Prayers of Universal Aspiration

From: The Prayer of the Lord of Sutras Holy Golden Light

and

From: The Noble Vajra Banner of Victory Sutra

translated from Tibetan into English by Gelong Jampa Gendun with Getsul Tenzin Chodak  (edited)

All My Mothers – by Gelong Jampa Gendun, after Everyman and Rodger Bacon

At the precious altar
of my mind’s memory
of Lama Thubten Yeshe – 
      a sun-flowering field
      of wisdom, love and cheer
      where my  heart longs to run – 
I humbly offer
these few fragrant petals of prayer.

May your moon-flower forever bloom; 
Your flower children flourish
     in that wish-fulfilling field
     of wonder.

From: The Prayer of the Lord of Sutras Holy Golden Light

By the sound of the great drum
of the Holy Golden Light, 
in these three worlds,
the three thousands of worlds,
May the sufferings of cruel migrations,
the sufferings of the Lord of Death’s domain, 
and the sufferings of privation be brought to an end.

By the thunder of that mighty drum
May all want in the world be ended,
and just as the Lords of Subduers are without fear,
their fears allayed,
so too may all sentient beings be without fear, 
parted from their fears.
Just as the All-knowing Able Lords,
though dwelling within the cycles of existence,
possess all holy qualities,
so too may the meditative concentrations of all beings
possess the qualities of the Harmonies of Enlightenment
and may those qualities  become oceans of qualities.

By the thunder of that mighty drum, 
May all beings come to possess the voice of Brahma, 
May they attain the most blessed Enlightenment of the Buddhas, 
May they turn the virtuous Wheel of Doctrine,
May they live for unimaginable eons, 
May they teach the way for the welfare of wanderers, 
May they relieve suffering and destroy afflictions,
and may they extinguish desire, hatred and delusion.

May those beings who abide in places of tortured existence, 
those whose bodies and bones are burning in flames of pain,
May they hear the beating of the drum
and may they cry, ‘I bow to you, the Buddhas.’
May all beings remember their births
in hundreds of lives,
in thousands of lives,
in tens of millions of lives.
May they be ever mindful of the Lords of Sages
and may they heed their vast words.

By the thunder of that mighty drum
May all beings find constant companionship in the Buddhas,
May they abandon actions of ill deed,
May they practice those of good.
May all the suffering 
of all that lives
in all the lands of all the worlds
be forever stilled,
And those creatures
crippled in their limbs,,
impaired of sense,
all be made whole.
May those afflicted with sickness,
weak and  frail,
without refuge in the ten regions,
all swiftly be relieved of their ills,
and be renewed in their organs and strength.

May those threatened with death by rulers and thieves,
those who lie at the mercy of a hundred different miseries,
those living beings besieged and suffering
all be freed
from their hundreds of unendurable fears.
And those tortured by bonds,
bound and beaten,
those who live amid manifold poverty,
oppressed by many thousands of afflictions,
incurring all manner of misery
and terrors which they cannot bear,
May they be released from their bonds,
May the scourged be delivered from their beatings,
May the condemned have life,
and the troubled be unafraid.
May those who hurt with hunger and thirst
partake of a feast; 
May the blind see a myriad of shapes,
the deaf hear a symphony of sounds,
the naked be clothed,
and the poor find a treasure.
May all have the pleasure
of possessing many precious jewels;
May none be tormented by feelings of pain;
May they all be fair of face and figure,
their bodies subdued,
their minds abounding with unremitting bliss.

By the mere thought,
May their wishes for merit and riches,
food and drink,
at once be made manifest.
May their longings for the melodies of lute and drum,
for streams, lakes, and ponds,
pools full of golden lotus and utpala,
their dreams of clothes and wealth,
pearls, gems, exquisite golden ornaments,
and lapis lazuli
all be instantly be fulfilled.
May there not arise
an anguished cry
in any world.
May none know unhappiness,
May they all be beautiful,
and may they be a light for one another.

Whatever is held most high by humanity
May it be theirs simply through thought.
May all their desires
immediately upon conception
be altogether realized
as the fruit of their merit.
Throughout the three times,
may they have incense and garlands,
scented oils, aromatic powders,
variegated flowers, and flowering trees.
May they take them and 
May they be happy.  

May they worship in the ten directions
all the inconceivable Ones Gone Thus,
the Bodhisattvas,
the Hearers,
and the immaculate, pure teachings of Dharma.

May migrators shun all that is unworthy,
pass beyond the eight states of unrest,
and attain crowning, kingly leisure.
May all beings always have the Buddhas at their side; 
May they always be born into noble families
May their affluence and fortune flourish
May they be richly adorned for endless eons
with praise and fame,
and with lovely, radiant bodies.

May they be brave
May they be strong
May they be wise and lucid
May they ever strive for Enlightenment
May they engage in the Six Perfections
May they behold in the ten quarters
the Buddhas beatifically seated
upon thrones of precious lapis lazuli
before the supremely sanctified Tree of Enlightenment,
and there 
may they hear
the Truth revealed.

From: The Noble Vajra Banner of  Victory Sutra

That suffering, 
that mass of suffering,
the suffering of all sentient beings
and their various obstructions
and hindering actions
because of which they do not see the Buddhas
nor do they hear the Dharma
nor know the Sangha,
do I now take upon this
my own body – 
a bundle of pain
accumulated through three defiled actions.

The suffering of  those beings
who are born in hell,
who dwell in realms of cruel migrations – 
may  death take them beyond such migrations – 
That awesome mass of suffering do I assume,
to that end I strive,
in that end I take joy,
from that end I shall not turn away
nor shall I run away
nor towards that end shall I be dismayed
or afraid
or draw back
or be apathetic

If you question, why?
It is because I bear the burden of all that lives.

This is not out of desire for my own pleasure,
but that I have vowed to free all sentient beings
and thus to fully unfold them.
I shall free all wandering beings: 
free them from the desolation of being born, 
from the desolation of old age,
and of disease; 
free them from the desolation of the rounds of birth and death, 
from the desolation of all bad migrations
and of never-ending unrest; 
free them from the desolation of all that is conditioned,
of all obscuring views;
from the desolation of the depletion of virtuous actions, 
and of unknowing arising from the depths.

From all shall I liberate all:
all those creatures entangled in the nets of their own desires, 
shrouded in veils of ignorance, 
clinging to their worlds of conditioned-being,
in their final moments afraid; 
all those creatures plunged into the depths of pain, 
subsisting in prisons of repeating patterns of existence, 
without wisdom,
without honor in their words, 
in doubt, 
irresolute,
knowing only sadness;
unknowing of dependent-arising,
alone, 
swept-round in whirlpools of afflicted minds and subjugated lives,
all these creatures shall I establish 
in the kingdom of sovereign wisdom.

My struggle is not for liberation for myself alone, 
but by the mind of very omniscience
shall I unbind all others
from the wheel of existence,
The ever-turning wheel
from which it is so hard to be freed.
I shall deliver them out of the awful abyss, 
save them from all harm, 
rescue them from the torrent
of their own swirling minds; 
Upon myself do I rest the load of sorrow
of all of them.
It is my pleasure
to suffer the pain
of each and every tortured existence
In all ,
however many realms of existence,
I shall not defraud all the world
of my roots of virtue.
I shall strive to abide
in even a singe bad migration,
I shall,
without exception,
abide in all bad migrations
in all the realms of existence
for the sake of liberating living beings.

If you question why – 
is it not reasonable for but one being to suffer
rather than all beings
fall to realms of ruin?

I, myself,
here let my blood
that I might redeem 
all wandering beings
from the wilderness of the Lord of Death’s domain,
from places of birth as animal, 
and as hell-being.
With this very body
shall I endure all suffering aggregates of feeling
for the sake of all sentient beings.
I take joy in reaffirming
the trustworthy truth of my proclamation: 
‘I am the yoke-bearing nape
of all sentient beings
for the sake of all sentient beings.’
I shall not forsake even one sentient being.

If you question why – 
with all that lives as my object
I shall engender
the very mind of Omniscience itself. 
that is, 
not for my own pleasure,
but that I may altogether liberate all living beings
have I wholly set forth
towards unsurpassed, perfect,
complete enlightenment.
Thus, whenever and for however long
all beings are attaining great happiness,
from happiness never before known
up to the ecstasies of very Omniscience,
shall I wholly dedicate my roots of virtue: 
dedicate them that I may be
a leader drawing others along,
a bearer of a lamp, 
a guide for those on their journey to peace, 
provisioner for those
on their journey towards leisure; 
dedicate them that I may be skilled in methods
and wise in meanings; 
that I may abide on the furthermost shore
having navigated the seas of cyclic existence
in the wisdom-ship of All-knowing; 
that I may be a master of pure dedication,
and a teacher pointing the way
to transcendence.

I shall in every way
cultivate the roots of virtue
for the sake of every living thing.
I shall totally dedicate these roots of virtue: 
dedicate them that I may
liberate all sentient beings,
that I may be known to all, 
and free all sentient beings; 
that I may care for them,
spiritually mature them, 
fulfill the needs,
and dispel the doubts of all sentient beings.

I am like the sun; 
I depend upon no other.
I shall not surrender
the Bodhisattva’s armor to another; 
indeed, I shall eliminate the very need for others.

I shall not pause from effort
to protect but even one being
and as one, all, 
all living beings.
I shall not cease from utter devotion
to assuage all suffering; 
I shall not settle for trifling roots of virtue; 
I shall know no peace
with less
than all-consuming dedication.

                       All My Mothers

All my Mothers, I shall to with you
and be your guide.
In your most need
be by your side.
Until upon the vantage-ground of Truth
we stand together, 
In Love’s and Wisdom’s
incomparable pleasure.

Take into your heart
the sufferings of all mother sentient beings
and again and again
give away your merit and happiness to them.

‘Lama’