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Buddha Śākyamuni Prayers & Practices

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Buddha Śākyamuni

Image courtesy of Orgyen Tobgyal Rinpoche

With your great compassion, you chose this world of conflict and degeneration,

And made five hundred vast aspirations.

You are praised like the immaculate white lotus, for whoever hears your name will never fall back into saṃsāra—

Most compassionate teacher, to you I pay homage!

Lotsawa House presents the following texts as part of its Prayers to Buddha Śākyamuni Series:

Aspiration Prayers

Popularly known as 'The Teachings Blaze' (bstan 'bar ma), this prayer for the spread of the teachings (bstan rgyas smon lam) is especially popular in the Gelug tradition. The first verse appears to be taken from the Pratimokṣa-sūtra (so sor thar pa'i mdo), while the remainder of the prayer, from the second verse onwards, is to be found in Atiśa Dīpaṃkara's Great Compendium of the Sūtras (Mahāsūtrasamuccaya; mdo kun las btus pa chen po).

So popular and influential is Samantabhadra’s “Aspiration to Good Actions” (bzang spyod smon lam) from the Gaṇḍavyūha chapter of the vast Avataṃsaka Sūtra, it is known as the king of all aspiration prayers.

Written in Bodhgaya at a time when Tibet was facing great turmoil and an uncertain future, this is a non-sectarian prayer for the spread of the Buddhist teachings (bstan rgyas smon lam) in all their authentic forms.

History

This prayer for the accomplishment of the transcendent perfections was adapted from the summarizing verses that appear at the conclusion of each chapter in Jātakamālāṭīkā, Dharmakīrti's extensive commentary on Āryaśūra's famous Jātakamālā, or Garland of Birth Stories. (This covers the first four transcendent perfections only; additional verses for the remaining perfections and birth stories were composed by the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje).

Buddha's Deeds

Although not to be found in the Tengyur, this short praise of Buddha Śākyamuni's deeds is commonly attributed to the Indian master Āryaśūra and became very popular in Tibet.

In a series of poetic verses Jigme Lingpa pays homage to the Buddha Śākyamuni by recalling his most significant deeds, from his initial descent from the heaven of Tuṣita to his final attainment of parinirvāṇa.

Popularly known as "With Skilful Means and Compassion..." (thabs mkhas thugs rje ma), this is the liturgical arrangement of the Dvādaśakārastotra, Nāgārjuna's praise of the twelve great acts performed by Buddha Śākyamuni.

Sādhanas

The longer of two ritual texts by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo featuring the sixteen arhats, both of which appear in recent editions of the extensive Nyingma Kama (bka' ma shin tu rgyas pa).

The shorter of two ritual texts by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo featuring the sixteen arhats included in the extensive Nyingma Kama and elaborating on the famous text attributed to Śākyaśrībhadra.

Written for the Third Nyidrak Rinpoche, this liturgy takes Śākyaśrībhadra's text as its basis and adds a few verses at the beginning and end.

Ju Mipham composed this sādhana of Śākyamuni Buddha, or '[Śākya]muni-ritual' (thub chog), at the request of Orgyen Tendzin Norbu (1841–1900). Both the sādhana and its vast 'supporting teaching' known as The White Lotus (rgyab chos padma dkar po) are among the most popular of Mipham's works.

Commentaries

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche adapted this teaching on śamatha and vipaśyanā from The White Lotus, Mipham Rinpoche's supportive teaching (rgyab chos) for the Treasury of Blessings sādhana of Buddha Śākyamuni. The text explains how to accomplish both śamatha and vipaśyanā in the context of that practice and clarifies the relationship between Buddha Śākyamuni, the yidam deity and the guru.

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