Kurukulle & Fire Puja

A Liturgy to Kurukulle, She, who is the cause of knowledge and brief explanation on Kurukulle Fire puja
The name Kurukulle or Rigjyedma (rig-byed-ma) in Tibetan means She who is the cause of knowledge, the female Bodhisattva that awakens non-dual awareness holds sway the world on the tip of her arrow, bringing down even the most adamant and mightiest of men. So it was said in the scriptures, one of the three Indrabhutis (universal monarchs) was swooned by Her arresting power of Love & Compassion, the two quintessential qualities that Lord Sakyamuni advocates. Kurukulle appears to have become popular basically because of Her association with the function of subjugation; to bring under ones control the forces or beings that hinder us from spiritual progress and like Tara who protects us from the eight fears; Kurukulle magnetises worldly as well as spiritual attainments. Similarly, Buddhists have also to deal with the practical circumstances of life and society; of monetary securities and physical well-being in pursuit of the ultimate goal of enlightenment. As practitioners, we propitiate Kurukulle to bestow blessings of mundane fulfillment in support of our ultimate goals for supreme enlightenment. In Tibet, Kurukulle was also propiated for the building of new monasteries, when undertaking a new business or enterprise or even when going to court in order to win a law case, and other similar activities, because She can subdue and subjugate demonic and human forces that stand in ones way. She, together with Manjushri and Sarasvati, might even be called upon when a student faces a difficult examination in school.

In the Sakyapa Tradition, the practice of the Bodhisattva Kurukulle is found in a set of very
precious teachings called the Thirteen Golden Dharma (gser chos), peculiar only to the Sakyapa. In this teaching, the Bodhisattva Kurukulle is in a group with two other Bodhisattvas, called the Three Red Ones (mar-po skor gsum). (Mar Por Kor Sum Ritual is regularly performed by our Centres Resident monks for our yearly Vesak Sponsors). This Bodhisattvas practice is also found in the Shri Hevajra
Mahatantraraja, according to the tradition of Lalitavajra, from the Mahasiddha Virupa and the Tibetan translator Drogmi. The Thirteen Golden Dharma is sometimes given at our centre, Sakya Tenphel Ling.

Result and Effect of Kurukulles Fire Puja

There are many meditation practices as well as fire puja related to Kurukulle and by propitiating Kurukulle through fire pujas, one receives the blessings of long life, energy, auspiciousness & immense wealth. And by creating this store of merit, one will eventually win transcendental knowledge in this very life or subsequent lives.

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Kurukulle & Fire Puja

Fire puja is a ritual where food, medicinal & other substances are offered to the deity on a ritual pyre. It

constitutes a branch of the 7 branch practices, which also include Refuge Prayer, Prostration, and Purification and so forth as opposed to the practice of fire pujas during the time of the Lord Buddha
Sakyamuni that was practiced by the Brahmins. The Brahmins exploited lay people by demanding ridiculous amount of monies or sometimes even wives and daughters as payment and justifications for the efficacy of the fire pujas. And thus, out of compassion, the Lord Sakyamuni forbade fire oblations as mentioned in the Brahmajala Sutta, the Large Section on

Morality, "Whereas some ascetics and Brahmins, feeding on the food of the faithful make their living by such base arts, such wrong means of livelihood as palmistry, divining by signs bodymarks, mouse-gnawing, fire-oblations The pure tradition of fire puja nevertheless continued in the secret teachings and was practiced by Masters of the Dharma who possesses enlightened qualities through many generations. In every fire puja ceremony, a qualified lama who has received proper instructions will first begin with meditating upon Emptiness, the inherent nature of all phenomena, followed by purification of all the objects of offerings such as food substances, medicinal roots, etc. Having also purified the ground, the lama will begin with the invocation of the wisdom deity (in this case Kurukulle) as the object of refuge and source for the accumulation of merits. The first and last portion of food substances would be offered to Agni the God of Fire. The main portion of offerings are made to Kurukulle and only for this puja, red flowers are also burnt as offerings. Generally, there are 4 types of fire puja in accordance with the four attainments: Peace, Increase, Magnetise and Pacify. Substances for offering and related colours differ from one puja to another; each fire puja has its own distinctive ingredients/substances used and corresponding colours. For instance white-colored substances are used for Peace pujas, yellow-colored substances for Increase, red-colour to Magnetise, and black-colour for Pacification. Also for each fire puja, a mandala plate for each activity is placed below the pyre, e.g. circle for Peaceful, semi-circle for Increasing, square for Magnetizing and triangle for Wrathful. The Fire Puja of Kurukulle, which comes under the fire puja of Magnetising, draws
longevity, wealth and bala (power) for participants. Therefore this particular puja specially requires red-colored offering substances.

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