May I become Buddha for the benefit of all my dear mother sentient beings. (x3)
Enthused by great compassion,
You taught the immaculate Dharma
To dispel all perverted views.
To you, the Buddha Gautama, I pay homage. (x3)
Taking Refuge and Generating Bodhicitta
I go for refuge until I am enlightened
To the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha.
By my accumulations of the practice of giving and so forth,
May I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. (x3)
In dependent origination,
There is no ceasing, no arising,
No annihilation, no permanence,
No coming, no going,
No separateness and no sameness.
I prostrate to the consummate Buddha,
The supreme among all teachers,
The one who taught (this) peace,
Which is freed of elaborations.
I prostrate to the mothers of the Hearers, the Bodhisattvas and the Buddhas,
Which, through the knowledge of all, lead Hearers seeking pacification to complete peace,
Which, through the knowledge of paths, causes those helping migrators to achieve the aims of the world,
And through the possession of which, helps Subduers expound a variety of teachings.
The One who has transformed into the Reliable Guide, motivated by altruism to benefit sentient beings,
The Teacher, Sugata, and Protector, to You, I make prostrations.
The One who has eliminated the web of conceptualisations,
And is endowed with the divine bodies of the vast and the profound,
Who eternally shines forth the forever noble light rays,
To you [the Buddha] I make prostrations.
Inspired by wisdom and compassion
Today in the Buddha's presence
I generate the mind of full awakening
For the benefit of all sentient beings.
The Essence of the Dependent Origination Mantra
OM YE DHARMĀ HETU PRABHAVĀ
HETUM TEṢĀM TATHĀGATO HYAVADAT
TEṢĀM CHA YO NIRODHA
EVAM VĀDĪ MAHĀ ŚRAMANA YE SVĀHĀ (x3)
Meaning of the Tendrel Nyingpo Mantra
All phenomena arise from causes,
The causes are taught by the Tathagata,
The cessation of the causes, as well;
Is taught by the Great Seer.
Profound, peaceful, elaboration-free, clear light, and non-composite;
Such is the nectar-like Dharma I have discovered.
Finding no one to fathom this teaching,
In silence I will retire into the woods.
Beyond utterance, thought, and expression is the Perfection of Wisdom;
Which is unborn, unceased and has the nature of space,
It is the object of apprehension of self-realised wisdom;
To you, the mother of the Buddhas of the three times, I pay obeisance.
The Four Seals of Buddha's Teachings
All composite things are impermanent;
All contaminated things are of the nature of suffering;
All phenomena are of the nature of emptiness and selflessness;
Transcending sorrow is peace.
The Guru is the Buddha; the Guru is the Dharma;
Likewise, the Guru is the Sangha;
The Guru is the source of everything wholesome;
I go for refuge in the Guru.
By the sound of the vibrant drum of Dharma,
You liberate all beings of miseries.
I beseech You to kindly remain and give teachings
Until the end of the expanse of billions of aeons.
The Buddha does not wash the negativities of beings;
Nor does He remove their miseries by His hands;
His spiritual realisations are not transferred to them;
It is by teaching the truth of suchness, that beings are liberated.
With folded hands, I beseech the Buddhas
Of all directions
To shine the light of Dharma
For all bewildered in misery's gloom.
If you are attached to this life, you are not a spiritual practitioner;
If you are attached to samsara, you have no renunciation;
If you are attached to your own self-interest, you have no Bodhicitta;
If there is grasping, you do not have the view.
Praise to Shākyamuni Buddha
To the Founder, the Endowed Transcendent Destroyer, the One Gone Beyond, the Foe Destroyer, The Completely Perfected, Fully Awakened Being, Perfect in Knowledge and in Good Conduct, Sugata, Knower of the World, Supreme Guide of human beings to be tamed, Teacher of gods and human beings; to You, the Completely and Fully Awakened One, the Endowed Transcendent Destroyer, the Glorious Conqueror, the Subduer from the Shakya Clan, I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. (x3)
1. When, O Supreme amongst humans, You were born on this earth,
You paced out seven strides,
Then said, "I am supreme in this world."
To You, who were wise then, I prostrate.
2. With pure bodies, form supremely pure;
Wisdom ocean, like a golden mountain;
Fame that blazes in the three worlds,
Winner of the best - Lord, to You - I prostrate.
3. With the supreme signs, face like a spotless moon,
Colour like gold - To You - I prostrate.
Dust-free like You, the three worlds are not.
Incomparable Wise One - to You - I prostrate.
4. The Saviour having great compassion,
The Founder having all understanding,
The Field of Merit with qualities like a vast ocean -
To You - the Tathagata, I prostrate.
5. The purity that frees one from attachment,
The virtue that frees one from the lower realms,
The one path, the sublime pure reality,
To the Dharma that pacifies, I prostrate.
6. Those who are liberated and also show the path to liberation,
The holy field qualified with realisations,
Who are devoted to the moral precepts -
To you, the Sangha, I prostrate.
7. Do not commit any non-virtuous actions,
Perform only perfect virtuous actions,
Subdue your mind thoroughly -
This is the teaching of the Buddha.
8. A star, a visual aberration, a flame of a lamp,
An illusion, a drop of dew, or a bubble,
A dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud -
See conditioned things as such!
9. Through these merits, may sentient beings attain the rank of all seeing,
Subdue the foe of faults,
And be delivered from samsara's ocean,
Perturbed by the waves of ageing, sickness and death.
The Heart Sūtra
The Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra
I prostrate to the Arya Triple Gem.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Buddha was dwelling on Mass of Vultures Mountain in Rajagriha, together with a great community of monks and a great community of Bodhisattvas. At that time, the Buddha was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called Profound Illumination. Also at that time, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara looked upon the very practice of the profound illumination of wisdom and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.
Then, through the power of the Buddha, the Venerable Shariputra said this to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara: "How should any child of the lineage who wishes to practise the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom train?"
He said that and the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara said this to the Venerable Śharadvatiputra: "Shariputra, any son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage who wishes to practise the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom should look upon it like this, correctly and repeatedly beholding those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.
Form is empty.
Emptiness is form.
Emptiness is not other than form.
Form is also not other than emptiness.
In the same way, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty. Shariputra, likewise, all phenomena are empty; without characteristic; unproduced, unceased; stainless, not without stain, not deficient, not fulfilled. Shariputra, therefore, in emptiness, there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no visual form, no sound, no smell, no taste, no object of touch and no phenomenon. There is no eye element and so on up to and including no mind element and no mental consciousness element. There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so on up to and including no ageing and death and no extinction of ageing and death. Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation and path; there is no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment."
"Shariputra, therefore, because there is no attainment, Bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom, the mind without obscuration, and thus without fear. Having completely passed beyond error, they reach the end-point of nirvana. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifestly, completely awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, complete Enlightenment in reliance on the perfection of wisdom.
Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra equal to the unequalled, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, should be known as truth, since it is not false.
The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is declared:
TADYATHĀ OṂ GATE GATE PĀRAGATE PĀRASAMGATE BODHI SVĀHĀ
Shariputra, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like that."
Then the Buddha arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara saying: "Well said, well said, son of the lineage, it is like that. It is like that. One should practise the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated. Even the Tathagatas rejoice."
The Buddha having thus spoken, the Venerable Sharadvatiputra, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara, those surrounding in their entirety, along with the world of gods, humans, asuras and gandharvas were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Buddha.
TADYATHĀ (OṂ) GATE GATE PĀRAGATE PĀRASAMGATE BODHI SVĀHĀ (x7)
By the teachings of the three Supreme Jewels possessing the power of truth,
May inner and outer hindrances be transformed.
May they be dispelled. [Clap hands once.]
May they be non-existent. [Clap hands once.]
May they be pacified. [Clap hands once.]
May all negative forces opposed to the Dharma be completely pacified.
May the host of eighty thousand obstacles be pacified.
May we be separated from problems and conditions harmful to the Dharma.
May all enjoyments be in accord with the Dharma.
May auspiciousness and perfect happiness pervade this place now.
Eight Verses for Training the mind
Geshe Langri Thangpa
1. With a determination to achieve the highest aim
For the benefit of all sentient beings,
Which surpasses even the wish-fulfilling gem,
May I hold them dear at all times.
2. Whenever I interact with someone,
May I view myself as the lowest amongst all,
And, from the very depths of my heart,
Respectfully hold others as superior.
3. In all my deeds, may I probe into my mind,
And as soon as mental and emotional afflictions arise,
As they endanger myself and others,
May I strongly confront them and avert them.
4. When I see beings of unpleasant character,
And those oppressed by strong negativity and suffering,
May I hold them dear - for they are rare to find -
As if I have discovered a jewel treasure!
5. When others, out of jealousy,
Treat me wrongly with abuse, slander and scorn,
May I take upon myself the defeat
And offer to others the victory.
6. When someone whom I have helped
Or in whom I have placed great hopes,
Mistreats me in extremely hurtful ways,
May I regard him still as my precious teacher.
7. In brief, may I offer benefit and joy
To all my mothers, both directly and indirectly,
May I quietly take upon myself
All hurts and pains of my mothers.
8. May all this remain undefiled
By the stains of the eight mundane concerns,
And may I, recognising all things as illusions,
Devoid of clinging, be released from bondage.
Lama Tsongkhapa's Lamrim Dedication Prayer, Verse 1
From my two collections, vast as space, that I have amassed
From working with effort at this practice for a great length of time,
May I become the chief leading Buddha for all those
Whose mind's wisdom eye is blinded by ignorance.
Short Mandala Offering
This ground, anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers,
Adorned with Mount Meru, the four continents, the sun and the moon,
I imagine this as a Buddhafield and offer it;
May all sentient beings enjoy this Pure Land.
The Four Dharmas of Venerable Gampopa
1. May I be blessed that my mind is directed towards the Dharma.
2. May I be blessed that my Dharma practice is on the proper path.
3. May I be blessed that the path is freed of flaws.
4. May I be blessed that the flaws are seen in the light of exalted wisdom.
The Four Dharmas of Venerable Bhikshu Mahasattva
1. Becoming utterly frustrated with the ignorance that grasps at true existence, please bless me to generate genuine renunciation, seeing all aspects of samsara as viciously repulsive.
2. Please bless me that my mindstream overflows with the precious Bodhicitta that cherishes others more than myself.
3. Please bless me to have an immaculate experience of the wisdom of emptiness that does not see even an atom of intrinsic reality, on the basis of understanding how things come into being by dependent origination through mere conditioning.
4. Please bless me that my mindstream overflows with the precious wisdom of the non-duality of bliss and emptiness.
IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYĀMĪ
The foundation of all good qualities
Lama Tsongkhapa
1. The foundation of all good qualities is the kind and perfect pure Guru;
Correct devotion to him is the root of the path.
By clearly seeing this and applying great effort,
Please bless me to rely upon him with great respect.
2. Understanding that the precious freedom of this rebirth is found only once,
Is greatly meaningful and is difficult to find again,
Please bless me to generate the mind that unceasingly,
Day and night, takes its essence.
3. This life is as impermanent as a water bubble;
Remember how quickly it decays and death comes.
After death, just like a shadow follows the body,
The results of virtuous and non-virtuous karmas follow.
4. Finding firm and definite conviction in this,
Please bless me always to be careful,
To abandon even the slightest negativity
And accomplish all virtuous deeds.
5. Samsaric splendours are unsatisfying and unreliable;
Seeking them is the door to all suffering.
Recognising these shortcomings,
Please bless me to generate a strong wish for the bliss of liberation.
6. Led by this pure thought,
Mindfulness, alertness and great caution arise.
The root of the teachings is keeping the pratimoksha vows.
Please bless me to accomplish this essential practice.
7. Just as I have fallen into the sea of samsara,
So have all mother migratory beings.
Please bless me to see this, train in supreme Bodhicitta,
And bear the responsibility of freeing migratory beings.
8. Even if I develop Bodhicitta, but I don't practise the three types of morality,
I will not achieve Enlightenment.
With my clear recognition of this,
Please bless me to practise the Bodhisattva vows with great energy.
9. Once I have pacified distractions to wrong objects
And correctly analysed the meaning of reality,
Please bless me to generate quickly within my mindstream,
The unified path of calm abiding and special insight.
10. Having become a pure vessel by training in the general path,
Please bless me to enter
The holy gateway of the fortunate ones:
The supreme Vajra vehicle.
11. At that time, the basis of accomplishing the two attainments
Is keeping pure vows and samaya.
As I have become firmly convinced of this,
Please bless me to protect these vows and pledges like my life.
12. Then, having realised the importance of the two stages,
The essence of Vajrayana,
By practising with great energy, never giving up the four sessions,
Please bless me to realise the teachings of the holy Guru.
13. Like that, may the Gurus who show the noble path
And the spiritual friends who practise it have long lives.
Please bless me to pacify completely,
All outer and inner hindrances.
14. In all my lives, never separated from perfect Gurus,
May I enjoy the magnificent Dharma.
By completing the qualities of the stages and paths,
May I quickly attain the state of Vajradhara.
Migtsema Mantra
You are Avalokiteshvara, great treasure of non-referential compassion,
And Manjushri, master of flawless wisdom,
As well as Vajrapani, destroyer of hordes of demons without exception,
Tsongkhapa, crown jewel of the sages of the Land of Snows,
Losang Dragpa, at your feet I make prostrations.
I go for refuge to the Triple Gem;
I confess the negativities individually;
I rejoice in the virtues of all the beings;
I hold the precious Buddhahood in my heart. (x3)
Gurus, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, please pay heed to me.
Just as the previous Buddhas
Have generated the mind of Bodhicitta,
And just as they successively dwelt
In the Bodhisattva practices,
Likewise, for the benefit of all sentient beings,
I will generate the mind of Bodhicitta,
And likewise, shall I, too,
Successively train in the Bodhisattva practices. (x3)
The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra
"Dependent arising"
Homage to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas!
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was in the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods, seated on the throne of Indra. With Him were great hearers such as the venerable Asvajit; Bodhisattva Mahasattvas such as noble Maitreya, noble Avalokitesvara and Vajrapani, who were adorned with immeasurable precious qualities; as well as various gods such as the great Brahma, who is the lord of the Saha world, Narayana, the great Isvara, Sakra, who is the chief of the gods, and Pancasikha, who is the king of the gandharvas.
On that occasion, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Avalokitesvara rose from his seat and, having draped his upper robe over one shoulder, knelt down with his right knee on the peak of Mount Meru. His palms together, he then bowed toward the Blessed One and addressed these words to him:
"Blessed One, these gods all really wish to build a stupa. Now that they are present in this entourage, please teach them the Dharma in such a way so that their merit of Brahma will increase, and the merit of the monks, nuns, laymen, and laywomen will increase much more than that of all types of beings in the world of gods, maras, and Brahma, including renunciants and brahmins."
At this, the Blessed One spoke the verses of dependent arising:
OM YE DHARMĀ HETU PRABHAVĀ
HETUM TEṢĀM TATHĀGATO HYAVADAT
TEṢĀM CHA YO NIRODHA
EVAM VĀDĪ MAHĀ ŚRAMANA YE SVĀHĀ
All phenomena arise from causes,
The causes are taught by the Tathagata,
The cessation of the causes, as well;
Is taught by the Great Seer.
"Avalokitesvara, it is like this: This dependent arising is the dharmakaya of all the Buddhas. One who sees dependent arising, sees the Tathagata. Avalokitesvara, if a faithful son or daughter of a noble family builds, in a remote place, a stupa the size of a gooseberry fruit, with a central pillar the size of a needle and a parasol the size of a flower of the bakula tree, and inserts this verse of dependent arising which is the dharmadhatu, he or she will generate the merit of Brahma. When such persons pass on from here and die, they will be reborn in the world of Brahma. When they pass on from there and die, they will be reborn with fortunes equaling those of the gods of the Pure Abodes."
After the Blessed One has spoken these words, the hearers, Bodhisattvas, the whole assembly, and the universe of gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised his teaching.
Dedication prayers
In the land encircled by snow mountains,
You are the source of all happiness and good;
All-powerful Chenrezig Tenzin Gyatso,
Please remain until samsara ends.
Just as the brave Manjushri, and Samantabhadra too,
Realised things as they are,
Also I dedicate all these merits in the best way,
That I may follow their perfect example.
I dedicate all these roots of virtue
With the dedication praised as the best
By all the Buddhas who appeared in the three times,
So that I might perform the noble Bodhisattva's deeds.
Jangchup semchok rinpoche
Ma-khay pa nam khayghur chik
Khyapa nyam-pa may-pa yang
Gong nay gong dhu phelvar shok.
May the supreme Bodhicitta
That has not arisen, arise and grow,
And may that which has arisen not diminish
But increase forever more.
As long as space remains,
As long as sentient beings remain,
Until then, may I too remain
To dispel the miseries of the world.
I dedicate the merit thus gathered,
Towards the realisation of the deeds and the prayers,
Of all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the three times,
And to the upholding of the Dharma of teaching and realisation.
May I, in all lives, through the force of this merit,
Never separate from the four wheels of the Mahayana vehicle,
And accomplish all the stages of the path,
Renunciation, Bodhicitta, perfect view and the two stages.
May sentient beings again and again
Make offerings to all the Buddhas,
And may they constantly be joyful
With the inconceivable bliss of the Buddhas.
With the wish to free all beings,
I shall always go for refuge
To the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha
Until I reach full Enlightenment.
Due to the merits of these virtuous actions,
May I quickly attain the state of a Guru-Buddha
And lead all beings, without exception,
Into that enlightened state.
