Ganden
Monastery Incense
Ganden Monastery is
one of the 'great three' Gelugpa university monasteries of
Tibet, located on Wangbur Mountain, Tagtse County,
47 kilometers from Lhasa.
The other two are Sera
Monastery and Drepung
Monastery. Being the furthest from Lhasa of the three university
monasteries, Ganden traditionally had a smaller population with
some 6,000 monks in the early 20th century. However, it was the
original monastery of the Geluk order,
founded by Tsongkhapa himself
in 1409, and traditionally considered to be the seat of Gelug
administrative and political power. The Ganden
Tripa or 'throne-holder of Ganden' is the head of the Gelugpa
school (and not the Dalai
Lama as is widely misunderstood).
Ganden Monastery consisted of two colleges, Jangtse and Shartse,
meaning North Peak and East Peak respectively.
Of
all the great monasteries in Tibet, Ganden suffered most
during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Most of its buildings,
including the Assembly Hall, the Golden Tomb of Tsongkhapa,
the Jiangtse College and the Shartse College were demolished. The
monastery was completely destroyed following the Chinese
invasion of Tibet, and since the 1980s, a small part is being
re-built and in use. Ganden has been re-established on a
much larger scale in Karnataka, India by the Tibetan population
in exile.
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GANDEN GRASS, also
named “Obstacles
Clearing Grass” or called Khenpa in Tibetan, originates
from Ganden Monastery in
Tibet.
It
is believed that Je Tsongkapa, Founder of Gelug Sect,
wanted to eliminate the suffering and sicknesses of all
sentient beings. So he cut and scattered his hair on
the ground. From the hair grew a special type of grass
and it was known as Ganden Grass.
Ganden
Grass’s taste is dry and bitter. It has been used
as a Tibetan Medicinal herb to cure various sicknesses
for many generations. It is good for clearing
obstacles and can be used for putting into |
holy
statues and stupas. Many
sages of all Tibetan Sects praised the distinguished benefits
and uses of this herb.
This
powdered Ganden Grass, harvested from the Ganden Monastery
area, gives off a fresh grassy scent. |
Breathing
in Ganden Khenpa or Lawudo Incense
Advice regarding this practice from Lama Zopa
Rinpoche
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"It
is very beneficial to burn incense from Ganden in Tibet
and very beneficial for the
person with SARS to smell and breathe in this incense deeply.
(The proper name of the
Ganden incense is Ganden Khenpa incense.) Lawudo
incense can also be used in the same
way.
First,
you should first bless the incense by reciting many
malas of Vajrayogini mantra;
from time to time, you can also do a little recitation
of Most Secret Hayagriva mantra. Blow
on the incense and then burn it and breath it in." |
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