How to Make Offerings and Prayers in Front of
Holy Objects
by Lama Zopa Rinpoche |
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| These
extensive offerings were made at Rinpoche's house in
Aptos, Kachoe Dechen Ling, in November 2005.
Rinpoche gave this explanation while standing in front
of the various holy images, hands in the mudra of praying,
holding incense. Transcribed by Matthew Tenzin and Thubten
Labdron. Lightly edited by Thubten Labdron. |
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 may
they 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."
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