ШЕРАБBDW 5 — Церемония однодневных обетов Большего пути
BDW 5 «Мост 5: Пустота в повседневности»
Автоматическая расшифровка записи. Возможны ошибки распознавания: имена, тибетские и санскритские слова. Текст прошёл автоматическую вычитку, людьми не проверялся. Пометка [?] — место, которое на записи не удалось разобрать уверенно.
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
translated by
Geshe Michael Roach
with Alison Zhou & Stanley Chen
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[1]
Herein Contained Is
A Stairway that Leads to the Palace
Of Magnificent Enlightenment:
A Ceremony, Set in Prose,
For Taking the One-Day Vows
Of the Greater Way
For Cleaning & Restoring
[2]
You are in truth
The combination
Of billions of Victors;
I bow to your feet,
My Lama,
With great respect.
And then now shall I set down
A ceremony for taking the vows
Of cleaning and restoring,
Within the greater way.
[3]
By now you must be aware of this pain, and the source from which it flows—
problems as bottomless as the ocean, and just as wide.
[4]
Judging from your own situation, you can easily imagine the misery of your
aged mothers: living beings, who stretch as far as space itself.
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[5]
And it is for you, and people like you—for those fortunate ones, who aspire to
reach enlightenment—that I offer my instructions for performing the rite of
cleaning and restoring, here in the greater way.
[6]
Rise at daybreak—at a time of day when you can first see the lines on the palms
of your hands—and wash well. Then, in a place which is clean and lovely, set
up an altar; and upon it representations of the Three Jewels.
[7]
Now set forth offerings of high quality, and great beauty—the best you can
afford. Seat yourself before the altar, in an attitude of great respect, and repeat
the following words three times, with deep feelings of going for shelter, and the
Wish for enlightenment:)
[8]
I go for shelter
To the Buddha,
To the teachings,
And the highest of assemblies.
To accomplish the goals
Of myself and others,
I bring into my heart
The Wish for enlightenment.
[9]
Heed my words,
Buddhas and bodhisattvas
Living in every corner
Of the entire universe;
3
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
From this moment on,
I bring within my heart
The Wish for enlightenment,
To become a perfect Buddha.
(x3)
[10]
You may always take this one-day vow by yourself, before an image of a holy
being upon an altar—and the following ceremony is mainly written for that. If
though you are taking the vow directly from your Teacher, you can insert at this
point an offering of the mandala: a perfect world. Do this as follows—
你总是可以在供台上⼀幅圣者像前，自⼰受这⼀日戒——以下的仪式主要
是为此⽽写。倘若你直接从上师处受戒，可以在此加⼊供曼荼罗：⼀个圆
满的世界。做法如下——
[11]
Here is the great Earth,
Filled with the smell of incense,
Covered with a blanket of flowers,
The Great Mountain,
The Four Continents,
Wearing a jewel
Of the Sun, and Moon.
In my mind I make them
The Paradise of a Buddha,
And offer it all to You.
By this deed
May every living being
Experience
The Pure World.
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Idam Guru Ratna mandalakam niryatayami.
[12]
The teacher, on their part, should take care to explain in detail the various
visualizations and states of mind to be held as we go through different sections
of the ceremony.
[13]
Next make offering:
The very ground
Of the entire planet
Becomes suddenly smooth
As the palm of your hand,
Without a single stone—
A vast surface
Made of lapis lazuli,
Yet soft to the touch.
[14]
The entire expanse
Of the sky above
Is suddenly covered
In clouds, the gifts
Of Perfect Goodness
Unsurpassed—
All things ever offered
By gods and humankind,
Some set here before me,
And others inside my mind.
[15]
Now repeat the following mantra, three times:
5
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Om namo Bhagavate, vajra sara pramardane,
Tathagataya,
Arhate samyak Sambuddhaya, Tadyatha,
Om vajre vajre, mahavajre, mahateja vajre,
Mahavidya vajre, maha bodhichitta vajre,
Maha bodhi mandopasankramana vajre,
Sarva karma avarana vishodhana vajre sva ha.
[16]
Now bless the very ground, and the offerings you have set forth:
[17]
I call upon the truth
Of the Three Jewels;
I call upon the blessings
Of every Buddha,
And every bodhisattva;
I call upon
The magnificent might
Of the two collections,
Total and complete;
I call upon
The absolute purity
Of the Realm of Is;
And by their inconceivable power
May all this actually be.
[18]
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Now request your own Lama, that being who has been so kind to you, to come
before you as the Teacher: as the Lord of the Able Ones. Around him or her are
seated all the victorious Buddhas of the entire universe, along with their own
sons and daughters—the bodhisattvas. They are really here!
Then say:
[19]
You are the protector
Of uncountable living beings;
You are the Angel who smashes
Demonic forces of evil;
You are the one who can see
Every single existing thing—
O Conqueror, we beg you,
Come here to this place,
Along with those who attend you.
[20]
If you wish, then add the following words:
[21]
I bow down
To anyone
In any corner of the universe
Who has reached enlightenment,
Who is reaching enlightenment,
Who will ever reach enlightenment—
I bow with my body,
I bow with my words,
I bow with my mind,
7
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
To every single one of them,
To these lions of living kind.
[22]
I throw myself down
Before every Victorious Buddha—
And by the power of the Prayer of Perfect Goodness,
May each of them see directly in front of them
Copies of me equal in number
To the atoms of the universe,
Each one bowing in perfect devotion.
[23]
At this very moment,
Buddhas equal in number
To the atoms of the universe
Are sitting surrounded
By their bodhisattva sons and daughters
Inside every atom there is.
I close my eyes and see
Every emptiness there is
Filled to overflowing
With all the victorious Buddhas.
[24]
I sing the endless praises
Of each and every being
Who has ever Gone to Bliss—
8
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
I sing on the sound
Of every wave
Breaking now on every shore
Of the oceans of this earth;
Sing of the high good qualities
Of every conquering Buddha.
[25]
And I present gifts
To every Victorious One—
Perfect flowers,
Perfect strings of flowers,
Perfect songs of bells,
Perfect oils spread upon their bodies,
Perfect parasols,
Perfect lamps,
Perfect incense.
[26]
Gifts I present
To every Victorious One—
Perfect silken softness to wear,
Perfect fragrances,
Piles of incense powder
Higher than the Himalayas;
Perfect in their arrangement,
Simple and total perfection.
[27]
9
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
In my mind I send each of these offerings,
Unsurpassable, spread far as the sky,
To every Enlightened Being there is.
By the mystical power of my devotion
To the Practice of Perfect Goodness,
I hereby bow and make my gifts
To every Enlightened Being there is.
[28]
Overcome by ignorant liking,
Overcome by ignorant disliking,
And overcome by ignorance itself,
I have hurt others
In my actions and words and thoughts.
I here confess and admit, openly,
Each of these deeds, one by one.
[29]
I take joy
In all the good
Done by every living being
In all the universe—
In the good of all the Buddhas,
In the good of the bodhisattvas,
The good of the self-made ones,
The good of those still learning,
And the good of those whose learning is ended.
10
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[30]
You are shining lamps
On all the planets
In the darkness of the galaxy;
You came to your enlightenment,
The end of ignorant desire,
By following the steps of the path—
O Saviors, I beg every one of you
To turn the unsurpassable
Wheel of the Holy Dharma.
[31]
I know there may be some of you,
My Lamas, who might consider
Pretending to pass from this world
Into Your final nirvana;
But I join my palms at my heart
And beg you with my life
To stay instead in this world with us,
For billions of eons,
For eons equal in number
To the tiny pieces of dust
That make the ground of this entire planet.
All of us here
Still need your help,
And the happy life you give us.
11
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[32]
Thus have I bowed myself down,
And presented my gifts,
And admitted my mistakes;
I have taken joy in goodness,
I have asked my Lamas to teach,
And begged them to stay with me.
I must have planted thus
Some tiny quantity
Of positive karmic seeds—
And now I give them all away,
I dedicate them, every one,
To my coming enlightenment,
And all those I will help.
[33]
To sum,
I bow down,
With my body,
With my words,
With my thoughts;
And I offer
Every kind of gift there is,
Both here before me
And those my mind can create.
I confess
12
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Every bad thing I have ever done,
And every vow I have broken,
For time with no beginning.
I take joy
In all the goodness ever done
By those who have seen emptiness,
And those who have yet to see.
I beg my Lamas
To stay perfect here in the world,
Until there is no one left
Within the cycle of pain.
And as you stay,
I beg you to turn
The Wheel of the Dharma,
For every suffering living being.
Then finally I dedicate
The seeds of all the good
Accomplished by myself and others
To the Great Enlightenment.
[34]
With these words, you have offered the prayer in seven parts, in either its
expanded or its abbreviated form. Next, prostrate yourself three times; and as
tribute for being granted the vows, offer either the full or the shorter form of the
mandala—the world of perfection:
[35]
Om vajra bhumi ah hung,
Here is the mighty ground of gold.
13
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[36]
Om vajra rekhe ah hung,
Here is the surrounding
Outer wall of mountains.
[37]
In the center is Summit,
King of Mountains.
To the east is Greatbody,
To the south is Jambu,
To the west is Cattle,
To the north is Sound of Terror.
[38]
Body and Greatbody,
Oxtail and the Second,
Moving and the High Path,
Sound of Terror and its Mate.
[39]
Here is the Jewel Mountain,
The Tree of Wishes,
The Cow that gives
Whatever you want;
Crops that grow themselves.
[40]
Here is the precious Wheel,
14
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
The precious Jewel,
The precious Queen,
The precious Chancellor,
The precious Elephant,
The precious Horse,
The precious General,
The goldmine of the Vase.
[41]
Here is the Lady posing lovely,
The Lady of the garland,
The Lady of song,
The Lady of dance,
The Lady of flowers,
The Lady of incense,
The Lady of lamps,
The Lady of perfume.
[42]
Here is the Sun,
Here is the Moon,
The jeweled Parasol,
The Banner of victory.
[43]
Here in the middle
Are all the riches
Of gods and humans;
Excellent, total, all there is;
Totally pure, exquisite.
15
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[44]
All this I offer to my kind and holy
Root and lineage Lamas,
And especially
Do I present this Paradise
To the Lama, Lobsang,
Lord of the Able Ones,
Great Keeper of the Diamond,
And to all the host of Angels
In their retinue.
[45]
Give in to Your compassion,
And for the sake of
Every living being
Accept my offering,
Accept and in Your infinite love
Bless me and all others,
Every suffering creature there is,
Living beings who stretch as far
As space itself—
Every one my mother.
[46]
Here is the great Earth,
Filled with the smell of incense,
Covered with a blanket of flowers,
The Great Mountain,
The Four Continents,
Wearing a jewel
Of the Sun, and Moon.
16
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
In my mind I make them
The Paradise of a Buddha,
And offer it all to You.
By this deed
May every living being
Experience
The Pure World.
Idam Guru Ratna mandalakam niryatayami.
[47]
If you are wearing robes, then drop your shawl from your left shoulder. Kneel
now with your right knee to the floor, and join your palms. Think to yourself as
follows:
[48]
Well now. I and every other living being in the universe—beings who stretch as
far as space itself—have had countless chances, from time with no beginning up
to the present moment, to experience the suffering of the cycle of pain in
general, and more specifically that of the three lower realms.
[49]
And yet in all this time, we have never felt even a single moment of real dismay,
or even real inconvenience, about our condition. We have lost ourselves to a
terrible state of mind in which we hold pain to be pleasure, and hold things
which are not themselves to be themselves. And because of the power of these
perceptions, we have come under the thrall of our karma, and negative
emotions.
[50]
And now again, helplessly, we will have to undergo this suffering of the cycle of
life and of the lower realms—so difficult to bear—infinitely more times than we
ever did before.
17
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[51]
When I think thus of how things really are, I feel it would be fitting for me
simply
to go mad.
[52]
And yet the fact is that none of the conquering Buddhas who have ever come in
the past—Buddhas like Shakyamuni, and all the others—were beings who
started out enlightened.
[53]
In the beginning they were just like us—living in the cycle of suffering. And
then each of them met with own spiritual guide; and due to the kindness of this
guide, they were able to develop distaste for the wheel.
[54]
And then they began to feel love for every living being; and finally they
developed the Wish for enlightenment. With that, they decided to take on these
vows of cleaning and restoring, here in the greater way. And they honored these
vows perfectly; and walked the path; and only then became Buddhas.
接着他们开始感到对所有众⽣的爱；最终升起了证悟之愿。以此愿⼒，他
们决定受持⼤乘长净戒。他们很完美地尊崇这些戒律；践⾏此道；惟其如
此⽅可成佛。
[55]
Now the same is happening with me: due to the kindness of my own spiritual
guide, I have been able to meet with the teachings of the greater way. If now I
can grow within me the Wish for enlightenment, and then practice the path, then
beyond a doubt I too can reach the state of enlightenment.
[56]
Just so, there are certain people who are the closest of all my friends and
family; ones who are completely indispensable for me, in every place and time
—whether as I was in my original condition; or as I am now on the path; or as I
will be when I reach the goal.
18
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[57]
They are the wishing jewel that will grant me each and every thing which is
good; whether it be in his life, or in the life to come. They are people who have
cared for me here in the cycle of life, for time with no beginning—and who will
continue to care for me until the last day of this wheel.
[58]
Who are these people? They are my dear aged mothers, who stretch as far as
space itself; and they live in deepest misery.
[59]
For me to abandon them now, and seek only my own happiness, would be the
height of stupidity; I would be nothing better than an ignorant beast.
[60]
And so no matter what I will work now to attain the precious state of a fully
enlightened Buddha, for the sake of each and every one of those living beings,
who live scattered about the infinite expanse of the universe itself.
[61]
To attain this goal, I will in turn take on—here before the victorious Buddhas,
and before their daughters and sons—the one-day vows of cleaning and
restoration, according to the greater way. And I promise to keep those vows
until daybreak tomorrow.
[62]
Be filled with these thoughts—be filled with devotion—to the point where tears
fall from your eyes, and goosebumps form on your flesh. Hold to the thoughts
now as you continue:
[63]
Imagine that you are reciting the following words after your Lama, the Lord of
the Able Ones. Repeat them three times over:
[64]
I beg you,
Every Buddha and bodhisattva
19
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
In every corner of the universe,
To hear my words:
[65]
If you are taking the vows from your Teacher in person, then instead say:
I beg you,
My Master,
To hear my words:
[66]
There are those of the past
Who were Buddhas Gone That Way;
They destroyed the foe;
They reached pure and total enlightenment.
[67]
They were like the horse
That reads its rider’s mind;
Like the mighty elephant;
They had done what they had to do,
And they did what needed doing;
They threw off the burden
That they had carried.
[68]
They achieved all it was
They needed for themselves:
They cut the ties
That kept them in this pain;
[69]
Their words are pure;
Their hearts are free;
20
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Their wisdom is perfectly free;
[70]
And they followed, pure,
These vows of cleaning and restoring,
For the sake of every living being,
To be of service to them,
To help them to be free,
To stop all hunger in this world,
And to stop all kinds of sickness;
[71]
And to make themselves complete
In each and every quality
Of the state of enlightenment;
And to realize within them
Matchless and total Buddhahood.
[72]
Just so will I,
Whose name is [say your name]
Undertake these very same vows
Of cleaning and restoring,
Beginning from this very moment
And on to tomorrow at daybreak,
[73]
For the sake of every living being,
To be of service to them,
To help them to be free,
To stop all hunger in this world,
And to stop all kinds of sickness;
21
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[74]
And to make myself complete
In each and every quality
Of the state of enlightenment;
And to realize within me
Matchless and total Buddhahood.
[75]
In the very moment that the third repetition is completed, stay in a feeling of
deep joy, knowing that the vow is born within your heart.
[76]
Now go back to the motivation that we described above—the Wish for
enlightenment.
[77]
Think to yourself: Enemy destroyers of the past, in their deeds and in their
words, have given up negative actions such as killing; in their minds, they have
turned away from these completely.
[78]
And now I myself will do the same: For every living being here is, I will
completely give up these harmful acts—if only for a day. And for this period, I
will apply myself perfectly to all the other advices here.
[79]
Now speak the following, a single time through. If you are taking the vow from
your Lama in person, then you repeat these words after them:
From this moment on,
I will take no life;
Neither will I engage
In any sexual act.
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
And never will I lie.
[80]
Intoxicants,
When we use them,
Are the cause of
Infinite problems;
I will give them up completely.
I will avoid luxurious things,
And also eating after noon.
[81]
I will give up fragrances,
And garlands and jewelry,
And dance and song and the like.
And I will give up killing and all the rest
In the way that Enemy Destroyers
Have already done.
[82]
May I quickly reach
Matchless Enlightenment,
And my I carry the people
In this world of chaos
Quickly across the sea of pain.
[83]
If you are taking the vow from your Teacher in person, then these final parts of
the ceremony may be adjusted according to his or her tradition:
[84]
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Repeat first the following mantra for pure morality, 21 times:
Om amogha shila, sambhara, bhara bhara,
mahashuddha sattva, padma vibhushite,
bhuja, dhara dhara, samanta,
Avalokite, hung phet sva ha.
[85]
Now conclude the ceremony with a dedication, and a prayer:
May the way I follow
These rules of goodness
Be always faultless;
May I ever live
In goodness pure.
With goodness free
Of delusions of greatness
May I reach to the final end
Of the very perfection of good.
[86]
Here now are the commitments you make for how you act after you have
accepted the vow. The enumeration of the commitments you are going to keep
for the 24-hour period is divided, in the Treasure House of Higher Knowledge,
into the following components:
[87]
They are grouped as four,
Then one, then three, respectively:
A component of morality;
A component of mindfulness;
And a component
Of spiritual hardship.
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[88]
In the one-day vow within the vows of individual liberation, there are four
commitments in a group focused on giving up some action. The first is (1) to
give up killing any living creature, from an insect on up.
[89]
The second is (2) to give up stealing anything which is in the possession of
someone else—anything from the leaf of a tree, on up.
[90]
The third is (3) to give up all forms of sexual activity.
[91]
And the fourth is (4) to give up any form of lying.
[92]
The next component consists of (5) the single commitment to give up all forms
of intoxicants.
[93]
There are a number of elements in the next commitment, which is called (6)
“giving up dance and the rest, and giving up garlands and the like.” First is to
give up dancing, singing, or playing music—or doing other such things—in a
mindless way, and without any special spiritual purpose (such as making
offering to the Three Jewels).
[94]
We also give up putting on garlands or jewelry out of some mindless motivation,
or else desire or the like. An exception here is jewelry that we wear on a
regular basis already.
[95]
And then finally there is giving up things like applying fragrances to our body.
[96]
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Next there is what we call (7) “the commitment relating to chairs and beds
which are too luxurious.” This relates to giving up sitting or laying on (without
any compelling need) luxurious chairs or beds which are made with expensive
materials like gemstone or precious metals; or even on those made of lesser
materials (such as wood or the like), if they exceed a cubit (the length of your
forearm and hand) in height.
[97]
Last is the commitment (8) not to eat food and certain drinks after noon—things
like yogurt, milk, and the like; and rice or other dishes. This then makes a total
of eight commitments.
[98]
As noted, the first four of these eight are said to constitute a component of
morality; and then the fifth by itself is a component of mindfulness; while the
remaining three are a component of spiritual hardship. Here in the practice for
cleaning and restoring in the greater way, they function in the same way.
[99]
You might think to yourself then, “Are these vows no different than the one-day
vow of individual freedom?” The answer is that there is a huge difference
between the two.
[100]
There are a great number of differences here: the ones you take the vows from
are different; the person who takes the vows is different; the motivation is
different; the ceremony used to take the vows is different; the way you observe
the vows after taking them is different; and the way—in the end—that you
achieve your goals is different.
[101]
Now how is it that the ones from whom we take the vows are different? The
one-day vows found in the commitments of individual liberation will form within
26
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
you when you take them from anyone who possesses any class of these
commitments—from a person with lifetime layperson’s vow on up.
[102]
Here in the vows of cleaning and restoring in the greater way, though, the
person from whom you take the vow must be someone who possesses vows of
this same greater way. And they will also form within you even if you take them
before a holy image of some kind.
[103]
As for the person who takes on the vow, in the case of the one-day vows of
individual liberation it is wrong for a novice monk or nun—or a full monk or
nun—to take them. In fact it would be inappropriate to the extreme, since when
a novice monk or nun, or a full monk or nun, takes on the one-day vows of
individual liberation—in the moment that they say “I commit to the eight
components of this one-day vow”—then it causes them to lose their higher vows
of individual liberation.
[104]
It has been stated though that the one-day vow of cleaning and restoring in the
greater way can be taken by any pure monk or nun.
[105]
Now for the difference in motivation. The one-day vow of individual liberation
will form with a person if they take it with no more than thoughts of
renunciation. For the one-day vow of cleaning and restoring in the greater way,
however, we must at the very least bring up, within our heart, the contrived form
of the Wish for enlightenment; we have already covered this point above.
[106]
How do the two ceremonies for taking these vows differ? The one-day vow in
the commitments of individual liberation is received when one takes on—by
27
A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
repeating the wording three times—the eight components of this one-day vow,
having begun the process by going for shelter; all as described in Word of
Vowed Morality, and the Sutra of Establishment.
[107]
With the vows of cleaning and restoring here in the greater way, though, it’s
completely different. We take, as our model, the way that Buddhas of the past
have done it, while they were still on the path; and we commit ourselves to a
practice which emulates the life they lived.
[108]
As for the difference in how we keep the vows, there is no discussion in the one-
day vows of individual liberation of how we must give up eating meat; whereas
once we have taken the one-day vows of cleaning and restoring, we definitely
have to give up meat.
[109]
Now how, in the end, is the result of these two kinds of vows different? A person
who takes the one-day vow of individual liberation may aspire to the goals of
any of the three different tracks. If they feel an aspiration for the goals of one of
the lower tracks, then what they achieve will be a lower goal. If they feel and
aspiration for the goals of the higher way, then what they achieve is a higher
goal.
[110]
But when you take the vows of the cleaning and restoring in the greater way,
you most certainly—unless you lose this motivation of the Wish for
enlightenment—reach the goal of total enlightenment.
[111]
And so—since the Buddha has deemed it so—people like full monks and nuns
can also take this version of the one-day vow. And then in other situations,
related to the practice of fasting, it’s also the case that all kinds of practitioners
—whether they have taken ordination vows or not—may take these vows before
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
their Teacher or before a holy image, following the ritual that we have
described above.
[112]
And if then they keep well what they are supposed to keep, they will derive
tremendous benefit; and if they don’t keep it, they will derive incredibly serious
problems.
[113]
There are descriptions of people in the past who observed a single moral
guideline for only half of each day, and then failed to observe it for the other
half of each day. From this, they derived exactly corresponding results. You
can learn this point from sources such as the Word of Vowed Morality, and the
Sutra of A Hundred Deeds, where we hear the life stories of people like
Shronakoti Karna, and Sangha Rakshita.
[114]
People like you and me have managed to attain a wonderful body and mind
replete with all the various leisures and fortunes—something which is extremely
difficult to find. We have as well managed to meet the teachings of the Buddha,
which are extremely difficult to meet.
[115]
We have been taken in by a Savior: by a spiritual guide who is pure. And we
have also learned a bit about what we should be doing, and what we shouldn’t
be doing.
[116]
Our body and mind are relatively healthy. And this short, precious moment has
arrived—just this once—when we might be able to do something good for
ourselves, and for those around us. If now we pass our days and nights in
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
activities which have no real meaning, then it’s just the same as a poor man who
travels to the Island of Jewels and returns empty-handed.
[117]
Understand these things, and throw yourself into practices like this one-day
vow: easily undertaken, yet massively meaningful.
[118]
And so it ends.
The Victors love to watch
Those fortunate ones
Who board the ship
Of the trainings of the greater way
And journey to the Jewel Isle
Of liberation, striving to win
The gems of their own goals
And the goals of every being.
[119]
The highest of the Able Ones said
That just hearing the word “Buddha”
Here in the world is something rare.
The fortune even just in words
To walk a path supreme as this
Is something difficult to find
Even in many eons of time.
[120]
Realize then, good friends of mine,
That to waste this leisure and this fortune
In distractions of this present life
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
Is the greatest loss of all.
Excellent would it be then if
Even every single day
You used a skillful method like this
To drink your share of the very heart
Of the highest of the ways.
[121]
By the good seeds of my efforts here
To do a thing of highest power
May infinite numbers of living beings
Become lords among the warriors:
Sons and daughters of the victorious Buddhas,
Undaunted in their search for freedom.
[122]
There is venerable nun of matchless faith from the nunnery of Gerpel Shi whose
name is Lobsang Trinley Chukyi. She noted that most of the texts available at
present for performing this ceremony of cleaning and restoration in the greater
way are rituals, for example, for fasting which include—at the beginning—the
binding of the seal of pledge, according to the Lotus Family; as well as
practices of prostration and offering ones body such as the one beginning with
“Om sarva Tathagata”: all related largely to rituals of the Action Class of the
secret teachings.
[123]
And she made me a request, including the offering of a mandala, saying that we
needed a ceremony text written in prose: one which is practical to use for
occasions when we are only performing the rite of cleaning and restoring,
unrelated to those other practices.
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
[124]
And so this work has been set down in writing during the auspicious days of the
waxing moon in the Month of Miracles—the first Mongol month—of the Wood
Monkey Year (1944) by myself, whose name is Trijang Rinpoche: Darhan
Holder of the Throne of Ganden, personal philosophical mentor to the High
Lama.
[125]
These words are a nectar moon
That restores and stops low tide
In the sea of milk, the powerful deeds
Of the highest of all ways;
It cleans away the fiery heat
Of cherishing oneself.
[126]
And we were drawn to it
By the fair winds of our willingness
To take responsibility
For every living being—
Our names are Lobsang Dargye,
Lobsang Lungtok, & Puntsok Hlawang.
[127]
By this good deed, may all of those
Connected in any way to the resources
That made this possible—
Persons passed away or else still with us—
Dive deep into the ocean waves
Of the deeds of the bodhisattvas;
[128]
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A Traditional Ceremony
for Taking the One-Day Vow
of the Greater Way
May they travel with speed to the Jewel Isle
Of all three of those holy forms;
And then fulfil every one of the hopes
Of infinite living beings.
[129]
(This ritual was translated by Geshe Michael Roach, with the assistance of
Alison Zhou and Stanley Chen.)
33