Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 28-minute guided meditation, Ven Lobsang Namgyel leads practitioners through a Vajrasattva purification practice. He begins by establishing two fields of merit: refuge in the Buddha and other enlightened beings, and compassion for all sentient beings. He then walks through the four powers of purification—regret for past harmful actions, visualization of white-bodied Vajrasattva seated above the crown of the head with mantra at his heart, the descent and circulation of white purifying nectar through the body, and the light of purification that removes all remaining negativities. Throughout, he provides detailed instructions on visualization, including how nectar can be imagined as rainfall or light beams, and guides the recitation of the Vajrasattva mantra. He concludes with the power of restraint—making specific vows to abandon harmful patterns—and the dissolution of Vajrasattva into the meditator, followed by dedication of the practice to all beings. Suitable for those with some familiarity with Tibetan Buddhist visualization practice.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 22 Meditation Vajrasattva.mp3
UUID: 89a87489-d3a1-41b1-b281-aec70ce1efbe
Teacher: Ven Lobsang Namgyel
Collection: VenNamgyel Thought Transformation (Ven Lobsang Namgyel)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 28.6 minutes
Words: ~1,417
And then thinking that we have two fields of merit. One is the Buddha’s towards whom you take refuge or you’ve made promises. For those of you who don’t believe in Buddha, then you might have Jesus or God, whatever you believe in, but you think towards these holy beings. I take refuge so that I have a very strong direction in my life so that I’m guided by enlightened beings to be able to help others. And then the other field of merit is all sentient beings.
And in order to purify our negativities towards all sentient beings, we need to develop bodhicitta. The wish to alleviate all sentient beings of their suffering completely. May they all become enlightened. I go for refuge until I’m enlightened. To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly, by my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings.
I go for refuge until I’m enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I’m enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma, the Supreme Assembly. By my practice of giving and other perfections, may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings. Then we have the power of regret.
Thinking that in the path, not just this life but past lives, I have done actions that will result in suffering. Motivated by delusion. So you didn’t know what you were doing. But now you know better. So now you have the wisdom to purify those negative actions.
If it’s a particular action in this life or it could be a habitual action, something that you keep repeating over and over and you have strong regret about it. It could just be one action that you’ve done in the past that you know is going to produce a negative result. So you think, may I now, on this cushion, completely purify that negative action? I know I’m never going to do it again, but still I don’t want to experience the suffering of that negative action. Because when I’m suffering, I’m not of much benefit to anybody else.
So we have the motivation of compassion. So try to generate a strong feeling of urgency and regret for the negative actions that we’ve committed from beginningless time. And then above the crown of your head, seated upon a lotus and a moon seat, is Vajrasattva. His body is white. He has one face and two arms.
In his right hand, he’s holding a vajra. In his left hand, a bell. And he’s sitting in the vajra posture, full lotus. Vajrasattva is the embodiment of the purification energy of all the Buddhas. He made a promise to help anybody to purify.
And then in Vajrasattva’s heart, on a moon disc stands HUM. And around that on the edge of the moon disc is the mantra. From the HUM and the mantra, there’s a powerful stream of white nectar which comes down through the crown of your head, and you’re cleansed of all sickness, negative karma, and obscurations. So there are two ways to visualize. One is just that the nectar comes down like rain.
The nectar has the quality of being like honey, not like water. Water. It has a heaviness to it. So one way is like it comes down similar to rainfall. And then the other way to visualize is as if light beams are coming from the mantra, the mantra around So you could have a light beam and then running along that light beam are drops of nectar.
The nectar comes in through the crown of your head, and it’s slowly going all the way down through your body. Visualize it coming down into your shoulders, running down your arms into your fingers, pushing downwards, saturating every pore of your body, every organ with nectar. But also, your mind becomes full of nectar. So all negativities, whatever they are, mental, emotional, physical, any sickness. It’s all pushed out through the lower part of your body in the form of black smoke or black tar.
In every drop of nectar is Vajrasattva. So your whole body fills with billions of tiny Vajrasattvas. So your body takes on the vibration of Vajrasattva. And then we recite the mantra one time together. Vajrasattva Samayam Anupālaya, Vajrasattva Tveno Patiṣṭha, Dṛḍho Me Bhava, Suṭokayo Me Bhava, Supoṣyo Me Bhava, Anurakto Me Bhava, So then I’ll give you a few minutes to recite some more mantras if you can.
If you can’t recite the long one, you can just say. While you’re reciting the mantra, you’re still visualizing the nectar coming down into your body and mind. So now the nectar comes down a second time and this time it goes all the way down into your toes and comes back upwards like a wave of water. And riding on the top of that wave are any remaining negativities. And they come back upwards through the body and then they overflow through the crown of the head.
So you imagine the negativity is being pushed out through the crown. Imagine that your bodies and your mind full of white blissful Vajrasattva nectar. And then we’ll recite the mantra again. Vajrasattva Samayam Anupālaya, Vajrasattva Tveno Patiṣṭha, Dṛḍho Me Bhava So if you can, you continue to recite some mantras and try to feel that your body and your mind are totally saturated with Vajrasattva nectar. And now an immense amount of powerful light radiates from Vajrasattva’s heart.
Immediately, as it makes contact with your crown chakra, the negative energy that’s left over completely disappears. Just like a light being switched on in the dark room, if there’s any negativities, anything left to be purified, this light totally removes it. It ceases to exist. Then you imagine your body being full of light. Your mind is full of light, white light.
Your body and mind are radiating light. You can imagine light going out from your heart, countless light beings to countless sentient beings fulfilling all their wishes. Just as yours have been fulfilled, you’re totally purified. Now you can offer the same light to all sentient beings. So you open your heart and you visualize that light going out to all the sentient beings around you, particularly your mother, father, brothers, sisters, friends, then the people who don’t like you, the people you don’t know, and then all living beings.
The light just goes wherever it’s necessary, wherever it can benefit. So as you’re visualizing that light going out from your heart, then for the last time we recite the mantra. And from the crown of your head, Vajrasattva says to you, oh child of the lineage, your negativities, obscurations, broken and damaged pledges have been completely purified. And then you need to generate strong faith that you have purified. And finally, there’s the power of restraint.
So now you think, before Vajrasattva, I vow never again to commit those negative actions from which I can easily abstain. Not to commit for a day, an hour, or as long as possible those negative actions which I find it difficult to give up. So now make a decision. If you’re particularly purifying something that has been a habit, try and give it up for an hour, a day, whatever you can. If it’s negativities you know you’ll never do again, then you promise, I’m never going to do this again.
From the minute you promise, you’re purifying every single second from that time. Now Vajrasattva is pleased with your pledge, with your promise, and melts into light and dissolves into you. Your body, speech, mind become inseparably one with Vajrasattva’s holy body, speech, and mind. So just for a few minutes, to have a very strong feeling of having a totally positive, pure body, speech, mind. Rejoice in thinking how incredible this is, how wonderful that I’ve been able to purify.
So strong bliss arises in your mind. Then finally, need to make a dedication to offer all this positive energy to all sentient beings. A very simple way, can think, may all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings never experience any suffering, and may they not have any causes of suffering. And then we use the more extensive dedication which is from Śāntideva.
It’s on page ninety eight.