u/SignificantTip1302

Are they beings like Mahakala, Palden Lhamo, etc...?

There seems to be an overlap of deities in some situations, so it's best to choose one body mandala practice and go with that, correct?

I was looking foward for Heruka body mandala, it seems to be VERY complete working with every deity because it has the males in union with their consorts.

(Yes! I just posted about this but that other question is solved! Now I need help with this one, thanks for everyone helping me, you are very kind :) )

I've been researching and there seems to be 2 versions of her 108 names.

One for buddhists and one for hindus.

Can someone help me understand better how to practice her 108 names in the "buddhist way"?

So should I sit and chant ONLY the names without the benefits mentioned at the end? I feel like only the names are the practice so I feel I can chant it before her sadhana or do I need to chant all of the 12 pages of this document: https://shop.fpmt.org/The-108-Names-of-the-Venerable-Arya-Tara-PDF_p_1436.html (It's for free if anyone want to download it)

So should I chant this whole text(12 pages) or only the 108 names in the middle of it? Because at the start there are some explanations about the practice and in the end it tells us the benefits of it, not sure if I should also recite these.

Just found a video where Guru teaches that the seed syllable is not visualized facing the front, but actually it's turned so it can be read from the left, not front.

So imagine someone is sitting in your left side and someone in front of you, the guy on your left side should be able to read the seed syllable, not the person in front of you.

How accurate is this information? I always visualized the seed syllable fancing to the front.

If I have 3 different Avalokitshvara sadhanas, do I have 3 different mantra counts or it's one for all of them?

Example 1> If I chant the mantra 1000 times while practicing sadhana 1, do I keep it if I practice sadhana 3 another day?

Example 2> If I already have 100.000 Om Mani Padme Hum mantra accumulation and receive another Avalokiteshvara empowerment from a different lineage with a different sadhana, do I still have my 100.000 accumulation when I practice the new sadhana and keep counting on that or I need to count from zero in this new practice?

My guess is that the count keeps going because it's the SAME MANTRA AND DEITY, the only difference are the sadhanas, but I just had this question and I felt the need to ask here.

https://www.lamayeshe.com/article/chapter/lecture-3-kindness-enemy

There is an upcoming Yamantaka 3 month retreat with Lama Glenn Mullin, and yes this post may also work as an advertisement for thoso who didnt know lol

But in this retreat they will be teaching a lot of practices and mantras of Yamantaka, some practices include Bardo Jangcho.

I feel this is a really great opportunity BUT I've had the opportunity to take Yamantaka empowerment before but I didn't because I'm already satisfied with the deities I'm practicing.

But I see a lot of people running around and collecting empowerments like Pokemomns(yes I did it when I started too), and I know this a great opportunity but I'm really in doubt if I should take it or not.

Any advice? Should I take it because it's a great opportunity or leave it?

English is not my native language so sorry for mistakes in my text

A few months ago on Navaratri, I made a promise to listen to the Lalita Sahasranama(only listen, no chant) for the days of that Navaratri.

Turns out I only did this for 3 days then I was adviced by a friend that I shouldn't be doing some Hindu practices since I have initiation into Vajrayana(Yes, I'm a Buddhist Vajrayana), I know this may seem hard to explain but I always loved Hinduism too so I was at a time in my life where I was mixing some stuff...

So back to story> I did that promise to listen to Lalita Sahasranama once at night until the last day of the Navaratri. I was also chanting 1- Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha 2- Om Namah Shivaya and 3-Om Namas Chandikaye before listening to the Lalita Sahasranama. All of this at night.

"""Oh but you said you are a Vajrayana Buddhist so when did you do your Buddhist practice? Answer> I was doing my Buddhist practices in the morning"""

But this was in the last Navaratri I think it was in the end of March. Since I received this advice from this friend I stopped all Hindu practice and focused only on Buddhism.

So I wasn't actually mixing them like in the same practice but I was practicing both in the same day.

I even asked here if this promise I made was valid and if I should complete it but people said this was not a real sankalpa or promise, etc...

But yesterday I was thinking and it was at the time I failed to commit to this promise I did to myself and stopped all Hindu practice that my job started to fall, sells are worst than ever, I'm almost going bankrupt.

So now giving some context to what I was doing and my situation now, what happened, what do you think I should do to fix it, if there is any fix to it?

I even mentioned to that friend that I kinda made a promise to listen to it everyday of the Navaratri but that friend said that I was no real Sankalpa because I had no Hindu tantric Guru, etc....

Then I asked here to make sure and people here also told me not to bother with that "promise", but now looking back how things happened after that I'm not sure if it's just a coincidende or maybe there is something related to that.

Help please!

I see many people mentioning it and that it is the basis for tantric practice but I can't actually find a "common path", can someone give me some guidance like the points I need to study so I can go looking for it ?

Are these the same?

I've seen people mentioning these to be different names for "Shiva" in Vajrayana.

Also saw people calling Shiva "Lhachen", just another way of saying "Lhachenpo".

When I only chant my mantras without any particular sadhana, I don't have a dedication of merits prayer.

After a sadhana the dedication is very good and usually medium-long.

But when I only do my mantras without a formal practice I only finish with "I dedicate the merits of this practice to all sentient beings, may all benefit! May all sentients be happy and free from suffering."

I know that in theory this is okay but I feel I would like some different lines, like something more elaborate, it can be something small and easy to memorize too.

Do you guys have a link for a video or website explaining some signs of accomplishment for each Yidam?

I saw someone asking this and I realized that I actually have been practicing for some time but never read these, are they like milestones of practice or something similar?

Do you know where I can find this info for most practices?

Thanks!

Can I do the Torma offering section in my sadhana only visualized since I don't have a Torma and can't buy one at the moment?