Offerings and prayers to be made in front of each of the various deities in the extensive offering room at Aptos house:

Recite: “The numberless hell realm beings, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"The numberless hungry ghosts, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"The numberless animals, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"The numberless human beings, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"The numberless asuras, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"The numberless suras, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"The numberless intermediate state beings, from whom I have received all my past, present and future happiness: I must free them from all their suffering and causes and lead them to enlightenment by myself alone.

"I must bring every single one of them to enlightenment as quickly as possible. Therefore I must achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible. Therefore I am going to make extensive offerings, collect extensive merit and purify all the obscurations and defilements from beginningless time until now.”

Prostrate with two palms together and make offerings. If you have received the great initiation of lower or highest tantra, meditate on your personal deity by purifying yourself in emptiness and generating as the deity.

The incense is purified in emptiness, it is empty. Experience great bliss. That wisdom seeing emptiness experiences great bliss, non-dual with emptiness. Great bliss, but understanding the incense is totally empty—there is not the slightest atom of that existing from its own side. There’s no separation between wisdom-bliss and emptiness, non-dual, Dharmakaya manifested in emptiness, filling the whole sky. Great bliss, experience bliss, great bliss.

Meditate on guru yoga

Recite: “In order to save me from the unimaginable sufferings of the entire samsara—particularly the lower realm suffering, which is most unbearable and also the general suffering of samsara—and not only to liberate me from samsara but even from lower nirvana, from those dangers of samsara and nirvana, and to bring me to enlightenment, my kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, manifested as tsa-tsas, pictures of buddhas, statues, various forms of prayer wheels and various other holy objects, to benefit me. He manifested as all these things out of compassion, to liberate me from all those sufferings, even lower nirvana, and bring me to enlightenment. So with the mindfulness that every single holy object, every single tsa-tsa, every single picture, the various forms, are in essence my kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with this awareness I prostrate.” Holding the two palms together makes prostration.

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

There are four things here, actually. First is guru yoga, that this Guru manifested in this form for me, to benefit me, to save me.

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”
[Can be repeated many times in front of each deity.]

Medicine Buddha

"My Guru is in the form of Medicine Buddha. May I be able, Guru Medicine Buddha, to instantly liberate all sentient beings from all the causes of suffering, not only of the lower realms but even the general sufferings of samsara. May I save them from the danger of falling into lower nirvana (nirvana of the lesser vehicle path) and cause them all happiness, up to enlightenment. May I instantly be able to fulfill the wishes and happiness of all sentient beings.”

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

Chenrezig 

“My kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, manifested in this form also for my benefit. May I become only like you, the glorified Chenrezig, Compassionate-eyed Looking One. May I be like your vajra holy body, like your holy entourage, like your life-span, like your holy name, able to save beings from the lower realms. Just remembering or hearing your name immediately saves from the most unbearable suffering of the lower realms, and plants seeds of realizations and of enlightenment. It also liberates from the oceans of samsaric suffering, the continuum of which has no beginning. Then it ceases even the subtle defilements and brings sentient beings to enlightenment.

"May I become only like you, in all my lifetimes. May all those who have connection with me also become like that—my family, those who are doing service for me (this part is left according to one’s own situation), anyone who has any connection to me, helping or harming; all the benefactors; and those giving their lives to the organization, serving sentient beings and the teachings of Buddha.

“By my having praised Chenrezig and made requests, wherever those sentient beings are—in whichever universe, world, country, area, place or house—may all their negative karma immediately get purified. May they never get reborn in the lower realms and may they be free from spirit harms and spirit possession. May they be able to find faith in the evolution of karma, and able to generate loving kindness, compassion and bodhicitta in their hearts. May they live their lives only benefiting others, not giving the slightest harm.

“May all their actions be done with bodhicitta and become only causes of enlightenment. Whatever they do, with bodhicitta they collect extensive merits, so they have perfect enjoyment, peace and happiness, free from quarrels, fighting, sickness, wars, famines, torture and poverty, all the undesirable things. Then they actualize the path and achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

"May they have prosperity of Dharma, spiritual understanding and realizations. May all their virtuous wishes for happiness and spiritual aspirations be free from obstacles, and succeed.”

Then think that one’s own kind root Guru, in the aspect of Chenrezig happily accepted this request. With guru-yoga mind think, “My kind root Guru manifested in this form for me, for my benefit, to bring me to enlightenment."

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE GREAT BLISS.”

Manjushri

“My kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, manifested as Manjushri in this thangka, this painting, for me, particularly to grant wisdom.”

Then make this request: “May the wisdoms of listening, reflecting and meditation increase within me. May the wisdom of explaining Dharma, writing and debating be fully developed. Please grant general and sublime realizations. May I quickly become like you. May the transcendental wisdom of great bliss arise within me. Please cut the stains of the hallucinating mind grasping at true existence. Please cut the two-pointed mind of doubt. Please grant me blessings quickly to become like you."

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE GREAT BLISS.”

“Kind root guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Manjushri, may I able to illuminate the mental continuum of all sentient beings. May I be able to grant instantly the illumination of wisdom that dispels the darkness of ignorance and wrong concepts. May I be able to do this from now on, in all lifetimes.”

With guru-yoga mind, thinking that one’s own kind root Guru is manifest in this form, Manjushri:

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

The Sixteen Arhats

They are called arhats but actually they are enlightened beings, they are not ordinary arhats. They were asked by Buddha to be Buddha’s regents in this world, to protect Buddha’s teachings and to help practitioners. There are about nine benefits of praying to and worshiping the sixteen arhats. It helps to increase sangha and helps sangha to live in pure vows. It causes a long life, and sicknesses get healed; praying and worshiping the arhats becomes healing. It causes one to receive conditions such as prosperity to practice Dharma, as well as the material necessities to benefit sentient beings, whatever they need, and to benefit the teachings of Buddha.

So think: “Also my kind root Guru, His Holiness, manifested in this form for me, for my benefit.”

With two palms together repeat:

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

Now the prayer: “May I be like you sixteen arhats, in all lifetimes able to protect the Buddhadharma and give all the help for Dharma practitioners, as you do.”

The Gurus 

Gurus collect the most extensive merit, as normally mentioned. Each Guru is all the Gurus, all the Buddhas, all the Dharma, all the Sangha, all the statues, stupas, scriptures—all the holy objects. So,

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS WITHIN THEM.”

This way you have made prostration and offered incense to every single holy object, to all the Buddhas, Dharma, Sangha and all the holy objects of the ten directions. It is already done.

The three aspects of Buddha

The essence of all the buddhas' compassion manifested in one aspect called Chenrezig, Compassionate-Eyed One. All the buddhas’ wisdom is embodied in one form, called Manjushri. All the buddhas’ power manifested into one aspect, called Vajrapani, to grant us perfect power. Chenrezig particularly grants us realization of compassion, Manjushri grants wisdom. And one’s own kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, also manifested in these.

“I PROSTRATE TO THEM, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

Now make the prayer: “May I able to achieve perfect compassion, understanding and power—the essence of all buddhas’ qualities. Then may I bring numberless sentient beings into the enlightenment of the three types of Buddha—Chenrezig, Manjushri and Vajrapani—as quickly as possible.”

Merit Field

“This merit field is the manifestation of my kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Every single merit field and every picture is the Guru."

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

Amitabha

“My kind root Guru manifested as this thangka for my benefit."

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE GREAT BLISS."

"May I be able to bring all the numberless sentient beings to Amitabha’s pure land instantly, so that they may achieve enlightenment quickly. May I, my family members and every sentient being who has a connection with me, whether harmful or helpful, at the time of death be born in Amitabha’s pure land, without any obstacle. May all those who praise or criticize me, help or harm me, who are called friend or enemy, easily be born in Amitabha’s pure land at the time of death, without any difficulties.”

Thirty-five Buddhas

“I do not have the karma and my mind is so obscured that I cannot see the Thirty-five Buddhas in their buddha aspect. Therefore, my kind root Guru manifested in this picture of the Thirty-five Buddhas. Fortunately at this time I have the karma to see them in the form of a picture.”

While thinking this, prostrate, offer incense and generate infinite great bliss.

“I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE GREAT BLISS.”

“May all my negative karma, collected from beginningless rebirths up to now, instantly be purified without delaying even a second, as well as all the obstacles to achieve liberation and enlightenment. May I from now, in all future lifetimes, be able to benefit sentient beings. May I be able to purify all the sentient beings’ defilements and negative karma collected from beginningless rebirths up to now, instantly, without delaying even a second.”

Ganapati 

“Ganapati is in essence Chenrezig, who manifested in this aspect to relieve the poverty of sentient beings. May I be able to obtain wealth and be able to eliminate all sentient beings’ poverty of Dharma, and poverty of the means of living, the enjoyments, immediately.

"My kind root Guru manifested in this aspect.

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

Ksitigarbha 

“My own kind root Guru manifested in the form of various buddha-deities, but at the moment I am so obscured I cannot see them. Therefore, my root Guru, so skilful, so compassionate and so wise, manifested into tsa-tsas of various deities. Fortunately, at this time I have the karma at least to perceive the form of holy objects in tsa-tsas, as well as statues and pictures. They are my own kind root guru and therefore:

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS.”

Ksitigarbha is in essence the kind root Guru.

“Like the bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, may I be able to fulfill the wishes and happiness of all sentient beings, and eliminate all their sufferings.”

Tara 

“As my mind is so obscured I cannot see Arya Tara directly, but fortunately I am able at least to see pictures of Tara. So my kind root Guru, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, manifested in this picture of Tara. In reality it is the Guru.

"I PROSTRATE, OFFER INCENSE AND GENERATE INFINITE BLISS."

Final Dedication

“May I be able to actualize the whole path from guru devotion, the three principles of the path and the two stages, in this very lifetime. May all the [FPMT or one's special] projects be completed as quickly as possible and all His Holiness’s wishes be accomplished. May all the funding be received to be able to construct the 500-foot Maitreya Buddha statue, to abide in this world to offer the most benefit for all sentient beings. May it be the cause for all sentient beings to purify their negative karma and collect extensive merit. In this way may they transform their lives into the path and generate all the realizations of the path to enlightenment. May it cause them to achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible.

“May all the funding be received without delay to build monasteries to educate sangha in all parts of the world. May all the funding be received without delay to build holy objects in the different parts of the world. These holy objects make it so easy for sentient beings to purify their negative karma and collect extensive merit, giving them the opportunity easily to generate realizations and attain enlightenment. May all the funding be received without delay to develop social services throughout the world, to repay any debts and for all the projects to succeed."