“Sang gyä chö dang sog kyi chog nam la….” [3x]

“I go for refuge to the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until enlightenment is achieved. In order to accomplish the works for self and others, I’m going to generate bodhichitta.” [3x]

“With wisdom, compassion and perseverance, for the benefit of sentient beings, I abide in the presence of all the buddhas and generate bodhichitta.” [3x]

Next is purifying the place. You can do the meditation according to the translation of the prayer. Visualize that this place is like a pure land of buddha. The practice involves invoking the buddhas and bodhisattvas, so like before inviting a king or some other important person to your house, you clean the place and make it nice. Here, to collect extensive merit, you purify the place and offer to the merit field a place that is like a pure land, without any ugliness, thorns or roughness. The lapis lazuli ground is very soft and very blissful in nature. When you walk on it, after each step it springs back up, like an inner spring mattress.

It is a pure land, full of beauty, where there’s no suffering, and not even the name “suffering.” It is filled with wish-granting trees, which grant everything you wish for. It’s filled with flowers and ponds and so forth. The ponds are beautified by huge utpala flowers, lotuses and many precious, rare flowers, with petals the size of a drum. It is unbelievably beautiful.

The whole of space is filled with blissful scents. There are flower rains. When the wind blows through the trees, you hear Dharma, and even the birds make sounds of Dharma. So, it is all extremely beautiful.

“Tham chä du ni sa zhi dag….”

Next is blessing the offerings. Now, it’s extremely important to remember that this is not only blessing the offerings, but multiplying them. There are numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas, and even if you offer just one stick of incense, one light offering or one water offering, if you chant this mantra, it not only blesses the offerings but multiplies them so that they become numberless. The offerings become like clouds covering the sky, and each of the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas receives clouds of offerings. This is very, very important.

I think already many of you here do recite this mantra, which is extremely good. But if you don’t know this mantra by heart, you must learn it. Even if the actual offering is just one Christmas light, one stick of incense, one tiny flower or one plate of food, if you chant this mantra three times, each of the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas receives skies of offerings, so the merit you collect is just unimaginable.

Even if you are very poor, if you know this practice, you offer one tiny flower and just chant this mantra; each of the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas then receives skies of offerings. You offer one small bowl of water, chant this mantra, and the buddhas and bodhisattvas receive skies of nectar offerings. It’s just unbelievable. The merit you collect is unimaginable.

Now, you need to understand this, so pay attention here. We can remember the kindness of the Buddha and how much compassion he has for us sentient beings. Buddha has so much compassion for sentient beings that he made it unbelievably easy to create the cause of happiness, to create the cause of liberation and enlightenment. You can remember the kindness of Buddha in making our life so unbelievably easy.

In Pile of Flowers Sutra [Metog Tsekpai Do], it talks about offering one grain of rice or one tiny flower to a stupa, but it could be to a statue, a scripture or any other holy object. There is no doubt about offering to an actual living buddha or a visualized buddha, but it also applies to a statue, scripture or stupa, which signifies a buddha’s holy body, holy speech, holy mind. Now, here, pay attention to the benefit of doing this as it is extremely important. The benefit you get from offering one grain of rice or one tiny flower to a statue, stupa or scripture of buddha is that in the future you will experience happiness equal to the happiness you have experienced during beginningless rebirths. So, it’s unimaginable.

That’s the temporary benefit. Now, on top of that, you experience the ultimate happiness of liberation, with cessation of the entire ocean of samsaric suffering and its causes. That means it becomes the cause to achieve every single realization of the five paths to liberation. You even achieve the ultimate, everlasting happiness of liberation from the whole of samsara. That’s an amazing achievement.

Now look at the world. People are unbelievably busy; they work so hard. Apart from the very small number of people who are practicing Dharma and doing other activities with the motivation of renunciation, which actually becomes the cause to achieve liberation, or with the wisdom that realizes emptiness, the rest of the people are working unbelievably hard just for this life, just for this life’s happiness, which is very short: a few years, a few months, a few weeks. They work unbelievably hard for the happiness of this life, which lasts just a few years. Even though it’s very short, they work unbelievably hard for it. Nothing they do becomes a cause to achieve the everlasting happiness of liberation, total cessation of all the oceans of samsaric suffering and its causes. Everything they do becomes only the cause of suffering. They work unbelievably hard for this life’s happiness, but since everything is done with attachment, everything becomes negative karma. Twenty-four hours every day, everything they do becomes negative karma.

Of course, when you think about how sentient beings are doing this and you see how much they are suffering from their ignorance, you can’t stand it. Even though they want happiness, what they are doing is only the cause of the total opposite, suffering, and the cause of the lower realms, as well as the cause of the sufferings they will also experience in the future. When they are born in the human realm in the future, they will have to experience so many problems, the results of those negative actions. So, can you imagine that? Can you stand that? There’s no way you can stand it. It’s just unimaginable. And it’s due to the ignorance not knowing Dharma.

They can achieve all these things, liberation and enlightenment, but they have no idea they can do that. From this, you can understand how unbelievably fortunate we are in this life. It shows how the most important thing in our life is to practice Dharma. There’s nothing else. The most important thing is to make whatever we are doing become Dharma. This applies not only to praying, meditating and studying Dharma, but to eating, walking, sitting, sleeping, working and every other activity.

When you think of even human beings, you see how much they are suffering because of their lack of understanding and practice of Dharma. So, what I am saying here is that this shows how unbelievably important it is for us to learn Dharma. The importance of having met Dharma is inexpressible, when you think of all the rest of the people in the world.

Here, this morning, we got up early—sorry, I didn’t get to come early. Maybe you’re tired and have become sleepy—half samsara, half nirvana. A few minutes of samsara, a few minutes of nirvana. It depends on the mind. Anyway, I’m joking.

Now pay attention here. When you offer one tiny stick of incense, one tiny flower or one grain of rice to a statue, stupa or scripture—not all three, just one—you create the cause to achieve not only the ultimate happiness of liberation from samsara, but, on top of that, full enlightenment. You get enlightenment by offering this one tiny grain of rice or one tiny flower to a statue, stupa or scripture of Buddha. You have to understand that that includes all the five Mahayana paths and ten bhumis. Within that there are so many realizations. It contains everything. It becomes the cause to achieve the whole path. As I mentioned, the buddhas and bodhisattvas have unbelievable qualities, skies of qualities, and you achieve them from that one tiny offering.

It is not only that. When you achieve the skies of qualities of a buddha’s holy body, holy speech and holy mind, you can then do perfect work for sentient beings. It’s unimaginable, and you achieve all this from offering one tiny flower or grain of rice to a statue, stupa or scripture.

So, the benefit doesn’t stop there. You have to understand that after this you liberate the numberless sentient beings in the hell, hungry ghost, animal, human, asura and sura realms. You are able to liberate all the numberless sentient beings in each realm from the oceans of samsaric suffering. You obtain this benefit.

Now, on top of that, you get the benefit of being able to enlighten the numberless hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, human beings, asuras, suras and intermediate state beings. You are able to enlighten all the numberless sentient beings.

It is when you have brought every one of the numberless suffering sentient beings from each realm to full enlightenment that the benefit of having offered one tiny grain of rice or one tiny flower to a statue, stupa or scripture is completed.

Making offerings is not just some sort of custom that somebody made up. The benefit you receive from making offerings is just amazing. So, in your everyday life you also have to remember how essential it is to do the practice of making offerings to the merit field. As well as the actually performed offerings, you also offer visualized offerings. You visualize offerings filling the whole sky and offer them. It is the same when you offer even visualized offerings: you collect unbelievable merit.

In the seven limbs, the second limb is offering, and this is the benefit you get from even a tiny offering.

Listen here, pay attention here. You get so many benefits by even visualizing making offerings. This is shown in the story of King Ashoka, the Indian king who was able to build many monasteries and make extensive offerings of food and other things to the Sangha. King Ashoka built ten million stupas in one day. If you build one stupa, even with rocks, it leads you to enlightenment; it purifies so many eons of negative karma and shortens your stay in samsara. King Ashoka built ten million stupas in one day. Why was King Ashoka born as a wealthy king and able to bring such unbelievable benefit and collect such extensive merit? The cause of all that is a very simple thing. In his previous life, during the time Buddha was in India, he was one of three children playing in the sand one morning when Buddha was coming for alms. The children wanted to make offering to Buddha, but Buddha was very tall. (A measurement is mentioned, but I don’t remember it now.) One child stood up, a second child stood on the shoulders of the first one and the third stood on the second child’s shoulders. The third child then offered a handful of sand grains, by visualizing it all as gold, in Buddha’s begging bowl.

First, offering even sand grains has great benefit. I gave you an idea of this with the offering of one grain of rice or a tiny flower to a statue, stupa or scripture. Now here all the sand grains were visualized as gold. That is why in his next life that child was born as King Ashoka, an unbelievably wealthy king, and not just an ordinary king but a Dharma king, which makes a huge difference. That is why he was able to offer benefit as deep as the ocean to sentient beings. King Ashoka built many monasteries and made offerings of food and other things to the Sangha; he collected unbelievable merit, because the Sangha is a very powerful object, as I mentioned the other day. He also built ten million stupas in one day. So, all that happened because in the life before that, during Buddha’s time, he offered a handful of sand grains, visualized as gold, to Buddha and collected the merit of having actually offered that much gold. Even though there was not a single grain of gold there, by visualizing the sand as gold and offering it, that child got the merit of having actually offered that much gold to Buddha. This was something very simple and very easy to do. It wasn’t something involving very extensive offerings. Since karma is expandable, a cause might be something very small, very simple, but the result can be huge.

So, it’s very important to remember this in our daily life. Even a small negative karma or a small good karma can have a huge result. In our daily life, we must always put effort into trying to create even small good karmas and to abandon even small negative karmas. Even a small negative karma can have a huge result.

There is incredible benefit in even visualizing making offerings. You can see this from this example of the child who visualized offering gold and, even though there was not a single grain of gold, got the merit of having actually offered that much gold.

Therefore, you must memorize this Offering Cloud Mantra. It’s very important. Otherwise, if somebody else chants it and you don’t, you don’t get the merit. There are limitless skies of merit, but you don’t get them if you don’t recite the mantra. Otherwise, they can dedicate the merits for you, but you’re zero. It’s very important to memorize at least the basic prayers.

Here, the Offering Cloud Mantra not only blesses the offerings but multiples them to become skies of offerings to each buddha and bodhisattva. You need an unbelievable amount of merit to actualize bodhichitta and unbelievable merit to realize emptiness. You have to know that. To pacify or remove delusions and have realization, to direct your life towards liberation and especially enlightenment, you need so much merit. If you read the life stories of the buddhas, you see how much merit they collected. Guru Shakyamuni Buddha collected merit for three countless great eons. He practiced charity by giving his body to other sentient beings. He purposely took birth as a king many times and used all his wealth to make charity; he made charity of his wife, children and everything else to others. He made charity of even his body, his eyes and limbs, to others. He didn’t do this just one time, but for three countless great eons. Not only that, but he also practiced morality, patience, perseverance, concentration and wisdom, as well as the rest of the ten paramitas.

Therefore, in our daily life we should always keep this in mind and take every opportunity to collect merit. Wherever you are, outside or inside, and whatever you’re doing— walking, eating, doing your job—whenever you find a way to collect merit, you must take the opportunity. You can always find possibilities to collect merit. By knowing all the various ways to collect merit, you can find ways to collect merit all the time in your life. You must attempt to collect merit and to abandon suffering and the cause of suffering.

So, can you imagine how fortunate we are, having met Dharma in this life? It’s something miraculous, something unimaginable.

Here, when we chant this mantra, remember all the offerings you have performed, all the offerings here in the house and upstairs and those at your house or in your garden. You can offer any light or other offerings at your house and the flowers in your garden. When you chant this mantra, the offerings becomes numberless, filling the whole sky, and are offered to each of the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas. This collects unimaginable merit, because buddhas and bodhisattvas are very powerful holy objects, and they are numberless.

So, in regard to powerful objects, as I mentioned some time ago, the most powerful holy object is the guru, then there are deities, or buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, dakas and dakinis, and Dharma protectors. The highest or most powerful object is the guru, as I already explained the other day, so, whether visualized or actual offerings, you collect the greatest merit by making offering to the guru. Therefore, when you make offerings to the buddhas and bodhisattvas or to your personal deity, always think of the guru and make the offering, so that you then collect the most extensive merit.

In tantric practice, you visualize yourself as the guru-deity, then make offerings to yourself as the guru-deity. In this way with every single offering you collect the most extensive merit. By practicing tantra, you’re able to achieve enlightenment quickly, because you collect unbelievable merit. It’s the quick way to pacify dualistic view.

Don’t think of only the offerings here. When you chant the mantra, think of all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT centers, which you’re allowed to offer. You don’t have to see all the gompas and how the offerings are set up in each center; you don’t have to see whether they are big or small. Just think of all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT centers’ gompas. You can offer them every day at any time. When you do the practice of offering, remember all of those offerings.

You should also remember the offerings at the house where I live in America, in Aptos, California. There are all the flowers outside (though sometimes less than other times) and inside, many thousands of light offerings, many water offerings and tea and food offerings. You can offer all these different offerings at any time. Whenever you do the practice of offering, remember them and offer them.

At the Amitabha Pure Land retreat place in Washington, there are flowers outside to offer. I planted many silk flowers. John, the monk, planted actual flowers, but I planted silk flowers, because you don’t have to water them and they don’t get eaten by the deer. Many deer come there.

So, there are many flowers, many thousands of light offerings, water offerings and tea and food offerings. Every time you make offerings, remember those two places. This is my request to you. They are offered by the Sangha, mostly by nuns and sometimes by monks, and sometimes by a lay person. Here I’m mentioning that what you can do is offer them at any time.

You mightn’t have much space or much time to make offerings at your own place. You should make offerings at your home, even if it’s only seven water bowls. It’s good to use whatever space you have and whatever time you can spend to make offerings. Other than that, you can offer the extensive offerings that are set up especially in these two places. I have been making this request and introducing the idea to others, whether or not they’re FPMT students. Anybody can make the offerings. It’s a great thing to do. From making one offering, even of one tiny flower, to buddha or to the guru, that person gets incredible benefit. It is also the same with offering one tiny light, and there are now so many lights.

You can also offer all the extensive offerings in all the FPMT centers’ gompas, especially if you don’t have time to make offerings yourself.

Now, when you chant the mantra, think of all those offerings. Each offering then becomes numberless and is offered to each buddha and bodhisattva.

It’s very important to memorize prayers, at least the basic ones.

“Lha dang mi yi chhö päi dzä…”

[The group recites the Offering Cloud Mantra three times.]

Just by reciting this mantra and thinking of the offerings, whether visualized or actually performed, by the power of this mantra each buddha and bodhisattva receives skies of offerings. The mantra has that power.

Next is Words of Truth. With this, you have to visualize the whole sky filled with as many offerings as you can visualize: a hundred thousand, a billion, a zillion. The buddhas and bodhisattvas actually receive the number of offerings that you visualize; that number of offerings appears to them.

There’s the normal short version of this prayer, but I do the longer version. Everybody should get a copy of the longer one. You can recite it in your own language; it’s not necessary to recite it in Tibetan.

So, think that the numberless buddhas and bodhisattvas receive the sky filled with various offerings. When you think that and recite this prayer, all those offerings actually appear to them.

[Rinpoche chants Extensive Power of Truth in Tibetan.]

Now it’s the invocation. When you normally take the Eight Mahayana Precepts, you can stand holding a stick of incense from the beginning, with refuge. You hold incense in your hand especially for the invocation, but you can also hold it from the beginning. It makes more offerings.

In India, in the Buddha’s time, there was a woman called Magadha Zangmo, who lived somewhere near Bodhgaya, I think. She was Buddhist and her husband was a Hindu. She wanted to invite Buddha to her home and offer lunch to Buddha and his disciples, so she cleaned the house and made the lunch to offer Buddha and his disciples. Her husband said that Buddha wouldn’t come, but she said, “Buddha is coming,” and made everything ready.

Magadha Zangmo then stood outside holding incense in her hand and recited this prayer, “Ma lü sem chän kün gyi…nä dir sheg su söl.” All the disciples came first, each arhat radiant and riding on a different animal. With each one, her husband said, “Is this Buddha?” and she said, “No.” Another disciple would come; he would ask, “Is this Buddha?” and she would say, “No.” All the disciples came first, and Buddha was the last one to come. Magadha Zangmo then made offering to Buddha. So, this invocation comes from Magadha Zangmo.

So, you should know that numberless buddhas are looking at you. They are seeing that you are now making offerings to them (or whatever you are doing). They are seeing you all the time; they are right in front of you all the time. It’s just that at the moment we don’t have karma to see and receive guidance directly from them. But after you actualize renunciation and bodhichitta, you enter the path of merit, the first of the five paths to enlightenment, which has three divisions: small, middle and great. When you achieve the great path of merit, you see numberless buddhas in nirmanakaya aspect. Of course, when you then achieve the path of seeing, you achieve everything; you see all the buddhas in sambhogakaya aspect. And when you achieve enlightenment, you then become one with all the buddhas. Mentally, you become one with all the numberless buddhas. So, you should know that. You become one with all the buddhas, and you also become the guru. It’s the same. So, that is the ultimate guru. The ultimate guru is all the buddhas’ wisdom, the dharmakaya. At that time your mind becomes all the buddhas’ holy mind, dharmakaya, and that is how you become the guru. There are the absolute, or ultimate, guru and the conventional guru.

Here, the meditation is to think of all those offerings that I mentioned. You can also visualize the whole sky filled with various offerings. You then offer everything to the merit field. When taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts, if there’s an actual lama present, from your side you think that lama is oneness with the Buddha. It’s not saying that I’m Buddha, but this is the meditation practice. Think that lama is all the buddhas or numberless buddhas, numberless Dharma, numberless Sangha. Think that he is everything, then make the offerings.

Even if there’s no actual guru and you’re taking the precepts from a visualized guru, think that guru is all the gurus, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Think that guru is everything, then make the offerings to that guru. Or you can think that guru is in the aspect of Guru Shakyamuni Buddha, but the essence the same. With that meditation, with that guru yoga mind, you then make offerings. This is the meditation on the merit field to whom you are making offerings here at this time.

It’s very important when you make offerings to think that the nature of all the offerings is great bliss, and that when you make offering of them, infinite bliss is generated in the holy minds of the merit field. That’s very important. The meaning of puja, or offering, is pleasing the holy mind. So, think that great bliss is generated in their holy minds.

Now the invocation.

“Ma lü sem chän…dir sheg su söl.”

Next, the seven limbs. When you look in your text, you see that first there is prostration. You put your palms together like this at your heart and then visualize numberless replicas of your body, either in the form of your ordinary human body or of a deity if you have received a great initiation (Thousand-arm Chenrezig, for example, or another deity) doing prostration. The bodies are as tall as a mountain and completely cover the whole ground in the cardinal and intermediate directions as they lie down in prostration.

If you have visualized one hundred thousand bodies doing prostrations, in reality you have done one hundred thousand prostrations. It depends on how many bodies you can visualize. This is Lama Tsongkhapa’s special technique. Even one prostration becomes a means to collect extensive merit, to collect numberless causes of enlightenment, liberation from samsara and the happiness of future lives. The many bodies you have visualized cover the whole ground. This visualization is the same whether you are actually doing prostrations or sitting with your hands in prostration.

The next limb is offering, and I have already explained how you offer all the offerings, starting from those here.

Next is confession. You think that you are confessing individually all the negative karmas collected in all your lives and that all the various negative karmas collected not only in this life but during beginningless rebirths are completely purified.

We’ll do those three limbs. Think that numberless bodies lie down in prostration to the merit field, covering the whole ground in the four cardinal and intermediate directions.

“Go sum gü päi go nä chhag tshäl lo
Ngö sham yi trül chhö trin ma lü bül
Thog me nä sag dig tung tham chä shag”

Feel totally happy, totally free. Think that everything, all the negative karmas and all the defilements, is completely gone, completely purified. Your mental continuum has become completely clean, completely pure.

Next is rejoicing. I’m not going to say much here. Just feel great happiness about all the past merits you have collected during beginningless rebirths, those you are collecting now and the merits you will collect in the future. Think, “How wonderful it is!” Without merit, there is no success, no happiness at all. Since without merit there is nothing you can do, merit is very precious.

Think how unbelievably precious the merit is that you have collected during beginningless rebirths, are collecting now and will be collecting in the future. Each time feel happiness in your heart and think, “How happy I am!” or “How wonderful it is!” Repeat this over and over, counting the repetitions. This is how you rejoice.

After that, rejoice in all the merits of the three times collected by all sentient beings, which includes the bodhisattvas. Since this is the source of all their happiness up to enlightenment, think, “How wonderful it is! How wonderful it is!”

After that, think of the buddhas and rejoice in all their merits of the three times.

Now meditate on this.

[There is a long pause for meditation.]

Next is requesting the gurus and the buddhas who are in nirmanakaya aspect to have stable life. You visualize a golden throne with a double vajra in front, supported by eight snow lions, two on each of the four sides, which signify the qualities of a buddha. Visualize that you’re holding the golden throne in your hand, and after you have made the request, it then absorbs to the throne of the merit field. Think that the merit field happily accepted your request in silence.

Next is requesting to turn the Dharma wheel. Here you visualize numberless replicas of yourself, each one offering a radiant, thousand-spoked golden dharmachakra. By offering in this way, you collect unbelievable merit.

The last one is dedication. You can think, “Due to all the past, present and future merits collected by me and by others, may I achieve enlightenment for sentient beings.” You can do the dedication by sealing it with emptiness.

“Khor wa ma tong bar du leg zhug nä
Dro la chhö kyi khor l kor wa dang
Dag zhän ge nam jang chhub chhen por ngo”

Then, offer a short mandala.

[The group offers a short mandala.]

Do three prostrations to the lama, meditating that the lama is Shakyamuni Buddha, as well as to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Prostrate with that guru yoga mind.

[Students make three prostrations.]

You can now sit on a chair or a cushion.

We’ll just generate a very short motivation for taking the Eight Mahayana Precepts.

Think: “At this time, I have received a perfect human body, one that has eighteen precious qualities—the eight freedoms and ten endowments, or richnesses—each one of which is like a wish-fulfilling jewel.”

Actually, each one is more precious than the sky filled with wish-granting jewels, because even if you owned that many wish-granting jewels, that alone couldn’t help to stop your rebirth in the lower realms nor give you a higher rebirth. You can get whatever material possession you wish by praying to a wish-granting jewel, but not those things. A wish-granting jewel doesn’t help you to achieve liberation from samsara and doesn’t help you to achieve enlightenment.

But without a wish-granting jewel or any wealth at all, if you have a perfect human rebirth, with these eighteen precious qualities, you are able to stop rebirth in the lower realms and achieve the happiness of future lives: rebirth in a pure land or as a human or deva and many other things. You are able to have a human body with the seven results to attain the path to liberation and enlightenment. You are also able to achieve a human rebirth with the eight ripened aspects that Lama Tsongkhapa highly recommends so that you can have quick success in attaining the path to liberation and enlightenment. You can also achieve a human rebirth with the four Mahayana Dharma wheels, which means you have all the conditions to practice Dharma, not only sutra but also tantra, and achieve enlightenment quickly. So, you can achieve any of these human rebirths or be born in a pure land and become enlightened there. If you practice Dharma with this body that has these eighteen qualities, you can achieve liberation from samsara, and on top of that you can achieve enlightenment, so that you can then liberate the numberless sentient beings and bring them to enlightenment.

So, the benefit you get from each freedom and each richness is all this happiness: the happiness of future lives, liberation from samsara and full enlightenment, and you are then able to liberate and enlighten all sentient beings. This is what you get from each freedom and each richness you have. There are eight freedoms and ten richnesses, and each one is much more precious than the whole sky filled with a trillion or a zillion dollars, gold, diamonds or even wish-granting jewels. The value of all those is nothing compared to the value of each freedom and each richness that you have. Each one is unbelievably precious.