The power of the fire element to bring about spiritual transformation has been acknowledged in virtually all cultures. The practice of performing fire offering rituals is mentioned in the Bible and the Vedas among other scriptures. It was later incorporated into Buddhist tantric practices as a method to purify or atone for mistakes committed during tantric rituals.

Buddhist fire offering rituals are related to tantric practices and can be performed at the conclusion of a meditational retreat, after the extensive rituals known as drubchen, or independent of any other ritual practice. Fire rituals can be performed in order to achieve the four types of activities: pacifying, increasing, magnetizing, and summoning or drawing in, and destroying. The wrathful or destroying ritual involves extremely wrathful visualizations aimed at the destruction of evil spirits; they can be performed only by accomplished masters with the power to actually dissolve the negative energies into the expanse of reality. If an ordinary practitioner lacking a completely pure motivation and realization of emptiness were to engage in such wrathful rituals, the wrathful energies would harm the practitioner instead of achieving its intended purpose. Therefore, this manual only includes the rituals for pacifying, increasing and magnetizing or hooking evil spirits.

The text translated here was arranged by Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche, the late junior tutor of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, and belongs to the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This PDF explains how to perform the three types of fire offering ceremonies in connection with the mahanuttara practice of the Wish Fulfilling Mother, Cittamani Tara. 

This PDF includes concise instructions with pictures and drawings to guide the practitioner through the required fire puja at the conclusion of the retreat.

177 pages, 2010 edition.