Bodhgaya Teachings: 2006 (Audio and Unedited Transcript)

By Kyabje Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India 2006 (Archive #1588)

Days 1-3 of teachings given at Root Institute, Bodhgaya, India, December 26-31, 2006. Included are a Maitreya Buddha puja, teachings and meditations on Maitreya, and oral transmissions of the Maitreya mantra, Maitreya prayer and King of Prayers.

Click on the audio links to listen to that portion of the teaching and read along with the unedited transcript. You can listen to Days 4-6 here.

Day One: Maitreya Buddha Puja Part E

So, we do the blessing the vase.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

So nectar beams emitted from Maitreya, from all the merit field, innumerable number of nectar beams emitted in the vase water and blessed. So we recite the mantra and then with that meditation.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

So the offering the four parts of torma. Yeah. It comes down below. I don’t know what page.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

Second torma, first torma is offered to Maitreya Buddha with the surrounding, with all the entourage. Now the next torma is offered to the Dharma protectors.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

The third torma then is offered to, so first one offered to Maitreya Buddha with entourage, then requesting to grant the sublime, general realizations. Second one offered to the Dharma protectors, to complete the four actions, pacifying, increasing, then controlling and wrathful actions. Then the third torma is offered to the landlord, to the father and sentient beings, yeah, that’s right, third torma, by reciting four buddhas’ names, and they have a lot of benefits, incredible power, a lot of benefits for the sentient beings by reciting these four names. Not going to mention this time, otherwise it will take time. So, very important to mention these four names. This comes when you make charity to pretas, this comes when you make torma offering to the landlord, so they get unbelievable skies of enjoyment and liberates from sufferings and it has unbelievable benefits. And those who are attacked by others, they get free from those, being attacked, whether it’s animal or whether it’s spirits, pretas and devas, so by reciting this one particular Buddha’s name which comes at the end. So that’s very useful, if you see somebody, either animals being attacked by another animal, there’s no way you can help then you recite, chant this mantra at the end. Or people attacked by another person that you can’t really help, then you recite that name, the last name, de zhin sheg pa jig pa tham chä dang dräl wa la chhag tshäl lo, so I mean, that’s all what I can say at the moment, the last buddha’s name, you chant that, with total refuge relying on that buddha, chant that name, if somebody’s being attacked somebody, you can’t, there’s nothing you can do or animal being attacked by somebody else, even insects.

So, my experience when I was in Mexico one time, the first time, my first experience of this buddha’s name reciting it works. So I was at the petrol station, the lady who was with the car driving, so she was putting petrol. So then, there was a rabbit came from, rabbit went past, through the road, other side of the road, then the dog or wolf, I’m not sure, followed. Then I thought now this is going to be eaten, so I didn’t know what to do. Then I, fortunately I remembered this buddha’s name, which comes normally those practices, quite often, so then seems the wolf or the dog , anyway, came back, like disappointed, he didn’t get. Very disappointed, came back.

Then the next one is, when I was at Geshe Sopa’s place, taking a course, at the door, the house where I was staying, Geshe-la’s house where I was staying, at the door there was a spider, I think spider caught one, got one, another insect, one fly or some insect, so didn’t know what to do, difficult to help, to separate. So then I suddenly remembered this buddha’s name and chanted, then if it’s true then should work, I thought that. Then the insect, the spider left that insect immediately. I was very surprised.

Then the third one is, I think, where, recently, I’m not sure where, maybe Aptos house or, I don’t remember where. Then, there was another insect taking another insect, I don’t remember now the, maybe it’s ants, maybe probably, then I chanted this one, again it left. Again dropped other insect, so it was quite amazing. So, because you can’t really help, difficult, so then this, so I said if it’s true that this reciting this buddha’s name has that power, then it should work, so that’s what I thought the first time.

Then the three other buddhas they have a lot of benefit, so for the pretas and to generate bodhicitta and many, so anyway, yeah, each of the buddhas’ names has incredible benefit for the sentient beings, to those beings, the landlord or the pretas, many beings. So because they made this prayer, these buddhas made the prayer during, when they were bodhisattva, to benefit, each one to have a particular benefit for sentient beings, so that’s why the name it works, it’s like that.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

Actually these four buddhas is, one is Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, one is Chenrezig, one is Vajrapani, one is Manjushri, these four.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

Dedicate for sentient beings to generate bodhicitta and, to be quickly liberated from all the sufferings, generate bodhicitta, to achieve enlightenment quickly.

Now fourth torma to the landlord, country devas, landlord, and then the particular, devas of the particular place.

[Rinpoche recites NAMAH SARVA TATHAGATA AVALOKITE OM SAMBHARA SAMBHARA HUM to offer torma.]

This mantra has unbelievable power, because Buddha blessed this mantra, so they receive skies of enjoyments. Even your torma is this size, the torma that you offer is this size, but actually because of this mantra they get skies of enjoyment. Your torma offering is this size, so tiny, but if you recite, chant this mantra, they get skies of offerings, skies of enjoyments, so it’s very powerful. This is what the pretas, when you chant this mantra they get like a city, skies of enjoyments, even what you offer is a few rice, a few grains.

[Rinpoche recites NAMAH SARVA TATHAGATA AVALOKITE OM SAMBHARA SAMBHARA HUM to offer torma, then continues Maitreya Puja.]

Requesting them to ?not ?interfere in the teaching of the Buddha and then to give all the support, the necessary conditions, whatever they need to practice Dharma, to benefit others, to help.

So here the counting the offerings.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

So here, all these offerings are offered to Maitreya Buddha, that’s all the guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all the ten-direction holy objects, okay. So when you say [Tibetan] so do that meditation. Then all the, then offer to all the ten-direction guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all the ten-direction statues, stupas, scriptures, thinking of the guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Then [Tibetan] all the negative karmas, general negative karmas, particular negative karmas, broke pratimoksha, bodhisattva, tantric vow, then those heavy negative karmas collected with the guru then from beginningless rebirth up to now were completely purified. Think that.

So according to your capacity, so all these offerings here and as well as, at the Root and all the rest of the organization, all the offerings you can offer, so depending on how much you can think, extensive, so that offer.

[Tibetan] Prostration with the body, speech and mind, so numberless bodies you cover the whole ground with Maitreya Buddha, then other.

Then now here you rejoice, one important practice is rejoicing, that collects limitless skies of merit. So here first rejoice one’s own, your own merit, collected in the past, from beginningless rebirth, and that which is collected now and what will be collected in the future. So feel great happiness. Think, without the merit there’s no happiness. Without merit there’s no happiness at all. So, the merit is so precious, all the merits collected from beginningless rebirth up to now and which will be collected in the future, so rejoice.

[Meditation on rejoicing.]

Now we rejoicing in all the sentient beings’ merits. Not marriage, merits. Might be easily sound marriage, but merits, collected from three, from beginningless rebirth, okay, rejoice, from that, what collected now, what will be collected in the future, so from that that they receive all the happiness, temporary, ultimate happiness, liberation, enlightenment, everything, so how wonderful it is, how precious the merit and how wonderful it is, they get all this.

[Meditation on rejoicing.]

Rejoice all the bodhisattvas, numberless bodhisattvas and their merits, the merits collected in the past, from beginningless rebirth, now, and which will be collected in the future. And they collect these merits, every second they collect, every second, whatever they do, they collect limitless skies of merit and they dedicate all, everything for us, they dedicate everything for you. They, every second whatever they do, they collect limitless skies of merits and they dedicate all the merits for you, for all sentient beings to complete the path, to achieve enlightenment, to do work for you, for all sentient beings, so rejoice all the bodhi-, numberless bodhisattvas all the past merit, future, present, future, all their merits, how wonderful it is, how wonderful it is, so repeat that over and over, feeling happiness each time.

[Meditation on rejoicing.]

Rejoice in buddhas’ merits, all the numberless buddhas’ merits.

So, now conclusion, may I be able to collect all those, all that much merit for the benefit of each sentient being, by myself. By myself alone. [pause]

So offer golden throne decorated with jewels to all the buddhas who are in nirmanakaya aspect, gurus and buddhas nirmanakaya aspect, to abide until samsara ends to abide, to have long life, so numberless of yourself offering the golden throne decorated with jewels, raised up by the eight snow lions with double vajra in front.

Then numberless of yourself, Brahma, Brahma requested Buddha after achieving enlightenment to turn Dharma wheel, so similar way then Brahma, think, holding dharmachakra, thousand spokes, radiating, merit field to turn the Dharma wheel. [pause]

The dog’s doing his prayers. Like tantric college, in that tune.

Okay, so then dedicate the merits. Due to all the three-time merits collected by me, collected by others, may I achieve enlightenment and enlighten all sentient beings.

[Rinpoche chants short mandala.]

Please read the English, after the mandala offering.

After the dedication to pacify the two obscurations in order to achieve the three kayas, so after that, read the English. [pause]

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

Prostrations. Then this part the offering confession, rejoicing, requesting to not pass away sorrowless state, request to turn the Dharma wheel and dedicating the merits. Same. So whether you’re able to follow the words or not, that’s the meditation, the graduate.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

Offer all the offerings here, at the Root, and then all the offerings in FPMT meditation centers and Aptos, Washington. All the offerings, offer, while we’re reciting these words should remember all the offerings and offer.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

May I be able to correctly devote with thought and action, correctly devote to the virtuous friend, who is the originator of all the collections of goodness, devote correctly with thought and action and then train the mind in the path that pleases all the buddhas, and achieve the peerless enlightenment.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

So we should dedicate, what it’s saying here, having collected all these inconceivable merits, then oneself and all, one’s own family members, all the sentient beings, so we already at the beginning I mentioned those, all the sentient beings particularly in this world and all those died in the war and the tsunami and all those heavy circumstances, earthquake, so forth, then those who are dying today, sick, those who are dying today at home and so forth, all those who are sick at home and in hospital, so then those family members who died, so remember everything, so all sentient beings to not be reborn in the lower realms forever and to be born in Tushita pure land. So then, yeah, it’s a quick way to achieve enlightenment. Then, so when you do the first dedication, think, remember all those, then whom you dedicate is all the sentient beings, including those particular beings that I mentioned, people.

Then the next one, to spread Buddhadharma and all the sentient beings to have happiness, so that includes the world peace, you’re praying for world peace, all the sentient beings included here, not only sentient beings in this world but all sentient beings, so includes this world. [Tibetan] so to have happiness, so you should remember that, how important that prayer is, and each time, all the happiness of all sentient beings, particularly this world.

And then all the gurus, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, to have stable life, their holy actions to benefit sentient beings to be developed. And all the sentient beings to purify two defilements and complete the two types of merits and quickly achieve enlightenment, the two kayas, so like that, requesting to grant blessings. So yourself and all sentient beings.

So as we recite the dedication must think of the meaning of that, as we recite the words we must think of the meaning.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

The last one, only the last one today.

[Rinpoche continues the Maitreya Puja.]

Yeah, please dedicate well. Do the English.

This might be, there looks like dedication the lama who composed this, but I think the subject’s good. But still we do recite, so then that’s it.