A Mind-Training Prayer by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye

By the truth of the ultimate mind of enlightenment,
Generated by mighty and sublime Avalokiteshvara
And all the buddhas and bodhisattvas,
May supreme bodhichitta be born
In myself and in all beings under the sky.

May the cause of suffering, the anger of all beings,
And its result, the heat and cold of the hells,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit of my loving-kindness
And my freedom from anger.

Thus may anger’s realms, the hells, be emptied.
May all hell-beings become Avalokiteshvara of the Vajra family,
And realize sublime mirror-like wisdom.

May the cause of suffering, the greed and attachment of beings,
And its result, the thirst and starvation of the spirit realm,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit of my open-handed generosity
And my freedom from attachment.

Thus may the realms of the starving spirits be emptied.
May all such beings become Avalokiteshvara of the Padma family,
And realize sublime discriminating wisdom.

May the cause of suffering, the stupidity of beings,
And its result, the dumb dullness of beasts,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit of my generation and refinement of insight
And my freedom from ignorance.

Thus may the animal realm be emptied.
May all such beings become Avalokiteshvara of the Buddha family,
And realize the sublime wisdom of the absolute expanse.
May the cause of suffering, jealousy, which corrodes the hearts of beings,
And its result, the warring of the asuras,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit of my patience, expressed in body, speech, and mind,
And my freedom from jealousy.

Thus may the asura realm be emptied.
May all such beings become Avalokiteshvara of the Karma family,
And realize sublime all-accomplishing wisdom.

May the cause of suffering, the overwhelming pride of beings,
And its result, the eventual fall of the gods,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit of my endeavor
And my freedom from pride.
Thus may the realms of the gods be emptied.
May all such beings become Avalokiteshvara of the Ratna family,
And realize the sublime wisdom of equality.

May the cause of suffering of beings,
Negative acts and obscurations since beginningless time,
And its result, the suffering of birth, illness, old age, and death,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit I have accumulated since beginningless time
With my body, speech, and mind.

Thus may the realms of destitution be emptied.
May all such beings become stainless Dharmakaya Avalokiteshvara,
And realize sublime self-existing wisdom.

Downfalls, degenerations, breaches, and transgressions
Of the Pratimoksha, Bodhisattva, and Secret Mantrayana vows
Committed by all beings,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
The merit of upholding the three kinds of vows.

May their vows become utterly pure,
Unstained by the slightest degeneration.
May they all achieve the level of Vajrasattva,
Embodiment of all families.

May the negative karma, obscurations, and short life
Caused by killing, destruction of sacred objects, and the like,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
The merit of my protection of life and creation of sacred objects.

May premature death become a term unheard of,
May all beings achieve the level of Vajra Amitayus.
May the illnesses of beings,
Caused by imbalances of wind, bile, phlegm, and other elements,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit of my abandonment of any kind of violence,
And provision of medicine, and other beneficial things.
I offer them my own health and well-being.

May all beings achieve the level of the Medicine Buddha,
The Body of Lapis-Lazuli Light,
Which dispels the ills of the three poisons.

May the thirst, hunger, and poverty
Caused by stealing and taking by force the goods of others,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
Dharma, wealth, and the fruits of generosity.
May they enjoy this sky-treasure;
The effortless and spontaneous fulfillment of all needs.

May the negative karma and obscurations
Caused by constant harmful activities that lead
To rebirth in impure fields,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I dedicate to all beings under the sky
My generation of bodhichitta and the ten transformations.
May they be reborn in pure buddhafields,
Such as True Joy and Realm Of Bliss.

May the negative karma and obscurations
Caused by constant harboring of false views,
Which displease the Three Jewels,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
The merit of developing the three kinds of faith.
May they develop complete conviction
In the infallibility of the law of cause and effect,
And replace their negative acts with positive ones.

May attachment and aggression,
Which arise from a constant focus on the self,
And lead to perceiving everything as a threat,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I give to all beings under the sky
All the merit born of the four boundless thoughts.

May their minds be filled with kindness, compassion,
Sympathetic joy and equanimity.

Source of all suffering,
The deluded mind which takes illusory perceptions as real,
Come to me!  Dissolve in me!
I offer to all beings under the sky
The realization of egoless emptiness.
May profound emptiness dawn in their minds,
And may they attain perfect buddhahood.

In short, I take all suffering brought about by change:
By encountering what one does not wish —
The sixteen sources of fears and so forth;
By being parted from what one likes —
Relatives and friends, places, food and riches;
By being unable to keep what one has —
When protecting kinsmen, vanquishing opponents,
And toiling in agriculture and trade;
By being unable to get what one wants —
Power, possessions, and fame;
By being struck by sudden adversities, and evil influences.

I take all these upon me, on top of my own ego-clinging,
While, without keeping anything, I give to all beings
All my merit of past, present, and future;
I give to all beings my influence and power,
My body, my very life.

May all beings enjoy happiness and well-being
And perform the deeds of the bodhisattvas.
May all beings who have made a connection with me in good or in bad ways,
Through my teaching them the Dharma and urging them to virtue;
Or through my eating their flesh, drinking their curds, or riding upon them;
Or through having faith and respect in me, and giving me food and wealth;
Or criticizing me, doubting me, thinking ill of me,
Robbing me, beating me, harming me —
In short, whoever has seen me in person,
Heard my name, thought of my good or bad qualities,
Or even has been touched by the wind coming from my direction:

May their harmful actions and obscurations,
Built up since time without beginning,
Come to an end.

May they be led to the Realm of Bliss
By the Great Compassionate One, the sublime Mahakarunika.

May I be able to benefit being
Through my body, speech, and mind.
Even through my shadow.

May all beings of ill-will, human and non-human,
Who strive to harm my body and my life,
Be the very first to reach enlightenment.

And may not even the least harm
Ever come about because of me.

When we investigate phenomena,
We find nothing has any true existence.
Everything is as a dream, a mirage,
A reflection, like the moon in water.
Nonetheless, everyone is fooled by taking things as real.

In absolute truth,
I and all other beings under the sky,
Even nonhuman entities, evil spirits and obstacle-makers,
Are equal in the sphere of emptiness.
Yet, in taking what is empty as real,
We are all deluded.

In relative truth,
There is not a single being
Who has not been the parent of everyone else.
And who in the whole world has more kindness
Then a father or a mother?

What a delusion it would be
For a mother to wish to harm her child.

This is why, remembering without preference
The kindness of those parent beings
I shall offer them gain and victory,
And take loss and defeat for myself.

By the power of this, my pure intention,
May all beings purify their misdeeds and perfect the accumulations,
Effortlessly arouse sublime bodhichitta,
Which is emptiness suffused with compassion,
The unerring path of the Victorious Ones,
And swiftly attain the omniscience of buddhahood.

~ To give form to his aspiration for mind-training, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye made this heartfelt prayer in a lonely mountain hermitage.  May it be beneficial and auspicious.