The Four Generosities Practice (jin pa cha zhi) is a powerful practice for cleansing, awakening your inner spirituality, and releasing attachments.
Through these practices, we connect with the Protectors, Yidams, Khadros and Lamas. Doing these practices on a regular basis gives a deep connection with four classes of sentient beings, including beings that are circling in this karmic world, through making offerings and releasing attachments. These practices are especially powerful if done while you are in a personal retreat.
The Jinpa Cha Zhi – Four Generosities include:
Sang (Smoke Offering). This practice is done early in the morning. It cleanses negative karma, opens blockages of internal energy and uplifts life force chi.
Chutor (Water Offering). This practice is done in the mid-morning. This practice removes karmic impurities, and releases and speeds healing from physical and mental illness that may have been caused by karma.
Sur Chöd (Burnt Food Offering). This practice is done in the evening. We dedicate this practice to all sentient beings – to pay off karmic debts, to free us from the suffering and emotional obscuration, and to awaken our inner awareness.
Chöd (Personal Offering). This practice is done at night. We imagine offering our own bodies to those to whom we owe karmic debts, providing benefit for ourselves as well as others. This practice helps us overcome our emotional attachments.
I prostrate to the Lamas, the Tutelary Deities, and the Guardian Protectors.
From this streaming river of pure nectar here is a system of practice.
There are three parts: preliminary, actual practices, and concluding practices:
The pledge: Gather the ritual offering substances and generate bodhicitta for the benefit of all migrators in samsara as much as possible. In order to liberate them from all misery, we pledge to practice this offering of a completely pure offering-torma. As preparation, cultivate this intention.
Pledge: Promise with faith before the eyes of Tonpa Shenrab, the deities, and the masters (dpon gsas), to practice this six times, four times, morning and evening and so forth.
As for the best ritual substances: accumulate with faith and perseverance medicines, incense, grains, precious gems, white substances such as yogurt, sweets, flowers, fine silk, and so forth.
The middling substances are: the five medicines, the five incenses, and so forth. The inferior substances: whatever you are able to find.
Understand this.
2) The section of actual practices also has three parts: 2a) spreading out and arranging, 2b) blessing, and 2c) actually imbibing the offerings and dedicating.
2a) The method of arranging on the precious seat: As for the vessel: precious substances, wood, clay,
& so forth. As for the number: seven to nine. Excellent, middling, inferior: gather whatever you can.
2b) The stages of blessing:
With the body: Take the custom of the five elements of posture.
With the speech: Recite the nine clear syllables of the Bönkü: Ā A kar sale ö a yang om du. With the mind: Meditate on the three aspects of samadhi: [1) suchness: the nature of mind; 2) all- appearances: compassion; 3) causal: the mudras].
I prostrate to the compassionate Tonpa Shenrab, guardian protector, the great being, who taught the method of satisfying by means of the offering-gift.
Not recited: Beautifully lay out in an attractive and faultless manner, water of pure, clean, nectar, and these offering materials of all ritual substances. Having engaged in the doors of the three purities, meditate in stages on the three aspects of samadhi.
AH: I imagine that from that Ah: syllable melting into light in the space in front of me, emerges the deity Kunzang Shenlha Ödkar surrounded by his retinue.
Pronouncing this Essence Mantra:
Ā A KAR SA LÉ Ö A YANG OM DU
AH: With compassion toward all sentient beings who, not realizing the Natural State which is free from extremes, wander in samsara and engage in misery:
May they be free of suffering!
May they possess happiness!
May they never be separated from happiness!
May they be freed from the afflictions of passion and hatred!
From a white A at my heart, a single white A emanates into the space in front of me.
From reciting Sale Ö A light rays emanate out striking all animate and inanimate objects.
Through that, all the outer inanimate objects become celestial palaces and all the animate beings become of the nature of gods and goddesses.
A YANG OM DU light rays gather back and are absorbed into the A.
The A becomes a single OM possessing the Five Primordial Wisdoms.
Through the OM absorbing into my heart, the five demons and the five poisons of my mental continuum are conquered and they become the Nature of the Five Bodies and the Five Primordial Wisdoms.
From the melting of the OM into light,
I become the embodiment of Shenlha Ökar, clear white with one face, two arms, and ornamented by the thirteen peaceful ornaments.
I become a single embodiment of wisdom and compassion.
Holding the A mudra recite this mantra:
MU YÉ A KAR A NI Ā
Thus recite.
In the space in front of me is a great citadel of the gods, a celestial mansion, made from varieties of precious gems.
It is attractive and pleasant with an arched roof, verandas, flights of stairs, and curtains of silk.
In the middle of this stainless palace is Küntu Zangpo, the venerable guest.
He is surrounded by the Victors and bodhisattvas of the three times.
Outside of that is the Guest of Qualities.
He is surrounded by protectors of the teachings, Bön protectors, wealth deities, and glorious protectors.
Outside of that is the Guest of Karmic Debts.
He is surrounded by the eight classes of gods and demons who may be ordered (bka’).
Outside of that is the Guest of Compassion. He is surrounded by the six classes of beings together with the Bardo beings. ~ Snap fingers and release mudra
Recite this mantra while making the mudra of the nectar vase:
All the defilements, degenerations, unsuitabilities, inferiorities, and pollutions of the offering substances become purified.
Making the mudra with hollow palms joined together, pronounce this mantra:
A OM HŪM RAM DZA DE SHO DRUM Ö DU LAM LAM YE SO HA
The vessel becomes faultless, attractive, pleasing, superior, and vast.
The elixir inside becomes goddesses who offer this pure offering.
The liquid is, in essence, nectar.
The sediments become inconceivable and limitless desirable objects.
The purified portion is offered to the Victors and through this they are satisfied.
The liquid restores the oath-bound guardians.
Through giving the sediments to the gods, demons, barbarians, and six classes of beings, they are all satisfied.
A OM HŪNG From the unmanifest realm the three syllables, that are in essence the enlightened body, speech, and mind of the Sugata Buddhas, are absorbed into the three places of my body.
Through that I obtain all the power and siddhis of their enlightened body, speech, and mind.
OM Through the supreme power of the spontaneous presence of Thatness, and the power of my own innate-awareness samadhi appears a celestial mansion of the mundane apparent-universe, the masters of compassion, the Sugata Buddhas of the three times, the oath-bound defenders, the pure class of protectors, guests of karmic debts, and hosts of inferior classes of obstacles.
All the sentient beings of the six classes in the three realms, from the pure realms of the Victors of the three times down to the lowest hell of the world, whatever beings exist, become guests. Through this precious treasure of useful offering they become fulfilled.
Through this dense cloud-mass of the five desirable offerings of all variety of objects of enjoyment of the five senses, the outer inanimate objects and inner animate beings become inexhaustibly fulfilled.
Presenting these offerings of enjoyment and utility,
Please accept these offerings of inexhaustible adornments.
Through your compassion look after sentient beings of the six classes of migrators.
The protectors having been pleased, I pray that there be auspiciousness.
May loans, karmic debts, and great karmic debts be wiped clean!
May the six classes of migrators in samsara be shaken from their depths!
May everyone obtain the highest result of enlightenment!
A OM HŪNG RAM DZA DE SHO TOR TOR TIM TIM YÉ SO HA
Reciting thus, snap your fingers.
Verses of Auspiciousness
E MA HO
Whatever may be the suitable auspiciousness of the pure mothers and sons,
Who are the source of all the auspiciousness of the lotus of vast expanse,
Who opens the door to primordial wisdom of the great unborn mother,
May that clarity and auspicious happiness be present right here and now!
Whatever may be the suitable auspiciousness of the five deities of the water offering,
Who are the source of all the auspiciousness of the four enlightened actions,
The spontaneous perfection of the noble families of primordial wisdom who work for the benefit of beings,
May clarity and auspicious happiness be present right here and now!
Whatever may be the suitable auspiciousness of the rituals of the doors of Bon,
Who are the source of all the auspicious pure activities,
The quintessential instructions of the certain supreme speech of the masters, who are in accordance with the gods,
May clarity and auspicious happiness be present right here and now!
Whatever may be the suitable auspiciousness of Buddha Thangma Ögyal,
Who is the source of all auspiciousness of the abundant offerings,
The heart emanation of the teacher Tönpa Shenrab, come to benefit all migrating beings.
May clarity and auspicious happiness be present right here and now!
Whatever may be the suitable auspiciousness of the glorious protectors,
Who are the source of all auspicious comfort and happiness in the world,
Those who possess a perfect life and perfect resources.
May clarity and auspicious happiness be present right here and now!
Tingsha Tashi: 1–3–5–7–9–1–4–1–4–1–1–1
Colophon: this offering torma, A Streaming River of Nectar, Tertön Khutsa Da Öd discovered this terma in Bhutan.
Tha tshan mu tsug smar ro! May everything be auspicious! May there be great blessings!