Table of Content

1. Opening the Mind Toward the Whole Path to Enlightenment — What Mañjuśrī Realized

2. The Way of Offering One’s Body to All Mother Guests

1. General Generosity

2. Offering to the Hell Realm Beings

3. Hungry Ghosts

4. Animals

5. Other Dedications

6. The Specific Dedication for the Guests With Whom One Has Karmic Debts

3. Requests To Attain the Desired Meaning

1. Then the Way of Dissolving the Merit Field

2. Colophon

4. The Sun of Praise Nourishing the Unfolding and Blooming of the Lotus of Faith

Happy Monks Publication

Published by HappyMonksPublication in 2022.

ISBN 978-3-910220-03-4

© Fedor Stracke

Translated from Tibetan by Fedor Stracke.

All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from HappyMonksPublication.

Expection: Free non-comercial use in all FPMT centres and programs.

Translated from the Tibetan into English by the barely conscious Fedor Stracke, Germany-Munich, 2019/20, incooperating suggestions by Ven Tenzin Legtsog, and in consultation on a variety of issues with Khenrinpoche Thubten Choyi and Geshe Ngawang Dragpa. Many thanks also to Hermann Wittekopf for producing the cover with me.

The line drawings of Mañjuśrī and Lama Tsongkhapa used for the cover work are © Andy Weber. The digital painting of Mañjuśrī is curtesy Digitalthankas: www.digitalthangka.com.

For other texts please visit:

www.happymonkspublication.org

From Opening the Door of Blessing of Guru Yoga:

Opening the Mind Toward the Whole Path to Enlightenment —
What Mañjuśrī Realized

by Shangdön Denpa Gyatso

1.

Although being the father of the utter infinity of conquerors,

you accepted the burden of the infinite conqueror’s actions,

and work to liberate all migrators of the infinite realms.

I make request to the Protector Mañjuśrī.

2.

Previously, when reborn as King Namkha,

you took the great pledge of the magnificent mind generation

for supreme enlightenment at King Tathagata Melodious Dragon Roar’s feet,

something to be reflected on also nowadays here.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

3.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

from then on, for innumerable eons, you gave up your cherished body,

life and all wealth for our sake innumerable times.

If I do not make requests and remember this now, what would that be?

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

4.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

having then attained the supreme sovereign of the four bodies,

and though inexpressible eons have passed,

now is the time that you behold with your compassion

this body of mine, one of little fortune, in the midst of cyclic existence.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

5.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

I have been tormented for infinite times, since your liberation,

by the sufferings of heat, cold, being boiled and burned, and stupidity,

lacking strength even for exhausted lamentation

—during these times, where did you abide?

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

6.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

when now, like a flash of lightening briefly illuminating darkness,

this basis with freedom is attained, and wisdom and knowledge are clarified,

I am not held by the hook of your compassion,

and I fall back into the evil gone realms, how shall I be freed?

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

7.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

if reciting your name mantra even once

is said to be superior to the names of the three time conquerors,

though I recite to the utmost of my capability,

I do not perceive even a fraction of a blessing. What is this?

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

8.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

Though you ripen boundless sentient beings

in each individual smallest of small moments,

like an owl perceiving the sunlight as darkness,

I, the deluded one, do not see anything.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

9.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

it is said that, having mastery over the infinity of phenomena in motion and at rest, your wishes are accomplished through mere intent.

Yet, though I supplicate you by any means possible,

I have not seen any sign of you even in my dreams.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

10.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

while you are the display of the spiritual friend,

and lovingly protect us, like parents their child,

I, not practicing according to the instructions, only do the opposite,

please view me, the faithful, with your compassion.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

11.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

though the instructions of the lama purify my ear,

my mind and the dharma do not mix at all,

it is like receiving a diagnosis without drinking the medicine,

please view me, the unaffected one, with your compassion.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

12.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

though I have accepted the divine river of the three vows,

since the awful container of my mental continuum is impure,

like nectar laced with poison,

please view me, draining the life of my liberation, with compassion.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

13.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

as all compounded phenomena depend on conditions,

they change through the force of causes and conditions, it is taught.

Yet, since I have not received the slightest benefit despite my best exertions,

perhaps this mind of mine is permanent.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

14.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

all phenomena are mere dependent relations, established interdependently,

and hence they can be bound or liberated, it is certainly taught.

Yet, if I cannot reverse it despite generating the antidote,

perhaps my continuum exists truly in cyclic existence.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

15.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

you arose in the body of the Powerful Wrathful One,

each of your rays of fire-light incinerating all demons,

yet it seems that even you cannot subdue

this demon in my continuum.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

16.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

though not being one to dismiss precepts,

I have strongly cultivated the afflictions since beginning-less times.

Because mindfulness and introspection are extremely weak,

please view this selfless self with compassion,

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

17.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

dead though alive, with substances certainly difficult to digest,

like a fish snared by the hook,

stopped yet not ceased, drowning in an ocean of “bkor”,[1]

please view me, the firewood for the hells, with compassion.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

18.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

like someone who, though having travelled to the island of wish-granting jewels,

returned empty-handed, without even a fragment,

although having met the precious treasure of the Conqueror’s teaching,

I wasted this human life. Please view me with compassion.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

19

Protector Mañjuśrī,

Kyihu, kyihu, kind and compassionate foremost saintly one,

concentrate, concentrate, powerful and able protector,

hold me, hold me, rescue me from the abyss of the evil gone realms,

rescue me, rescue me, rescue me from the horrors of existence and peace.

I make requests, foremost saintly treasure of transcendental knowledge,

please bestow your blessings.

Protector Mañjuśrī,

please view me with compassion. I do not have anybody else to turn to.

SARVA MANGALAM

Translator’s Colophon

This prayers is taken from a longer guru yoga called Unlocking the Gateway To Blessings composed by Shang Denpa Gyatso at the request of Harchen Kachu Trashi Gyaltsen to attain unwaivering faith in Lama Tsongkhapa. The title A Breathless Supplication To Mañjuśrī, the Gentle, Melodious Savior was added for clarity in consultation with Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Translated from the Tibetan into English by the barely conscious Fedor Stracke, in Germany-Munich, 2019/20.

From the guru yoga The Ship Taking One

to the Ocean of Omniscient Consciousness:

The Way of Offering One’s Body to All Mother Guests

by Dönyo Khedrub

1.

This difficult to find precious human body,

one day, when the conditions arrive, is rendered powerless.

Now, while I possess the ability to do what I want,

I shall generate the mind thinking “I will collect many eons of accumulations.”

General Generosity

2.

The generosity of the power aspiring to rescue

the infinite migrators of six kinds from their suffering:

big houses, clothes, drink and food,

fire, sun, refreshing water and great clouds,

3.

mounts, boats, bridges and stairs,

excellent ornaments, jewels, armour, lights and so forth,

any daily necessitiy that benefits anyone, that is an object of desire,

I shall emanate from my body, and offer:

Offering to the Hell Realm Beings

Hot Hells

4.

In the hells of black line, reviving, crushing, wailing,

hot, very hot and the hell without respite,

the minions of the lord of death take the form of agreeable friends,

and their weapons become budding sprouts of precious trees.

Neighbouring Hells

5.

The fire and hot ashes become a lotus forest,

and the burning molten metal becomes pleasurable drink,

on the path of extremely sharp blades medicinal plants grow,

the mire of the swamp of putrefied corpses is permeated by golden sand,

6.

in the forest of blades, trees of pleasure groves take root,

Shalamari is populated by wish-fulfilling bodhi trees,

the fiery trench becomes a forest of reeds, the insects and

the iron birds and dogs become pleasurable pets.

Cold Hells

7.

The hells of blistering, bursting, shrieking ahchu,

splitting like a lotus and an utpala,

receive soft cushions, clothes, fire clouds and the sun’s warmth,

thus eliminating cold even in mere name.

Hungry Ghosts

8.

Also, the hungry ghost migrators, having inner and outer obscurations,

experiencing the wheel of fire flames, with abodes scattered all about,

anything they see or hear, the beautiful orchards, and well-cooked enjoyable food, it turns into tormenting liquids.[2]

9.

These are planted with love, like a mother for her only child,

by the protectors. May the path of food

be agreeable to the stomach, and the enjoyed essence

be like nectar that rejuvenates when drinking it.

Animals

10.

Regarding animals, who eat one another, may the stronger

nurture the weaker, like mother and child, free from subjugation and beatings.

Purifying the sleep of stupidity and delusion,

may they attain the discriminating wisdom of perfect logic.

Other Dedications

11.

May the anger of cannibals be subdued,

may the fighting of the demigods become peaceful merriment,

may the haughty gods such as Bhrama, Indra and so forth,

become champions of white Dharmas.

12.

Further, through this offering of my body

may the accumulation of karmic obscurations of

any sentient being in any realm of existence,

whether it is huge or heavy, immediately be purified.

13.

May all blind people see forms,

may the deaf hear all sounds,

may the disabled all be able to walk,

and may the mute become experts in words.

14.

May the crazy mind become controlled,

may the stupid mind come to know all outer and inner objects,

may the injured bodies become healed,

and may the pain of sickness disappear.

15.

May those with grudges attain harmonious minds,

may those like a mayfly live a long life,

may those dying before their time live long,

may all poor people find wealth.

16.

May the hungry and thirsty drink and be well fed,

may the desirous attain a mind of non-attachment,

may the unethical attain the mind of restraint,

may the angry become loving.

17.

May every lazy one become enthusiastic,

may the discouraged attain confidence,

may the distracted find isolation,

may the conceited become of humble mind.

18.

May all in fear of the law be freed from punishment,

may the friendless find companions.

In this way, to pacify the sufferings of the three realms,

I surrender my body every day.

The Specific Dedication for the Guests With Whom One Has Karmic Debts

19.

Sentient beings kill and beat each other,

steal from each other, and the like.

Because of vile karmic debts and lethal vengefulness,

accumulated in times gone by,

20.

and encountering conditions in the present,

migrators are harmed by evil spirits.

For this to be stopped,

and that they may benefit them instead,

21.

I offer my vital organs, innards and limbs,

my life, breath and so forth, whatever they wish for,

abandoning fear and cherishing,

to the host of non-human beings.

22.

This supreme body, the wish-fulfilling jewel from which everything desired comes,

by offering it to the sentient beings who reside in existence,

may they be liberated fully from the hundred-fold fetters

and attain the state of full omniscience.

Requests To Attain the Desired Meaning

23.

Greatly kind lord, foundation of the jewels of scripture and realisation,

through the power of making offerings and respectful requests,

may I be guided by you in all life times without separation,

and by relying in thought and action may I attain your blessing.

24.

This pure base with eight freedoms and ten endowments,

which is praised as the basis to achieve enlightenment,

without wasting it on the meaningless actions of this life,

please bless me to make it meaningful by achieving the pure path.

25.

This basis said to be exceedingly difficult to find,

like a butter lamp in strong gusts of wind,

is impermanent and disintegrates quickly. Contemplating this,

please bless me that urgency be generated in my continuum.

26.

Being horrified by the abyss of the dread-worthy hells,

I go for refuge to the Three Jewels from my heart,

and, having found definite conviction in white and black actions,

please bless me to practice correctly giving up and implementing.

27.

Wherever one exists in the ocean of endless cyclic existence,

one is not beyond the waves of the three sufferings.

Please bless me to see even the glory of Brahma, Indra,

or a wheel-turning king as a fire pit.

28.

This self-cherishing that cultivates evil attitudes,

and the unsuitable courses of actions engaged in,

are the source of everything undesired and every fault.

Bless me to see this and to destroy this demon of self-cherishing.

29.

This supreme mind that cherishes migrators

is the basis of all infinite qualities.

Seeing this, please bless me that I may cherish more than myself

these mothers tormented by the three sufferings.

30.

Not wishing for suffering even in dreams

and never being satisfied with happiness,

since there is no difference between self and all others,

please bless me to like others.

31.

In short, whatever happiness and virtue I possess

I give to others without regret,

and whatever aggregations of suffering exist on others,

I take upon myself. Please bless me to be able to do this.

32.

That which is praised by the conquerors and their children,

the only sustenance of embodied beings,

this precious holy mind,

please bless me for it to be quickly generated uncontrived.

33.

Deeply inspired by the texts of the Mahayana path and the supreme mind:

please bless me to train with fierce effort

in the points of the actions of the conqueror’s children,

correctly enclosed by the expansive objectless three cycles.

34.

Please bless me that in the clear water of

non-conceptual calm abiding, where the waves of elaborations of

total conceptualisation have been fully pacified, the form of the moon

that is superior insight focusing on suchness, appears clearly and distinctly.

35.

The king of wish-fulfilling gems, unification,

is impossible to find, even if searching for many aeons.

Please bless me to rely on the qualified guru,

who bestows it effortlessly in one instant.

36.

Then, having entered well the pure house of liberation,

please bless me that the stains of the four obscurations

may be cleansed by the powerful waters of the four initiations,

and that I may become a perfect vessel for the nectar path of the two stages.

37.

Please bless me to understand that keeping the samayas and vows

that I accepted at that time with the lama yidam as witness,

is the basis for achieving the three types of siddhis,

and to cherish them at the cost of my life.

38.

Please bless me that, having destroyed the deceptive town

of birth, death and intermediate state, and ascended the magical staircase of the two stages, I may dance as miraculous mental emanation,

in the delightful pure house of the jewel of unification.

39.

If, at the time of death, I have not completed the path,

may the host of yidams, dakas and dakinis

saying, “child, come here to the pure realm,”

lead me to the outer and inner Kechara.[3]

40.

Please bless me that through the power of this,

either during the intermediate state or having taken the basis

of another existence as lineage holder, may I manifest the realizations

of the path of the two stages and thus manifest the three bodies.

Then the Way of Dissolving the Merit Field

Please precious glorious root guru

These three verses are the same. Make also the following request:

After the enlightened body, speech and mind have entered my ordinary body, speech and mind, Lama, please bless me to become like you. Having made this request the merit field dissolves sequentially, like the breath’s condensation on a mirror, from the edges to the middle, into the central figure, which in turn comes to the crown of my head and dissolves into me. Through this my three doors become indivisibly one with the enlightened body, speech and mind, and I enter meditative equipoise on non-conceptuality for a short while.

Then:

Through the thus born continual river of white virtue,

without falling into the abyss of wrong views,

may I enter the stream of the precious mind

and be carried to the ocean of omniscient consciousness.

Colophon

Also this was written by the teaching monk Dönyo Khedrub

in the isolated hermitage of Gurmön

for the benefit of many interested ones

and to enthusiastically familiarise myself with the guru-deity yoga.

Translator’s Colophon

These two prayers come from the guru yoga called “The Ship Taking One to theoOcean Of Omniscient Consciousness” composed by Dönyo Khedrub. Translated from the Tibetan into English from by the barely conscious Fedor Stracke, in Germany-Munich, 2019/20.

The Sun of Praise
Nourishing the Unfolding and Blooming of the Lotus of Faith

—A Brief Expression of Jetsün Losang Dragpa’s Nature—

by Tagtsang Lotsawa

Namo Guru Mañjughoṣaya

1.

Through the power of having accomplished the extensive waves of pure prayer,

invocated before the eyes of the great minded conquerors,

your famous roar glorified the Able One’s teachings among migrators.

I bow my head to the glorious Losang Drakpa.[4]

2.

Having ascended to the peak of all of both boundless accumulations,

holding the lineages of all countless conquerors,

virtuous friend of all infinite migrators,

treasure of all incomprehensible qualities, to you I pay homage.

3.

Thoroughly relying on the root, assembling the freedoms and endowments

in the pleasure garden of Tsongkha in the eastern Land of Snows,

understanding the full extent of the branches of qualities,

emitting the fragrance of renown, to you I prostrate.

4.

Although your transcendental wisdom is stainless, having relied on

all scholars of scholars

in the Land of Snows, such as the Fearless Youthful One[5] and so forth,

purifying all darkness of delusions

in relation to the general and specific scriptual traditions, to you I prostrate.

5.

Great ocean of pristine morality and ethical conduct,

filled to the brim with the jewels of extensive listening, scripture and reasoning,

supreme scholar, like a naga’s crown jewel,[6] on whom all rely respectfully,

to the investigative wisdom of unfathomable profundity I make requests.

6.

Seeing that at the time of your youth, the sun of your awareness

expanded the lotus garden of sutra[7] and Ornament[8]

firmly closed the blossom of the prideful waterlily that is my mind.

Treasure knowing the profound and expansive, to you I request.

7.

Here in this northern place even the purification of just one word is rare,

the elimination of elaborations regarding their meaning is even rarer,

the practice of the revealed meaning is merely a possibility,

I make heartfelt requests to you, who has completed these three.

8.

Some, lacking reason, propound tenets through scripture,

others, lacking scripture, follow mere look-alikes of logic.

Understanding all the conqueror’s teachings through both scripture and reasoning,

to you, the well discriminating wisdom, I prostrate respectfully.

9.

Some prioritise vinaya but abandon secret mantra,

others aspire to mantra and block out vinaya in their mind.

Great scholar who practices the complete teachings of the conqueror,

uniting them all without exclusion, to you I pay homage.

10.

Being partial to philosophy, secret mantra becomes a profound Dharma,[9]

having the haughtiness of mantra, one just pays lip service to philosophy.

To you, who sees that there is no way to proceed to complete enlightenment

without having sutra and mantra complete, I pay homage.

11.

For some the view is stopped due to subtle practice,

others give up practice due to the exalted view.

To you view and practice appear as mutually supportive,

and you excellently teach this meaning, to you I pay homage.

12.

Some, through great emphasis on study, disparage meditation,

others, holding meditation to be suficient, disparage study.

To you, who clarifies the way of grasping the holy Dharma

of scripture and insight through both study and achievement, I pay homage.

13.

The vajra vehicle stands out within the entirety of sutra and mantra,

the highest meaning stands out within the entirety of tantras,

the illusory body stands out within the the entirety of the two stages,

to you, great treasure who explains the previously unrevealed, I pay homage.

14.

In short, by greatly clarifying the complete teachings of the Able One

through teaching and achievement,

to you, who is worthy of continual praise by

every Dharma holder in the Land of Snows, I pay homage.

15.

I myself too, from today onwards for all life times,

like you the Great One, shall protect like my own life

the teachings of the Buddha with supreme cherishing of others over self and superior intention. Please bless me to be able to do this.

16.

By making you the principle one and holding you extraordinarely supreme,

although the Able One’s Dharma is disturbed by the demon of partisanship,

through training in the pure appearance of impartiality, may you

clear it up quickly and may the the Dharma holders be harmonious.

SARVA MANGALAM

Colophon

This is merely a short expression of the nature of the glorious Losang Drakpa, who is the unequalled great Dharma holder in recent times here in the country of the Land of Snows.

It is called Sun of Praise Nourishing the Unfolding and Blooming of the Lotus of Faith, and was composed by the pure and glorious Taktsang Lotsawa of Tsang, Bikkhu Sherab Rinchen Gyaltsen at Gephel Chokhor Gang (Virtue Increasing Dharma Wheel Hill)[10]

May the teachings of the Conqueror spread into all directions and increase.

Translated from the Tibetan into English by the barely conscious Fedor Stracke, in Germany-Munich, 2019/20.

May any root of virtue of the three times of others and myself,

not ripen for even an instant as the cause for

a mental wish for personal gain, as fame, entourage, wealth, gain and praise.

May they only become the cause for highest enlightenment.

[1]received offerings where one did not make prayers for the benefactor.

[2]driving them mad

[3]Tib.: Khachö, lit. Space-action

[4]The first syllables of the first three line, Lo, sang and Dragpa, already invoke Lama Tsong Khapa’s name, which is then fully stated in the fourth line.

[5]Jetsün Rendawa Zhonu Lodro (1349 - 1412)

[6]A naga cherishes the top jewel in their crown most, similarly, Lama Tsong Khapa is cherished by all other scholars as their crown jewel.

[7]Small, medium and great Prajnaparamita Sutras

[8]Ornament of Clear Realization

[9] In the sense of being hidden from one’s mind.

[10]The Tibetan colophon says Sherab Gyaltsen, but often, when Taktsang Lotsawa is referred to by his name, it is given as Sherab Rinchen, and in the colophon of the BDRC version is has Sherab Rinchen Gyaltsen.