Where there are prostrations, I will just very briefly introduce the different objects of prostration. Because we have to finish one session before lunch, there is not much time. In the evening, when the session finishes quite early, maybe I will talk in more detail on the meditations.

One great yogi¹ said that at the very beginning, you should clean the body and take the ordination. Then the second time you should visualize the merit field. Before visualizing the merit field, you have to transform yourself into Avalokiteshvara, but this is not actually said here in the outline in this quotation.

When you visualize the merit field, Avalokiteshvara is in the center of a big lotus tree. Above are all the lineage lamas, with Thousand-arm Avalokiteshvara in the center. The elaborate merit field of the graduated path to enlightenment is below Avalokiteshvara. All the other deities, all the peaceful aspect buddhas, all the buddhas, all the bodhisattvas, all the dakas and dakinis, and all the protectors are on big lotus petals.

After visualizing the merit field, you invoke the transcendental wisdom, which absorbs into each deity that you have visualized, Avalokiteshvara and the other deities.

You then do prostrations to this merit field, to the central Thousand-arm Avalokiteshvara and all the other buddhas, bodhisattvas, dakas, dakinis, and protectors, and above, the lineage lamas. There is a requesting prayer to the lineage lamas, who have achieved the Avalokiteshvara yoga method.

After that is confessing the negativities, followed by recitation of the mantra to make the moral conduct pure. You purify the moral conduct that has been broken or degenerated and request to be able to keep pure moral conduct. OM AMOGHA SHILA… helps to be able to keep pure moral conduct.

These are the five preparations.

After that, you meditate on becoming, which means you transform yourself into Avalokiteshvara, then recite the essence, which means the mantra. The six meditations and four branches of recitation are all contained in these two outlines.

After that, you accomplish the front transformation, which means visualizing Avalokiteshvara in front. You then recite the long mantra, make offerings and recite the prayers of praise. The very last one is offering the cake. These cakes have not been prepared well. For instance, usually when you make retreat, the central cake is supposed to signify the deity. You bless it as a deity, and by visualizing it as nectar, you make offering of it.

The red cake is to offer to the protectors, and the white one on this side is to make offering to the shi-dag, the landlord spirits. These kinds of spirits are situated in certain areas. For example, this area has its own shi-dag, or spirit, who is situated in this particular area. Like this, different areas have different landlord spirits.

You ask the protectors to help bring success in the retreat and practice of the Avalokiteshvara yoga method and to help prevent hindrances to the retreat and to accomplishing the Avalokiteshvara yoga method. For that reason, you make offering to Avalokiteshvara.

It is similar with the shi-dag, the landlord spirit. In previous times, some of these spirits promised the lineage lamas, those high lamas who have complete freedom, that they would help practitioners of the Avalokiteshvara yoga method. Giving them the offering cake is like giving them a present and asking them for help. We are not taking ultimate refuge in them. We are just taking temporal refuge as we would in an ordinary person like a king or a judge. If you want to get a visa, then you have to pay some baksheesh. If he likes wine or something else, you give him that as a present for his help.

The very last is offering the cakes to Avalokiteshvara, which also goes with the cakes offered to the protectors and the shi-dag.

These are the basic outlines.

There are six activities of the main body, and five actions at the end. They include dedication and asking to have patience, where you say, “Excuse me for reciting mantras incorrectly, not being clean, not keeping the pledges, and missing prayers.”

After that, you offer bath to Avalokiteshvara and the buddhas. There are two different ways of doing this. The whole merit field—Avalokiteshvara, all the lineage lamas, all the deities and all the buddhas, peaceful aspect buddhas, and bodhisattvas, all the dakas and dakinis, and all the protectors—are invoked in a reflection in a mirror. You then offer bath to all of them by transforming goddesses. This is not done because their holy bodies are dirty. It is done to purify the obscurations and negative karmas of you and other sentient beings. It is a very powerful technique to clear out the foggy mind. When you meditate, if your mind is foggy and your meditation not clear, and you could easily fall asleep, offering bath to the buddhas is a powerful method to purify those problems.

The practice that is done in pujas is a substitute for actually washing the guru’s holy body. Offering the bath, washing, and applying perfumes to the holy body is the actual practice. As a substitute, in pujas you normally offer bath to the gurus, buddhas, bodhisattvas, dakas and dakinis, and protectors by visualizing them.

When offering bath, there is a beautiful nectar lake and a radiant, transparent jewel palace, with smooth walls inside. I think I’d better not go into the details. After offering the bath, there is cleaning. After cleaning, you apply perfume. In some practices they put a drop of perfume on the mirror or go like this with a feather or kusha grass. Different lamas have different practices. This means cleaning away pollution and applying perfume to the body.

After that, you offer robes, offering different robes according to the different aspects: lineage lamas, buddhas, protectors, and so forth. You then offer ornaments.

After finishing all this, you then pour a little water outside. The prayer for offering a jewel vase is itself interesting.

I am offering this auspicious vase adorned with jewels
And filled with various essences,
To purify the stains of karma and delusions (of yourself and other sentient beings).
May I be moistened by the water of bodhicitta.

It means purifying the minds of sentient beings of all the stains of karma and delusions and receiving the water of bodhicitta in order to grow all the realizations of the path to enlightenment. You are supposed to visualize purifying sentient beings and receiving bodhicitta.

After you finish offering the bath, you ask Avalokiteshvara and the rest of the merit field, to always remain with the statue, thangka, or other holy object that you have arranged as the object of offering.

If you have invoked all the buddhas in the swimming pool on the mirror, then they fly back to the original visualization.

You then ask them to lead the transcendental wisdom. I don’t remember the exact purpose of that last one. So, there are five actions that are done at the end.

At the moment, I want to emphasize that the first set of prostrations is to Avalokiteshvara and the merit field, the visualization of which I have explained. All the other buddhas are around Avalokiteshvara, with the lineage lamas above. You then make prostrations to the lineage lamas, asking for realization. The second set of prostrations is to the Thirty-five Buddhas, with Avalokiteshvara in front. You visualize beams coming from Avalokiteshvara’s heart, with the Thirty-five Buddhas on them. I think you might have seen the explanation of the visualization of the Thirty-five Buddhas seated on elephant thrones instead of lion thrones. You then make prostrations to them as you repeat the prayer.

After that there is a short confession prayer, where you confess having broken the pratimoksha, or self-liberation, precepts, the bodhisattva precepts, and the Mantrayana precepts.

The very last set of prostrations, which is quite a bit longer than the others, is mainly to Avalokiteshvara and is done with twenty-one recitations of Praise to Avalokiteshvara.

In the lineage lamas, there is one bhikshuni, or fully ordained nun, Gelongma Palmo, who has achieved Avalokiteshvara. So, the way you do the prostrations is by visualizing this gelongma, with her palms together, on your head. This is just like when you ask for realizations in lam-rim meditation. You visualize your root guru on top of your head and your root guru then requests the merit field, “Grant realizations to my disciple, to my son.” It is similar here. You visualize this fully ordained nun on top of your head and she then asks Avalokiteshvara to grant you realizations and always help to guide you. By saying this prayer, you then have to make prostrations. When you make the prostrations, if you are saying the prayer, you should visualize that Gelongma Palmo is also reciting the prayer.

Just to remind you, when you make prostrations you should be generated as Avalokiteshvara, as big as possible. All your numberless previous lives, in the form of Avalokiteshvara fill the whole of space. All sentient beings are also in the form of Avalokiteshvara, and you lead the prostrations. You are the leader, the guide, of all sentient beings. You make the prostrations in this way.

The greater number of your body that you can visualize, the more merit you create. It is said that even if you can’t make prostrations because you are sick or in pain, you can visualize numberless bodies, in the form of Avalokiteshvara, making prostrations. The more bodies you visualize, the more merit you receive.

There are three types of prostrations: body prostration; speech prostration, which is saying the praise; and mind prostration, which is strong devotion to Avalokiteshvara by remembering Avalokiteshvara’s qualities.

While you are making the prostrations, it is also very good, instead of thinking that you are doing them for your happiness, to remember frequently the sufferings of sentient beings. Think, “In order to free them from all their suffering and to enlighten them, I am making this prostration.” That is very effective. It helps you not to feel tired and makes you happy to do these purifying practices.

I think I translated last year the request after the prostrations. It is good to remember this prayer; it’s very effective for the mind.

The great compassionate one, supreme Avalokiteshvara,
And all your entourage, please pay attention to me.

Please quickly release me and all my parents,
The sentient beings of the six realms, from the ocean of samsara.
Please help me and all other sentient beings
To quickly generate in our minds the profound and extensive highest thought of enlightenment.

Please quickly purify all the karmas and disturbing negative thoughts
Collected during beginningless time with your compassionate tears.
And, with your compassionate hand, please lead me
And all transmigratory beings to the blissful realm.

It is as if you have fallen down a cliff and are asking someone above, on the cliff, “Please give me your hand.”  I forgot to say that you should add the words, “I am requesting.”

I am requesting Amitabha Buddha, Infinite Light Buddha, and Avalokiteshvara,
To be virtuous guides in all future lives,
Show perfectly the infallible holy path,
And quickly place me in the state of enlightenment.

It is like a nurse helping to put a sick person on a comfortable bed. That example is a bit strange, but anyway, it’s like that.

“Please lead me quickly to the state of Avalokiteshvara’s enlightenment.” It is very good to recite this request while you are kneeling down, with the visualization of all sentient beings around you.

I think that’s all. In the evening we will talk a little on the meditation.

The water we drink at the end is blessed through meditating that nectar flows from the hands of Avalokiteshvara and yourself as Avalokiteshvara. You drink this nectar three times from your left hand. The first time, think you have purified all the disturbing negative thoughts. The second time, think you have purified the subtle obscurations to the objects of knowledge. The third time, think that you have achieved the dharmakaya of Avalokiteshvara.

At that time you also have to visualize that the front Avalokiteshvara and all the entourage come in front of you. Much nectar flows from the holy body and completely purifies the outside and inside of your body, the negative karmas that have been collected with the three doors, all the obscurations, disease, and spirit harms. Without negative karmas and obscurations, there is no way to experience disease and spirit harms. So, the cause, the negative karmas and obscurations, and also the result, sicknesses and spirit harms, are completely purified. Nothing is left.

You can drink only today. Tomorrow you can’t drink. When the water is given to you, you just put it on your head. You can’t drink it, but the visualization is the same, purifying those two obscurations and achieving dharmakaya.

I think that’s all.

[End of eighth teaching]

Notes  

¹ According to the transcript, the yogi’s name is Jamyang Kachä Puna Shri, however, this may not be correct. [Return to text]