The Bodhisattva’s Jewel Rosary

The Bodhisattva’s Jewel Rosary

By Atisha (Jowo Je Palden Atisha)

In the Indian Language (Sanskrit): Bodhisattva Mani Avali
In the Tibetan Language: Jang-chhub-sem-pa’i Nor-bu’i T’hreng-wa
In the English Language: The Bodhisattva’s Jewel Rosary

HOMAGE TO GREAT COMPASSION!
HOMAGE TO THE GURUS!
HOMAGE TO THE DEITIES OF DEVOTION!

Abandon all doubts and hesitations,
And make serious practice of prime importance.

Completely abandon dullness, lethargy, and laziness,
And always exert yourself with diligence.

Through mindfulness, alertness, and conscientiousness,
Always guard the sense-doors.

During the three times of the day and night, again and again,
Examine the continuum of your mind.

Make your own faults well-known,
And don’t search for the mistakes of others.

Hide your own good qualities,
And proclaim the good qualities of others.

Abandon profit and praise,
You! Always abandon fame.

Minimize desire, be content,
And be grateful to those who have shown you kindness.

Rely on love and compassion,
And firmly establish bodhichitta.

Abandon the ten non-virtuous actions,
And always establish yourself in faith.

Subdue anger and pride,
And be endowed with a humble mind.

Abandon wrong livelihoods,
And sustain yourself through a Dharmic livelihood.

Abandon material things,
And adorn yourself with the riches of the Noble Ones.

Abandon all distractions and diversions,
And stay in solitary places.

Abandon frivolous talk,
And always restrain your speech.

When you see gurus and abbots,
Give rise to devotional respect, and serve them.

Towards both individuals who have the eye of Dharma,
And sentient beings who are beginners,
Generate the perception of them as teachers.

Towards all sentient beings, whenever you see them,
Give rise to an attitude which sees them as your parents and children.

Abandon negative friends,
And follow virtuous spiritual friends.

Abandon aversion and the unhappy mind,
And go everywhere with happiness.

Regardless of what it arises towards, abandon attachment.
Through attachment, even happy rebirths are not attained,
And the life-force of liberation is cut, too.

Wherever you see virtuous Dharma,
Always put your effort right there.

Whatever undertakings you have already begun,
Accomplish these first;
Now, do them well and properly like this:
Otherwise, nothing will be accomplished.

Through always being separated from negativity and excitement,
You may at times give rise to arrogance.
At those times, cut through pride,
And remember the instructions of your guru.

When a discouraged mind arises,
You should praise the sublimity of the mind.
Meditate on the emptiness of both.

Whenever objects of attachment and aversion arise,
See them as being like illusions and magical apparitions.

When you hear unpleasant words,
Regard them as being like echoes.

When your body is harmed,
See it as being your previous karma.

Stay well in solitary places at the edge of towns,
Like a wounded deer,
Hide your yourself,
And abide without attachment.

Always rely on your tutelary deity,
And when the mind of laziness and indifference arises,
At that time, enumerate the faults of these to yourself,
And remember the essence, courageous conduct.

At the times when you happen to see others,
Avoid frowning and dark expressions,
And abide always with a smile.

Continuously, when you see others,
Without miserliness, delight in giving.

Abandon all jealousy.

In order to protect others’ minds,
Abandon all disputes,
And always be endowed with patience.

Without flattery and infatuation with new friends,
Always be able to be stable.

Abandon deprecating others,
And abide in the manner of respect.

When you give counsel to others,
Be possessed with a compassionate, helpful mind.

Without casting aside any Dharma teachings,
Let others be interested in whatever they aspire to,
And through the door of the Ten Dharma Practices,
Exert yourself throughout the day and half the night.

Whatever virtue you have accumulated in the three times,
Dedicate it to the unsurpassable great enlightenment.

Give away your merit to sentient beings.

Always, through the Seven Branches,
Offer up great aspirations.

If you act in this way, merit
And pristine wisdom, the two collections, will become complete.

The two obscurations, too, will be exhausted,
And with this meaningful attainment of a human body,
You will attain unexcelled awakening.

The wealth of faith, the wealth ethical discipline,
The wealth of giving and the wealth of hearing,
The wealth of decency and self-respect,
And the wealth of sublime wisdom, making seven:
These seven sacred riches,
Are seven riches that are inexhaustible,
And are inexpressible and meaningless to spirits and ghosts.

When you are among many, examine your speech,
When you are alone, examine your mind.

Written by the Indian abbot, Dipankara Shri Jnana, the Glorious Illuminator, the Essence of Pristine Wisdom, Who is Excellent.

THE BODHISATTVA’S JEWEL ROSARY IS COMPLETE.
MAY VIRTUE AND GOODNESS SPREAD!

Translated by Erick Sherab Zangpo.

The Teaching on the Signs that the Common Preliminaries Have Entered One’s Mindstream

The Teaching on the Signs that the Common Preliminaries Have Entered One’s Mindstream

By Nyala Pema Duddul

As for the Teaching on the Signs that the Common Preliminaries Have Entered One’s Mindstream:

If you can dedicate your own body to the practice, without feeling a loss,

Then that is the sign of having taking the essence of the supremely precious freedoms and advantages.

If you can view gold and dirt with equanimity and see them to be equal,

Then that is the sign of the illusoriness of impermanent things having been born in one’s mindstream.

If you can see all the phenomena of samsara as enemies,

Then that is the sign of going to the far shore of the ocean of suffering.

If you can be meticulous about actions and results, and the virtue and negativity to be adopted and abandoned,

Then that is the sign of having conjoined with the short path that ascends the staircase to liberation.

If you can purify the negative actions, obscurations, and habitual tendencies of the three doors,

Then that is the sign of having closed off the doors to rebirth in samsara’s lower realms.

If you can carry the Three Jewels inseparable from your mind,

Then that is the sign of having grasped the iron hook of the Supreme Protectors’ great compassion.

If you can integrate emptiness and compassion with your mindstream,

Then that is the sign of joining phenomena with the essence of awakening.

If you can meditate on all beings as being of the nature of one’s parents,

Then that is the sign of the arising of the sun-moon mandala of the Great Vehicle.

If you can clear away the obscurations of unawareness and mental darkness,

Then that is the sign of the dawning of clear light within stainless space.

If you can apply yourself to the path of the ongoing two accumulations,

Then that is the sign of the maturing of the result, the kayas and pristine wisdoms.

If you can see the world of all appearances and possibilities manifesting in utter purity as the Guru,

Then that is the sign of having gone to the peak of the yoga of Great Perfection.

If you can recognize the Vajrakaya of unimpeded immediate awareness,

Then that is the sign of transference into the basic space of beginningless primordial purity.

If you can recognize the Three Kayas and immediate awareness as being a seamless unity,

Then that is the sign of ripening the fruit: Kuntuzangpo.

And so, this summary of the signs of the preliminaries having entered one’s mindstream

In response to the oft-repeated requests of the assembly of disciples

Was arranged by the old beggar named Duddul.

Through this virtue, may all wanderers be ripened and liberated!

Translated by Erick Sherab Zangpo.

The Mahashri Sutra

The Mahashri Sutra

In the Indian Language (Sanskrit): Mahâshri Sûtra
In the Tibetan Language: Pal-chhen-mo’i Do
In the English Language: The Mahashri Sutra

 HOMAGE TO ALL THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS!

Thus have I heard: at one time, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror, the Blessed One, was abiding in Sukhavati. At that time, the bodhisattva mahasattva, the powerful lord Arya Avalokiteshvara turned towards the Blessed One, went to the place where the Blessed One was, prostrated at the noble feet of the Blessed One, touched his head to the ground, and, circumambulating the Blessed One three times, sat down to one side.

Then, beholding Mahashri, the Blessed One spoke these words to the powerful lord Arya Avalokiteshvara:

“If any fully-ordained monk, fully-ordained nun, novice monk, novice nun, or anyone else should come to know, to keep, to read, to write down, or to have others write down the Twelve Names of Mahashri, then, their poverty will be eliminated, and they will become wealthy. Moreover, all the assemblies of unified mandalas will also pray likewise for them in a similar fashion, all of them saying, ‘May it come to be!’.”

Then, the Blessed One bestowed the Twelve Names of Mahashri:

(In Tibetan)

PALDENMA
PALTRIMA
PAYMAY TRENGCHEN
NOR GYI DAKMO
KARMO
DRAKPACHHENMO
PAYMAYCHEN
JEYPAMO
ÖDCHHENMO
ZAYJINMA
RINPOCHHE RABJINMO
PALCHHENMO

(In English)

She Who is Endowed with Splendor
She Who is Enveloped in Splendor
Possessor of a Rosary of Lotuses
Lady-Lord of Riches
She Who is White
She Who is Greatly Renowned
Lotus Eye
She Who Makes Things Happen
She of Great Light
She Who Gives Food
She Who Wholeheartedly Gives Precious Gems
She Who is Greatly Resplendent

(The mantra)

SYADYATHEDANA JINIGRINI SARVA ARTHASADHANI
SHASHINA ALAGA SHIMANA
NASHAYA SIDDHANATU MANTRA PADEY SVAHA/
OM BIGUNI BARAMASUBHAGE SVAHA

If anyone should recite this three times, they will be victorious over all disharmonious circumstances. They will be endowed with excellent fortune. They will be endowed with not knowing the exhaustion of wealth.

Furthermore, everyone will give rise to an attitude which regards them as their own child, will be delighted by them, and will act in accordance with their commands.

If one should constantly read this unceasingly, then even if Brahma commits wrathful actions, one will be unharmed, and will come to serve under many buddhas!”

The Blessed One spoke these words, and the bodhisattva mahasattva, the powerful lord Arya Avalokiteshvara rejoiced; he vividly praised what had been spoken by the Bhagavan, the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror.

THE MAHASHRI SUTRA IS COMPLETE.

Translated by Eric Tsiknopoulos (Sherab Zangpo)

Message from Khentrul Lodro Thaye Rinpoche Regarding the Passing of His Holiness Padma Norbu (Penor) Rinpoche

This is a short message offered with sad heart to my students and many of you who have made Dharma connection to me––

As many of you are aware, my extraordinary root lama whom we call our Wish-fulfilling Gem, otherwise known as HH Jigmed Phuntsog Rinpoche, died a few years ago. This year, another of my main teachers has passed. His name is HH Padma Norbu (Penor) Rinpoche. Many of you are already aware of this. In this regard, everyone is performing what they call a Dung-Chod, an offering ceremony for when a realized master dies which takes place for 49 days. Understanding the importance of this, I am trying to work it out to go myself. It would mean a lot to me if I could be there with them for 10 or so days to participate. Whether I am able to go or not, I will make as much offering as I can because this is a powerful opportunity to connect to that enlightened intention, to fulfill his aspirations, and to accumulate my own merit and purify obscurations.

When we make offerings and support during the Dung-Chod/offering ceremonies for a buddha or bodhisattva, it brings us many blessings, increases the depth of our practice, and removes obstacles in very powerful ways. Even to offer a token such as a flower is of benefit because the profundity of the occasion.

For this reason, I would like to encourage you to make connection during this time and send offerings for the ceremonies taking place in Namdroling monastery in India in Penor Rinpoche’s main monastery there. Even the smallest offering will be one I rejoice in. I am facilitating an account to send offerings to the monastery in India through Katog Choling. If you would like to contribute $20, or $50 or $100, or even more, whatever you are able and would like, please do so. This would make me very happy. To do the Dung-Chod offering ceremony there are over three thousand lamas and monks gathered together for 49 days in Namdroling Monastery and there is need to feed, care and make offerings to all of them, as well as to light butter lamps, maintain all the substances used during the ceremony and many other offerings. This way even without going ourselves we can take part in this ceremony.

This is the link to make a donation: http://katogcholing.com/padmanorbu.html ***

Also, I would like to request that you do as much as possible of the seven prayer and the seven branch supplication (what we recite before teachings) concluding with dedication and aspiration prayers during these 49 days. This will be very good for your practice.

Sincerely,
Khentrul Rinpoche

We will be sending the offerings the morning of April 20th,
so you must send your offerings by April 19th evening.

*** Send Paloma an email: lotzapaloma@gmail.com Either way you make the offering, send her an email letting know that you sent money, how much, and if it was through Paypal or via Check.

His Holiness Penor Rinpoche