion Dharani Journey Through Enlightenment: Visual Guide to Buddhas & Bodhisattvas On “Supernatural Powers” (Siddhis) & Past Lives