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Monastic Life

 

Prayers & Practices

"May Sravasti Abbey, the jewel on the mountain, continue to be a blessing to all sentient beings and a source of wisdom and compassion to all beings on their path to Awakening"

  Ajahn Sundara
  Chithurst Monastery


Prayers & Practices

Here at the Abbey, we have daily, weekly and yearly cycles of prayers and recitations. We do these during morning and evening practice sessions, before breakfast, and before and after lunch. The following texts are provided for you to adapt these recitations to your own daily practice. Many of these are available on Thubten Chodron's website and some of them have downloadable mp3 files.

Morning Practice

Daily Sadhana

To learn to guide others in the best way, bodhisattvas must be familiar with all the Dharma practices. Thus the Abbey community’s daily sadhana changes each month. You can find the sadhana by following the link. Join us!

January Sadhana of the Winter Retreat
February Sadhana of the Winter Retreat
March Sadhana of the Winter Retreat
April Chenrezig
May Lama Tsongkhapa Guru Yoga
June Green Tara
July Vajrasattva
August Meditation on Shakyamuni Buddha
September Medicine Buddha
October White Tara
November Manjushri
December Sadhana of the Winter Retreat

Morning Recitations

After bowing to each other and to the Triple Gem, we recite these mantras first thing in morning practice…
Multiplying mantra
Blessing the rosary
Blessing the feet
Blessing the speech

. . .  then we do Prostrations to the 35 Buddhas,
also called The Bodhisattva’s Confession of Ethical Downfalls.

We end our practice with the sadhana dedication prayers and the

Monastic Mind Motivation

Having a “monastic mind” benefits our Dharma practice whether we are monastics or lay practitioners.

A monastic mind is one that is humble, imbued with the Buddhist worldview, dedicated to cultivating mindfulness, clear knowing, love, compassion, wisdom, and other good qualities.

Being mindful of the kindness I have received from all sentient beings, I will relate to them with patience, kindness, and compassion.

 I will be mindful of my precepts and values and will cultivate clear knowing of my thoughts and feeling, as well as how I speak and act.

I will take care to act and speak at suitable times and in appropriate ways, abandoning idle talk and disruptive movements.

 With respect for others and confidence in my good qualities, I will be humble and easy for others to speak to.

In all these activities, I will endeavor to remember impermanence and the
emptiness of inherent existence and to act with bodhicitta.

Before Breakfast

We chant…

Praises and Requests to Twenty-One Taras (download mp3)

Om I prostrate to the noble transcendent liberator…

Homage to Tara swift and fearless
With eyes like a flash of lightning
Lotus-born in an ocean of tears
Of Chenrezig, three worlds’ protector.

Homage to you whose face is like
One hundred autumn moons gathered
And blazes with the dazzling light
Of a thousand constellations.

Homage to you born from a gold-blue lotus
Hands adorned with lotus flowers
Essence of giving, effort and ethics,
Patience, concentration, and wisdom.

Homage to you who crown all Buddhas
Whose action subdues without limit
Attained to every perfection
On you the bodhisattvas rely.

Homage to you whose TUTTARA and HUM
Fill the realms of desire, form, and space
You crush seven worlds beneath your feet
And have power to call all forces.

Homage to you adored by Indra,
Agni, Brahma, Vayu, and Ishvara
Praised in song by hosts of spirits,
Zombies, scent-eaters and yakshas.

Homage to you whose TREY and PEY
Destroy external wheels of magic
Right leg drawn in and left extended
You blaze within a raging fire.

Homage to you whose TURE destroys
The great fears, the mighty demons
With a wrathful frown on your lotus face
You slay all foes without exception.

Homage to you beautifully adorned
By the Three Jewels’ gesture at your heart
Your wheel shines in all directions
With a whirling mass of light.

Homage to you, radiant and joyful
Whose crown emits a garland of light
You, by the laughter of TUTTARA
Conquer demons and lords of the world.

Homage to you with power to invoke
The assembly of local protectors
With your fierce frown and vibrating HUM
You bring freedom from all poverty.

Homage to you with crescent moon crown
All your adornments dazzling bright
From your hair-knot Amitabha
Shines eternal with great beams of light.

Homage to you who dwells in a blazing wreath
Like the fire at the end of this age
Your right leg outstretched and left drawn in
Joy surrounds you who defeats hosts of foes.

Homage to you whose foot stamps the earth
And whose palm strikes the ground by your side
With a wrathful glance and the letter HUM
You subdue all in the seven stages.

Homage to the blissful, virtuous, peaceful one
Object of practice, nirvana’s peace
Perfectly endowed with SOHA and OM
Overcoming all the great evils.

Homage to you with joyous retinue
You subdue fully all enemies’ forms
The ten-letter mantra adorns your heart
And your knowledge-HUM gives liberation.

Homage to TURE with stamping feet
Whose essence is the seed-letter HUM
You cause Meru, Mandara, and Vindya
And all three worlds to tremble and shake.

Homage to you who holds in your hand
A moon like a celestial lake
Saying TARA twice and the letter PEY
You dispel all poisons without exception.

Homage to you on whom the kings of gods
The gods themselves and all spirits rely
Your armor radiates joy to all
You soothe conflicts and nightmares as well.

Homage to you whose eyes, the sun and moon,
Radiate with pure brilliant light
Uttering HARA twice and TUTTARA
Dispels extremely fearful plagues.

Homage to you, adorned with three natures
Perfectly endowed with peaceful strength
You destroy demons, zombies, and yakshas
O TURE, most exalted and sublime!

Thus the root mantra is praised
And twenty-one homages offered.

om tare tuttare ture soha [repeat 7x]

. . . then we offer our breakfast to the Three Jewels by chanting
om ah hum three times and reciting the last three verses of the Food Offering prayer,

After breakfast

The community has a brief “stand-up meeting” to check in on the upcoming days’ activities, and conclude with the…

Offerings Service Prayer

We are grateful for the opportunity to offer service to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha and to sentient beings. While working with others, differences in ideas and ways of doing things may arise. These are natural and are a source of creative exchange. Our minds don’t need to make them into conflicts. We will endeavor to listen deeply and communicate wisely as we work together for our common goal. By using our body and speech to support the values we deeply believe in—generosity, kindness, ethical discipline, love, and compassion—we will create great positive potential, which we dedicate for the enlightenment of all beings.

Lunch Prayers

Before lunch, after receiving a brief teaching that is videoed for Bodhisattva’s Breakfast Corner, we recite the Five Contemplations and chant the Food Offering prayer. We eat in silence.

After lunch, we chant a mantra to make offerings for beings that are plagued by constant hunger and thirst, and then we chant prayers to purify our vows and commitments so as to be worthy to receive the food offered by others. Then we dedicate our merit for all our benefactors.  Here is the chant:

Verses After Lunch (download mp3)

om utsita bandi ashibya soha

Tayata gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi soha!

chomdenday deshin shegpa drachompa yangdagpar sogpay sangye rinchen okyi gyalpo may o rabtu selwa la chag tsal lo  3 x

nama samanta prabhara jaya tathagataya arhate samyaksam buddhaya namo manjushriye kumara bhutaya bodhisttvaya mahasattvaya maha karunikaya tayata om niralambha nirabhase jaya jaye lambhe mahamate daki dakenam meparishvadha soha    3 x

May all those who offered me food attain happiness of total peace. May all those who offered me drink, who served me, who received me, who honored me, or who made offerings to me attain happiness which is total peace.

May all those who scold me, make me unhappy, hit me, attack me with weapons, or do things up to the point of killing me attain the happiness of enlightenment. May they fully awaken to the unsurpassed, perfectly accomplished state of Buddhahood.

By the positive potential of offering food, may they have a good complexion, magnificence and strength. May the find foods having hundreds of tastes and live with the food of samadhi.

By the positive potential of offering drink, may their afflictions, hunger and thirst be pacified. May they possess good qualities such as generosity and take a rebirth without any sickness or thirst.

The one who gives, the one who receives, and the generous action are not to be observed as truly existent. By giving with impartiality, may the benefactors attain perfection.

By the power of being generous, may they become Buddhas for the benefit of sentient beings, and through generosity, may all beings who have not been liberated by previous conquerors be liberated.

By the positive potential of this generosity, my the naga kings, gods having faith in the Dharma, leaders who support religious freedom, benefactors, and others living in the area live long, enjoy good health and prosperity, and attain lasting happiness.

Due to this virtue, may all beings complete the collections of positive potential and wisdom. May they attain the two Buddha bodies resulting from positive potential and wisdom.

Each day we also chant a brief text, rotating in this order:

Heart of Wisdom Sutra
Three Principal Aspects of the Path
Song of the Four Mindfulnesses
Eight Verses of Thought Transformation
Thirty-Seven Practices of Bodhisattvas

Evening Dedication Prayers

Evening practice includes silent meditation and Prostrations to the 35 Buddhas.
We end the evening with dedications and these prayers:

May the spiritual teachers who lead me on the sacred path
and all spiritual friends who practice it have long life.
May I pacify completely all outer and inner hindrances.
Grant such inspiration I pray.

May the lives of the venerable spiritual masters be stable,
And their divine actions spread in the ten directions.
May the light of Lobsang’s teachings dispelling the darkness
Of the beings in the three worlds always increase.

Long Life Prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama (download mp3)

In the snowy mountain paradise
You’re the source of good and happiness.
Powerful Tenzin Gyatso Chenrezig,
May you stay until samsara ends.

Long Life Prayer for Ven. Thubten Chodron
(composed by Serkhong Rinpoche & translated by Alexander Berzin)

Peerless supreme spiritual leader, omniscient King of the Shakyas,
Motherly Tara, supreme bestower of longevity and wisdom,
Vast ocean assembly of Sources of Refuge,
Grant propitiousness here and now for a nectar of benefit and bliss to flow.

With a clear mind of extensive learning gained from
Following the wondrous tradition of Thubten, the Able One’s teachings,
You bring clarity to masses of disciples with the light of Chodron, the lamp of Dharma.
May your lotus feet remain unfaltering for a very long time.

Through your Dharmic deeds of hearing, thinking, meditating, and so on
Place those who seek the liberated path in harmony through immaculate discipline.
Please lead all beings to liberation with undeclining excellent qualities of scripture and insights
And establish them in a glory of eternal. bliss.

Prayer of the View of Dependent Arising (download mp3)
(composed by Serkhong Rinpoche)

May the deeds of explaining and practicing the Dharma
Done by groups supporting the teachings and their upholders,
Who spread the view of dependent arising
And nonviolent actions in the ten directions,
And especially at Sravasti Abbey in the West, flourish.

We finish the practice by bowing to each other and to the Buddhas.

Many of our other prayers and practices can be found in Pearl of Wisdom, Books I and II: Buddhist Prayers and Practices


Rain Shower of Feats
or
A Song of the Four Mindfulnesses as a Guide to the View of the Middle Way (download mp3)

Namo Guru Vajradhara (3x)

On the unwavering cushion of the union of method and wisdom
Sits the kind Lama who is the nature of all protectors.
There is a Buddha in the state of culmination of realizations and cessations.
Beseech him in the light of admiration, through casting away critical thoughts.
Don’t let your mind go astray, but place it within admiration and reverence.
Through not losing mindfulness, hold it within admiration and reverence.

In unending samsara, the prison of suffering,
Wander the sentient beings of the six realms, bereft of happiness.
They are your parents, who reared you with affectionate kindness.
Meditate on compassion and affection by relinquishing attachment and aversion.
Don’t let your mind go astray, but place it within compassion.
Through not losing mindfulness, hold it within compassion.

In the celestial mansion of great bliss, joyous to sustain,
There exists the divine form of your body which is a purified state of the aggregates.
There is a deity in the nature of union of the three divine bodies.
Don’t view it as ordinary, but train in divine dignity and immaculate appearance.
Don’t let your mind go astray, but place it within profundity and clarity.
Through not losing mindfulness, hold it in an attitude of profundity and luminosity.

The sphere of appearing and existing phenomena
Is pervaded by the space of the ultimate clear light of suchness.
There is an ineffable ultimate reality.
View this nature of emptiness through abandoning mental contrivances.
Don’t let your mind go astray, but place it in the ambiance of reality.
Through not losing mindfulness, hold it in the ambiance of reality.

At the crossroads of the six collections (of consciousness) which have diverse perceptions,
Are seen the hazy dualistic phenomena which are baseless.
There is a magical show which is by nature deceptive.
Don’t believe it to be true, but view it as having the nature of emptiness.
Don’t let your mind go astray, but place it in the nature of appearance-emptiness.
Through not losing mindfulness, hold it in the nature of appearance-emptiness.

Eight Verses of Thought Transformation (download mp3)

Namo Shakyamuni Buddha (3x)

With the thought of attaining enlightenment
For the welfare of all beings,
Who are more precious than a wish-fulfilling jewel,
I will constantly practice holding them dear.

Whenever I am with others
I will practice seeing myself as the lowest of all,
And from the very depth of my heart
I will respectfully hold others as supreme.

In all actions I will examine my mind
And the moment a disturbing attitude arises,
Endangering myself and others,
I will firmly confront and avert it.

Whenever I meet a person of bad nature
Who is overwhelmed by negative energy and intense suffering,
I will hold such a rare one dear,
As if I had found a precious treasure.

When others, out of jealousy,
Mistreat me with abuse, slander and so on,
I will practice accepting defeat
And offering the victory to them.

When someone I have benefited
And in whom I have placed great trust
Hurts me very badly,
I will practice seeing that person as my supreme teacher.

In short, I will offer directly and indirectly
Every benefit and happiness to all beings, my mothers.
I will practice in secret taking upon myself
All their harmful actions and sufferings.

Without these practices being defiled by the stains of the eight worldly concerns,
By perceiving all phenomena as illusory,
I will practice without grasping to release all beings
From the bondage of the disturbing unsubdued mind and karma.

The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas (download mp3)
by Gyelsay Togmay Sangpo

Namo Avalokiteshvara (3x)

1 Having gained this rare ship of freedom and fortune,
Hear, think, and meditate unwaveringly night and day
In order to free yourself and others
From the ocean of cyclic existence—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

2 Attached to your loved ones you’re stirred up like water.
Hating your enemies you burn like fire.
In the darkness of confusion you forget what to adopt and discard.
Give up your homeland—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

3 By avoiding bad objects, disturbing emotions gradually decrease.
Without distraction, virtuous activities naturally increase.
With clarity of mind, conviction in the teaching arises.
Cultivate seclusion—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

4 Loved ones who have long kept company will part.
Wealth created with difficulty will be left behind.
Consciousness, the guest, will leave the guesthouse of the body.
Let go of this life—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

5 When you keep their company your three poisons increase,
Your activities of hearing, thinking, and meditating decline,
And they make you lose your love and compassion.
Give up bad friends—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.
6 When you rely on them your faults come to an end
And your good qualities grow like the waxing moon.
Cherish spiritual teachers
Even more than your own body—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

7 Bound himself in the jail of cyclic existence,
What worldly god can give you protection?
Therefore when you seek refuge, take refuge in
The Three Jewels which will not betray you—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

8 The Subduer said all the unbearable suffering
Of bad rebirths is the fruit of wrongdoing.
Therefore, even at the cost of your life,
Never do wrong—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

9 Like dew on the tip of a blade of grass, pleasures of the three worlds
Last only a while and then vanish.
Aspire to the never-changing
Supreme state of liberation—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

10 When your mothers, who’ve loved you since time without beginning,
Are suffering, what use is your own happiness?
Therefore to free limitless living beings
Develop the altruistic intention—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

11 All suffering comes from the wish for your own happiness.
Perfect Buddhas are born from the thought to help others.
Therefore exchange your own happiness
For the suffering of others—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

12 Even if someone out of strong desire
Steals all your wealth or has it stolen,
Dedicate to him your body, possessions
And your virtue, past, present and future—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

13 Even if someone tries to cut off your head
When you haven’t done the slightest thing wrong,
Out of compassion take all her misdeeds
Upon yourself—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

14 Even if someone broadcasts all kinds of unpleasant remarks
About you throughout the three thousand worlds,
In return, with a loving mind,
Speak of his good qualities—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

15 Though someone may deride and speak bad words
About you in a public gathering,
Looking on her as a spiritual teacher,
Bow to her with respect—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

16 Even if a person for whom you’re cared
Like your own child regards you as an enemy,
Cherish him specially, like a mother
Does her child who is stricken by sickness—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

17 If an equal or inferior person
Disparages you out of pride,
Place her, as you would your spiritual teacher,
With respect on the crown of your head—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

18 Though you lack what you need and are constantly disparaged,
Afflicted by dangerous sickness and spirits,
Without discouragement take on the misdeeds
And the pain of all living beings—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

19 Though you become famous and many bow to you,
And you gain riches to equal Vaishravana’s,
See that worldly fortune is without essence,
And be unconceited—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

20 While the enemy of your own anger is unsubdued,
Though you conquer external foes, they will only increase.
Therefore with the militia of love and compassion
Subdue your own mind—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

21 Sensual pleasures are like saltwater:
The more you indulge, the more thirst increases.
Abandon at once those things which breed
Clinging attachment—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

22 Whatever appears is your own mind.
Your mind from the start was free from fabricated extremes.
Understanding this, do not take to mind
[Inherent] signs of subject and object—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

23 When you encounter attractive objects,
Though they seem beautiful
Like a rainbow in summer, don’t regard them as real
And give up attachment—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

24 All forms of suffering are like a child’s death in a dream.
Holding illusory appearances to be true makes you weary.
Therefore when you meet with disagreeable circumstances,
See them as illusory—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

25 When those who want enlightenment must give even their body,
There’s no need to mention external things.
Therefore without hope for return or any fruition
Give generously—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

26 Without ethics you can’t accomplish your own well being,
So wanting to accomplish others’ is laughable.
Therefore without worldly aspirations
Safeguard your ethical discipline—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

27 To Bodhisattvas who want a wealth of virtue
Those who harm are like a precious treasure.
Therefore towards all cultivate patience
Without hostility—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

28 Seeing even Hearers and Solitary Realizers, who accomplish
Only their own good, strive as if to put out a fire on their head,
For the sake of all beings make enthusiastic effort,
The source of all good qualities—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

29 Understanding that disturbing emotions are destroyed
By special insight with calm abiding,
Cultivate concentration which surpasses
The four formless absorptions—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

30 Since the five perfections without wisdom
Cannot bring perfect enlightenment,
Along with skillful means cultivate the wisdom
Which does not conceive the three spheres [as real]—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

31 If you don’t examine your own errors,
You may look like a practitioner but not act as one.
Therefore, always examining your own errors,
Rid yourself of them—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

32 If through the influence of disturbing emotions
You point out the faults of another Bodhisattva,
You yourself are diminished, so don’t mention the faults
Of those who have entered the Great Vehicle—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

33 Reward and respect cause us to quarrel
And make hearing, thinking, and meditation decline.
For this reason give up attachment to
The households of friends, relations and benefactors—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

34 Harsh words disturb the minds of others
And cause deterioration in a Bodhisattva’s conduct.
Therefore give up harsh words
Which are unpleasant to others—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

35 Habitual disturbing emotions are hard to stop through counteractions.
Armed with antidotes, the guards of mindfulness and mental alertness
Destroy disturbing emotions like attachment
At once, as soon as they arise—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

36 In brief, whatever you are doing,
Ask yourself “What’s the state of my mind?”
With constant mindfulness and mental alertness
Accomplish others’ good—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

37 To remove the suffering of limitless beings,
Understanding the purity of the three spheres,
Dedicate the virtue from making such effort
To enlightenment—
This is the practice of Bodhisattvas.

This translation is excerpted from The 37 Practices of Bodhisattvas, an oral teaching by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, 1997, with permission from the publisher, Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY.

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