Thought Bubble - The Meaning of the Prayers

 

I have been asked to explain the meaning of the prayers that I say at the beginning of my regular podcasts.

I and all sentient beings, until we achieve enlightenment, go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

I and all sentient beings means I am praying to benefit absolutely every living being in existence, including myself. Until we achieve enlightenment, so until each and every one of us becomes a fully enlightened Buddha, which is our ultimate goal in this life and every life we live. Go for refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is that we seek shelter and help from all the Buddhas, including our own Buddha nature, from Dharma which is the teachings of Buddha and Sangha who is the community of people that are striving to become Buddhas and are following the teaching of Buddha to be able to do just that. The Sangha can be nuns, monks or lay people. This prayer is said three times because it is so important for us to make our mind familiar with it.

The next prayer:

Through the virtues I collect, by giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha for the benefit of all.

Through the virtues I collect, by giving and other perfections is whenever I do good deeds and virtuous actions, such as giving, being patient, wish others to be happy, sharing Dharma the teachings of Buddha and so on. May I become a Buddha for the benefit of all, is dedicating all my virtuous actions towards becoming a fully enlightened Buddha, the highest spiritual attainment that can be reached, so that I may benefit all living beings and help them to become Buddhas as well. Again, this prayer is said three times to give us the most benefit.

May everyone be happy,

May everyone be free from suffering,

May no one ever be separated from their happiness,

May everyone have equanimity free from hatred and attachment.

I think this prayer is mostly straight forward and understandable, except perhaps the last line, May everyone have equanimity free from hatred and attachment. This means I am praying that everyone can remain calm and at peace in their hearts and to not feel any hatred or to be attached to anyone or anything, as that will cause them problems.

The ground sprinkled with perfume and spread with flowers,

The great mountain four lands, sun and moon seen as a Buddha land and offered thus,

May all beings enjoy such Pure lands.

I offer without any sense of loss the objects that give rise to my attachment, hatred and confusion,

My friends, enemies, strangers, our bodies and enjoyments,

Please accept these and bless me to be release directly from the three poisons.

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI

In the first part of this prayer we are creating Pure lands or a Buddha land that is sprinkled with perfume and flowers meaning it smells and looks beautiful. There are four pure lands with a mountain, known as Mount Meru in the middle of them with the sun and moon overhead. We are offering these pure lands with the hope that every living being will be able to live there some time in the future. The next part of the prayer we are praying that we will be able to overcome all of our negativity so that we can become our pure self, so that we can attain the highest level of being and become a Buddha. The three poisons are anger, attachment and ignorance. We need to get rid of these three poisons in order to become a pure being.

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI is that we are offering this prayer to our gurus or holy teachers that are helping us on our spiritual paths. I do believe this line is in Sanskrit, if I am remembering correctly.

 

From the hearts of all the holy beings streams of light and nectar pour down, granting blessings and purifying.

 

When we say this prayer we imagine all the holy beings sending us blessings in the form of lights and nectar and that these also purify us of the all the negative things we have done.

Tsongkhapa crown ornament of the scholars of the land of the snows,

You are Buddha Shakyamuni, and Vajradhara the source of all attainments,

Avalokiteshvara the treasury of unobservable compassion,

Manjushri the supreme, stainless wisdom

And Vajrapani the destroyer of the host of maras,

Oh, venerable guru Buddha, synthesis of all three jewels

With my body, speech and mind, respectfully I make requests

Please grant your blessings to ripen and liberate myself and others

And bestow the common and supreme attainments.

 

Je Tsongkhapa is one of the most important teachers or gurus that taught Buddhism in Tibet, which is known as the land of the snows. His teachings are so excellent that he is regarded as a jewel on a crown. Since it is believed that Je Tsongkhapa is a fully realized being, a Buddha, and that there is no separation between anyone's minds, his mind is mixed with the mind of other Buddhas. Buddha Shakyamuni is the Buddha that lived here on earth and taught Buddhism. Vajradhara is another Buddha of great renown. Avalokiteshvara is known as the Buddha of compassion and that he has so much compassion and it is so vast that it is unobservable. Manjushri is a Buddha of wisdom, which is emptiness the true nature of existence. Vajrapani is a wrathful Buddha who destroys maras or demons, and bad people to protect us. So Je Tsongkhapa's mind is mixed with the minds of these Buddhas, which is why his teachings are so profound. So this first section of this prayer is honouring him and his wonderful teachings.

In, the second part of the prayer we are asking Buddha who represents the three jewels, that is Buddha, Dharma and Sangha to grant us blessings and help us on our spiritual path towards full enlightenment. We are not just asking for Buddha to do this for us, but to help everyone achieve this. The common and supreme attainments are the realizations we will need to gain in order to free ourselves from all suffering, such as the realization of compassion, of emptiness and others. To help us get beyond just an intellectual understanding of these attainments, and to fully realize them. This prayer again is said three times to benefit us the most and help us to connect with these powerful Buddhas, so they can help us. This prayer also wards off any negative people or spirits and prevents them from interfering with us.

Prayers work. As long as you are saying benevolent prayers to benefit others, not just yourself, those prayers will be answered. If you have certain expectations attached to your prayers, they may not manifest in the way you expect, but the prayers will be answered. 

 You can find this Thought Bubble here: https://youtu.be/E8oVaYWmgJw