Prayer Wheel

Gelug Buddhist Prayers

Prayers in Tibetan and English

Buddha WordsBuddhist Art
Save Tibet Dalai Lama Tibet

 

Refuge and Bodhichitta for Meditation

sang gye cho dang tsok kyi chok nam la
jang chub bar du dag ni kyab su chi
dak gi jin sog gyi pai so nam kyi
dro la pen chir sang gye drub par sho  x 3 (repeat three times)

I go for refuge until I am enlightened
To the Buddha Dharma and Sangha
By the merit of practising generosity and so on
May I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings  x 3

 

Refuge and Bodhichitta for Teachings

sang gye cho dang tsok kyi chok nam la
jang chub bar du dag ni kyab su chi
dak gi choe nyan gyi pai so nam kyi
dro la pen chir sang gye drub par sho  x 3

I go for refuge until I am enlightened
To the Buddha Dharma and Sangha
By the merit of listening to the Teachings and so on
May I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings  x 3

 

The Seven Limb Prayer
(Short Version)

go sum gu pe go ne chag tsal lo
ngo sham yi trul cho pa ma lu bul
tog me ne sag dig tung tam che shag
ke pag ge wa nam la je yi rang
kor wa ma tong bar du leg zhug le
dro la cho kyi kor lo kor wa dang
dag zhon go nam jang chub chen por ngo

I prostrate with my body speech and mind
In faith each and every offering I make
Including those really performed and those mentally transformed
I declare all non-virtuous actions accumulated from time without beginning
I rejoice in all ordinary and Noble Beings actions
Please Buddha by living as our guide until samsara ends
Reveal the Teachings to all sentient beings
I dedicate the virtues of myself and others to the Great Enlightenment

 

Mandala Offering
(Short Version)

sa zhi po kyi juk shing me tog tram
ri rab ling zhi nyi de gyan pa di
sang gya zhing du mig te ul wa yi
dro kun nam dag zhing la cho par shog

dag gi chag dang mong sum kye pai yul
dra nyen bar sum lu dang long cho cha
pang pa me par bul gyi leg zhe na
dug sum rang sar drol war jin gy lob

je tsun la ma dam pa kyo nam kyi
cho ku ka la kyen tse chu dzin trik
ji tar tsam pe dul je dzin ma la
zab gye cho kyi char pa bab du sol

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI

By the virtue of offering to you assembly of Buddhas visualized before me
This Mandala built on a base resplendent with flowers saffron water and incense
Adorned with Mt. Meru and the four continents
As well as the sun and the moon
May all sentient beings share in its good effects

Please bless me and all sentient beings
To be released from the three poisonous minds
My body enemies friends and strangers
For I am offering without attachment all possessions
Which are the objects of my greed ignorance and hatred

O holy and venerable lama
From the clouds of compassion that form in the skies of your Dharmakaya wisdom
Please release a rain of vast and profound Dharma precisely in accordance with the needs of those to be trained

I send forth this jeweled mandala to you precious guru

 

Long Life Prayer to His Holiness the Dalai Lama

je tsun la ma dam pa kyo nam kyi
pen dang de wa ma lu jung wai nai
chan re zig wang tan dzin gya tso yi
zhab pe si tai bar du ten gyur chik

O holy and venerable lama
From the clouds of compassion
You are the source of all happiness and bliss
All powerful Chenrezig Tenzin Gyatso
Please remain till the end of existence

 

Brief Prayer

ten pa rin chen chok gi ma kyab pa’am
kyab kyang nyam par gyur pe chok der ni
nying je chen po yi rab kyong pa yi
pen de ter de sel war che par sho

Should the situation arise
Where the supreme precious teachings no longer pervade
Or though pervading should they degenerate
Then through the mind being moved by great compassion
May the treasure of benefit and happiness be revealed

 

Prayer for the Increase of Merit

jang chub scm chok rinpoche
ma kye pa nam kye gyur chik
kye pa nyam pa me pa yang
gong nai gong du pel war sho

 May the jewel of supreme Bodhichitta
Which has not arisen arise
And may it never diminish
But increase more and more

 

Prayer for the Benefit of Sentient Beings

pa ma sem chan tam che de dang den gyur chik
ngon dro tam che tag tu tong pa dang
jang chub sems pe gang la su shuk pa
de dak kun gyi mon lam nyur drub sho

May all father and mother sentient beings be happy and successful
May all the abodes of evil migration always be empty
May the prayers of all Bodhisattvas whoever they are
And wherever they reside be quickly accomplished

 

DEDICATION
Prayer For Tsongkhapa’s (Lobsang Drakpa*) Teachings to Remain

dag gi ji nye sag pai ge wa di
tan dang dro wa kun la gang phan dang
khya par je tsun lo zang drag pa yi
tan pai nying po ring du sal je shog

I dedicate whatever virtues I have ever collected
For the benefit of the Teachings and of all sentient beings
And in particular for the essential teachings
Of Venerable Lobsang Drakpa to shine forever

 

Mandala Offering
(Short Version)

sa zhi po kyi jug shing me tog tram
ri rab ling zhi nyi da gyan pa di
sang gya zhing du mig te ul wa yi
dro kun nam dag zhing la cho par shog

je tsun la me ku tse rab ten ching
nam kar trin le chog chur gye pa dang
lo sang ten pe dron me sa sum gyi
dro we mun sel tag ne gyur chig

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI

This ground anointed with perfume and strewn with flowers
Adorned with Mt. Meru and four continents
The sun and the moon
I imagine this as a Buddha-field and offer it

May all living beings enjoy this pure land
May my venerable lama’s life be firm
His pure divine action spread in the ten directions
May the torch of the teachings of Lobsang always remain
Dispelling the darkness of all beings in the three realms

I send forth this jeweled mandala to you precious guru

 

A Falling Nectar Shower of Immortality
A Prayer of Supplication For The Long Life Of Khensur Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche**

SVASTI
rab jam gyal kun trin la du tsii chi
jo geg lang tshor min pa yi ong ma
tshe jin lhag pa iha mo jin lab kyi
nang wa dam pa tag tu kyong war dzo

ma jung lo dro sang po dab gya pa
thub sung drang sii nying po chu chhag shing
ten pa de nyi je pa nam cho tsal
rab gya pal dan lama shab tan shog

shung lug mang tho kyil khor yong dzog shing
nam dag tshul trim o-kar bum pa chan
kal sang yi kyi kun da sha pa nyen
tshung me ma wa da wa shab tan shog

phag bo kha pa she gong nor bu dzo
ma ma rig tshul tong gi leg chhe te
lo sal ga kye rnu tig do shal treng
pel kha sha nyen chhog tu shab tan shog

rab jam gyal wa sang sum jin lab dang
khor da tan yo dang chu ma lu pa
mi shig sog gi sang su nyer min na
shom dral tag pa kham su tan gyur chig

dag sog mong dang bag me wang gyur pa
tshul shin ma ten ma da log tog sog
nong pa kun jang dam ngag du tsi ro
tshim pa kal sang nyam pa me gyur chig

lu mg gyal wa gya tsho jin lab dang
nang tong sung jug chho ying dhen pa thhu
dag chag lhag sam dag pa nu tob kyi
mon pa don di de lag drub gyur chig

SVASTI
May she the lovely one that fair and youthful coming-into-being of the nectar spring of all the countless Conquerors’ enlightened deeds
May she the sublime goddess the giver of life ever shelter you within the sacred radiance of her blessing

Within your fragrant hundred-petalled wondrous wisdom lies the pollen of the Subduer’s words and the full-bloom of analytic skills discriminating the essence of his doctrine

O glorious spiritual master please please live long

Your orb of vast listening to traditions of Teachings is full
Its hundred thousand white lights of immaculate morality serving to unfold lunar flowers within the minds of the fortunate

O peerless propounding moon please please live long

Opening wide with thousands of incise reasonings the jewel-treasury of assertions and thoughts of Tibetan and Indian masters
Ingeniously you string successive necklaces of their pearls generating joy within those of clear minds

O supreme spiritual friend please please live long

By the blessings of the three secrets of the countless Conquerors
And by the clarified essence of all that moves and is still
The mundane and that beyond maturing into bearers of life immortal
May you remain in an immutable realm unmoving and invincible

May all those faults of myself and others such as breaches of devotion
Lack of faith and wrong conception created out of unconcern and obscuration be purified
And may the wonderful fortune to be satiated by the nectar taste of your guiding instructions never lessen

By the seas of infallible Conquerors’ blessings
By the power of the sphere of reality’s truth
The unity of appearance and emptiness
And by the profound strength of my own pure faith
May the purposes of this prayer be instantly fulfilled with effortless ease

*

Tsongkhapa Lobsang Drakpa (1357-1419) — Lobsang Drakpa, Tsongkhapa "the Man from Onion Valley", Je Tsongkhapa, 'Je Rinpoche', the founder of the Gelug school, regarded as the living embodiment of Manjushri***, and of Guru Rinpoche, he is also considered to have been the reincarnation of a young boy who offered a crystal rosary to Shakyamuni Buddha, and whom the Buddha predicted would be instrumental in the flourishing of the Buddhadharma in Tibet. Many prophecies about him can be found in the teaching of Buddha and later masters, including Padmasambhava.

Tsongkhapa was acquainted with all Tibetan Buddhist traditions of his time, and received lineages transmitted in the major schools. His main source of inspiration was the Kadam school, the legacy of Atiśa. As an emanation of Manjusri, Tsongkhapa is said have been of "one mind" with Atiśa, received the Kadam lineages and studied the major Sarma ("New Translation" schools) tantras under Sakya and Kagyu masters. He also studied with a Nyingma teacher, and a Dzogchen master.

The historical Tsongkhapa flourished in the period immediately following the final redaction of the Buddhist canon in Tibetan translation (Kanjur). He propounds a distinctive Middle Way (Sk. madhyamaka, Tib. dbu ma pa) philosophy by interpretation of the works of the Indian philosopher Nāgārjuna (third-fourth century), and is strongly influenced by the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist logico-epistemological (logic/nature of knowledge) tradition founded by the Indian Buddhist scholar one of founders of Indian logic Dignāga, and Dharmakīrti (fifth to seventh century).

Tsongkhapa strikes a balance between knowledge and praxis (theory or skill enacted, realized). He says, the emptiness of intrinsic existence is the ultimate truth, and says even that is only true conventionally. At the same time he develops a hermeneutics (knowledge that deals with interpretation) to retain the authority of correct moral statements on a covering (or conventional) level. His most influential writing reconciles the philosophy of emptiness with the imperative of praxis embodied in a universal altruistic principle (bodhicitta), it resolves apparently antinomian (against moral, religious, social norms) tantric praxis without devaluing the centrality of ordinary moral life, and develops a distinctive analysis of dependent origination to support his assertion that entities are both conventional and ultimate truths.

Tsongkhapa conceives of tantra as a subset of the Mahāyāna, and to that extent all authentic Buddhist tantric activities are, necessarily, authentically altruistic. What differentiates tantric activity from other ordinary Mahāyāna activities is deity yoga (Tib. lha'i rnal 'byor). He accords great importance to esoteric yoga (a mainstream Tibetan tradition), influenced in particular by Marpa The Translator who spread the Six Teachings of Nāropa (nā ro chos drug), a synthesis of diverse Indian tantric practices, in Tibet. Based on this Tsongkhapa gives detailed explanations of the nādī (channels of energy or feelings), chakras and candalī, and, in particular, explanation of theory and praxis associated with the illusory body (Sk. māyā-kāya, Tib. sgyu lus) and clear light (Sk. prabhāsvara, Tib. 'od gsal).

 

**

Khensur Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche (1925-2014) — a Buddhist monk, Abbot of Sera Jey Monastery, and the founder of Tibetan Buddhist Institute (Adelaide). Khensur means "former abbot" and Rinpoche means "precious teacher", holder of the transmission lineage of the Kangyur, considered widely as the greatest scholar of Abhidharma of his age and, perhaps, the foremost Vajrayogini practitioner, Kyabje Khensur Kangurwa Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche was one of the last great practitioners and scholars largely trained in Tibet. He was known at Sera Je as one of the "Three Greats."

 

***

Manjushri — bodhisattva Mañjushri (Tib: Jampalyang), Mañjuśrīkumārabhūta, Mañjughosha, "Mañjuśrī, Still a Youth", "Prince Mañjuśrī", "Gentle Glory", "The Gentle Voiced", one of the three protective deities surrounding the Gautama Buddha, the embodiment of the knowledge and wisdom of all the buddhas, associated with prajñā (insight), traditionally depicted with a sword in his right and a text in his left hand.

"In definitive terms, Mañjushri, you are now, and from the very beginning you have always been, a genuine buddha, in whom all the qualities of abandonment and realization are totally perfected, because you completely traversed all ten bhumis, such as the Joyous and so on, and purified the two obscurations (emotional and cognitive obscurations), together with any latent habitual tendencies, many incalculable aeons ago. Nevertheless, from a merely provisional perspective, you appear as the foremost of all the bodhisattvas, and demonstrate the means of training as a bodhisattva in the presence of all the victorious ones and their heirs throughout the ten directions."

 

 

The Three Vajras

The Three Vajras, namely "body, speech and mind", are a formulation within Vajrayana Buddhism and Bon that hold the full experience of the śūnyatā "emptiness" of Buddha-nature, void of all qualities (yon tan) and marks (mtshan dpe) and establish a sound experiential key upon the continuum of the path to enlightenment. The Three Vajras correspond to the trikaya and therefore also have correspondences to the Three Roots and other refuge formulas of Tibetan Buddhism. [more]

 

 

Vajra

 

The four schools: Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Gelug, are the main schools of Tibetan Buddhism. They preserved the Hinayana, Mahayana, and the Vajrayana level of Buddha’s teachings for centuries.