Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute opening session, Khensur Rinpoche explains why the group is expanding its preliminary seven-limb prayer from a single abbreviated verse to the King of Prayers — the fullest form of this practice. He first grounds the shift in bodhicitta: love and compassion matter, but without genuinely eliminating our own faults we cannot help others, hence the need for a complete structured practice. He then walks through all seven limbs — prostrations, offerings, confession, rejoicing, requesting teachers to remain, requesting teachings, and dedication — arguing with a car-wheel analogy that omitting any one limb leaves the practice incomplete. He closes by explaining why, within the Gelug tradition, Tsongkhapa and his two spiritual sons anchor this practice, drawing a useful comparison to how Nyingma, Kagyu, and Sakya schools each use their own founding masters as the focal point.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 01 KoP 1997 11 25.mp3
UUID: d71ebae3-a9e9-4108-8aa8-3b2723f2a21b
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: King of Prayers (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1997-11-25
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.6 minutes
Words: ~2,268
Yeah. That Oh, We’ll begin by cultivating as our motivation that of the awakened heart, bodhicitta. We, amongst all the various creatures of the world, as human beings, possess a very special capacity. It is through our intelligence, through our ability to make effort, through our ability to set our minds on a particular task and achieve that task that we can bring about desired happiness, that we can eliminate undesired suffering in our life. This is a very special capacity that we as human beings possess.
It is by making use of this special capacity that we as human beings possess that we can ensure that our life will be meaningful. Can you can you hear me okay? But when we talk about a human a meaningful life, making use of our human life and achieving happiness and ridding ourselves of suffering, We’re talking about the finding of happiness not only for this life, but for all future lives, and for ridding ourselves of suffering not just for this life, but all our future lives. And moreover, a happiness which is not ephemeral, which is not transitory, but a stable, unchanging happiness. This is the happiness which can bring about the most meaningful way to use our lives.
And how are we to proceed in achieving this end? It is by cultivating positive states of mind, healthy states of mind which which are the causes of happiness, and on on the other hand, to begin to eliminate unhealthy states of mind, negative states of mind which are the causes of suffering. It is through the cultivation of these in this way that we can achieve this meaningful in a meaningful in to our life. When we talk about unhealthy states of mind, various negative minds, exactly what are we talking about? These are states of mind which have as at their root an unknowing with regard to the nature of reality, that is, say, ignorance.
Out of this ignorance, various types of afflictive emotions arise such as attachment, anger, pride, and jealousy, and miserliness. So these are the the states of mind which we regard as unhealthy or negative. So through through eliminating these negative or unhealthy states of mind, we will as they will naturally arise as a byproduct, healthy states of mind. What do we mean by healthy states of mind or positive states? We can first begin with that of love, which is expressed in the thought, it would be wonderful if myself and all living beings had happiness and the causes of happiness.
So in this state of love, which is expressed in the following thoughts, it it would be wonderful if myself and all living beings had happiness in the causes of happiness. May myself and all living beings have happiness in the causes of happiness. I myself and I myself will lead all sentient beings to a state where they possess happiness and the causes of happiness. So though these are tremendously healthy and positive states of mind, these qualities of love and compassion, we have to ask ourselves, though having developed them, can I, in fact, lead all living beings to such a state? Can I eliminate their suffering?
Can I bring them complete happiness? And when we question in this regard, we understand that at present, we don’t have the capacity. We aren’t able. How can I, in fact, achieve such a state? How can I develop such an ability in order to be able to eliminate the sufferings of others, both to oneself and others, and to bring both oneself and others complete happiness, to be able to lead them into such a state that we ourselves individually must remove all our various faults and bring to consummation all our excellent qualities?
It is by achieving this state of purification of negativities and faults, and the cultivation of all excellent qualities that we can bring about the welfare of both ourselves and others. In order to achieve that state, I am going to listen to this present teaching of the universal vehicle, a teaching which is going to describe the practice of the seven-limb prayer and that of union with the spiritual master, or Guru Yoga. So developing one’s motivation for listening to this presentation such that I’m going to listen to this teaching. Having listened to it, I will reflect upon it. Having reflect upon it, I will meditate and put it into practice for the sake of myself and all others.
Previously, with regard to our preliminary prayers, we would recite the seven-limb prayer in most abbreviated form. But in order to help us progress in our practice, I thought it would be of great value to ourselves if we would expand that seven-limb prayer and chant that of the prayer of the hundred deities of the land of joy, is called Ganden Lhagyama, which is the union with the spiritual master with regard to Lama Tsongkhapa, so the Guru Yoga of Lama Tsongkhapa. There’s been copies of this handed out. Maybe if you could put them in the sleeves of the prayer books or just make use of them. Begin as we usually do, which is verse of going for refuge and the generation of the awakened heart.
Previously, as one of our preliminary prayers, we were reciting the seven-limb prayer, which began with the line, I prostrate with body, speech, mind, respectfully and sincerely. That’s an extremely abbreviated form of the format of seven limbs within a prayer. And I thought it would be of use to ourselves in helping us to develop and progress along the path if we were to expand that and make use of this expanded format of the seven-limb prayer using that of the Guru Yoga or the union with the spiritual master of Je Tsongkhapa. And then there are a variety of forms of this seven limb format, that which is even a more expanded prayer in this form is that of the king of prayers, the prayer of the ways of the Bodhisattva, which is vast and sublime. This prayer of the seven limbs is made both of use of both within the context of the area of Buddhism called Sūtra or the discourses, but also in the area which is known as secret mantra.
And it is whichever of these within the universal vehicle, it is a prayer which is made extensive use of. It is the practice of a bodhisattva in which they are able to realize the various grounds and paths of the universal vehicle where whereby they eliminate all their various faults and bring the consummation their excellent qualities. So if we were to enumerate the seven limbs, first limb is that of paying homage or way of translating this is the offering of prostrations, the paying of homage or reverence. The second limb is that of offerings. The third is that of the disclosure of negativities.
The fourth is the limb of rejoicing whereby one takes in recollecting the positive actions of both oneself and others takes joy in those actions. And the the fifth is that of that of requesting the teachers to remain and not to pass on. Order that we were discussing earlier that it’s necessary for us to develop ourselves in our capacity and to be able to bring about the welfare of both ourselves and others. In order to do that we must be able to eliminate our various faults and to develop all our excellent qualities, in order that we have to have the teachings, in order that we have to have those who teach us. So in order to progress along the path, it’s necessary that we ask those teachers who can show us the methods to please remain and do not pass on.
The fifth of the seven limbs is that of requesting not to is to remain. And then the sixth is that in order to actually develop ourselves in terms of our capacity, in order to remove our various faults and bring the consummation of all our excellent qualities, we have to rely upon the Buddhas and the spiritual community or the sanghas. That is to say, we in ourselves find it difficult to understand the nature of reality and we have to have teachings in order to come to that understanding, in order to remove our various faults and develop excellent qualities. So we ask these teachers to please not only to remain but to continue to teach ourselves. So the sixth of the seven limbs is to request to turn the wheel of Dharma, that is to say, to give Dharma teachings.
And then finally the seventh limb, having accumulated creative potential or merit by means of these previous six limbs, we then go on to dedicate all of potential, this merit to benefit both ourselves and others. So the seventh limb is that of a prayer of dedication. So with regards to these these seven limbs in in in the way that they can be practiced, it is said that they should not they are an exacting in terms of number, that that if there were less, that would be too few. If there were more, that would be more that would be an excess. So they are exacting their number.
They within them subsume all the various practices. So it’s necessary for us, for our practice to be complete, to incorporate all seven of these limbs. Each of these limbs is very important in its own right. They’re very profound. They bring about great benefit and tremendous blessings.
And each of them is indispensable. Just as if we had a car and if we were to you know, it requires if it’s to go well, we have to have all the wheels. If one of the wheels was missing, it wouldn’t be able to travel well. Likewise, if we’re to remove all our various faults and bring to consummation all our excellent qualities, our practice should incorporate in its completion these seven limbs. Whatever practice we may come across, whatever we may involve ourselves in, each of them can be subsumed into one of these seven limbs.
They this these seven limbs acts act as a basis for all all a variety of practices. So in terms of the seven limb practice that we’re going to discuss, it it is practiced in terms of Je Tsongkhapa and his two spiritual sons. So they’re they’re referred to as as the father and spiritual sons, the three of them. So these are the focal point of this practice of the seven limbs. So why is it that we that we choose these three figures?
These three figures, the the Lama Tsongkhapa, the father, and his two spiritual sons as the focal point for this practice. Je Tsongkhapa is the source for the textual tradition of the Gelugpa tradition. All of the texts which we take as the focal point of our practice have as their source Je Tsongkhapa within the Gelugpa tradition. And by this represents Dharma for ourselves. And by taking him as the focal point of this practice of making paying of homage, making requests, supplications, then then our practice is becomes tremendously powerful and profound.
We we are able to develop the power of the practice quite readily. Within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, there are four main sects. There is the sect of the Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. But for and they all explain the the Buddha the the Dharma of the Buddha. But they but they have but they have different text sources in which they rely upon for for their particular practice of the Buddhist Dharma.
For example, in the Nyingma tradition, the textual sources arise from Padmasambhava. So in order as a very powerful method in in their way of practicing within their tradition, the the seven-limb prayer in terms of Guru Yoga or union with the spiritual master is is is practiced in regard with regard to Padmasambhava. Again, with regard to the other sects within Tibetan Buddhism, that of the Kagyu tradition. This has its source within Marpa, the translator, Marpa Lotsawa, who was the the teacher of Milarepa. And so those who are following this, the textual tradition of the Kagyu, take as their focal point in their practice of the seven limbs of Guru Yoga or union with the spiritual master that of Marpa.
And again, with those who are practicing within the Sakya tradition, they take as the focal point of their practice of the seven limbs of union with the spiritual master that of Sakya Pandita, who is an emanation of Mañjuśrī. So this this empowers them in terms of their practice. And then within the Gelug tradition, the focal point of the offering of the seven-limb prayer is that of Je Tsongkhapa, along with his two spiritual sons, Khedrup Je and Gyaltsab Je. These the seven limb offering of the seven limb can be in the form of the of this prayer of Ganden Lagema, the the hundred deities hundred deities of the land of joy or Tuśita, or it can be an extremely expanded form as, for example, within Guru Puja, offering to the spiritual master.
So in its expanded form, we would offer the seven-limb prayer in terms of the Guru Puja or offering to the spiritual master. In a more abbreviated form, it would be as present prayer, that of the one hundred deities of the land of joy, or that Ganden Lhagyama.