Recite OM MANI PADME HUM for the bird. The thing is that the bird has to eat insects to survive. Just being able to give food as charity is good, by thinking of it as Dharma practice, as part of Six-session Guru Yoga, the practice of charity and loving kindness, but that’s not enough.
The bird is in the lower realms; we are in the upper realms and can free the bird from the oceans of samsaric suffering and bring it to the peerless happiness of enlightenment. This is what it needs. Therefore recite OM MANI PADME HUM when you give food to the bird. Hearing the mantra has skies of benefit. It purifies the negative karma accumulated during beginningless rebirths and collects extensive merit. It enables one to generate compassion for sentient beings and plants much seed of enlightenment.
Also recite the Maitreya Buddha mantra. The monks should recite it by heart. Recite the mantra loudly so that the birds can hear it.
Also recite OM PADMO USHNISHA VIMALE HUM PHAT which brings strong purification; Medicine Buddha mantra; at least the short Namgyalma mantra, OM BHRUM SVAHA / OM AMRITA AYUR DADAI SVAHA; Kunrig mantra; and Stainless Pinnacle mantra. At least this much you should say.1
Generally for animals, you should recite the Medicine Buddha mantra. Of course, the first is OM MANI PADME HUM.
Hearing those mantras stops rebirth in the lower realms. By hearing the eight Medicine Buddhas mantra,2 the animal doesn’t get born as an evil person. Medicine Buddha also benefits to not be born in the lower realms and to get a higher rebirth. If possible, the animal should have a perfect human rebirth and receive Mahayana teachings from a perfectly qualified guru. You can pray like that. Then by correctly devoting to the virtuous friend, they achieve enlightenment.
At least recite OM MANI PADME HUM. Even you don’t know any other mantra, you can recite this for any animal.
Like this, you can recite for dogs, then by the way, people hear the mantra. Non-believers love their animals, so you are benefiting them by the way, even though from the outside it looks like you are only benefiting the dog.
By hearing the Maitreya Buddha mantra, when Maitreya Buddha descends, they can become disciples of Maitreya Buddha and receive teachings and prediction of enlightenment at that time, so there’s great benefit.
Those who have met Tibetan Mahayana Buddhism, tantra, the quick way to achieve enlightenment, must know of these things.
Life is not boring. The monk’s life is not boring. Tibetan Buddhism is not boring.
It looks like becoming a monk is for food, so that you don’t have to work and you have food from people’s offerings, but it’s not like that. It’s a very beneficial life. When you work and then get food, [and think that] is better than becoming a monk and you are living life only to get food—that, of course, is a very boring life.
So you must recite these mantras; it’s a great opportunity. Usually the bird comes at the exact time at the beginning of the preta charity, to eat the bread. But my time changes, so sometimes the bird is there and sometimes not there.
Notes
1 For these and other mantras, see Ten Powerful Mantras for the Time of Death, in the FPMT Catalogue. [Return to text]
2 Includes the seven Medicine Buddhas and Shakyamuni Buddha. [Return to text]
