Offering of Sur should be done with prayer and mantra to be effective

The sur is made of roasted barley flour (tsampa), yogurt, butter, milk, sugar, molasses, and honey (the three whites and the three sweets). 

Many Bhutanese offer two types of Sur, Kar Sur and Mar Sur. While Kar Sur is a pure veg Sur, the Mar sur is a non veg Sur. 

The Kar Sur is usually offered in the morning for the well being of all sentient beings and especially to the dead souls  roaming in the state of bardo.

Mar Sur is offered to the protecting  deity   and evening ghosts to protect oneself. It is usually offered in the evening or night and should never be discontinued even a day. If the offering is stopped the spirits than will harm the person seriously and even take his life as they stay near you and totally  dependent on you for food. 

However, if Mar Sur is continuously offered it will protect you from harm and illness.

I offer only Karsur in the morning with recitation of Sur prayer and mantra.

During Sur offering, it is very important to recite prayer and mantra to benefit others. The concise prayer for both Kar Sur and Mar Sur is given below:

1.   Kar Sur

(Ready made Kar Sur)

༄༅། །གསུར་མཆོད་མདོར་བསྡུས།

Brief Sur Offering

by Dudjom Rinpoche

ཨོཾ་ཨཱཿཧཱུྃ།

om ah hung

oṃ āḥ hūṃ

གསུར་མཆོད་འདོད་ཡོན་རྒྱ་མཚོའི་སྤྲིན་ཕུང་འདི། །

sur chö döyön gyatsö trinpung di

This sur offering, billowing clouds of oceanic sensory enjoyments,

དཀོན་མཆོག་རྩ་གསུམ་སྲི་ཞུའི་མགྲོན་ལ་འབུལ། །

könchok tsa sum sishyü drön la bul

I offer to the Three Jewels and Three Roots, the guests invited out of respect.

ཚོགས་རྫོགས་སྒྲིབ་སྦྱང་ཐུགས་རྗེས་བསྐྱབ་ཏུ་གསོལ། །

tsok dzok drib jang tukjé kyab tu sol

Protect me in your compassion, I pray, and cause me to complete the accumulations and purify my obscurations!

དམ་ཅན་ཆོས་སྐྱོང་ཡོན་ཏན་མགྲོན་ལ་འབུལ། །

damchen chökyong yönten drön la bul

I offer to the oath-bound dharma protectors, guests invited on account of their qualities:

མཉེས་ཤིང་ཚིམས་ནས་ཕྱི་ནང་བར་ཆད་སོལ། །

nyé shing tsim né chi nang barché sol

May you be pleased and satisfied and dispel all outer and inner obstacles!

རིགས་དྲུག་སེམས་ཅན་སྙིང་རྗེའི་མགྲོན་ལ་བསྔོ། །

rik druk semchen nyingjé drön la ngo

I offer to the sentient beings of the six classes, guests invited out of compassion:

སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཀུན་བྲལ་ཟག་མེད་བདེ་ཐོབ་ཤོག །

dukngal kündral zakmé dé tob shok

May you be free from all forms of suffering and gain immaculate bliss!

གདོན་བགེགས་ལྷ་འདྲེ་ལན་ཆགས་མགྲོན་ལ་བསྔོ། །

dön gek lha dré lenchak drön la ngo

I dedicate to harmful influences, obstructing forces, gods and spirits, the guests to whom I owe karmic debts:

གནོད་འཚེའི་སེམས་ཞི་ཕན་བདེས་འཚོ་བར་ཤོག །

nö tsé sem shyi pendé tsowar shok

May all violence and malevolence be pacified and may you live happily and beneficially.

འཁོར་འདས་མགྲོན་རིགས་དམིགས་མེད་ཟང་ཐལ་ངང་། །

khordé drön rik mikmé zangtal ngang

In a state of unimpeded openness, beyond any focus on the various guests in saṃsāra or nirvāṇa,

འཁོར་གསུམ་ཡོངས་དག་ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ཀློང་གྲོལ་ཤོག །

khor sum yong dak chöying long drol shok

May we be liberated in the dharmadhātu expanse that is entirely free of the three conceptual spheres.

ཅེས་པའང་འཇིགས་བྲལ་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེས་སོ།།

By Jigdral Yeshe Dorje.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2020.

༄༅། །གསུར་མཆོད་མདོར་བསྡུས།

Brief Sur Offering

by Dudjom Rinpoche

2.   Mar Sur

 

(Ready made Mar Sur)

ཨོཾ་ཨཱཿཧཱུྃ།

om ah hung

oṃ āḥ hūṃ

གསུར་མཆོད་འདོད་ཡོན་རྒྱ་མཚོའི་སྤྲིན་ཕུང་འདི། །

sur chö döyön gyatsö trinpung di

This sur offering, billowing clouds of oceanic sensory enjoyments,

དཀོན་མཆོག་རྩ་གསུམ་སྲི་ཞུའི་མགྲོན་ལ་འབུལ། །

könchok tsa sum sishyü drön la bul

I offer to the Three Jewels and Three Roots, the guests invited out of respect.

ཚོགས་རྫོགས་སྒྲིབ་སྦྱང་ཐུགས་རྗེས་བསྐྱབ་ཏུ་གསོལ། །

tsok dzok drib jang tukjé kyab tu sol

Protect me in your compassion, I pray, and cause me to complete the accumulations and purify my obscurations!

དམ་ཅན་ཆོས་སྐྱོང་ཡོན་ཏན་མགྲོན་ལ་འབུལ། །

damchen chökyong yönten drön la bul

I offer to the oath-bound dharma protectors, guests invited on account of their qualities:

མཉེས་ཤིང་ཚིམས་ནས་ཕྱི་ནང་བར་ཆད་སོལ། །

nyé shing tsim né chi nang barché sol

May you be pleased and satisfied and dispel all outer and inner obstacles!

རིགས་དྲུག་སེམས་ཅན་སྙིང་རྗེའི་མགྲོན་ལ་བསྔོ། །

rik druk semchen nyingjé drön la ngo

I offer to the sentient beings of the six classes, guests invited out of compassion:

སྡུག་བསྔལ་ཀུན་བྲལ་ཟག་མེད་བདེ་ཐོབ་ཤོག །

dukngal kündral zakmé dé tob shok

May you be free from all forms of suffering and gain immaculate bliss!

གདོན་བགེགས་ལྷ་འདྲེ་ལན་ཆགས་མགྲོན་ལ་བསྔོ། །

dön gek lha dré lenchak drön la ngo

I dedicate to harmful influences, obstructing forces, gods and spirits, the guests to whom I owe karmic debts:

གནོད་འཚེའི་སེམས་ཞི་ཕན་བདེས་འཚོ་བར་ཤོག །

nö tsé sem shyi pendé tsowar shok

May all violence and malevolence be pacified and may you live happily and beneficially.

འཁོར་འདས་མགྲོན་རིགས་དམིགས་མེད་ཟང་ཐལ་ངང་། །

khordé drön rik mikmé zangtal ngang

In a state of unimpeded openness, beyond any focus on the various guests in saṃsāra or nirvāṇa,

འཁོར་གསུམ་ཡོངས་དག་ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ཀློང་གྲོལ་ཤོག །

khor sum yong dak chöying long drol shok

May we be liberated in the dharmadhātu expanse that is entirely free of the three conceptual spheres.

ཅེས་པའང་འཇིགས་བྲལ་ཡེ་ཤེས་རྡོ་རྗེས་སོ།།

By Jigdral Yeshe Dorje.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2020.

There’s a story about spirits that illustrates this point which was told by His Holiness the Dalai Lama once.  

"In Tibet there was somebody who could see spirits. His Holiness Trijang Rinpoche who was His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s guru. 

The sur was prepared, but this simple mantra ༄།ན་མཿ སརྦ་ཏ་ཐཱ་ག་ཏ་ཨ་ཝ་ལོ་ཀི་ཏེ། ཨོཾ་སཾ་བྷ་ར་སཾ་བྷ་ར་ཧཱུྃ།། (NAMA SARVA TAHTAGATA AVALOKITE OM SAMBHARA SAMBHARA HUM) had not been chanted yet. 

This  mantra is very simple but unbelievably beneficial. It causess, those beings to receive food like the sky, food like a whole city! It’s amazing what the spirits are able to receive through the power of that mantra. The Buddha gave that mantra out of his great compassion to benefit sentient beings, and it really makes unbelievable difference for them.

His Holiness said that this person could see the beings the spirits there before the mantra had been chanted, and the sur was there but they couldn’t eat. Then, when the mantra was chanted, they could eat. The person even heard the sounds of eating something like “chomp, chomp, chomp!”

Just burning the sur ingredients isn’t enough. Without reciting the mantra, the sur is there but they cannot eat the food. But if you do the actual practice and chant mantra, then it’s so amazing that they are able to eat food vast like clouds in the sky. They receive so much by the power of the mantra, through the Buddha’s kindness.

After having recited that mantra seven times, next you also recite the mantra: OM GANDE KAME GUNA PUJA IDAM KHA KHA KHAHI KHAHI seven times as well, snapping each time you recite it.

In particular, sur offerings nourish those in the bardo, the intermediate state after death. These beings experience hunger and thirst but can be nourished only through their sense of smell. This practice can be done for forty-nine days after someone's death, with emphasis on dedicating the merit of this virtuous activity for the benefit of the deceased.

These days we can get readymade Kar sur and Mar sur. You can purchase and use directly.

The Eight "Parkha" and their good and bad directions

(Click image to enlarge it)

The Eight Directions

There are eight directions. In Bhutanese astrology four directions are categorized as “four good directions” or Zan-shi, while the other falls under “four bad directions” known as Gnen-shi. This direction are checked in Eight Parkha annually and taken heed of the same.

The four good directions

1.    Nam-Men (Sky Healer) 

This is the best one. Good for doctors. The direction where the Sky Healer can be found is the most favorable for healing and medicine. This is the best direction and kind for a house to face, and represents the life-generating force. Often this direction is recommended for the location of the front door, when a new building is being constructed. This very energizing direction indicates prosperity, excellent business opportunities, plus nobility, statesmanship, and respect, in general. It belongs to the element Wood. 

2.    Sog-Tso (Healthy Life) 

This is the next best direction. The direction of Vitality and Health is the second-best, and it is traditional to sleep with one's head pointed in this direction. It is good for healing and generating vitality. Its image is the thunderbolt (Dorje) or Vajra.

This, second-best direction relates to health and safety matters. It bodes well for finding the best teachers and doctors, and all noble and helpful people. It belongs to the element Earth. 

3.    Pal-Key (Generating, Glorious) 

The direction of Generating Wealth is the third best direction, and it is best to buy or obtain things from this direction, if possible. This is the third-best direction and is favorable for longevity, good health, and all kinds of relationships, romantic and otherwise – friends, lovers, co-workers. It also bring public and communication skills. It belongs to the Metal element. 

4.    Cha-Lön (Luck Messenger) 

The direction of the Auspicious Messenger is the fourth best direction (least beneficial of the “good” directions), and it is considered favorable to travel in this direction. This is the fourth and lowest of the best directions and brings stability and calm, as well as a certain amount of luck. It is recommended for areas where studies or meditation take place, and enhances organizational and management skills. 

The four bad directions

1.    Nö-Pa (Evil Spirit) 

The direction of the Evil Spirit is the least bad of the four bad directions. However, this direction should be avoided, under threat of injury and accidents. This is the weakest or least problematical of the four inauspicious forms and refers to loss of money, quarreling, lawsuits, and, in general, obstacles to achieving one's goals. 

2.    Dre-Gna (Five Ghosts) 

The direction of the Five Demons or Five Ghosts is the second worst of the four bad directions, and should be avoided, lest it expose one to various demonic influences. 

This is the second worst of the four inauspicious and refers to loss, the loss of friends, relatives, and also to fire, accidents, and negative influences, in general. This includes backstabbing, betrayal, arguments, and minor accidents.

3.    Dü-Chö (Devil-Cutting) 

The direction of the Devil Cutting is the 3rd worst direction, meaning next to the worst one. It must be avoided under threat of life and limb, and one has to protect one’s life force. This, the next to the worst of the four inauspicious forms refers loss in relationships, bad sexual experiences, and treachery, in general. Also: lawsuits, physical injury, surgery, arguments, and legal problems. The element is Water. 

4.    Lu-Chey (Body Destroying) 

The direction of the Body Destroying is the very worst direction and should be avoided at all costs. It is said to threaten a particular part of the body depending upon the particular Parkha involved. This is the worst of the four inauspicious and is considered to be life threatening, promoting illness, incurable diseases, misfortune, bankruptcy, robbery, and unproductive career, and other fateful occurrences. The element is Metal. 

The Parkha and directions (good and bad) is given below.

Cha-Lön Pal-Key Dre-Gna Pal-Key Cha-Lön Lu-Chey Dre-Gna Lu-Chey Cha-Lön Nam-Men ZON Lu-Chey Sog-Tso LI Dre-Gna Nö-Pa KHON Pal-Key Dü-Chö Sog-Tso Nö-Pa Nö-Pa Nam-Men Dü-Chö Sog-Tso Dü-Chö Nam-Men Nam-Men Sog-Tso Nö-Pa The Eight Directions. Four Good and Four Bad Lu-Chey Dre-Gna Pal-Key Cha-Lön ZEN Dü-Chö Dü-Chö DO Cha-Lön Lu-Chey Pal-Key Dre-Gna Nam-Men Nö-Pa Sog-Tso Dü-Chö Nö-Pa Sog-Tso Sog-Tso Nam-Men Dü-Chö Nö-Pa Dü-Chö Nam-Men Lu-Chey GEN Nam-Men Pal-Key KHAM Nö-Pa Dre-Gna KHEN Sog-Tso Cha-Lön Dre-Gna Pal-Key Dre-Gna Cha-Lön Lu-Chey Pal-Key Lu-Chey Cha-Lön

The Table below indicates eight directions of each Parkha:

SE SOUTH SW SE SOUTH SW SE SOUTH SW EAST ZON WEST EAST LI WEST EAST KHON WEST NE NORTH NW NE NORTH NW NE NORTH NW SE SOUTH SW The Eight Directions. Four Good and Four Bad SE SOUTH SW EAST ZEN WEST EAST DO WEST NE NORTH NW NE NORTH NW SE SOUTH SW SE SOUTH SW SE SOUTH SW EAST GEN WEST EAST KHAM WEST EAST KHEN WEST NE NORTH NW NE NORTH NW NE NORTH NW

This means:

SE	SOUTH	SW
EAST	LI	WEST
NE	NORTH	NW

If your Parkha is “LI” than your good and bad direction this year are as under:

·      Nam-Men:        North

·      Sog-Tso:          East

·      Pal-Key:           SE (South East)

·      Cha-Lön:          South

·      Nö-Pa:             SE (South East)

·      Dre-Gna:          West

·      Dü-Chö:           NW (North West)

·      Lu-Chey:          SW (South West)

So how to check your Parkha. Usually people find little difficult to calculate their Parkha.  I have made your life easier by indicating age in each Parkha trigam. I have given two Parkha table with age group due to the fact the Male Parkha start clockwise from LI and female anticlockwise from Kham. So base o your gender check your Parkha and find out the good and bad directions. Please follow strictly. 

Male Age Group Parkha

ZIN (8,16,24,32,40,48,56, 64,72,80,88) LI (1,9,17,25,33,41,49, 57,65,73,81,89) KHON(2,10,18,26, 34,42,50,58,66,74,82) ZEN (7,15,23,31,39,47, 55,63,71,79,87) PARKHA    (Male age) DO (3,11,19,27,35, 43,51,59,67,75,83) GEN(6,14,22,30,38, 46,54,62,70,78,85) KHAM (5,13,21,29,37, 45,53,61,69,77,85) KHEN (4,12,2,28,36, 44,52,60,68,76,84)

Female Age Group Parkha

ZIN (6,14,22,30,38, 46,54,62,70,78,85) LI (5,13,21,29,37, 45,53,61,69,77,85) KHON(4,12,2,28,36, 44,52,60,68,76,84) ZEN (7,15,23,31,39, 47,55,63,71,79,87) PARKHA (Female age) DO (3,11,19,27,35, 43,51,59,67,75,83) GEN(8,16,24,32,40, 48,56,64,72,80,88) KHAM(1,9,17,25,33, 41,49,57,65,73,81,89) KHEN(2,10,18,26,34, 42,50,58,66,74,82)