Deep Aspiration to Protect the Dharma, May the True Teaching Long Endure — Kongshan Monastery's Inaugural Six-Armed Mahākāla Obstacle-Clearing Puja
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In the height of August, Kongshan Monastery's forests stood lush and full, cooled by a gentle breeze. Inside the wooden Buddha Hall, the sound of chanting filled the air as more than two hundred participants sat upright with palms joined. Outside, white smoke from the smoke offering drifted slowly through the pines and morning light. Heart by heart, a gathering of sincere devotion quietly took shape in this mountain sanctuary.
On August 16, 2026, Kongshan Monastery held its inaugural Six-Armed Mahākāla Obstacle-Clearing Puja. Two hundred and fifteen participants came from across the Eastern United States to together recall the kindness of the Six-Armed Wisdom Protector in guarding the holy teachings, and to pray that obstacles to practice be dispelled, favorable conditions increase, and the pure Dharma long abide in this land for the benefit of all beings.
A Sacred Image — Carrying the Deepest Aspiration to Establish the Teachings
The Six-Armed Wisdom Protector Mahākāla is a principal Dharma protector of the Gelug lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, traditionally understood to be the wrathful emanation of Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion. Compassion does not always appear as warmth and gentleness — it sometimes arises in a fierce and powerful form. Not to frighten beings, but to shatter the obstacles on the path of practice, to safeguard the pure teachings, and to ensure that practitioners can progress steadily toward awakening.
The sacred image of the Six-Armed Mahākāla enshrined at Kongshan Monastery carries a particularly precious story. One year ago, Master Zhenru bestowed upon Kongshan Monastery the very image she had kept by her side and prayed before for many years — expressing her deep wish that this monastery in Upstate New York would be a place where the sangha dwells in stability, the Dharma flourishes in study, and monastics and laypeople practice together in harmony, allowing the precious teachings to take root and continue on North American soil.
Marking the first anniversary of the image's enshrinement, the monastery held its inaugural puja in honor of the Protector. This gathering was both an expression of gratitude for the Protector's kindness, and a call to oneself: beyond praying that the Protector removes external obstacles, to protect the aspiration in one's own heart — the resolve to study the Dharma, and the wish, across all lifetimes, to follow a qualified teacher and uphold the holy teachings.
A White Khatag — One Moment of Reverent Offering
At ten o'clock in the morning, the puja formally commenced. A monastic first introduced the Protector and the Gelug lineage, and the deep meaning behind the teacher's gift of the sacred image to Kongshan Monastery.
The participants then came forward one by one to offer a white khatag.
Each silken scarf was lifted in both hands with reverence; each participant bowed low before the image of the Protector and rested there for a moment. Some made silent aspirations; some knelt with palms joined. As the sound of voices faded within the hall, what remained was a continuous stream of reverence, moving from one heart to the next.
The value of an offering lies not in its size, but in the purity of the mind that makes it.
When we bring our very best intention before the Triple Gem, our teacher, and the Protector, we are practicing — again and again — the movement of the heart away from self-centeredness, and toward gratitude and care for others.
Smoke Rising — May This Goodwill Reach All Beings
After the khatag offering, the group moved outdoors for the smoke offering.
Sunlight filtered down through the leaves. Offerings were placed into the fire; fragrant smoke rose and drifted, carried by the wind through the trees. With sincere hearts, participants made offerings to the Dharma protectors, the local spirits, and all sentient beings, praying for harmony free of discord, stability for the monastery, and the fullness of favorable conditions for practice.
Watching the white smoke rise, it felt as though a single good intention had left one's hands and gradually expanded into the vast open sky.
Buddhist practice has never been only for one's own benefit and happiness. Every offering, every aspiration — if we can open the heart and wish that all sentient beings be free from suffering and find happiness — then even the smallest intention can become the seed of the supreme mind of awakening, bodhicitta.
A Thousand Prostrations — Born of Shared Aspiration
After the smoke offering, the monastic community conducted the Protector puja in accordance with the ritual text, while the lay participants chanted together and engaged in the preliminary practices of prostrations, lamp offerings, incense offerings, water offerings, and circumambulation.
By the end of the day, the assembly had collectively completed: 654 recitations of the Praise to the Protector, 1,637 full prostrations, 213 lamp offerings, 181 incense offerings, 179 water offerings, and 282 circumambulations.
More than sixteen hundred prostrations — this appears as a number, but it was built one bow at a time. More than two hundred lamps — each one offered by a pair of hands, one at a time.
Practice is exactly like this.
No merit is suddenly achieved. No path to awakening allows one to skip past the single thought, the single bow, the single choice in front of us right now. When many people apply themselves together within one monastery, their individual efforts resonate with one another, giving rise to a shared force of practice that is steady and profound.
Joyful Gathering, Mutual Encouragement in the Dharma
The puja was dignified — and it was also warm.
At midday, the assembly enjoyed a vegetarian meal prepared with great care by volunteers and supporters. Friends who walk the same path and had not met in some time greeted one another and exchanged news under the shade of trees and canopies. A monastery draws people back again and again not only for the practice in the hall, but because here one finds a community of people walking in the same direction.
The organizing team had created a large decorative banner featuring the Flame-Blazing Wish-Fulfilling Jewel — flames encircling the precious gem, symbolizing the clearing of obstacles and the fulfillment of wholesome aspirations. Many participants and their families stood before the banner with palms joined to take photographs, preserving the memory of this auspicious Dharma gathering.
In the afternoon, the assembly participated together in the Guru Puja. In the clear and resonant sound of the chanting, everyone recalled once more the profound kindness of their teacher, praying that the teachings long endure, that the lineage be transmitted purely from generation to generation, and that all sentient beings encounter a qualified teacher and find the path that leads from suffering to liberation.
The Deepest Protection Is to Let the Dharma Dwell Within the Heart
One year ago, a sacred image of the Six-Armed Mahākāla — kept for years at the side of the teacher — came to Kongshan Monastery. One year later, 215 participants gathered here together to complete the very first Six-Armed Mahākāla Obstacle-Clearing Puja.
From a single sacred image, to a puja. From a puja, to more than two hundred hearts aspiring together. This is perhaps the arc along which a monastery gradually settles and matures.
Protecting the Dharma is not only about praying for the removal of external obstacles.
The deeper protection is this: in moments of distraction, to hold onto the heart that wishes to hear the Dharma; in moments of retreat, to hold onto the aspiration to practice; in times of ease, not to forget the Triple Gem; in times of difficulty, still to remember the teacher's instructions. To allow the Dharma to exist not only in texts, halls, and rituals — but to truly dwell within one's own body and mind.
As the sun began to set, the white smoke of the offering had long since dissolved into the forest, and the puja drew to its completion. Yet when one lamp is lit, it can light another; and a single aspiration to protect the true Dharma can pass from one person to many.
May the Six-Armed Wisdom Protector unceasingly safeguard the pure teachings and dispel all obstacles to practice.
May the teacher's work of propagating the Dharma and benefiting beings grow ever wider.
May Kongshan Monastery become a pure place of practice where beings accumulate the causes for awakening and deepen their engagement with the three trainings.
May everyone who walks into Kongshan Monastery carry the reverence and aspiration of this day within their heart —
May the Bodhisattva's wishes be fulfilled, accomplishing the benefit of all beings.May all sentient beings be held in the compassionate protection of the Protector.
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