Gyabshi Ritual, 20 Nov 2022 – Online Registration

Gyabshi Ritual

“The Four Hundred”, popularly known as Gyabshi Choga in Tibetan, is a powerful extermination ritual based on Buddha Shakyamuni’s subdual of the four classes of evils (mara)—non-human spirits, death, afflictive thoughts and emotions, and a psycho-physical basis of a Karmic being—through his wisdom and compassion.

In an extensive systematised form, the ritual makes use of 100 set each of four religious items—sacred statuettes (satchaya), butter lamps (mar-mey), food offerings (torma), and dough figurines (lü). These four sets represent enlightened beings, pure offerings, ritual cakes, and ransom effigies.

The “Four Hundred” ritual will include refuge-taking, bodhicitta cultivation, meditation on emptiness, visualization of deities, extending of food offerings or Tormas to enlightened beings, seeking of blessings, visualization of the classes of evil spirits, granting of Torma, sending off of ransom effigies, exterminating of all evil spirits, and chanting of prayer for auspiciousness.

Unlike normative rituals, this ritual involves a series of visualization of malignant negative spirits and non-humans such as Bhuta, Rakshasa, Yakshasa, Kinnara and so forth. Through recitation of mantra, a meditation on emptiness and compassion, granting of Torma, and sending of effigies, the monk ritualist seeks to pacify and subdue these malignant spirits and non-humans. Together with the sending off of effigies, the monk ritualist will also visualize extermination and purging of all negative factors such as sickness and diseases; untimely death; loss and failures; disputes and dissensions; wars; and natural and man-made calamities. The ritual ends with a prayer of auspiciousness to herald a new life free of impediments and harms and filled with virtues and merits.

四百供

藏语俗称除障四百供，是一种以释迦牟尼佛对非人类鬼魂，死亡、烦恼和情绪四类邪魔的征服为依据的强大的除障仪式，也是一种产生于智慧和慈悲的业力生命的精神物质基础。

在一个广泛的系统化形式中，这个仪式使用了100套四个宗教物品：圣像（satchaya）、油灯（mar mey）、食物供品（torma）和面塑（lü）。这四套分别代表觉者，纯祭品，仪式蛋糕，假人。

“四百”仪式包括皈依、菩提心修行、空性冥想、明王观想、将食物或朵玛供养给觉者、寻求加持、观想四类邪魔、供朵玛、送出假人，消灭所有邪魔，祈祷吉祥来临。

与普通的仪式不同，这种仪式特殊之处在于观想一系列邪魔和非人，比如浮陀、罗刹、夜叉、紧那罗等等。通过诵咒，冥想空性，对他们发慈悲心，供朵玛，送假人，主持仪式的僧侣也要观想消灭和清除所有负面因素，如疾病、过早死亡、损失和失败、争端和异议、战争以及自然和人为灾难。仪式以祈祷吉祥，让新的生活没有障碍和伤害，充满美德和功德结束。