Blessing

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Blessing (Skt. adhiṣṭhāna; Tib. བྱིན་བརླབས་, chinlap, Wyl. byin brlabs or byin gyis brlabs) — this term has different meanings according to the different yanas and relies on various outer and inner conditions.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama defines ‘blessing’ as:

The Tibetan word for blessing, chin lap, can be broken into two parts—chin means ’magnificent potential’ and lap means ‘to transform’. So chin lap means ‘transforming into magnificent potential.’ Therefore, blessing refers to the development of virtuous qualities that you did not previously have and the improvement of those good qualities that you have already developed. It also means decreasing the defilements of the mind that obstruct the generation of wholesome qualities. So actual blessing is received when the mind’s virtuous attributes gain strength and its defective characteristics weaken or deteriorate.[1]

In The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, the true meaning of blessing is defined as “a transformation in which your mind transcends into the state of the absolute.”

Subdivisions

  • the blessing of truth (sk. satyādhiṣṭhāna; Wyl. bden pa'i byin rlabs)
  • the blessing of bestowal (sk. dānādhiṣṭhāna; Wyl. gtong ba'i byin rlabs)
  • the blessing of complete pacification (sk. upaśamādhiṣṭhāna; Wyl. nye bar zhi ba'i byin rlabs)
  • the blessing of wisdom (sk. prajñādhiṣṭhāna; Wyl. shes rab kyi byin rlabs)

Oral Teachings Given by Sogyal Rinpoche on the Meaning of Blessings

Alternative Translations

  • inspiration (Berzin)

References

  1. In his commentary on the second part of Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation

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