buddhism – Thongdrol https://thongdrol.org liberation through seeing Tue, 07 May 2024 18:10:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://thongdrol.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-thongdrol-logo9-32x32.png buddhism – Thongdrol https://thongdrol.org 32 32 171691117 Illuminating Wisdom: Exploring the Thongdrol Podcast https://thongdrol.org/illuminating-wisdom-exploring-the-thongdrol-podcast/ Tue, 07 May 2024 18:04:25 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=196

Thongdrol Podcast Overview

The Thongdrol Podcast is a treasure trove of spiritual teachings, featuring His Holiness the Dalai Lama and other revered spiritual lamas. The word “Thongdrol” itself holds profound meaning: it signifies liberation through seeing. On a fundamental level, it represents anything that inspires individuals to embark on a spiritual path, leading them toward freedom from the cycle of suffering.

 

Key Features of Thongdrol Podcast:

  1. Teachings by His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

    • His Holiness imparts wisdom, compassion, and insights on various aspects of life, philosophy, and spirituality.
    • These teachings cover a wide range of topics, including meditation, compassion, and the nature of reality.

  2. Spiritual Lamas’ Contributions:

    • Beyond His Holiness, other esteemed spiritual lamas share their profound insights.
    • Their teachings enrich the podcast, offering diverse perspectives and practical guidance.

  3. Essential Practices for Mind Training:

    • The podcast delves into the Mahayana Lojong (mind training) tradition.
    • It emphasizes practices that cultivate compassion, wisdom, and love.

Notable Episodes:

Here are some captivating episodes you can explore:

  1. Choejug སྤྱོད་འཇུག་ཆེན་མོ།:

    • His Holiness discusses Shantideva’s ‘A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’ (Tibetan: Choejug).
    • Dive into this profound text that illuminates the path of the bodhisattva.

  2. The Eight Verses of Mind Training:

    • His Holiness shares insights on these verses, which encapsulate essential practices.
    • Explore how to cultivate compassion, wisdom, and selflessness.

  3. Sherab Nyingpo ཤེས་རབ་སྙིང་པོ་:

    • Geshe Lobsang Dawa discusses the Heart Sūtra (Sherab Nyingpo).
    • This revered Buddhist sūtra reveals the essence of emptiness and wisdom.

  4. Words of Wisdom Series:

    • Episodes cover practical advice on anger management, family life, daily practice, and understanding our own minds.
    • Learn from the teachings of these spiritual luminaries.

Where to Listen:

  • Apple Podcasts: You can find the Thongdrol Podcast on Apple Podcasts.
  • Other Podcast Apps: Additionally, the podcast is available on Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, JioSaavn, and other major podcast services.

Remember, each episode is a stepping stone toward greater understanding, compassion, and inner transformation. 🌟🙏

For more information, visit the official Thongdrol website: Thongdrol.org. May your journey be filled with light and wisdom! 🕊📻

]]> 196 The Thirty-Seven Practices of All the Bodhisattvas. 31 to 37 Stanzas https://thongdrol.org/the-thirty-seven-practices-of-all-the-bodhisattvas-31-to-37-stanzas/ Tue, 13 Sep 2022 17:11:50 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=708

31   The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to scrutinize oneself
Continually and to rid oneself of faults whenever they appear.
For unless one checks carefully to find one’s own confusion,
One might appear to be practising Dharma, but act against it.

32   The practice of all the bodhisattvas is never to speak ill
Of others who have embarked upon the greater vehicle,
For if, under the influence of destructive emotions,
I speak of other bodhisattvas’ failings, it is I who am at fault.

33   The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to let go of attachment
To the households of benefactors and of family and friends,
Since one’s study, reflection and meditation will all diminish
When one quarrels and competes for honours and rewards.

34   The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to avoid harsh words,
Which others might find unpleasant or distasteful,
Since abusive language upsets the minds of others,
And thereby undermines a bodhisattva’s conduct.

35   The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to slay attachment
And the rest—mind’s afflictions—at once, the very moment they arise,
Taking as weapons the remedies held with mindfulness and vigilance.
For once the kleshas have become familiar, they’ll be harder to avert.

36   In short, no matter what one might be doing,
By examining always the status of one’s mind,
With continuous mindfulness and alertness,
To bring about the good of others—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.

37   The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to dedicate towards enlightenment
All the virtue to be gained through making effort in these ways,
With wisdom that is purified entirely of the three conceptual spheres,
So as to dispel the sufferings of the infinity of beings.

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DOWNLOAD – 31 to 37 Stanzas in PDF ( High Resolution)

]]> 708 The Thirty-Seven Practices of All the Bodhisattvas. 21 to 30 Stanzas https://thongdrol.org/the-thirty-seven-practices-of-all-the-bodhisattvas-21-to-30-stanzas/ Sun, 04 Sep 2022 03:57:47 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=710
  1. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to turn away immediately
    From those things which bring desire and attachment.
    For the pleasures of the senses are just like salty water:
    The more we taste of them, the more our thirst increases.
  2. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is never to entertain concepts,
    Which revolve around dualistic notions of perceiver and perceived,
    In the knowledge that all these appearances are but the mind itself,
    Whilst mind’s own nature is forever beyond the limitations of ideas.
  3. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to let go of grasping
    When encountering things one finds pleasant or attractive,
    Considering them to be like rainbows in the summer skies—
    Beautiful in appearance, yet in truth devoid of any substance.
  4. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to recognize delusion
    Whenever one is confronted by adversity or misfortune.
    For these sufferings are just like the death of a child in a dream,
    And it’s so exhausting to cling to delusory perceptions as real.
  5. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to give out of generosity,
    With no hopes of karmic recompense or expectation of reward.
    For if those who seek awakening must give even their own bodies,
    What need is there to mention mere outer objects and possessions?
  1. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to observe ethical restraint,
    Without the slightest intention of continuing in saṃsāric existence.
    For lacking discipline one will never secure even one’s own wellbeing,
    And so any thought of bringing benefit to others would be absurd.
  2. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cultivate patience,
    Free from any trace of animosity towards anyone at all,
    Since any potential source of harm is like a priceless treasure
    To the bodhisattva who is eager to enjoy a wealth of virtue.
  3. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to strive with enthusiastic diligence—
    The source of all good qualities—when working for the sake of all who live;
    Seeing that even śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, who labour for themselves alone,
    Exert themselves as if urgently trying to extinguish fires upon their heads.
  4. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cultivate concentration,
    Which utterly transcends the four formless absorptions,
    In the knowledge that mental afflictions are overcome entirely
    Through penetrating insight suffused with stable calm.
  5. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cultivate wisdom,
    Beyond the three conceptual spheres, alongside skilful means,
    Since it is not possible to attain the perfect level of awakening
    Through the other five pāramitās alone, in wisdom’s absence.
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DOWNLOAD – 21 to 30 Stanzas in PDF ( High Resolution)

]]> 710 The Thirty-Seven Practices of All the Bodhisattvas. 11 to 20 Stanzas https://thongdrol.org/the-thirty-seven-practices-of-all-the-bodhisattvas-11-to-20/ Fri, 26 Aug 2022 04:59:05 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=712
  1. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to make a genuine exchange
    Of one’s own happiness and wellbeing for all the sufferings of others.
    Since all misery comes from seeking happiness for oneself alone,
    Whilst perfect buddhahood is born from the wish for others’ good.
  1. Even if others, in the grips of great desire, should steal,
    Or encourage others to take away, all the wealth that I possess,
    To dedicate to them entirely my body, possessions and all my merits
    From the past, present and future— this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even if others should seek to cut off my head,
    Though I’ve done them not the slightest wrong,
    To take upon myself, out of compassion,
    All the harms they have amassed—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even if others should declare before the world
    All manner of unpleasant things about me,
    To speak only of their qualities in return,
    With a mind that’s filled with love—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even if others should expose my hidden faults or deride me
    When speaking amidst great gatherings of many people,
    To conceive of them as spiritual friends and to bow
    Before them in respect—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even if others whom I have cared for like children of my own
    Should turn upon me and treat me as an enemy,
    To regard them only with special fondness and affection,
    As a mother would her ailing child—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even if others, equal or inferior to me in status,
    Should, out of arrogance, disparage me,
    To honour them, as I would my teacher,
    By bowing down my head before them—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even though I may be destitute and despised by all,
    Beset with terrible illness and plagued by evil spirits,
    Still to take upon myself all beings’ ills and harmful actions,
    Without ever losing heart—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. Even though I may be famous and revered by all,
    And as rich as Vaiśravaṇa, the god of wealth himself,
    To see the futility of all the glory and riches of this world
    And to remain without conceit—this is the practice of all the bodhisattvas.
  1. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to subdue the mind
    With the forces of loving kindness and compassion.
    For unless the real adversary—my own anger—is defeated,
    Outer enemies, though I may conquer them, will continue to appear.
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
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DOWNLOAD – 11 to 20 Stanzas in PDF ( High Resolution)

]]> 712 The Thirty-Seven Practices of All the Bodhisattvas. 1 to 10 Stanzas https://thongdrol.org/the-thirty-seven-practices-of-all-the-bodhisattvas-1-to-10-stanzas/ Fri, 26 Aug 2022 02:24:00 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=199

༄༅། །རྒྱལ་སྲས་ལག་ལེན་སོ་བདུན་མ་བཞུགས་སོ། །

ན་མོ་ལོ་ཀེ་ཤྭ་ར་ཡེ།
གང་གིས་ཆོས་ཀུན་འགྲོ་འོང་མེད་གཟིགས་ཀྱང༌། ། འགྲོ་བའི་དོན་ལ་གཅིག་ཏུ་བརྩོན་མཛད་པའི། །
བླ་མ་མཆོག་དང་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་མགོན་ལ། ། རྟག་ཏུ་སྒོ་གསུམ་གུས་པས་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
ཕན་བདེའི་འབྱུང་གནས་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་རྣམས། ། དམ་ཆོས་སྒྲུབ་ལས་བྱུང་སྟེ་དེ་ཡང་ནི། །
དེ་ཡི་ལག་ལེན་ཤེས་ལ་རགས་ལས་པས། ། རྒྱལ་སྲས་རྣམས་ཀྱི་ལག་ལེན་བཤད་པར་བྱ། །

The Thirty-Seven Practices of All the Bodhisattvas

by Gyalse Tokme Zangpo

Namo Lokeśvaraye!

You see that all things are beyond coming and going,
Yet still you strive solely for the sake of living beings—
To you, my precious guru inseparable from Lord Avalokita,
I offer perpetual homage, respectfully, with body, speech and mind.

The perfect buddhas, who are the source of all benefit and joy,
Come into being through accomplishing the sacred Dharma.
And since this in turn depends on knowing how to practise,
I shall now describe the practices of all the buddhas’ heirs.

  1. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to study, reflect and meditate,
    Tirelessly, both day and night, without ever straying into idleness,
    In order to free oneself and others from this ocean of saṃsāra,
    Having gained this supreme vessel—a free, well-favoured human life, so difficult to find.
  2. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to leave behind one’s homeland,
    Where our attachment to family and friends overwhelms us like a torrent,
    While our aversion towards enemies rages inside us like a blazing fire,
    And delusion’s darkness obscures what must be adopted and abandoned.
  3. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to take to solitary places,
    Avoiding the unwholesome, so that destructive emotions gradually fade away,
    And, in the absence of distraction, virtuous practice naturally gains strength;
    Whilst, with awareness clearly focused, we gain conviction in the teachings.
  4. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to renounce this life’s concerns,
    For friends and relatives, long acquainted, must all go their separate ways;
    Wealth and prized possessions, painstakingly acquired, must all be left behind;
    And consciousness, the guest who lodges in the body, must in time depart.
  5. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to avoid destructive friends,
    In whose company the three poisons of the mind grow stronger,
    And we engage less and less in study, reflection and meditation,
    So that love and compassion fade away until they are no more.
  6. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to cherish spiritual friends,
    By regarding them as even more precious than one’s own body,
    Since they are the ones who will help to rid us of all our faults,
    And make our virtues grow ever greater just like the waxing moon.
  7. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to take refuge in the Three Jewels,
    Since they will never fail to provide protection for all who call upon them,
    For whom are the ordinary gods of this world ever capable of helping,
    As long as they themselves are trapped within saṃsāra’s vicious cycle?
  8. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is never to commit a harmful act,
    Even though not to do so might put one’s very life at risk,
    For the Sage himself has taught how negative actions will ripen
    Into the manifold miseries of the lower realms, so difficult to endure.
  9. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to strive towards the goal,
    Which is the supreme state of changeless, everlasting liberation,
    Since all the happiness of the three realms lasts but a moment,
    And then is quickly gone, just like dewdrops on blades of grass.
  10. The practice of all the bodhisattvas is to arouse bodhicitta,
    So as to bring freedom to all sentient beings, infinite in number.
    For how can true happiness ever be found while our mothers,
    Who have cared for us throughout the ages, endure such pain?
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas
37 Practices of Bodhisattvas

DOWNLOAD 1 to 10 Stanzas

in PDF ( High Resolution)

]]> 199 His Holiness the Dalai Lama Honours 33 Retired CTA Officials https://thongdrol.org/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-honours-33-retired-cta-officials/ Thu, 30 Sep 2021 12:17:00 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=664
 
DHARAMSHALA: Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Wednesday honoured 33 retired CTA officials in recognition of their tireless service and dedication to Tibetan cause and people. His Holiness presented Songtsen Gampo statue and certificate to the former civil servants.

The ceremony organised by Public Service Commission of Central Tibetan Administration was held at the residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

Addressing the ceremony, His Holiness commended the valour and spirit of the Tibetan civil servants for coming to serve during the most difficult struggle and said that by doing so, they had earned limitless merit.

“In a time when our country and people were facing what was the darkest period in history, you had come to serve the greater cause. This is the most meaningful service to the Tibetan people and Buddha dharma. In that regard, all of you have lived a very meaningful life,” His Holiness said.

“Indeed our people have endured great suffering, but we have been successful in carrying down the vast tradition of Tibet and legacy of the great Tibetan emperors and scholars. We should truly be proud.”

He added, “Today, it is we Tibetans who have preserved the complete and the pure Nalanda tradition. I feel that this tradition is of immense value to humanity. It can benefit not only the people of Tibet, but also a large number of Chinese Buddhists who are renewing their interest in Tibetan Buddhism. So our people have done well to preserve this tradition through many generations”.

His Holiness further remarked that the Tibetan culture and religion will continue to flourish and serve people. “Even in the past although politically Tibet was divided into many territories, our language, culture and religion have united all of us as people of Tibet. In that view, Tibetan language and culture have played a crucial role in upholding the unity of Tibet and it continues to be so”.

He told them to feel proud and confident for what they had given for the cause and not be worn down by old age. “Your generation has done much work in service of Tibetan people and dharma. As in Buddhist practice of recognising one’s good deeds, instead of praying for achieving great realisations, simply pray to be reborn as a Tibetan, as a follower of Buddha dharma and continue to serve sentient beings”.

His Holiness continued, “I am over 82 years old and about to enter 83 and I live with no regrets. On one hand, it was very unfortunate for us to be in exile but on another hand, this has brought us great opportunities for Tibetan people, culture and religion”.

Speaking exclusively to Tibet.net, Ms Nangsa Chodon, retired CTA official said, “The audience with His Holiness today was very heartwarming and exceptionally moving; an experience like never before. I ask the younger lot in service to pay heed to His Holiness’ advice, and irrespective of age and seniority in service, commit to the cause with sincere dedication and hardwork”. Ms Nangsa Chodon has served the Central Tibetan Administration for over 40 years in various portfolios.

Along with the honoured officers, a group of 30 former recipients of Songtsen Gampo award also received the audience.

Source: https://tibet.net/his-holiness-the-dalai-lama-honours-33-retired-cta-officials/

His Holiness the Dalai Lama with retired CTA officials also former recipients of the Songtsen Gampo award, 2 May 2018. Photo/Tenzin Choejor/OHHDL[/caption]

]]> 664 The Heart Sutra | ཤེས་རབ་སྙིང་པོ། ། | Sherab Nyingpo https://thongdrol.org/sherab-nyingpo/ Wed, 07 Jul 2021 12:19:00 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=768
༄༅། །བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ། །
The Sūtra of the Heart of Transcendent Wisdom by Gyalwang Karmapa

ཤེས་རབ་སྙིང་པོ། ། | The Heart Sūtra or Sherab Nyingpo The Heart Sūtra or Sherap Nyingpo (ཤེས་རབ་སྙིང་པོ་) is one of the most popular Buddhist sūtra and certainly among the most widely used and chanted sutra-s in Tibet. Its full title in Sanskrit is Bhagavatīprajñāpāramitāhṛdaya and in Tibetan བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་མ་ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ which translates as The Heart of the Blessed Perfection of Wisdom. The followers of Mahāyāna Buddhism consider it as sacred literature that falls within the category of the words of the Buddha. Thus, it is placed within the Perfection of Wisdom (ཤེར་ཕྱིན་) section of the Kagyur (བཀའ་འགྱུར་) canon. According to the sūtra itself, the Heart Sūtra was taught by the Buddha while he was on Vulture Peak, Rajagṛha, with his monastic and bodhisattva followers. The Buddha entered a meditative state called Profound Illumination and through his power made Śāriputra query Avalokiteśvara about how a person engages in the practice of Perfection of Wisdom. The main sūtra is constituted of the response that Avalokiteśvara gives Śāriputra, instructing how a son or daughter of a noble family should view everything as empty (སྟོང་པར་རྣམ་པར་བལྟ་བར་བྱ་) including form, sensation, feelings, volitions, consciousness, the six sense faculties, the six sense fields, the six consciousnesses, the twelve links of dependent origination, and the four noble truths. He puts this in the formulaic phrase: form is emptiness, emptiness is form, emptiness is no other than form, and form is no other than emptiness.

The Heart Sutra | ཤེས་རབ་སྙིང་པོ། ། | Sherab Nyingpo (PDF format)

Sherab Nyingpo ENG

]]> 768 Sangcho Monlam | བཟང་སྤྱོད་སྨོན་ལམ། | The King of Aspiration Prayers | Zangcho Monlam https://thongdrol.org/sangcho-monlam/ Sat, 03 Jul 2021 12:47:00 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=243

Sangchö Mönlam | བཟང་སྤྱོད་སྨོན་ལམ། | The King of Aspiration Prayers | Zangchö Mönlam

༄༅། །འཕགས་པ་བཟང་པོ་སྤྱོད་པའི་སྨོན་ལམ་གྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་བཞུགས།The King of Aspiration Prayers: Samantabhadra’s “Aspiration to Good Actions” (Zangchö Mönlam) from the Gaṇḍavyūha chapter of the Avataṃsaka sutra.

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Sangchö Mönlam | བཟང་སྤྱོད་སྨོན་ལམ། | The King of Aspiration Prayers | Zangchö Mönlam | thongdrol.org
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Note: This century old sacred prayer is compiled with text and audio for the sole use and benefit of people. It is not meant for any commercial purposes. Please feel free to use and share this.

Sangchö Mönlam | བཟང་སྤྱོད་སྨོན་ལམ། (PDF format)

Sangcho Monlam

]]> 243 Dechen Mönlam | བདེ་ཅན་སྨོན་ལམ། | Dewachen Monlam | བདེ་སྨོན། https://thongdrol.org/dechen-monlam/ Thu, 01 Jul 2021 12:48:00 +0000 http://sh044.global.temp.domains/~ufevnjmy/thongdrol/?p=245

Dechen Mönlam | བདེ་ཅན་སྨོན་ལམ། | Dewachen Monlam | བདེ་སྨོན། | thongdrol.org

Dechen Mönlam (བདེ་ཅན་སྨོན་ལམ་) is one of the most commonly recited aspirational prayers in Tibet and Himalaya. Originally composed by Karma Chakmé in eastern Tibet in the 17th century, this prayer deals with rebirth in the pure realm of Sukhāvatī (བདེ་བ་ཅན་), where the Buddha Amitabha is believed to reside. It belongs to the category of prayers recited to seek rebirth in Buddha realms that are considered conducive for spiritual practice to reach enlightenment. In short, it is called démön (བདེ་སྨོན་).

The prayer is divided into three main parts. The first part deals with the worship of Buddha Amitabha or Öpakmé. There are verses describing the location of the Sukhāvatī realm to the west of our world and the configuration of Buddha Amitabha and his retinue and disciples. The verses describe the figures of Amitabha and his disciples, followed by verses on the seven-part worship of the Buddha Amitabha including prostration, offering, confession, rejoicing, requesting to live long and teach the dharma, and the dedication of merits. Even those merely hearing the name of Buddha Amitabha are said to have the opportunity to take rebirth in his realm through the power of Amitabha’s prayers for sentient beings.

The second part describes the process of taking birth in Sukhāvatī out of a lotus flower and the happiness and bliss which fills his pure realm. This section contains verses describing the opportunities for enlightenment. It describes how one would be able to receive teachings from Amitabha and his retinue, from the Buddhas who visit Sukhāvatī, and also how one would miraculously travel to other pure realms to see other Buddhas to receive their teachings. Karma Chakmé presents a vivid picture of births and astral travels that are associated with such practices.

The third part deals with the sublime luxuries of Sukhāvatī and life in Sukhāvatī, which lasts for cosmic aeons. It talks about Amitabha passing into Mahāparinirvāṇa, just like the historical Buddha Śākyamuni did, and how Avalokiteśvara will become fully enlightened and take over the leadership in Sukhāvatī. Avalokiteśvara will also pass away after innumerable aeons, at which time Vajrapani will become the next regent. Amitabha, Avalokiteśvara, and Vajrapani form the divine trio of the Sukhāvatī realm although there are many other divinities and bodhisattvas in the realm, including Guru Rinpoche.

Dechen Mönlam is chanted mainly during Pure Land practices to obtain rebirth in Sukhāvatī. It is based on the teachings of rebirth in pure lands found in some Mahāyāna sutras. Thus, it is a practice common in Himalayan Buddhism and also in Chinese, Japanese and Korean Buddhism. It is also among the most common prayers recited during funerary prayers for the deceased in Bhutan. It is sung in sad and melodious tunes and often accompanied by offering of butter lamps and incense. Often, a bell is used by the lead person as a musical instrument to regulate and enhance the melody of the chanting.

While reciting Dechen Mönlam, it is important to visualize Buddha Amitabha and his retinue and to mentally carry out the worship with strong faith without any doubt of Amitabha or rebirth in Sukhāvatī. It is important also to reflect on the words of the prayer and live up to the ideals which Buddha Amitabha and the prayer presents. A short prayer for rebirth in Sukhāvatī, attributed to Nāgārjuna and rediscovered by Terton Migyur Dorji, a colleague and disciple of Karma Chagmé, is also chanted after the long Dechen Mönlam.

Note: This century old sacred prayer is compiled with text and audio for the sole use and benefit of people. It is not meant for any commercial purposes. Please feel free to use and share this.

Dewachen Monlam in PDF

Dewachen Monlam

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