INSPIRATION-PRAYERS
--------------------------------
CALLING ON THE BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS FOR RESCUE-
At the time of one's death, one should always call on the Buddhas
in Bodhisattvas for rescue. One should make material and mental offerings
to the Three Jewels, and holding fragrant incense in one's hand, say
these words with intense power of concentration:%
O Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, compassionate,
allknowing, with the five kinds of eyes, loving, protectors of all
sentient beings, come to this place by the power of compassion and
accept these material and offerings:%
O Compassionate Ones, you possess understanding wisdom, loving compassion,
effective action, and protecting power beyond the reach of thought.
O Compassionate Ones, this person, (name), is going from this world to
the other shore, he is leaving this world, he is dying without choice,
he has no friends, he is suffering greatly, he has no refuge, he has no
protector, he has no allies, the light of this life has set, he is going
to another world, he is entering dense darkness, he is falling down
a deep precipice, he is entering a thick forest, he is pursued by
the power of karma,he is entering a great wilderness, he is swept
away by a great ocean, he is driven on by the wind of karma, he is going
where there is no solid ground, he is embarking on a great battle,
he is seized by the great evil spirit, he is terrified by the
messengers of the Lord of Death, he is entering existence after
existence because of his karma, he is helpless, the time has come
when he must go on alone without a friend:%
O Compassionate Ones, be a refuge to him, (name), who has no refuge,
protect him, defend him, keep him from the great darkness of the bardo,
turn him aside from the great hurricane of Karma, protect him from
the great fear of the Lord of Death, deliver him from the long and
dangerous pathway of the bardo. O Compassionate Ones, do not let him
go to the three lower realms, do not forget your former vows but quickly send
out the power of you compassion:%
O Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, do not let your compassion and skillful
means for him, (name), be small, seize him with compassion, do not let a
sentient being fall onto the power of evil Karma.%
May the Three Jewels be a refuge from suffering in the bardo.%
This should be said Three times with deep devotion by oneself and all others.
--taking from the "Tibetan Book of the Dead"
================================================================================
THE MAIN VERSES OF THE SIX BARDOS
Now when the bardo of birth is dawning upon me, I will abandon
laziness for which life has no time, enter the undistracted path of
study, reflection and mediation, making projections and mind the path,
and realize the three Kayas;
now that I have once attained a human body, there is no time on the path
for the mind to wonder.%
Now when the bardo of dreams is dawning upon me, I will
abandon the corpse-like sleep of careless ignorance, and let my
thoughts enter their natural state without distraction; controlling
and transforming dreams in luminosity, I will not sleep like
any animal but unify completely sleep and practice.%
Now when the bardo of samadhi-mediation dawns upon me, I will
abandon the crowd of distractions and confusions, and rest in the boundless
state without grasping or disturbance; firm in the two practices:
visualization in complete, at this time of mediation, one-pointed,
free from activity, I will not fall into the power of confused emotions.%
Now when the bardo of the moment before death is dawning upon me,
I will abandon all grasping, yearning and attachment, enter undistracted
into clear awareness of the teaching, and eject my consciousness into the space of
unborn mind; as I leave this compound body of flesh and blood I will
know it to be a transitory illusion.%
Now when the bardo of dharmata dawns upon me, Ii will abandon all thoughts
of fear in terror, I will recognize whatever appears as my projection and know
it to be a vision of the bardo; now that i have reached this crucial point,
I will not fear the peaceful in wrathful ones, my own projections.%
Now when the bardo of becoming dawns upon me, I will concentrate
my mind one-pointedly, and strive to prolong the results of good karma,
close the womb-entrance and think of resistance; this is the time when
perseverance and pure thoughts are needed, abandon jealousy, and
meditate on the guru with his consort.%
with mind far off, not thinking of deaths coming, performing these
meaningless activities, returning empty-handed now would be complete confusion;
the need is recognition, Holy Dharma, so why not practice Dharma at this very moment?
From the mouths of siddas comes these words: if you do not keep your guru's
teaching in your heart, will you not become your own deceiver?%
