Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 18-minute guided meditation session, Ven Thubten Dondrub leads practitioners through the foundational prayers and visualizations for guru devotion practice. He begins with physical posture and the nine-round breathing exercise combined with visualization of white light purifying obstacles and dark smoke releasing negativity. He then guides the development of refuge in the Triple Gem, visualizing Śākyamūni Buddha as the embodiment of the three principal aspects of the path — renunciation, wisdom, and compassion — seated on a lion throne. From there, Dondrub expands the refuge mind to encompass Mahāyāna motivation: recognizing interdependence with all sentient beings, visualizing loved ones and adversaries around you, and generating bodhicitta. The core instruction unfolds through the Glance Meditation, where the Buddha dissolves into light and merges with the guru at the crown of the head, from whom a healing stream of nectar-like light removes obstacles to guru devotion while blessing the mind for realization. The session closes with the full ladder of refuge and motivation prayers. Suitable for those already receiving teaching from a qualified guru.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 3a. Day 1 Prayers for Meditation Guru Devotion.mp3
UUID: 2203ecb1-1c19-44cc-894c-1666bfbc6e77
Teacher: Ven Thubten Dondrub
Collection: Meditations DTL (Ven Thubten Dondrub)
Date: 2006 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 17.8 minutes
Words: ~1,534
The announcements as well. Please, if you want to join in the prayers, in the prayers, it’ll be of benefit for the mind. So these are on page twenty five, twenty four and twenty five. So we begin by sitting in the correct posture as much as possible. And placing awareness at the crown and moving it down your body just for a short time to fine tune the posture.
And although it’s important when we meditate to not move, to be still with our body and our mind, it’s not as though we have to be completely rigid about this. So then we begin to prepare our mind, establishing a calm, neutral mind with the nine round breathing exercise, combining that with the visualisation with each in breath. Imagine the blessings of the Buddha’s coming in the form of white light. It really calms the mind, brings joy into the mind. We imagine our mind is blessed to be able to meditate correctly, effectively, and to gain the realization.
With each out breath of the cycle we imagine all our disturbing thoughts, obstacles and so on leaving in the form of dark smoke. And then we cultivate the virtuous mind of refuge and bodhicitta, clearly accepting right now that it is our own mind giving rise to all our experience and therefore the most crucial, significant thing to do in our life if we want to lessen our suffering, enhance our well-being, is to work with our mind. And we have to do this work ourselves continuously. And we need a perfect method to do it. And that perfect method comes from the perfect mind of the Buddha.
So we generate the strong refuge in the Buddha, the Buddha’s teachings and the Sangha, the great practitioners of those teachings, the Ārya Sangha, who are the great practitioners. Generating refuge in the triple gem we visualize Śākyamūni Buddha as the embodiment of all objects of refuge, the very embodiment of the three principal aspects of the path, of renunciation by appearing as a pure, fully renounced monk is seated on a magnificent lion throne with the lotus cushions of lotus sun and moon, the lotus symbolising renunciation, the sun disc symbolising wisdom, and the moon symbolising bodhicitta. So his whole body of golden transparent light is the very embodiment of that wisdom and compassion of the enlightened mind. So as we develop that, generate that devotional thought of refuge, also combine it with the Mahāyāna thought to take refuge not just for the sake of this life, not just for the sake of future lives, not just to achieve liberation, but wishing to work with one’s mind and use the Buddhist methods to do so in order to liberate one’s Buddha potential, in order to benefit others. Perfectly recognising our connection with every sentient being, That we’ve always been connected, will always be connected, always have been, always will be connected, interdependent with every sentient being.
They have been kind in countless ways, have been our mother many times, trapped in cyclic existence like myself, most experiencing the worst realms of saṃsāra right now. Having no refuge, they’re continuously in their confusion creating the causes of more suffering, more cyclic existence. So I think no matter what, I I have to practice the Dharma, I have to work with my mind, obviously for my own sake but for the sake of all these suffering kind beings. So we think of them, feel their presence around us right now. I mean they always are around us, but our self-cherishing blocks us from that awareness.
So we try to open our mind to all beings, our interdependence with them right now, visualising our mother of this life on our left, our father on our right, family, friends, helpers behind us, those who have harmed in front to include them in our compassion, and then all other beings of the six realms. Try to visualise them, at least think of them, Think of them so that we can relate to them in human form. But in those human forms they’re undergoing torments that are unique to the different realms. And think that in order to benefit all these beings I have to achieve enlightenment by following the path, and I have to follow the path correctly, completely. And in order to do that I have to rely on a perfectly qualified spiritual master and generate the mind of devotion seeing the guru as Buddha.
So that’s why I will do this meditation now. May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings be inseparable from the happiness that is free from suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free from desire for friends and hatred for enemies.
Reverently I prostrate with my body, speech and mind. I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and 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 dedicate my own merits and those of all others to the great enlightenment.
So in the lam rim section, if we can go to page twenty seven, which is the Glance Meditation. Firstly, recalling the guru in front, imagining the guru very pleased with our motivation. So if we now imagine the lion throne dissolving into light, that light absorbing up into the cushions of lotus sun and moon. And then the Buddha seated on these comes to the crown of our head, turning to face the same direction as ourselves. And then we make a strong heartfelt request to the Guru Buddha.
For those of us who have teachers of Guru, thinking Śākyamūni is oneness with our Guru. So we make a strong heartfelt request for our mind to be completely free of all disturbing thoughts, all the negative imprints generated by them, all obscurations, all difficulties we have with meditating in general and specifically on guru devotion. So then think the Buddha happily responds to this request by sending from his heart into us a continuous stream of blissful white light and nectar that eliminates all those obstacles from the mind. They manifest in the form of very ugly thick black liquid that pours out from the lower part of our body completely dissipating, becoming non existent. And then a continuous stream of golden light and nectar comes from the Guru Buddha’s heart into us, blessing our mind to be able to meditate correctly, effectively and gain the unmistaken realization of Guru devotion.
So we do the glance meditation. Nature that embodies all the Buddhas, source of all the pure transmission and realization Dharma, principle amongst all the aryas Sangha, I take refuge in all magnificent pure gurus. Please place my mind to become Dharma, that Dharma to become the path, and that path to be free of all hindrances. Until I achieve enlightenment, may I, just like the bodhisattvas Shennu Norbu and Draktokma, practice pure devotion to my guru in thought and action, see all the actions of my guru as excellent and fulfill whatever he advises. Please bless me with the potential to accomplish this.
Knowing that this highly meaningful, perfect human rebirth is difficult to obtain and easily lost, realising the profundity of cause and effect and the unbearable sufferings of the lower realms, From my heart I take refuge in the three precious sublime ones, abandon negativity and practice virtue in accordance with the Dharma. Please bless me with the potential to accomplish this. Through dependence on this, I am able to attain only the higher rebirths of humans and gods. Not having abandoned afflictions, I have to experience uninterrupted, limitless, cyclic existence. By contemplating well how cyclic existence works, may I train day and night in the principal path of the three higher trainings, the means of attaining liberation.
Please bless me with the potential to always train like this. in dependence on this, I am able to attain only self liberation. As there is not one sentient being in all the six realms who has not been my mother or father, I will turn away from this lower happiness and generate the wish to fulfil their ultimate purposes. By contemplating the path of equalising and exchanging self for others, I will generate the precious bodhicitta and engage in the bodhisattva’s actions with the six perfections. Please bless me with the potential to train in this way.
Having trained like this in the common path, I myself will not have aversion to experiencing the sufferings of cyclic existence for a long time. But by the force of extraordinary unbearable compassion for sentient beings, may I enter the quick path of the vajrayana. By observing purely my vows and pledges even at the cost of my life, May I quickly attain the unified state of vajradhara in one brief lifetime of this degenerate age. Please bless me with the potential to attain this.