Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 19-minute session, Lama Zopa Rinpoche guides participants through taking one-day precepts as a direct action for world peace. Rather than framing precepts as merely personal discipline, he opens by directing attention to concrete suffering: patients in hospitals facing uncertain fates, people caught in wars, the jobless, homeless, hungry, depressed, and sick. Rinpoche then presents the precept-taking vows—abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual activity, false speech, intoxicants, improper eating, and entertainment—explicitly as each practitioner’s personal contribution to alleviating these sufferings and ultimately to awakening perfect enlightenment. The session concludes with dedications that extend the merit to all beings everywhere. Pitched at practitioners ready to take vows.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 45 2004 04 21 MR.mp3
UUID: 8ff81da9-4724-4df7-9ab6-83d0aaad269d
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Mahāmudrā International Retreat (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2004-04-21
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 19.2 minutes
Words: ~1,529
Speech and mind. I present clouds of every type of offering action imagined. I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time. And rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings. Please remain until the end of cyclic existence.
And turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings. I draw and dedicate my merits and those, all others, to great enlightenment. The objects of my attachment, aversion and ignorance, friends, enemies, and and my body, wealth, and enjoyments. Without any sense of loss, I offer this collection. Please accept it with pleasure and bless me with freedom from the three poisons.
The merit. So we’re already generating bodhicitta. So then just before we take the precepts, in our minds, developing an attitude that covers this whole world, all the problems, and all other universes, all the countless worlds. So thinking all the sick people in hospitals, those having operations, not sure whether they’ll live or die, and go to lower realms. Think of all those who’ve died. Think of all those who are grieving.
There are all kinds of people right now experiencing sickness, terrible sicknesses that we couldn’t bear. Think of all the people involved in the wars, all those who are being killed, injured, all those who are doing the killing, all those who are organizing it, all those who are involved in the whole situation, all those reading about it, rejoicing in it, all those people who are jobless, homeless, all those people who are starving, thirsty, depressed, anxious, all those whose minds are full of despair, hopelessness. Think of all the various different types of suffering in this human world, and think my taking these Mahāyāna precepts is for all of these. This is my contribution to the world peace. This is my puja for all these beings.
My taking precepts and abiding in vows, this is a beginning step, the same step all the previous Buddhas took to being able to eliminate completely not only these sufferings, but all sufferings and all causes of sufferings from all beings. My taking precepts, abiding in precepts is my contribution to world peace is my contribution to bring happiness, ultimate happiness, lasting happiness to every single living being. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, please pay attention to me. Just as the previous, tathagatas, foe destroyers, perfectly completed Buddhas, who like the divine wise horse and the great elephant did what had to be done, performed actions, laid down the burden, subsequently attained their own welfare, completely exhausted the fetters of existence, and had perfect speech, well liberated minds, well liberated wisdom, for the welfare of all sentient beings, in order to benefit, in order to liberate, in order to eliminate famine, in order to eliminate war, in order to stop the harm of four elements, in order to eliminate sickness, in order to fully complete the thirty seven practices harmonious with enlightenment, and in order to definitely actualize the unsurpassed result, perfect complete enlightenment, perfectly performed in restoring purifying ordination.
Similarly also, I, called [name], From this time until sunrise tomorrow, for the welfare of all sentient beings, in order to benefit, in order to liberate, in order to eliminate famine, in order to eliminate war, in order to stop the harm in the four elements, in order to eliminate sickness, in order to fully complete thirty seven practices harmonious with enlightenment, in order to definitely actualize the unsurpassed result of perfect complete enlightenment shall perfectly undertake restoring purifying ordination. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, please pay attention to me. Just as the previous, tathagatas, foe destroyers, perfectly completed Buddhas, who like the divine wise horse and the great elephant, did what had to be done, performed actions, laid down the burden, subsequently attained their own welfare, completely exhausted the fetters of existence, and had perfect speech, well liberated minds, well liberated wisdom, the welfare of all sentient beings, in order to benefit, in order to liberate, in order to eliminate famine, in order to eliminate war, in order to stop the harm of the four elements, in order to eliminate sickness, in order to fully complete the thirty seven practices harmonious with enlightenment, in order to definitely actualize the unsurpassed result of perfect complete enlightenment, perfectly perform restoring purifying ordination.
Similarly also, I, called [name], From this time until sunrise tomorrow, the welfare of all sentient beings in order to benefit, in order to liberate, in order to eliminate famine, in order to eliminate war, in order to stop the harm of the four elements, in order to eliminate sickness, in order to fully complete the thirty seven practices harmonious with enlightenment, in order to definitely actualize unsurpassed result of perfect complete enlightenment, should perfectly undertake restoring purifying ordination. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, please pay attention to me. Just as a previous tathagatas, foe destroyers, perfectly completed Buddhas, who like the divine wise horse and the great elephant, did what had to be done, performed actions, laid down the burden, subsequently attained their own welfare, completely exhausted the fetters of existence, and have perfect speech, well liberated minds, and well liberated wisdom, for the welfare of all sentient beings in order to benefit, in order to liberate, in order to eliminate famine, in order to eliminate war, in order to stop the harmful elements, in order to eliminate sickness, in order to fully complete the thirty seven practices harmonious with enlightenment, and in order to definitely actualize the unsurpassed result of perfect complete enlightenment, perfectly perform restoring and purifying ordination, similarly also I, called [name], from this time until sunrise tomorrow, the welfare of all sentient beings in order to benefit, in order to liberate, in order to eliminate famine, in order to eliminate war, in order to stop the harm of the four elements, in order to eliminate sickness, in order to fully complete the thirty seven practices harmonious with enlightenment, and in order to definitely actualize the unsurpassed result of perfect complete enlightenment, shall perfectly undertake restoring and purifying ordination.
So think of your mind stream, and rejoice. Just as foe destroyers of the past abandoned all misconduct of body, speech, and mind, such as taking the lives of others, so shall I, for the sake of all beings, abandon for one day these wrong actions and devote myself to pure practice of training. From now on, I shall not kill, steal other’s possessions, engage in sexual activity, or speak false words. I shall avoid intoxicants from which many mistakes arise. I shall not sit in high, luxurious, expensive beds.
I shall not eat food at improper times. I shall avoid singing, dancing, playing music, and I shall not wear perfumes, garlands, ornaments. Just as arhats avoided actions such as taking the lives of others, so should I avoid wrong actions such as taking the lives of others. Now quickly attain enlightenment. May the living beings who experience in the various sufferings be released in the ocean of cyclic existence.
May I maintain flawless morality of rules, immaculate morality. May perfection and moral conduct be completed by keeping morality purely and untainted by pride. Think this is my contribution to the peace and happiness of all sentient beings, and in particular, to the peace and happiness of all sentient beings in this world. May supreme dual bodhichitta that has not arisen arise and grow, and may that which has arisen not diminish but increase more and more. By the merits of taking the ordination and keeping precepts.
May I and all sentient beings be graced with enlightened holy bodies created by the two vast accumulations of merit and transcendental wisdom. May all beings everywhere plagued by sufferings of body and mind obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil, or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forms and deaf hear sounds.
May those whose bodies are worn and ill be restored and find repose. May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness, and prosperity.
May there be timely rains and bountiful harvest. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases that are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid, and those bound be freed.
May the powerless find power. May people think of benefiting each other. For as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then, may I too remain to dispel the suffering of the world. So I do three prostrations to conclude the ceremony. In the space in front, from the heart of Śākyamūni Buddha, inseparable from one’s own root guru, five colored light rays descend in rays on which are seated the thirty-five Buddhas.