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Quotations on:
Prayers and Dedication
It would be wrong to say, as some do, that if we don't recite prayers while
being aware of their meaning and merely repeat the words mindlessly, it has
no benefit whatsoever--like prayer flags flapping in the wind. However, there
are indeed differences in the level of benefits and blessings derived from prayers
according to the way we recite them. Therefore, keeping this in mind, at the
beginning of the practice, generate bodhicitta. During the main practice, some
will use an object of concentration and some will practice without an object
of concentration; each person should do what is best according to their level.
At the end, one should dedicate the merit in a way that is pure from the three
conceptual spheres to the best of one's ability. The most important and essential
thing in making [prayer] meaningful is to depend on those three stages of practice--generation
of bodhicitta, the main practice and dedication of merit. All must do the complete
three stages of practice.
Chatral Rinpoche, Compassionate Action
When we practice bodhicitta prayers or meditations, it may look like we are alone, like we are practicing for ourselves, but we are not practicing for ourselves, and we are not alone. All beings are interconnected, and in that sense they are present or affected. Milarepa sang, "When I am alone, meditating in the mountains, all the Buddhas past, present, and future are with me. Guru Marpa is always with me. All beings are here."
We are not practicing for ourselves alone, since everybody is involved and included in the great scope of our prayers and meditations on this perfectly pure motivation. The natural outflow of so-called "solitary meditation or prayer" is spontaneous benefit for others; it's like the rays of the sun, rays which spontaneously reach out. This good heart, pure heart, vast and open mind, is called in Tibetan sem karpo, white mind. It means pure, vast, and open heart. This is innate bodhicitta. It is not something foreign to us, as we well know, yet it is something we could relate to more, cultivate, generate, and embody. We talk about vast and profound teachings of Dharma, such as Dzogchen, but without this goodness of heart, this unselfishness, it is mere chatter, gossip, and rationalization.
Nyoshul Khenpo Rinpoche and Lama Surya Das, Natural Great Perfection: Dzogchen Teachings and Vajra Songs
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Each time we begin our practice of meditation, we are moved by the awareness that we and all other sentient beings fundamentally have the Buddha nature as our innermost essence, and that to realize it is to be free of ignorance and to put an end, finally, to suffering.
We are inspired with the motivation to dedicate our practice, and our life, to the enlightenment of all beings in the spirit of this prayer, which all the buddhas of the past have prayed:
By the power and the truth of this practice:
May all beings have happiness, and the causes of happiness;
May all be free from sorrow, and the causes of sorrow;
May all never be separated from the sacred happiness which is sorrowless;
And may all live in equanimity, without too much attachment and too much aversion,
And live believing in the equality of all that lives. |
Last
updated:
April 27, 2009
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