Jungwa ritual is a Tantric ritual that removes all obstacles that stand in the way of our deceased parents, relatives, friends, and other sentient beings. It facilitates the release of those deceased beings whose spirits are trapped in some unfavorable and lower states of Samsara. The ritual consists of a series of Tantric visualization and transformation practices, as well as the burning of photos or belongings of the deceased person, in order to provide them with complete release from their dead states and to find paths leading to Nirvana.

The Avalokiteshvara mantra, Om ma ni pad me hung, has a mnemonic effect and the unrivaled power of compassion. In the Buddhist Tantra tradition, the mantra is used in extremely intricate visualizations and meditations. The most popular prayer chanted by millions of devoted Buddhists across the Himalayas, including Tibet, Mongolia, Bhutan, Sikkim, Ladakh, and parts of India and China, is known as “the six-syllable mantra.”

Benefits of Avalokiteshvara mantra

The advantages of chanting the Avalokiteshvara mantra are numerous. It condenses the essential qualities of compassion of all Buddhas; it brings peace, harmony, and tranquillity to the land; it brings happiness, joy, and contentment to all sentient beings; it purifies negative Karmic actions and deluded states of mind; it provides peace and calmness in life and through the stages of dying; it prevents one from falling into the hell, hungry ghost, or animal realms; it ensures rebirth in the higher states of Samsara and eventually in the pure land of Buddha Amitabha.

Fasting Ritual

Nyungné is a Buddhist fasting practice that a practitioner performs in alone or in groups for one day to seven days, ideally seven to twenty-one days. While a Nyungné seems to be a religious practice in which individuals cultivate healthy ideas and attitudes, engage in virtuous actions and activities, and recite prayers and chants, fasting remains the core aspect of this rite.

Fasting ritual primarily falls under the practice of discipline, as the process involves guarding of vows and precepts from the beginning until the end of the session. Vows and precepts are preferably taken at dawn from an ordained or lay vow-holders, or, in case of their absence, from images or representations of the Three Precious Refuge—Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The ritual involves the invocation of a principal enlightened deity, mostly Chenrezig (Skt. Avalokiteshavra, Ch. Guanyin), the deity of compassion.

Fasting Vow and Eight Precepts

Nyungné requires observance of the fasting vow and the eight precepts. In the beginning of a session, preferably at dawn, a practitioner takes the vow to sustain on only one midday vegetarian meal for every twenty-four hours. Besides, practitioners ideally observe Ngakché (vow of silence) by not speaking to any other during the session.

In addition, a practitioner must guard the following eight precepts during the fasting session: 1. Not killing, 2. Not stealing, 3. Not indulging in sex, 4. Not lying, 5. Not consuming alcohol or intoxicants, 6. Not sitting on high or lofty seats, 7. Not eating untimely meals, and 8. Not applying fragrance or indulging in songs and dances. Other minor precepts include avoiding excessive sleep, not yawning, et cetera.

How to Practice

During the fasting ritual, a practitioner trains his or her body by enduring physical hardship such of fasting, restrains speech by refraining from senseless, hurtful, or divisive talks, and tames mind by avoiding all negative and faulty conceptual thoughts. Instead, one cultivates positive feelings such as love and compassion as well as insightful wisdom on the law of causality, interdependence, and emptiness. During the session, a practitioner can read scriptures, say prayers, chant mantras, do prostrations, or sit in meditation.

Benefits of Nyungné

The Nyungné ritual primarily helps purify negativities committed in the form of physical actions. Also, by training our speech and mind, the negativities incurred through our harmful speeches and thoughts are purified. Buddhist scriptures lists numerous other benefits. In brief, Nyungné helps accumulate merits and wisdom, which eventually result in a swifter attainment of liberation and enlightenment.

According to the Mahayana tradition, Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara (Tib. Chenrezig) embodies all Buddhas’ compassion. Avalokiteshvara, also known as Guanyin in the Chinese Buddhist tradition, is a bodhisattva who postponed his own Buddhahood in order to liberate every sentient being from the miserable states of Samsara and lead them to the joyous states of Nirvana. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is regarded as a living manifestation of this selfless bodhisattva. We will also dedicate the accumulated merits from this retreat to our spiritual teacher, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, wishing him good health, a long life that will benefit everyone, and that all of his wishes will be granted.