Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. During this 48-minute Mahāmudrā International Retreat session, Lama Zopa Rinpoche leads participants through an extended guru yoga practice, inviting detailed devotional prayers to the complete lineage of teachers from Vajradhāra through the present day. Each prayer carries the same essential request: blessings to sever the clinging to self-grasping, generate compassion and loving-kindness, and attain the highest state of Mahāmudrā realization. The session balances meditation practice with practical retreat logistics—the teacher adjusts the daily schedule, clarifies arrangements for those taking precepts over the final three days, and discusses how guided meditations will be recorded for the education office. Aimed at retreat participants already engaged in intensive practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 98 2004 04 29 MR.mp3
UUID: 79bbd8d5-d8dd-4f41-b683-608ee3d3a641
Teacher: Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1
Collection: y Mahāmudrā International Retreat (Lama Zopa Rinpoche 1)
Date: 2004-04-29
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.6 minutes
Words: ~4,746
So before we begin, a few things. First of all, the incense mantras that Rinpoche does at the end of each day, the mantras, they’re in the dedication prayer section, page thirty four. Rinpoche is saying for the last one, he’s I’ll tell you what he’s saying. He’s saying, page thirty four in the dedication prayer section. Emily?
Emily? Oh, that’s so good. Did you feel the eye? So so in this multiplying mantras, the last one, what Rinpoche is saying is, and he’s not saying the. So in brackets, it says.
So Rinpoche previously in previous retreat, said, you don’t do the. But now he’s doing and not. So it changes. It changes. It changes.
I just wanted to let you know that. So previously, said don’t do the. So Rinpoche’s changed it. Or or I I just got it wrong. I’m sure I got it wrong, actually.
And then on pay if you want to mark on page six in the dedication prayer section, verse number ten. That’s the prayer that Rinpoche’s doing. May the glorious Guru’s lives be long and stable. The one that I’m reading out in English. This is a little bit hard sometimes to give you all the page numbers because it’s going so fast, and I don’t want to talk over in his holy voice.
Then regards the actual puja itself, I think mainly it’s all we all have the same text. Two two things I wanted to explain. There is a word in Tibetan, which is. I don’t speak Tibetan, but it’s, g o with an. What’s in English?
Of English? Oh, it doesn’t have a I thought there was an English word for it. Okay. So so g with an o, and then n, so. So that is commonly translated as protector.
But doesn’t translate it as protector. He says protector is the wrong word because if you translate as protector, when it goes back into Tibetan, it sounds like it’s a protector, and it’s not. So he translates that as savior. So where we are sometimes colliding for example, if you look on page seventy one. But this actually occurs all throughout the whole text.
Whenever there is the word, Rinpoche translates it as savior. So for example, page seventy one and the first verse where it says, at this time, when the sunlight of teachings are setting, you unite the deeds of a conqueror for the many beings who lack a protector refuge, that savior. Should be savior refuge. Compassionate refuge saviors. So all these things in the past, when you go through the text, you’ll find in many places it still hasn’t been changed.
But the the editorial, they’ve done their best to change as many as they could. So some just slip through. Then there is also another word which is which is a very, very important word. And the and the it contains there’s so much explanation for these two words. And it’s commonly translated as venerable, which has no meaning in English.
So Rinpoche spent a long, long time trying to get the right word, and the word that he finished up with is perfect pure, which is hyphenated. So for example, on page fifty one page fifty one, when you come to dedication and merit, I dedicate the mass of white virtues as created, so many beings cared for and all my lives by perfect and pure. It’s perfect pure because it’s one word. It’s the Jetsün, which Rinpoche translates as perfect pure. So to try and contain the the fact that there is the perfect section and the pure section, perfect pure.
So if you look in the Guru Yoga that was put out by education office, there’s a very good explanation of Jet Sun. Again, if you turn the meaning of those two syllables, Jet Sun. Again, if you turn to page twenty seven in the prostrations, you’ll see the prostrations to the dharmakaya, the very last line, it says perfectly pure, perfect pure guru. So the venerable just stayed there. It should have gone away.
It should have gone on hold. It should have just gone, but it didn’t. So when the chain was made so it should be perfect pure hyphenated. Perfect pure guru. It’s Jetsu perfect pure guru, not the venerable.
It used to be venerable guru, and now it’s perfect pure guru. So I think other than that, I think we we have all the same things. Well, Rinpoche translates that as unified primordial savior, And he’s talked about this. It’s the unified primordial savior. Or one time when he was teaching, he said savior of primordial no.
He said savior. He said primordial, unify, and savior, something like that. Anyway, unify, primordial, savior. It’s unification, subtle wind, and mind. This is very important.
That’s on page seventy one. No. It’s always Jetson. It’s talking page fifty. Page fifty.
I think I don’t know. It’s it’s should be Jetson. It’s Jetsün and and like the second line, it’s Jetsün Jetsün Mama. The second line, Kadrin Sondin Jetsün Mama Yi. Yeah.
Yeah. It’s a it’s a kind kind choice. Yeah? And everything else is just I got this version I’ve got. Sometimes it says child instead of son, and I didn’t change it.
The offering auspicious verses. Yeah. It’s changed. It’s it it was just it was it was it just wasn’t correct. It was a misunderstanding of the word, one of the words.
And I don’t speak Tibetan, so I just took what Rinpocheh my just what Rinpocheh had said. I just transcribed. Let’s change it. Yeah? Yeah.
So dedication sheet. I think one, two, three one, two, three, four. I think the fourth one, due to the merits of three times collected by me, but so the Lama Tsongkhapa one, I think it’s just as Lama Tsongkhapa does, you know, just as of Lama Tsongkhapa still does. So Lama Tsongkhapa still still offering beings’ benefit, so she does. And and as Lama Tsongkhapa has, so he he hasn’t lost those qualities.
So I think they should stay they should be in the present tense. Now what Rinpoche has added on the very first dedication, he has added after a special bodhicitta, anything. Alright. By my hearing that someone is sick. This is at the end of the first one. By my hearing that someone is sick.
This is not on a page. This is a special dedication prayer for the Mahāmudrā retreat. So by my hearing that someone is sick, may that person what we said, may it cause that person To immediately well, Rinpoche says get recovered. So to immediately get recovered may cause a person to immediately You have what? I have by my hearing of someone sick, may it immediately cause them to be completely recovered?
Okay. So by my hearing that someone is sick, may it immediately cause them then what is he? To be completely recovered. To be completely recovered. I’ll read that one out.
By my hearing that someone is sick may immediately cause that person to be completely recovered. And the next one, by my hearing somebody has died. It just follows straight after. By my hearing, somebody has died. May it cause them To immediately be born.
To immediately be born In a pure land. In a pure land. May may cause them to immediately be born. That’s right. That’s that’s the way it came out that I did.
Well, I didn’t hear that. Well If you wanna I don’t what we’ve got at the moment, anyways, by my hearing somebody has died may cause them to immediately be born in a pure land, not recover. It’s like the previous one. Do it. Yeah.
Where they can get enlightened. Alright. So what what do you want? May cause them What is it? Alright.
We’ll tighten them up and give them out. We’ll tighten them up and give them out. Or Emily will. Yeah. Page thirty one.
Oh, seventy one. What what happened on page seventy one? I think we did that one. Unified primordial savior. We did that one.
Also, Rinpoche doesn’t say in the mantras, he doesn’t say, He says. So it’s not I haven’t changed every single venerable. I haven’t changed. For example, oh, and thus a venerable compassionate gurus, I haven’t changed all of them. Even in Losang’s requesting prayer, sometimes it’s a savior, sometimes protector.
So then Rinpoche would like to change the session times. I think the lunch break is too long. What he would like to do is that we start at one thirty or two and do a one and a half hour session then have a break followed by another one and a half hour session. So one or two. What would you rather?
Two. I know he doesn’t seem to be I think maybe because not everyone’s going to it. So some people are just going to sleep in or something, I guess. Well, what we can do is we can say two. Do you want to do that?
Say two. Have you finished? Have you finished? Which I think I’ve only got three more days now. You didn’t finish doing the review.
So shall we try for one thirty? Alright. So we do two. We’ll say two o’clock. Alright.
So let’s say two o’clock. Let’s say two o’clock. The other thing is so we have three days left now. Is that right? Three days?
Mhmm. Three days. So some people want to take precepts every day until it finishes, and other people won’t want to do that because they have things to do. I mean, there can be totally legitimate reasons. Rinpoche said to go by a consensus for people what they wanted.
I think that’s really quite difficult to do. My idea is maybe for those people who want to take precepts, I’ll come here at six, and we’ll do for half an hour together in a group. And then for other people, we’ll just come at six thirty. And so those who don’t want to take precepts don’t have to take. Those people who do want, they can take and they can take in a supportive group.
And is that reliant on room for sure? So that’s reliant on one round of the session finishes. So we will finish by eleven thirty. And it means that we plan that it’s six o’clock, six thirty. But the announcement I’ll make at the end of the teachings is either precept six, everyone else six thirty, or, you know, precept six thirty, everyone else seven.
So that would be the announcement depending on how late it goes with Rinpoche. So to try and enable those who want to take precepts feel supported that they can do that and those who don’t want to for legitimate reasons or illegitimate reasons to still be able to come, you know, to the sessions and not miss anything. So we will just do precepts quite fast in half an hour, and then we’ll start just into the way we normally start. Okay? Is somebody here in charge?
Is there anyone here from the organizers who’s in charge? Oh, the food. So the thing is the food, apparently, preceptors are not getting all the food that they should. There’s nobody here involved with the kitchen, is there? Alright.
How many people do want to take precepts? Like to yeah. There’s a lot of people. Actually, if it’s this many people, I think this is everybody. If there’s this many peep did did this many people want to take the last three days?
Alright. Then I think we just say it’s everybody. So then the announcement will be six or six thirty. Well, thank you. That’s really, really inspiring.
That’s very, very inspiring. We’ll see what happens tonight. Anybody changes their mind. Then I think Elaine is not here, is she? No.
Okay. So I don’t I’m I’m Okay. So somehow that needs to be all communicated. Yeah. We need to communicate to them.
Is this everybody wants to do precepts the last three days? Nearly nearly everybody. Who doesn’t? How many don’t so we can take care of you? Is that about twenty or twenty five people?
Should we say, like, twenty, twenty five people? Okay. Can you communicate that? Okay. So we will have to finish the seven.
And then, actually, it’s quite difficult to do that without starting a bit earlier. The other thing is there has been a request from the education office to actually get a CD of this, you know, the guided for people. So the plan is that over the next three days, because there’s so much information so that it will be divided up over the next three days. For example, the refuge visualization does the whole attitude, then there’s a whole visualization with what’s purified, what qualities you receive, then there’s a visualization, then there’s then there’s all the four immeasurables. So we’ll divide up over the next three days.
So we try to cover all the meditations that have been covered over the next three days, which means actually we need to think about starting a bit earlier so we can do that. For the sake of all sentient beings. Alright. Well, let’s do the protector prayers. No.
These are protector prayers. No. It’s the difference between and. It’s and. These ones are protector prayers.
So starting on page twenty nine. I think this is the point when Rinpoche walked in yesterday. So doing these prayers, a very crucial time for the organization. So first of all, for his wishes to succeed immediately, then to be able to begin receive all the funding and begin as quickly as possible and complete as quickly as possible the five hundred foot statue of Maitreya, and for it to abide in this world as long as possible and transform all sentient beings’ minds into Buddhadharma, Then to cause inner prosperity, the realizations to progress through to enlightenment, and all the needs of all the various projects and all the needs for the various centers to attain whatever they need. And then also for all of us here to have all the people in the organization to have long life, be healthy, to quickly achieve realizations in this lifetime.
Also, in the east and west, all the rest of the projects to be successful, those existing projects and also the ones that are planned. I think it’s a start again. I’m sorry. I got distracted. Sorry.
Page thirty four, [recitation of prayer – garbled ASR] So page fifty, I’ll do the tilaka. So maybe if you know how to do the blessing, can you just do the blessing yourself? What I mumbled then was, maybe if you know how to do the blessing, you can just do the blessing yourself. Or do Lineage Lama prayer?
Or do lineage lama prayer in English. You, the primordial Buddha, chief of all Buddha lineages, dweller in the palatial mansion of the spontaneously created three bodies, I request the all pervading lord, great vajradhara. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum that’s clinging and self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You are the father of all the conquerors of three times, a holy field of wisdom covering the three realms. I request the all wise Marpa Lotsawa.
May I be blessed to completely serve with the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. Here in the snowy provinces of this northern country, you’re a second Buddha of the Buddhist doctrine. Our quest to perfect pure Milarepa. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging and self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the highest state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You are principal among those holding the teachings that practice the nature of Tsongkhapa, great son of Manjughosa.
I request to Gampopa Dakpo Lhaje. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuance of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the highest state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. After opening the treasury of contents of the oral tradition, you matured well, the fortunate candidates. I request to Phakmo Drupa Dorje Gyelpo, may I be blessed to completely sever the continuum that’s clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. After reaching the end of praxis of the two tantric stages, you attain the body of a deathless Vidyadhara.
I request the great Siddha Chökyi Dorje. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. Having completely shared the bonds of the eight mundane concerns, you held high the banner of victory, the teaching of absolute truth. I request Losang Donyo Drupa. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
Your dance of saffron robes guides all transmigratory beings into the delightful palace of three bodies. I request the scholar Siddha Sangye Yeshe. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. Knowing everything with respect to the teachings of Gyalwang Losang, you are indistinguishable from that very refuge. I request the perfect pure.
May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. Having abridged into one essential meaning or the Buddha’s speech in the sutras, tantras, and commentaries, you achieve perfection putting these into practice. I request the great Siddha Gendun Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely serve with a continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. Owing to great exertion, you and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
As master exposited to the fortunate candidates, you gave the richness of the nature of the Dharma with its profound vase. I request the great Tantrika, Konchok Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. For the welfare of beings as well as the Dharma, you reincarnated again like the venerable himself. Our request to perfect pure.
May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You achieved mastery the profound path of the oral tradition and were blessed by Lord Buddha himself. Our request to perfect pure Losang Trinley. May I be blessed to completely serve with the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You reached the limits of putting into practice the essential meaning of the oral tradition of Jetsün Tsongkhapa.
I request the great Siddha Losang Namgyal. May I be blessed to completely serve with the continuous clinging to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. With great kindness, you correctly uplifted all the essential points of Jetsün Rinpoche’s oral tradition. I request the kind Yeshe Tsanchen. May I be blessed to completely serve the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
You propagated everywhere in central borderlands alike, the essence, the errorless teaching, the complete path. Our request to perfect pure Ngawang Jampa. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous cling of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You mature by means of the Dharma all of Tibetan China while sporting the saffron robes of primordial Buddha, request to Pänchen Palden Yeshe. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
You arrived at the accomplishment of single pointed concentration on the complete and extensive good path of the sutras and tantras, our request to the wise yogi, Ngawang Drakpa. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. I request you to clarify Lord Buddha’s teachings through verbal explanation and composition with regard to steadfast knowledge like a second Buddha. I request a perfect pure Dharma Buddha. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
Your superior knowledge, profound, vast Dharma is like Mañjuśrī’s, and your inconceivably great mansion is never closed. Our request, May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. After perfecting the yoga of bliss voidness, you arrive at the victorious stage of total integration. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. After attaining perfection, the understanding, the profound path, you upheld the banner of victory, the teachings of commentary and practice.
I request Losang Chandra Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. As hold of the essence, the teachings of three higher trainings, you bear no trace whatever the stains of moral faults. I request Losang Donyo Drupa. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
You reincarnated again showing the dance with saffron robed monk, like the Śākyamūni Buddha himself, Jetsün Losangpa. I request perfect pure Gendun Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging and self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You clarified for innumerable fortunate ones, the treasury of the extensive Dharma’s vast and profound paths. I request the kind Ngawang Jampa.
May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You are skilled in clarifying the noble path free of extremes by means of loud laughter of your stainless logic. Our request is supremely wise Jamyang Wangpo, but generate my my blessed to completely serve as a continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You are unequaled in propagating through explanation and practice the most excellent doctrine to protect beings in Dagpo. I request a perfect pure Tenpai Dronme.
May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain the highest state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. By tasting the nectar of the oral tradition of lord Mañjuśrī, he waxes forth in strength and experiential understanding. I request a perfect pure Konchok Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You upheld the banner of victory, the teaching, and the practice in edge while dwelling in one pointed concentration on no abode.
I request the great Siddha Ngagpa Wangchuk. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. After going to the limits of excellence in what was to be abandoned and understood, you showered down a reign of good explanation. I request the esteemed tutor Gendun Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
You attain the rank and accomplish one of the two stages and serve as crown jewel, wisest of the wise. Our request to glorious Tenpai. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuous clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. Owing to the force of your loving kindness for all sentient beings, you upheld the banner of victory, the teachings of sutras and tantras. I request perfect pure Trinley Gyatso.
May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum, this clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. You are the good friend who extends all the fortunate candidates, the hard essence of second Buddha, Tsongkhapa. I request to the kind. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of this clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration, The treasure of compassion of refuge all victorious ones. Savior of beings, the objects to be subdued.
I request perfect pure Tenzin Gyatso. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging of self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration. For the sake of faithful disciples, you manifest magnificently on the Dharma seed of all these lands. I request the most kind root guru. May I be blessed to completely sever the continuum of clinging to self grasping, to generate a mind of compassion, loving kindness, and to quickly attain high state of Mahāmudrā through the path of total integration.
Please grant me blessings to see the Guru’s Buddha, to have aversion to Samsāra, to take upon myself for responsibility for liberating all transmigratory beings, and to quickly achieve the common path and particularly the glorified unification Mahāmudrā. Please bless my body into you, your father’s holy body, my speech into you, the father’s holy speech, my mind into you, the father’s holy mind, to quickly become inseparable. May I not arise heresy even for a second towards the actions of the glorious guru? May I regard whatever actions are done as pure? With this devotion, may I receive the blessings of the guru in my heart?