Smoke Offering Practice

(Ignite the fire for smoke offering. Start the practice below once the smoke comes out from the burner.)

Start by praying for the root lineage blessing: First empty the mind. Next, visualize the Root Lineage Guru appearing above your crown and radiating light on everyone present. Chant the Root Lineage Guru Heart Mantra 7 times. Pray to the Root Lineage Guru to empower you so that the practice will be auspicious. Visualize your parents, children, relatives, friends, and enemies join you in this practice.

Wake Up Call: Clap twice, then cross hands and snap thumbs and middle fingers.

Recite the Purification Mantras and Earth God Mantra
Recite the Invocation Mantra
Tender the Great Homage with Visualization
Mandala Offering
Fourfold Refuge
Armor Protection
Recite the High King Avalokitesvara Sutra
Recite the Rebirth Mantra (7 times)
Recite the Four Immeasurable Vows:
May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness; this is immeasurable
loving-kindness.
May all beings be liberated from suffering and the causes of suffering; this is immeasurable compassion.
May all beings be free of suffering and always stay happy; this is immeasurable joy.
May all beings be free of grasping and aversion and practice equanimity; this is immeasurable relinquishment.
Mudra and Visualization
Lotus Mudra

Lotus Mudra: First form the “prayer gesture.” At the level of the chest, join the palms of both hands together with fingers meeting and pointing up. Now open the palms so that the hands meet only in three ways: at the very base of the palms, entire thumb to entire thumb, and entire little finger to entire little finger. Spread the other fingers out straight but as widely as possible, so that the gesture represents an eight-petalled flower.
Visualization: First empty the mind.
Chant the Emptiness Mantra:
Om, si-ba-wa, su-da, sa-er-wa, da-er-ma, si-ba-wa, su-do-hang. (3 times)

Seh

(1) Above an expanse of ocean is a stretch of clear sunny sky. A moon disc rises from the ocean into the sky. Inside the moon disc is the white Sanskrit seed syllable 「」”seh,” emitting great white light.

Four-Armed Avalokitesvara

(2) The seed syllable inside the moon disc revolves and transforms into Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.

Blue Hum

(3) Next visualize your heart emitting a brilliant blue light with the blue Sanskrit seed syllable 「」”hum.” It transforms into a hook that hooks the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva to travel through your crown opening to descend down the central channel until reaching and resting on the heart chakra lotus. Snap your fingers once and visualize yourself become the Four-Armed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva.
Recite the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Heart Mantra
Visualization: Hold mala beads in front of the chest and move each bead with the thumb during chanting. Visualize the left hand transform into a vajra bell and the right hand into a vajra scepter. The mother bead or emblem transforms into the Many-Jewels Buddha’s Stupa and the four “divider beads” transform into the Four Heavenly Tutelaries. The tassel transforms into a “lotus hand” while the string threading through the beads transforms into a circle of inherent white light of Vajrasattva. During mantra chanting, when a bead is moved, visualize
Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva appear inside the bead and come to the forefront.
Mantra: Om, mani padme hum. (108 times)
Smoke Offering and Visualization
Recite: Om Ah Hum (21 times)
Lang Yang Kang (21 times)
(“Om” is to transform all the offerings to as vast as the Universe. “Ah” is to purify all the offerings. “Hum” is to empower them with dharma taste. “Lang” is fire or raising fire. “Yang” is wind which will transform into smoke. The wind will blow off the smoke. “Kang” means extending to the whole vast emptiness.)
Garuda Mudra: Form the mudra (see picture below) moving in upward motion. (This represents the smoke soaring and filling up the space.)

Garuda Mudra

Visualization:
Visualize the incense burner’s smoke filling up the space and transforming into five auspicious offerings, auspicious clothing, foods and drinks, utilities, houses, cars, refrigerators, electronics, and all kinds of precious objects filling up the space. All these items appear before you in your visualization.
Dedicate the smoke engendered to ghosts and spirits as well as karmic enemies and creditors who afflict and hinder you. Once they receive these offerings, they will leave you.
Recite: “Om, Ah-bu-la-di, Pu-ba-yeh, so-ha.” After each mantra recitation, snap thumb and middle finger once. (7 times)
Entering Samadhi (optional)
Recite the Principal Deities’ Heart Mantras
Recite the Buddha’s Name (3 times)
Dedication
If offering to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, please recite:
With the five sublime offerings, I sincerely render to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, vajra protectors, dakas, dakinis, and heavenly beings through the smoke offering.
If offering to karmic enemies and creditors, please recite:
With the five sublime offerings, I sincerely render to Incense-Eating God Buduga and retinue, Kinnara and retinue, Five-Knots Incense-Eating God and retinue, Dragon Kings, Dragon Maidens and their retinue, mountain gods, water gods, river gods, ocean gods, and all Bardo beings and suffering beings. May their desires be fulfilled. May all Bardo beings be liberated from fears and suffering. May the Buddha bless me to attain the perfect bliss body and to quickly attain realization. Even if the power is not acquired yet, may the Buddha bless me to be delivered, despite of all obstacles, by the merits of the cultivation. I sincerely practice the supreme Dharma.
Continue with the following:
May the merits of the practice be dedicated to eradicate all hindrances. May all beings in samsara be liberated from the waves of suffering of the Four Great Elements.
May all who uphold the name of Amitabha Buddha
Be born together in the Pure Land of His Western Paradise.
Recompense the Fourfold Generosity from above,
And aiding those who suffer in the Three Paths below.
Upon seeing the Buddha,
May I be liberated from the cycle of birth and death,
And may I develop the qualities of Buddhahood,
And thus free all who suffer.
I, ________ (your name), dedicate the merits of this practice to the Root Lineage Guru.
May the Root Lineage Guru always be healthy, remain in samsara, never enter nirvana, and forever turn the dharma wheel. May everyone be healthy, free of hindrances, strong in cultivation, and may all circumstances become auspicious.
May all supplications be completely fulfilled.
May all hindrances be removed. Wun!
Recite the Hundred Syllable Mantra (3 times)
Tender the Great Homage with Visualization
Recite the Completion Mantra
Om, Bu Lin. (3 times)
Om Mani Padme Hum.

Dismissal: Clap twice, then cross hands and snap thumbs and middle fingers.
End of Practice: May all endeavors be auspicious.
xiu-fa yuan-man, ru-yi ji-xiang.

Note:

Living Buddha Lian-sheng reiterated that the Smoke Offering Sadhana cannot be altered. ”Four-armed Guanyin (Avalokitesvara)” should be the principal deity of the practice. One must not practice the Smoke Offering Sadhana in a cemetary! However, group practice at temples, chapters or cultivation venues is permissible.¹