Prayers in English

composed by H.E. Kenting Tai Situpa

September 1981, Kagyu Samye Ling, Scotland (tape available)

Refuge and Bodhicitta

In the One who realised the Ultimate Truth,

The only One able to find the true View,

In the perfect Buddha, we take Refuge.

In the way He guides us, the way He went before,

The profound and noble Path, so safe, so sure,

In the vast, deep Dharma we take Refuge.

In our friends in faith on the Path,

our good and wise companions,

whose universal compassion is free of expectation,

In the mighty Sangha, we take Refuge.

In the One who really gives us the opportunity to find

Our true value and whose guidance will free our mind,

In the Triple Refuge as One, our Master, we take Refuge.

May all beings always have happiness and the causes of happiness.

May they all be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May each one never be separate from transcendent, changeless Peace

And always act with understanding of the great impartiality.

Round and round Samsara´s endless circle,

   from sorrow to sorrow our mothers spin;

To help free them to find joy eternal,

   we must use our body, speech and mind

By developing our Buddha-essence,

   using each moment to the full,

Making our human lives meaningful -

Thus we promise to achieve enlightenment. (repeat)

Through anger, beings suffer in hells - may they all be free from suffering.

Through greed, beings suffer as spirits - may they all be free from suffering.

Through stupidity, beings suffer as animals - may they all be free from suffering.

Through jealousy, beings suffer as semi-gods - may they all be free from suffering.

Through desire, beings suffer as humans - may they all be free from suffering.

Through pride, beings suffer as gods - may they all be free from suffering.

Having thus prayed, we dedicate

   all the good and virtue we accumulate.

That, by the universal power of truth,

   everyone everywhere without exception

May be freed from negative karmic fruits -

   such as war and violence, disease, starvation,

Nature´s disasters and the fear of weapons.

   Instead, may they make their lives of use,

Be pure in action and intention, be filled

   with Peace and great Compassion.

Prayer to Arya Maitreya

Fire of great kindness

Blazing, consuming all anger,

Shining, clearing dark ignorance

With brilliant light of wisdom,

Protector of all beings,

Loving them like a mother,

To You the future Buddha

We bow down in great devotion.

OM BUDDHA MAITREYE MEM

Body pure and stainless, speech truth unhesitating,

Mind transcending concept,

Qualities beyond estimation,

Your activity pervading

All things, every situation,

In all ways, ever amazing,

Perfect beyond imagination.

OM BUDDHA MAITREYE MEM

To see You or to touch You,

Think of You or hear of You,

Lifts the weight of suffering,

Refreshes mind and body,

Sows the seed of happiness

For the now and for forever -

Most wondrous of all beings

We praise in admiration.

OM BUDDHA MAITREYE MEM

Governed by our wanting,

Slave of our rejecting,

The clear vision of our wisdom-eye

Becomes distorted and deluded:

Loving kind Maitreya

Please show us and all beings

What to practice and abandon

On the path of no-confusion.

OM BUDDHA MAITREYE MEM

May we and infinite beings,

Be filled with love and compassion

And work to benefit others -

Through this may we never

Be separated from You,

Be amongst those who are close to You

At the time of Your Enlightenment

And achieve Your realisation.

OM BUDDHA MAITREYE MEM

Prayer to Arya Manjushri

With sun-like intelligence,

   profound, powerful and bright,

You illuminate all things possible in space´s infinity,

Dispelling the darkness of beings´ ignorance

   with Your light -

I pay homage to Your great brilliance,

   noble Manjushri.

Your smooth nature is free

   from harsh negativity

And radiates the finest wonders

   of both Peace and existence,

Your pleasant speech is truth

   in multiple melody,

You are the reflection of our

   inner wisdom´s essence.

Beyond ´far´or ´near´,

   You have always been here -

Yet blind at this point,

   I see only oblivion,

Thus I call You with longing,

   deep and sincere,

That my eyes be opened through

   Your compassion.

Hurt and restricted in tangled

   chains of confusion,

Not just I, but all beings, have been robbed

   of their freedom:

With a swift single blow of Your razor-sharp sword

Of wisdom, free us from the bonds of delusion.

Mistaken, mistaken - in even simple

   worldly actions -

Our true understanding and clear judgement

   are slight -

From the treasure of Your deep

   and crystal-clear guidance

Lead us through Teachings - illuminate

   the Path that is right.

I and all beings who trust and

   respect You

Pray to Manjushri as an only father

   so kind.

Through the unlimited power of Your

   uninvolved compassion

Heed us in the vastness and the wisdom

   of Your mind.

OM HRIDHI MAMA DIPAM MANJUSHRI MUM HRIH

TRAJA WADHANA HRIDHI SWAHA (many times)

Great glorious one, please inspire myself and all beings,

My kind parents of past, present and future lives,

That from today on, through the strength of Your blessing,

We may gather all the qualities of the good and of the wise,

Progress towards knowing the True Nature of all things

And the fine intelligence that sees everything just as it is.

The Twelve Deeds of Lord Buddha

Because You could hear the saddening cries of suffering

And the calling of Your children from a ripening world,

To fulfil the hopes and wishes of those beings,

To bring them to happiness and show virtue´s worth,

With limitless love and fearless resolution

From the highest of Pure Lands You emanated to Earth.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Seeing Jambudvipa, our planet, in extraordinary vision,

A mother who could bear You, a father a great king,

With courage that was born of the deepest conviction

In the benefit that Your life as a human would bring,

Amidst miracles and wonders, You entered the womb

Of noble Mahamaya, King Suddhodhana´s Queen.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Born painlessly from her right side in the grove of Lumbini,

With the special signs of a Buddha Your body was marked.

You took seven steps in each of the principal directions

And at each step a lotus-flower sprang up from the earth,

The Lord of Gods came to make his humble prostration

As You declared Yourself most high in the whole universe.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Understanding with precision the qualities of all things,

The play of phenomena, with insight so deep,

That Your prowess transcended all human expectation

Whilst in all of the arts You were always supreme,

Also brilliant in each of the sciences You became

The most wise and gifted youth that man has ever seen.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

To fulfil the dreams of Your father and Your people

In the city of Kapila You took as Your bride

King Suppa´s daughter, Yasodhara, Princess of the Sakyas,

A jewel amongst maidens, fit to stand at Your side.

Tasting life´s riches with not the slightest involvement -

A perfect prince with all the joys that the world could provide.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Seeing all that appears in Samsara´s three dimensions

As just the sadness of sickness, birth, old-age and death,

Knowing how worthless is all comfort and royalty -

Preferring the calm of the forest in its stead,

Without an instant of clinging, You mounted Kantaka

And with heartfelt renunciation from the palace You sped.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

The river Neranjara is cool and slow-running

By its banks all majestic ease was cast aside.

With rock for a cushion, in the utmost simplicity,

You practiced absorption of body, speech and mind,

Sitting without moving in the shade of a tall tree,

For six years, enduring hardship, the highest truth to find.  

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

In the absolute sense, You were always the Buddha,

With nothing to purify, from all obscuration free -

The perfection and union of all the finest qualities,

But to show, in the relative, the great necessity

Of developing virtue and wisdom, You went to

The noble Seat of Achievement, beneath the Bodhi Tree.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Being jealous of Your power and your all-embracing wisdom,

Of Your matchlessly-peaceful harmonious state,

Of the way You would lead us to all forms of happiness,

The forces of darkness boiled with anger and hate:

Subduing without malice their nightmarish onslaught,

In one instant of Your love, all evil was tamed.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

On the full moon of Vesak beneath the tree at Bodh Gaya -

The very heart of our planet, of all places holiest,

In the splendour of the sunrise of that glorious morning,

The Ultimate of everything You saw, just as it is,

Through Your perfect Awakening and total Realisation

You became the peerless guide for all that lives.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

In the natural wild beauty of the forest near Benares

And in other worldly places, worldly beings heard You preach

The path You had travelled - eighty-four thousand Dharmas,

Whilst in exceptional places the gifted heard You teach

The extraordinary truth of the transcendent meaning -

Thus You revealed to mankind the profound path of peace.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Though far beyond any notion of ´staying´or ´going´,

To clarify the wrong views of those who believed

In the eternal or in ´nothing´ You passed from the sight of

Those men whose good fortune to see you had ceased;

Laying Your right side to the earth of Kushinara

You dissolved into the vastness of universal peace.

GREAT IS THE BUDDHA

Sadhana to Jnana Protector Mahakala

Peerless Guru, father Buddha,

Vajra-Holder Dorje Chang,

The very form of the True Nature -

Yidam Vajra Yogini,

Wise Protector Mahakala -

guardian of the True Teaching,

To these Three Roots of Realisation

With sincerity we pray.

INVITATION

Through our deep faith and devotion

And the promises You made,

We call to You, Great Protector,

Through Your power and compassion,

Accepting our invitation,

Please come swiftly to this place,

Come here to protect us from the wrong

Of misguided action and intention,

Come here to fulfil commitment´s bond

Removing all being´s sufferings

And safeguard the Teachings from all harm.

PROSTRATION AND PRAISE

Though You never leave the Changeless Space

You can manifest Your wrathful form

To defend the Teaching of the Truth,

To the Wise and Skilful Protector,

Master of Divine Activity,

Mighty Guardian of the Universe,

Emanations of the deepest power,

Destroying evil negativity

To the Mahakalas, Mahakalis,

Namo, in great awe we homage pay.

OM MAHAKALA KALAYAY NAMA

OFFERING

Mahakalas, Mahakalis - King and Queen

Amongst all those who hold

The unmistaken and most profound power,

The skill of wisdom´s compassion,

And to the mighty beings close to You

And the Lineage Guardians following You,

We now offer everything that is

Both suitable and pleasing You,

With deep heart-felt faith and commitment

We offer them for Your acceptance.

May they be exactly as you wish

According to Your noble purposes.

REQUEST FOR PROTECTION

To You who keep at all times perfectly

The deep bonds of Samaya promises,

Confessing, we regret all the misdeeds

Committed through our ignorance

That went against Your holy wish.

Even though You and Your entourage

Transcend discrimination totally,

We and all beings cannot receive

Your protection - we are closed off completely,

Caught up in our clinging´s web,

Cut off by our broken vows,

So every fault we make open now

And apologise with deep regret.

From the very depths of our hearts

We pray to You to use for us

For all those who are linked with us

And all beings our kind parents

Your ability to eliminate

All obstacles and hindrances

And Your true power to create

Every favourable circumstance,

To bring great goodness and happiness

To all dimensions of existence.

FULFILMENT OF WISHES

Mahakala and those who

Accompany, follow You,

Really wishing to fulfill

Your noble aims and purposes,

May we be able to do so -

Through Your mighty compassion

May each one of our wishes too

And those of beings be fulfilled.

MANTRA

MAHAKALAS, MAHAKALIS, USE YOUR SUPREME POWER,

HELP ALL BEINGS, PROTECT THEM FROM THE NEGATIVE,

GUIDE US ON THE RIGHT PATH.                          (many times)

DESTRUCTION OF NEGATIVITY AND BAD KARMA

To ensure the survival

Of relative and ultimate Peace

For the sake of all living beings

Destroy all negativity

Gather all bad karmas here

Destroy them forever, completely

With the mighty matchless vajra power

That blazes from the Ultimate Truth

And from that Holy Truth´s Protectors -

Destroy them so they will never arise again.

REQUEST FOR THE EMPOWERMENTS

Wise Protector Mahakala

And those of Your entourage,

From the deep vastness of

The Dharmadhatu Mandala

Truly show Yourselves to us,

Grant Your blessing and help us

Through the skilful means of Your

Manifold activity

That we may also achieve

Oneness with Your Perfect Body,

Oneness with Your Noble Speech,

Oneness with Your Stainless Mind.

Oneness with Your Qualities,

Oneness with Your Activity,

To become the same as You.

OM AH HUNG

ASKING FOR FORGIVENESS

Any faults or errors we have made

Through our understanding being small,

Through wrong understanding or the fault

Of having weak accumulations -

Lack of insight, lack of virtue´s wealth -

For the sake of beings and ourselves

We now with humble recognition

Apologise deep within our hearts.

OM SAMAYA AH SAMAYA HUNG SAMAYA

(seven times)

OM BENZA SATO SAMAYA    MANU PALAYA    BENZA SATO TENOPA

TITRA DRIDO MEBHAWA   SUTO KAYO MEBHAWA   SUPO KAYO MEBHAWA

ANU RAKTO MEBHAWA

SARWA  SIDDHI MENTRA YATSA   SARWA KARMA SUTSAME

TSITAM SHIRI YA   GURU HUNG HA HA HA HA HO    BHAGAWAN

SARWA TATAGATA   BENZA MAME MUNTSA  

BENZA BHAWA MAHA SAMAYA SATO AH : HUNG PE

DEDICATION

May this virtue remove forever

Sickness, famine, fighting and all the

Various sorts of difficulty,

May all beings achieve pure vision,

Travel forever on the unerring good Path

That leads us to the Ultimately True.

drawings©Rokpa Trust

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