Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Lama Zopa Rinpoche teaches a key method in this 69-minute Guru Puja session: when offering to the Buddhas in visualization, extend the offerings to all sentient beings so everyone shares the merit. He walks through the prostration and offering sections, building the merit field with the root guru as Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang surrounded by lineage lamas, deities, and protectors, showing how one small offering multiplied through visualization becomes as extensive as space. He explains why tantric vows matter: achieving enlightenment quickly enough to help those who depend on you. The teaching covers refuge, bodhisattva vows, purification with Vajrasattva, confession, rejoicing, and requests for the guru’s blessings. Practical note: Rinpoche does one full mala of prostrations daily, or 21 or 7 when busy. For practitioners with tantric initiation.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 55 2004 04 22 MR.mp3
UUID: 3f3aa691-7d1f-42a0-9ecd-fbb5fb442364
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Mahāmudrā International Retreat (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2004-04-22
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 68.6 minutes
Words: ~4,523
So, Namcho Vajrachakra, the prostration section, page twenty seven. And before we begin, just taking a few moments to relax And cleansing the channels using the method of the nine round breathing. As you’re breathing in, you visualize blissful light, blissful white light coming from all the merit field, from all the gurus, all the buddhas, all Dharma, all Sangha, breathing that in and imagining that then dispels all the anger attachment ignorance energy completely cleansed from the body and the mind. So just gently doing this and settling the mind. Recollect in the space in front of you, the merit field in the most beautiful pure environment.
From an ocean of milk comes a beautiful wish granting tree made completely of jewels. In the center is one’s own root guru, seated on the lion throne in the aspect of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorje Chang. From his heart, light rays radiate out, and around him are all the direct and indirect gurus, lineage lamas. In front, all those gurus with whom one’s made Dharma contact. And below going down in levels, the deities of the four classes of tantra, the Rūpakāya Buddhas, the bodhisattvas, bodhisattvas, the arhats, dakas and the dakinis, dancing and Dharma protectors.
And around the edge, the four guardian protectors with a numberless entourage. This whole appearance is a manifestation of the dharmakaya holy mind, bliss and voidness. Focus on your guru and be aware that he’s joyfully smiling at you along with all the other figures in the merit field. So pleased, so happy because now we’re practicing Dharma. Remember how it is when the guru looks at you with love, smiling, pleased, laughing.
Remember this whole merit field is your guru, and your guru is every single figure of the matte field. Remember, these precious gurus have guided me in the past and guiding me now and will guide me in the future up to enlightenment. From these present gurus come my precious human life, the happiness of future lives, liberation, and enlightenment. All my ability to benefit others, all my happiness comes from these gurus. Visualize eyes emanating numberless bodies, covering the atoms of the earth, prostrating, praising the guru, and in the mind, reflecting on the qualities, the reality of the guru.
Your compassion grants even the supreme great bliss. Supreme state of the Trikaya in an instant. Guru, the dharmakaya body, Vajradhāra. I prostrate at your lotus feet. You, the wisdom knowledge, your infinite conquerors, peerless in every way to subdue.
With supreme skillful means, you manifest as a saffron robed monk. Holy refuge savior, I prostrate at your feet. You eliminate all thoughts and their instincts, and a treasure of infinite precious qualities. So source of benefit and bliss without exception. Perfect pure guru, I prostrate your feet.
Teacher of gods and humans and gods, nagas and Buddhas, source of eighty four thousand pure dharmas, you tower above the whole host of Aryans. Kind guru, I prostrate to you. To Gurus, dwell in three times in ten directions, the supreme Three Jewels, all worthy of homage, with faith, conviction, and ocean of their prayers. I prostrate manifesting as many bodies as atoms of the world. Then you rejoice, I must achieve state of full enlightenment in order to benefit all sentient beings.
In order to do this, I need to accumulate extensive merit. Therefore, I’m going to do this practice of making extensive offerings to the merit field. All the offerings sent out here, all the offerings sent out in all the FPMG centers, Mongolia, Kopan, London Medicine Buddha, Taiwan, all the various different centers, students’ homes, Rinpoche’s houses, retreat house in Washington, and house in California up towards. Wherever their offerings actually arranged, I’m mentally visualizing number of small offerings. By reciting this mantra causes numberless Buddhas to receive all of these.
The human and divine offerings actually range and mentally created clouds of finest Samantabhādra offerings fill the entire space. By the power of truth, the Three Jewels, blessings, all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, by the power of the great mind, completing two collections, completely pure and inconceivable sphere of reality, may all these offerings become just so. something like charity giving. So as somebody asked yesterday, sometimes perhaps it’s maybe not clear what what Rinpoche means by making charity offerings. So it doesn’t mean you offer them to sentient beings first.
All these offerings that we’ve blessed, they’re all for the Buddhas. But it’s as though it’s as though you were in the room and Rinpoche walked in and there were ten other people there and you knew Rinpoche was coming so you prepared an offering. You had like maybe a hundred dollars and ten dollar notes and you had some flowers. And then you saw that all the other people didn’t have anything to offer. And so you think, well, rather than me offering all this, then I’ll give everybody I’ll let everybody use the cart, I’ll give everybody some money so we can all offer together.
Then that way we’ll all create we’ll all create the merit. So it’s the same thing. We bless all these offerings that we offer to all the Buddhas. But first we think, well, rather than just me doing this, then I’ll I’ll give I’ll let all sentient beings have some and then we’ll all offer together. So there’s two ways, either you think, well, we’re all going to offer together.
So you give them all the offerings, you think, okay, now we’ll all offer together. And the other way of thinking is, I’m going to offer these on behalf of. So Rinpoche explains two methods. Either you give them and you offer them together or you think, I’m going to offer on behalf of more sentient beings. Rinpoche says, you know, sentient beings need merit.
This is what they need. So that there’s so many wars, so much homelessness, there’s so much joblessness, all these different problems in the world. This all comes due to lack of merit of sentient beings. So the more merit we have, the easier to get realizations, easier to benefit sentient beings. And with lots of merit, Rinpoche’s life becomes like a miracle, less hard.
Everything can change. Whatever you wish for can happen even beyond your expectations. Then with this visualization, Rinpoche says, even one tiny offering by visualizing, making offerings to all the guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, so forth. This visualization Rinpoche put together, he says, even one tiny offering, we create merit as extensive as limitless space. So we do this and imagine all sentient beings doing along with us.
So we all get to share the merits and becomes like doing puja for all sentient beings. So first of all, putting palms together at the heart, prostrating. Prostrating to all the gurus with the awareness that they are all Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, all statues, scriptures, holy objects, everything with the awareness that gurus, everything. With awareness that these these present gurus have guided us in the past, they’re guiding us now, and they will continue to guide us until we achieve enlightenment.
Awareness of their kindness, awareness of their actual reality as Buddhas. Prostrating, making all the offerings in the nature of infinite bliss, generating great bliss in our holy minds over and over again. So Rinpoche says he tries every day to do one whole mala for each of these different. So prostrating offering generating bliss. When he gets busy, he says he does only does twenty one or seven.
So by counting on the mala, so prostrate, offer, generate great bliss. So also Rinpoche said, it doesn’t mention this in the commentaries, his his feeling is that every time you do this offering and you generate bliss in the mind and gurus, the holy objects, then the gurus’ holy mind, this creates a cause for you to experience limitless bliss. Then prostrating, making all the offerings and nature infinite bliss to the whole Guru Puja merit field with awareness that even each pore of each figure in the merit field is the entire merit field. With this awareness generating infinite bliss in the holy minds. Do this over and over.
Prostrating, making all the offerings which in a nature of infinite bliss, all those here, all those at the center, which is houses and so forth, to all ten directions, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha in all ten directions, statues, stupas, scriptures, relics, prayer wheels, all holy objects. By meditating, they are one’s own virtuous friend from their own side, generating infinite bliss in the holy minds. So I’ll do a short version today. So the last one is prostrating, making all the offerings in nature infinite bliss to the eight Medicine Buddhas so that all your prayers will be will succeed. To Namgyalma, Sitatapatra, able so that you’re able to do extensive works for sentient beings exactly according to what they need.
You’ll be you’re able to fulfill that. And to thousand so that you can quickly generate infinite compassion and take full responsibility to lead all sentient beings to enlightenment. So by making offering to Medicine Buddha and also by making offering to Chenrezig is the same as offering to all the Buddhas. So with awareness of one’s own root virtuous friend from outside, making offerings, generating infinite bliss in the holy minds. Do this over and over.
So even with one tiny offering, create merits, as extensive as space. So by making all these numberless offerings, generate expansive, more extensive merits, so then rejoice. Remember how each offering to the guru brings close to enlightenment. From these offerings, numberless offerings, radiating out, filling the earth and sky. Not just the offerings mentioned here, but also the eight auspicious symbols, the seven precious ratnas, then the Mahāyāna symbols, the eight substances, and in general, all the offerings when we do the long life puja, all those various different offerings that are offered for auspiciousness.
You imagine numberless of those filling the sky, and You offer those along with all the other objects. Visualizing and also remembering all the other offerings, the actually performed offerings at centers in his house and here, so forth. Numbers sets of the sixteen offering goddesses emanate from one’s heart carrying these offerings, offering them to each pore of the merit field, and this generates infinite bliss in the holy mind of the guru. So the actual meaning of offering is pleasing the guru’s holy mind. Refuge, savior’s treasures of compassion, eminence, supreme, merit field, with pure faith, I present you a billion times over.
Mount Meru and the four continents, seven precious royal emblems, precious mandala symbols and more, perfectly the life and environments and their beings, and a great treasure of all that gods and humans use or desire. By the merit of having offered this mandala to my field, may I and all sentient beings be able to meet the pure wisdom teachings, victorious ones, which contain the teachings of those eminent ones who live in pure morality, have the brave attitude to follow extensively bodhisattva conduct, and practice the yogas of two stages, the essence of which transcendental wisdom of non dual bliss and voidness. May I and all sentient beings be able to meet this pure complete teaching of Lama Tsongkhapa, unification of Sūtra and Tantra right this second. To please you, venerable gurus, I offer objects actually set out in a vision of a pleasure grove on the shore of a wish granting sea. Strew with thousand petal lotuses that captivate all minds.
These offerings arise from saṃsāra and nirvana’s virtues. Everywhere are flowers, the worldly and transcendent virtues. On the three doors, myself and others. On myriad fragrant offerings, Incense with fruits, the three trainings, two stages, and five paths. I offer a libation of china tea, saffron bright, delicately perfumed, rich with a hundred flavors.
The five hooks, five lamps, and so forth, purified, transformed, and increased into an ocean of metta. I offer illusion like consorts of youthful splendor, standard and skilled in the sixty four arts of love, a host of beautiful messenger dakinis, field born, mantra born, and simultaneously born. Unobstructed, great wisdom, simultaneous with bliss. The sphere of the dhatu, unelaborated nature of all things, spontaneous and indivisible, beyond thought and expression, supreme ultimate bodhicitta, I offer to you. To cure the four hundred and four affliction caused diseases, I offer all kinds of potent medicines, and I offer myself as a servant to please you.
Pray keep me in your service as long as space endures. Perhaps my life not just to benefit myself alone, but to free the numberless sentient beings, the oceans of samsaric suffering. Now, to do this. It’s not enough to just generate bodhicitta. I must also take and abide in pure bodhisattva vows.
Do the short version. I go for refuge as Three Jewels, confess individually my negativities. Rejoice and in the merits of all beings, take hold of my mind, for the state of Buddha. I go for refuge as Three Jewels, I confess individually my negativities. I rejoice in the merits of all beings, I take hold of my mind, for the state of Buddha.
I go for refuge as Three Jewels, confess individually all my negativities. I rejoice in the merits of all beings, I take hold of my mind for the state of Buddha. Generate very strong faith. Receive pure bodhisattva vows in the presence of the merit field. What has been generated is made pure.
What has not been generated is increased. But those who take in tantric vows think it’s not enough to practice a bodhisattva Pāramitāyāna path because still that takes three countless great aeons to achieve enlightenment. And for that amount of time, those sentient beings who depend on me with whom I have special connection, who rely upon me to liberate them from suffering and bring them to happiness, they have to suffer so much. Therefore, I must achieve enlightenment as quickly as possible for them. Therefore, I’m going to take and keep Tantric vows.
Short version. All Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, please listen to me. I, Ngak Dorje from now until I reach the essence of Buddhahood, should generate the sacred precious, bodhicitta, just as all Buddhas three times, and show themselves awakening by generating it. I shall uphold all general specific tantric vows, equivalents, five families without exception. I should deliver those not delivered, liberate those not liberated, give breath to those unable to breathe and place all beings in state beyond sorrow.
I should uphold all the general specific tantric vows and equivalents of five families without exception. I should deliver those not delivered, liberate those not liberated, Breath to those unable to breathe and place all beings. in state beyond sorrow. I should uphold all general and specific tantric vows, equivalents of five families without exception. I should deliver those not delivered, liberate those not liberated.
Give breath to those unable to breathe and place all beings in state beyond sorrow. And I must must purify immediately all the heavy negative karma accumulated in relation to my holy virtuous friends, which create the heaviest obstacles and produce the greatest suffering. Therefore, I’m going to rely upon the guru manifested as Samaya vajra. in dependence on the guru, I create negative karma. in dependence on the guru, I purify it.
Om Vajrasattva hum. Great Vajrasattva says, negative karmas, obscurations, and degenerated samayas are completely purified. Think, nothing is left. All the negative karmas that I’ve created with the guru, and all the broken samayas are completely purified. Then think from now on, I’m going to abstain from all these negative actions towards the guru at least for one day, one hour, one minute.
Due to this virtue, may I and all sentient beings be guided by the Guru Deity. Now until nirvana is achieved, may I and all others be protected by the Guru Deity and keep every samaya of the Guru Deity. Page forty nine. Before those having great compassion, I confess to regret and vow never to commit again. Whatever non virtuous and evil actions I’ve done through unbeginning of time, caused others to do in which I’ve rejoice.
Though all things are like a dream lacking inherent existence, I sincerely rejoice in bliss and joy of all Aryas and ordinary beings, and in every virtue that’s ever arisen, rejoicing in its own merit. Remember without merit, there’s no happiness. Without merit, there’s no happiness, there’s no success. Nothing you can do. Merit doesn’t come from outside.
It comes from your own positive, healthy mind. Comes from your own by making your own mind pure, making your own mind dharma. How wonderful is I’ve created always merit in the past? How wonderful that I’m creating right now? How wonderful all the merit that I’m able to create in the future right up to enlightenment.
How wonderful, how precious. Rejoice in the merits of sentient beings. So what sentient beings want is happiness. What they don’t want is suffering. According to their view, all these things are coming from outside.
But in reality, happiness depends on the inner cause, having the inner cause merit. Therefore, every single merit, every single virtue that others create is most precious, wish fulfilling. There are numberless sentient beings. They’ve created numberless causes, numberless merits in the past. They are creating now and they’re all in the future.
How wonderful it is. How precious. Rejoice in the virtues of bodhisattvas. Every single thing, even a very new bodhisattva does. There’s no sort of working on seeking happiness for self.
Every single action, body, speech, and mind, completely focused on others seeking their happiness. In this way, all the numberless bodhisattvas accumulate limitless merit. They have in the past, they are now, they will in the future. How wonderful, how precious. May I become like this.
Rejoice in the virtues of Buddhas, numberless Buddhas. Once just like myself, ordinary, having delusions, having all the negative emotional thoughts, having all the disturbed minds, being totally obscured. But then by practicing going to guru’s instructions, able to generate the realizations in the mind. Then by bearing great hardship, able to achieve enlightenment and do the most extensive works for sentient beings. Each Buddha having inconceivable qualities.
Think of the example of Śākyamūni Buddha, Lama Atisha, Lama Tsongkhapa, Milarepa, All the Dalai Lamas, Karmapas, Pänchen Lamas, and one’s own gurus. How wonderful, how precious. Numberless Buddhas in the past, the merit they created, numberless Buddhas for their activities now, numberless Buddhas in the future. How wonderful, how precious. May I become like this?
Feeling happiness over and over in the heart. This is rejoicing. Please let fall a rain of profound and extensive Dharma from a hundred thousand billowing clouds of perfect wisdom and compassion to nourish, sustain, and propagate a garden of udumbara flowers for the benefit and bliss for limitless beings. Though your vajra body is subject to neither birth nor death, but is a vessel of the mighty king unification, please abide forever according to our wishes, not passing beyond sorrow until some sorrow ends. And dedicate the mass of white virtues thus created, so that I may be inseparably cared for in all my lives by perfect pure gurus who are kind in three ways, and so attain the unified state of vajradhara.
I prostrate and go for refuge in guru and the three precious gems. Please bless my mind. I’m requesting you to immediately dispel all wrong perceptions from incorrect devotion to guru up to subtle dualistic view of the white, red, and dark visions. There exists in my mind and in minds all mother sentient beings. I’m requesting you to immediately generate all the right realizations from guru devotion up to enlightenment.
In my mind and in minds all mother sentient beings. I’m requesting you to bestow well without any obstacles, and the graduated path to enlightenment. In my mind and the mind’s all mother sentient beings. I prostrate and go for refuge in gurus, three precious gems. Please bless my mind.
I’m requesting you to immediately purify all wrong perceptions, incorrect devotion to guru, up to subtle dualistic view of the white, red, and dark visions that exist in my mind and minds all monocenting beings. I’m requesting you to immediately generate all the right realizations from Guru devotion up to enlightenment. In my mind, the minds of all mother sentient beings. I’m requesting you to pass well without any obstacles, the entire graduated path to enlightenment. In my mind and in the minds of all mother sentient beings.
Oh, dear Lama Yeshe. So even those who didn’t meet Lama Yeshe, but still, every one of us in this organization continually benefiting from Lama’s kindness. All the rest of one’s gurus, without excluding any. Requesting the guru. O quest, precious guru, encompasses all objects that refuge the past, present, and future.
Please bless my mental continuum. My quest, precious guru encompasses all objects of refuge, the past, present, and future. Please bless my mental continuum. My quest, precious guru encompasses all objects of refuge, the past, present, and future. Please bless my mental continuum.
Five colored nectar beams flow forth from the guru’s holy body, entering my body and mind and those of all sentient beings. These purify all diseases, spirit harms, negative karmas, and obscurations, especially all the collections of obscurations, negative karmas, and degenerated samaya created in relationship to the holy virtuous friend. Such as giving harm to the holy body, breaking the advice, disturbing the holy mind, generating undevotional thoughts, criticizing without devotion, giving up the guru and so forth. From all my doors, sense organs and pores, these are dispelled in the form of liquid smoke or black soot. They are completely purified.
My body becomes the nature of light, calm and clear. My life, fortune, and all my qualities of understanding realizations fully developed. The blessings of the guru’s holy body, holy speech, and holy mind enter my body, speech, mind, and those of all sentient beings. I and all sentient beings are now under the protection of the virtuous friend. Page sixty nine, making requests.
Source of virtue, great ocean of moral discipline, treasury brimming with jewels and much hearing, master second Buddha Guhyasamāja and Elder, I make request to you. You have the ten qualities suitable for one who teaches the path of those gone to bliss. Lords of Dharma representing your conquerors. Mahāyāna gurus, I make request to you. You are wise, patient, honest, without pretense or guile.
Your three doors well subdued. You have both Sūtra and Tantra qualities, know tantric rituals, and are skilled in drawing and explaining. Foremost vajra holders, I make request to you. To those untamed by countless past Buddhas, the unruly migrators of this degenerate age were difficult to subdue, you show unmistakably the good way of those gone to bliss, compassionate refuge saviors, I make request to you. At this time, when the sun-like teachings of the Sage are setting, you are now doing the deeds of the conqueror for the many beings who lack a savior refuge.
Compassionate refuge saviors, I make request to you. And this should be plural because it’s all your gurus. Even one of your hair pores is for us the field of merit more highly praised than all the conquerors of three times and ten directions. Compassionate refuge saviors, I make request to you. Adorned with the Tathāgata’s three bodies, you manifest in an alluring net of skillful means, in ordinary form to lead all beings, compassionate refuge saviors I make request to you.
Your aggregates, elements, sense spaces, and limbs are in nature, as consorts of five families, bodhisattvas and wrathful protectors, supreme gurus, essence of the Three Jewels, and make requests to you. Arising from the play of omniscient pristine awareness, you are the essence of ten million tantric texts, pervading lord of a hundred Buddha families, foremost vidyadharas, unified primordial saviors, I make a request to you. Unobscured, inseparable from the play of simultaneous bliss, pervading everything in motion at rest, the nature of all things free from beginning or end, Samantabhādra, actual ultimate bodhicitta, I make request to you. You are my gurus. You are my gurus.
You are the dakinis and Dharma protectors. From now until enlightenment, I shall seek no other refuge than you. In this life, the Bardo and all future lives. Hold me with your hook of compassion. Free me from saṃsāra and nirvana’s fears.
Grant all attainment. Be my constant friend and guard me from interferences. You are my gurus. You are my yidams. You are the dakinis and Dharma protectors.
From now until enlightenment, I shall seek no other refuge than you. In this life, the Bardo and all future lives. Hold me with your hook of compassion. Free me from saṃsāra nirvana’s fears. Grant all attainments.
Be my constant friend and guard me from interferences. So here again, what Rinpoche said last night about about these gurus, that they have been guiding us in the past, they’re guiding us now, they’re guiding us in the future. And why they do that is because the powerful compassion for all sentient beings is not missing out even one. So these gurus, absolute guru, the holy dharmakaya mind, all the Buddha is bound by infinite compassion for each one of us, manifests in forms exactly going to levels of our mind and guides us. So this awareness, what the guru is, the whole Guru Puja is based on this.
And this this request is called planting a stake. Means, it is developing a strong total conviction that this is what the Buddha is and requesting the blessings. You are my gurus. You are my gurus. You are the dakinis and Dharma protectors.
From now until enlightenment, I shall seek no other refuge than you. In this life, the Bardo and all future lives, hold me with your hook of compassion. Free me from saṃsāra and nirvana’s fears. Grant all attainments. Be my constant friend and guard me from interferences.
By the force of having thus requested three times, nectar and light rays, white, red, and dark blue, stream forth in the places of my guru’s holy body, speech, mind, and dissolve into my own three places, one by one and all together. The four obstacles are purged. The four pure empowerments and seeds of the four kayas are received. A replica of the guru happily dissolves into me, and I am blessed with inspiration. I think that the guru joyfully comes to crown of your head and absorbs down, becoming oneness in your heart.
My mind and the guru’s holy mind are one, inseparable with vajra status. Through the power of having made offerings with prayerful request to you, holy and venerable gurus, supreme field of merit, I seek your blessing, saviors, and praying to be blessed that I may come under your joyful care. So just stretch.