Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 42-minute initiation, His Holiness Sakya Trizin guides practitioners through the Avalokiteśvara empowerment within the Sakya tradition, which uniquely combines the deity practice with Mahāmudrā meditation on ultimate nature. He opens with motivation—generating compassion for all sentient beings—then leads the preparation: a sevenfold prayer (confession, rejoicing in virtue, resolving to realize ultimate truth, taking refuge, generating relative and absolute bodhicitta, and dedicating merit) to purify obscurations before the ritual proper. The main body covers three sequential blessings: body blessing through visualizing light rays invoking all Buddhas into your form as the white four-armed Avalokiteśvara; voice blessing by drawing the guru’s mantra into your heart and reciting the mantra a hundred times; mind blessing through absorbing a thumb-sized Avalokiteśvara into your heart, then dissolving all forms into emptiness to practice Mahāmudrā—resting in the non-conceptual recognition that mind itself is void of any solid, locatable nature. The conclusion repeats mandala offering and merit dedication. Suited to practitioners who have received or are about to receive Avalokiteśvara initiation in the Sakya lineage.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 21 FfK 1988 05 30.mp3
UUID: 3c29b72d-23ea-41a7-aa1f-77aafe77d851
Teacher: HH Sakya Trizin
Collection: Freedom from the Known (HH Sakya Trizin)
Date: 1988-05-30
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 42.2 minutes
Words: ~2,156
So now I you are going to receive the initiation of Avalokiteśvara, the manifestation of all the past, present, and future Buddhas’ compassion. So to receive this initiation, the first thing is always to create the right motivation, which means as right as space, the sentient beings for the sake of all sentient beings who are as wide as space. For the sake of these sentient beings that one must attain a full enlightenment. And in order to get enlightenment that you are receiving this initiation. And after receiving this initiation, that one will diligently practice the deity and keep all the pledges and vows.
So for this, there are many different mentions in the many different tantra. This is according to the great tradition of Sakyapa where Avalokiteśvara’s practice is combined with Mahāmudrā practice of single Lokeshvara without surrounding deities. So I’m going to give this. And so the initiations are always has three parts, the preliminary part and the main part and the conclusion part. And so first, the preliminary part is to make a mental offering, which means that actually one’s own wealth and body and especially the virtuous deeds that one has accumulated in the past, the virtuous deeds that one is accumulating in the present, and the virtuous deeds that one will come accumulate in the future, all combined together in the form of the whole universe in the center of Mount Sumeru with four major continents and eight minor continents, seven jewels, eight goddesses, etcetera.
They’re not just one, but countless of these that you offer to the guru in order to request to bestow the initiation. And then after the offering of mandala offering, there is a verse to repeat after me, and that is called the requesting praises. Request to the guru to bestow the initiation. So first, I will just go through decide in Tibetan text briefly, and then you do the mental offering. So now, for example, if one is need to put something new, for example, in a container, if you are going to pour some good drinks, then the first thing is to to clean the container.
To make the container pure is important. So similarly, in order to receive the blessings of Avalokiteśvara, that one needs to be purified all the negative actions that one have taken in the past. So in order to purify oneself, we perform the sevenfold prayer. And for this, you should visualize in front of you one’s own guru in the form of Avalokiteśvara, surrounded with all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the ten directions, and facing towards this yourself with all sentient beings performing the sevenfold prayer. Sevenfold prayer, there are many different types of sevenfold prayer according to the Mahāyāna, according to the different sutras, different scriptures.
But the one that we are going to do now is according to the vajrayana, the tantric way of sevenfold prayer. And so for this, the first one is to confess all the non virtuous deeds that one have committed out of ignorance, out of defilements, out of carelessness, and out of disrespectful to the vows, etcetera. Due to this, whatever one’s committed to nonvirtuous is physically, through speech, or through mentally that you confess with the deep regret. And the second is to rejoice all the virtuous deeds that one have committed, accumulated oneself as well as from the Buddhas up to an ordinary person, including oneself. Whatever virtuous deeds that one has done, that to rejoice it without any kind of jealousy or competition.
And the third is resolve to hold the absolute bodhicitta, which means actually resolve to realize the ultimate truth. As previous great buddhas have realized that I also from this moment that I resolve to realize the ultimate truth. I will try my best, in other words. And I will hold the absolute bodhicitta from this moment onwards. And fourth one is to take refuge in the buddha Dharma Sangha.
Buddha is our guide, Dharma is the path, and Sangha is our spiritual companion. And fifth one is the the wishing bodhicitta. The relative bodhicitta has two parts, which are known as the wishing bodhicitta and entering bodhicitta. Wishing bodhicitta means a wish to attain ultimate enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, that you will never give up this wish, to hold such a wish all the time.
And the sixth one is promise to hold the entering bodhicitta, which means that in order to attain enlightenment, that whatever necessary actions that whatever actions required, that I will try my try to practice as great bodhisattvas have done in the past that I also follow their steps and try to practice the bodhisattva activities. And the seventh one is by performing the sevenfold prayer, the enormous merit that one gains, we dedicate to attain ultimate enlightenment for the sake of all living beings. So these are the meaning and the thing that one should think about And these things in mind with the visualization in front of you, you repeat after me the sevenfold prayer. First, I will just say it in Tibetan, and then you will repeat after me. Then again to request, specially to request to bestow the Avalokiteśvara body, voice, and mind initiation.
Can you repeat after me these requesting lines? So after this is the preliminary part of the initiation. Now for the main part of the initiation, first to build a base for receiving initiation that you should visualize that when I say the mantra, svabhava shuddha sarva dharma svabhava shuddho ham. So at that time, all your non virtuous deeds obscurations that one have accumulated from the beginningless time as well as our present, there rises a jewel throne where one is sitting. There arises a jewel throne and on it a lotus and moon disk, and on this oneself in the form of Avalokiteśvara who is white color with one face, four hands.
The first two hands, the first right hand and the first left hand are folded at heart, requesting all the Buddhas to look after the sentient beings or to work for the sentient beings. And the second right hand is holding a white rosary, a crystal rosary. The second left hand is holding a jewel and the root of the lotus flower. And the two legs are in full lotus positions, sitting position, adorned with the jewel crown, earrings, and necklace, etcetera, adorned with many precious jewel ornaments and beautiful cloth covered with beautiful cloth. And from his body, light rays issues out.
And then from the guru’s heart, many light rays issues out and invokes the front mandala, the mandala which we have set here. From this as well as all the ten directions from the ten directions, all the Buddhas and the bodhisattvas are invoked and from their heart in the form of nondual transcendental wisdom, in the form of actually, their own nondual primordial wisdom in the form of Avalokiteśvara images. Some as big as mountains, some as tiny as atoms came from every direction and absorbed into you so that you receive all his blessings. So now you will do this visualization. So by doing this way that you receive the Avalokiteśvara’s body blessings purifies all your non virtuous deeds, obscurations that are committed through body.
One’s body is blessed so that one is now qualified to do the visualization oneself to be to do the visualization of Avalokiteśvara. Now for the voice blessings that from the guru’s heart. Guru, the present guru, who is also in the form of Avalokiteśvara, in his heart, seed syllable letter Hrīḥ surrounded with the mantra rosary, which means mantra letters all standing upright in clockwise. And from this mantra rosary, a similar one similar mantra rosary, Just like one light is coming from another light, similar one came out through his mouth, enters into your mouth, and make the circle at your heart with the seed syllable letter Hrīḥ in the center with the surrounded with the mantra rosary. So with this visualization that you repeat after me the mantra hundred times.
So by doing this way, that you receive the first time, you receive the blessings. The second time, the blessing that you received and the warmth that you have visualized are completely merged together. And the third time onwards, repeating the hundred times, it makes very firm. So now, again, with the to make the mantra blessings very firm that you repeat these lines. Now after receiving this initiation, you take Avalokiteśvara as your deity and you will always take Avalokiteśvara as your deity.
So promise to hold as your deity, and you repeat after me these lines. So in this way, you receive the voice blessings, purifies all your negative actions that one have committed through voice. And one’s voice has been blessed so that one can recite the mantra of Avalokiteśvara. Now for the mind blessings from the guru’s heart. Many light rays issues out and goes in directly into the heart of the front visualization, which means the mandala that we have set, the shrine that is set here, which also one should visualize and form of Avalokiteśvara that the light rays directly goes into the heart of the shrine Avalokiteśvara.
And then from there, his own nondual primordial wisdom in the form of thumb-size Avalokiteśvara image came out and comes on top of your head and goes down to the body and absorbs through the seed syllable that you have, seed syllable letter Hrīḥ in your heart that you visualize. And and there it absorbs into you, merges with it. And then while yourself still in the form of Avalokiteśvara, which is very visible, yet not solid like our body. It is all like a rainbow or the reflection of mirror, that the color and the shape appearance very clearly visible, but all in nature of void just like a rainbow.
Rainbows, the shapes are clear, colors are clear, but it is also empty. So similar in this kind of the combination of visibility and combination of form and void, combination of vision and void. So there you concentrate like this, and the seed, jewel throne, and lotus, and moon just absorbs to you. And, finally, all your body also absorbs to the letter Hrīḥ, the central letter Hrīḥ. And that letter Hrīḥ becomes smaller and smaller and smaller, And finally, it vanishes in the sky just like the rainbow vanishes in the sky.
And there then, you want to practice the Mahāmudrā. The Mahāmudrā means maha means great, and mudra means actually a seal. Like a seal. The meaning is because if ancient time when the the kings put their seal, then it become a law that nobody can go against or nobody can go beyond that. Everybody have to follow this the rule that has been laid down and sealed by the king.
So similarly here, the it means the great seal, literally means the great seal, which means that everything is actually covered with ultimate truth. There’s nothing that is beyond ultimate truth. So how we practice this at the moment is that happiness, suffering, saṃsāra, and nirvana, everything, the root is actually one’s own mind. And one’s own mind, when you exam, you cannot find in any specific shape or any color. Since it is not in any color or any any any shape at any specific particular place that it is beyond from one or many.
It is not one nor many. So, therefore, it is empty, the void by itself. Since it is empty or the void from by itself, that it is never born, never rising right from the beginning. And so it is all the void of inherent existence. And something that is never arising, of course, never remain also.
So it never remains. Something that is never born and never remained also could not cease or destroy. So it’s a void of rising, void void of remaining. It is also void of ceasing and has no kind of root. So in other words, away from all extremes, like existing and nonexisting and both and neither.
It’s all like a a space. No spaces, no center, no edges. So similarly here also, in this great state, without any interference of sign or thoughts that one should try to meditate for a moment. So I’ll first just go through in Tibetan. So in by doing this way, that one receives Avalokiteśvara’s transcendental wisdom, empowerment, initiations, purifies all your negative actions that one have committed through mind.
And one’s mind is being blessed so that one can meditate on the transcendental wisdom of Avalokiteśvara. So with this, we completed the main part of the initiation. And now for the conclusion part, again, you make the mental offering and then do the dedication of merits.