Introduction

This CD features a complete recording of Drop of Essential Nectar, the special purification practice associated with thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of Compassion. It includes the practice of taking and keeping the Eight Mahayana Precepts.

This practice of thousand-armed Avalokiteshvara is very powerful for purifying negative karma of body, speech, and mind, and for pacifying strong delusions such as desirous attachment and hatred. It is also a special method for receiving blessings and improving our experience of love, compassion, and bodhichitta. For details of how to perform this practice, please consult the booklet, Drop of Essential Nectar, available from Tharpa Publications.

The practice of taking and keeping the Eight Mahayana Precepts is a special practice of moral discipline that is performed with bodhichitta motivation. The essence of the practice is to take eight precepts and to keep them purely for a period of twenty-four hours. We first need to receive there precepts from a qualified Preceptor, and then we can take them on our own as often as we wish. A complete explanation of this practice can be found in the booklet, A Pure Life, also available from Tharpa Publications.