The Meaning of Dakini Tsok Practice

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Tsok Practice is a ritual where devotees seek blessings or assistance from their spiritual masters and Buddhas and bodhisattvas. By conducting Tsok Practice, one can dispel worldly obstacles, inner obstacles, secret obstacles, as well as the adverse conditions for worldly and transcendental accomplishments. Worldly obstacles affect daily life, including relationships and business affairs; inner obstacles hinder physical and mental health; secret obstacles obstruct the attainment of innate wisdom. Tsok Practice also serves the purpose of liberating deceased beings, calming their minds, guiding them towards virtuous paths, and ultimately attaining liberation and enlightenment.

 

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Form of Tsok Practice

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In the temple where purity is maintained, in front of Dakini’s mandala or thangkas, offerings such as food, fruits, and fresh flowers are properly arranged. Through the sadhana practice under the guidance of a virtuous Lama with a group of sangha, these offerings are blessed and transformed into an immeasurable array of five desirable offerings, inviting the lineage holders and the vidyadhara of the various purelands and sacred places, as well as the peaceful and wrathful deities, dakas, dakinis, and protectors, to descend and partake in the offerings. Practitioners repent their transgressions of precepts and vows since time immemorial, praying for the elimination of all sickness, calamities, afflictions, and karmic hindrances, temporarily attaining the desired worldly blessings (such as increased merit and wisdom, smooth endeavors, obstacle removal, and freedom from hardships), and ultimately achieving the state of Vidyadhara (Buddhahood and bodhisattvahood). In the rituals of tantric deities, the practice of Tsok Practice is indispensable. It is customary to perform Guru Rinpoche Tsok Practice on the 10th day of each month and Dakini Tsok Practice on the 25th day of each month according to the Tibetan calendar, and offerings can also be made on auspicious occasions, holidays, the birthdays and parinirvana days of Buddhas and bodhisattvas, and eminent lineage holders.

 

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Meaning of Tsok Practice

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Within the four aspects of teaching, theory, practice, and fruition of Vajrayana, the Tsok Practice belongs to the category of "practice." The ceremonies are held at specified times: the 10th day of each month is for offering to the Lama (Guru); the 15th day is for offering to the Yidam (Deva or principal deity); the 25th day is for offering to the Khandro (Dakini); and the 29th day is for offering to the Protector deities. For tantric practitioners, the main focus is on the simultaneous summoning of the three roots (Lama, Yidam, Khandro), and protector deities to descend, in the presence of the array of offering substances. In a typical Tsok offering practice performed by tantric practitioners, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Dakinis, Protectors, celestial gods, hungry ghosts, and spirits of the deceased are amongst the objects of offerings. In tantric practices, types of offerings contain wealth and dharma offerings. Wealth offerings include external and internal offerings. External wealth offerings involve offering material possessions like money and jewels for the enlightened activities, while internal wealth offerings involve offering one's own body, speech, and mind wholeheartedly for the enlightened activities. As for dharma offerings, they involve sustaining the teachings to perpetuate the wisdom of the Buddhas and to enable countless sentient beings to attain liberation from suffering and achieve happiness.

 

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Merit of Tsok Practice

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Since time immemorial, humans have cultivated habits of selfishness and miserliness, leading to the creation of various negative karmas and sinking into the ocean of suffering, unable to extricate themselves. Therefore, the Buddha taught us to renounce miserliness and possessiveness and advised that if we can give away material possessions and contribute our abilities to help in the enlightened activities, we will not only gain merit but also wisdom. However, although material offerings are valuable, they are not as excellent as dharma offerings. By practicing according to the dharma, we can realize enlightenment for ourselves and others, accumulating immeasurable merits, far beyond mere worldly virtues. Therefore, external wealth offerings serve as a general method for accumulating merit, while internal wealth offerings and dharma offerings bring joy to the Lama, Buddha, and Protector deities, and naturally move heavenly beings and protectors to sympathize and provide assistance. Participating in the Tsok Practice brings extraordinary merits!The Tibetan female realized master Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal once said, "Performing the Tsok Practice once on the 8th, 10th, or 15th day of the first half of the month or the 25th day of the second half of the month can close the gates to the three lower realms." After performing the Tsok Practice once for those who have fallen into the three lower realms, they will not create new negative karmas. Previous transgressions of the root and/or branch samaya vows and other negative karmas will be eradicated. Therefore, Tsok Practice not only helps practitioners accumulate merit but also serves as an act of repentance. Many tantric scriptures and sadhanas mention, "If there is a transgression of the samaya vows, it is most excellent to repent during the Tsok Practice or empowerment." The sins from transgressing vows will be purified. Therefore, many transgressions in Vajrayana are confessed through the Tsok Practice, making it one of the methods to restore the samaya vows.

 

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The Merits of the Tsok Practice to Dakini

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1.After hearing the words of fortune-tellers or those with supernatural abilities, if one harbors doubts about their own lifespan or various obstacles in life, performing the Tsok Practice can prolong one's life. This is why Tibetans, including spiritual masters and lamas, perform the Tsok Practice when they fall ill.

2.Performing the Tsok Practice can remove obstacles in one's career or relationships.

3.If one is harmed by malicious spells or curses, accumulating immeasurable merits through the Tsok Practice can counteract it.

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4.With the merits accumulated from the Tsok practice, one can counteract the harm caused by land guardian deities or the eight classes of spirits.

5.The merit of performing Tsok Practice once is equivalent to that of making offerings to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. During Tsok Practice, the mandala of the three kayas are invited to the place of practice; through the blessings of the mantras, mudras, and the power of concentration, all offering substances are transformed into nectar. Therefore, the Tsok Practice is not merely a common act of offering but holds very profound meaning.

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6.According to the sadhana of Dakini Tsok: "After performing a Tsok Practice, one will not create new negative karmas and will definitely be reborn in the Pure Land of Sukhavati and the Pureland of Guru Rinpoche." If one adheres to the vows and the stages of Cakrasamvara and Dakini Tsok Practice, one would fully perfect the promised merit accordingly.

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Participating in the Tsok Practice on auspicious days not only receives blessings from the Lama but also instantly accumulates immeasurable merits. It can eliminate self-attachment, afflictions, attain worldly success, dispel demonic forces and obstructions. It is the fastest and most effective method for accumulating merits, removing our karmic hindrances of body, speech, and mind.