In this video, Zawa Tulku Rinpoche is performing Chod Tsok.

The Chod offers us a method to forcefully cut off the source of our most undesirable negativities—self-cherishing and ego-grasping. In this book the translators have rendered into English both the Chod texts and its commentary given by His Holiness, the late Kyabje Zong Rinpoche.

Kyabje Zong Rinpoche was the foremost master of the Ganden oral tradition following the passing of the two gurus of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the early 1980′s.
~ Gehlek Rimpoche

The above is extracted from: ‘CHOD IN THE GANDEN TRADITION: The Oral Instructions of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche’

The Current Zawa Tulku Rinpoche

His reincarnation was discovered in India, born of his Mother, Lhamo and his Father, Ngawang. Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche instructed his Father to send his young son to Ganden Shartse and he gave him the name, Tsering Dorje.

Then as a gesul (ordained monk), he received his ordination from the illustrious teacher, Kyabje Zemey Rinpoche and was given the name Jangchub Ngawang by Venerable Lati Rinpoche. From that time in 1982, being recognized by various Yogis and high Lamas as the incarnation of the previous Geshe Zawa Rinpoche, he started intensely his monastic studies.

In 1997 during an elaborate and large ceremony at Ganden Shartse Monastery, he was enthroned and the title bestowed upon him was Zawa Tulku Lobsang Dorje Chokye Gyaltsen Rinpoche. He had achieved the highest levels of oral philosophical debate during his final examinations.

Then, in 2001, because of frequent requests from the people of Chating and the monks from Chating monastery, he visited his old homeland in Tibet. There again an enthronement ceremony was performed by his devoted community of monks and laypeople.

This was a happy and melancholy visit for Rinpoche because of his past history and the current conditions in Tibet which had changed so much for his old community of friends and students.

Returning to the world outside of Tibet and at the request of many Dharma centers he has traveled extensively giving teachings, empowerments and constructing sacred sand mandalas.

Following the directions and advice of his teacher, Geshe Tsultrim , he is now residing in Chang Chub Choling, Temple Bouddhiste Tibetain in Montreal, along with his assistant, Gen Lobsang Tashi.

As Resident Teacher he has taken in hand responsibility for Temple affairs and he has given advice to its members. Further due to his presence and active participation many dharma activities are now being offered: teachings, initiations, ceremonies and the publication of Buddhist practice texts (sadhanas) which are available for all.

To read more about Zawa Tulku Rinpoche check out this link here.
Zawa Tulku Rinpoche

In giving to a being in an equal or worse state than ourselves, we sacrifice something that belongs to us for the benefit of another. In giving to a being superior to ourselves, to our guru, a Buddha or bodhisattva, we perform an act of renunciation.

As an altruistic deed, giving is a basis for acquiring merit. In Buddhist doctrine, the accumulation of merit leads to higher rebirth, and eventually to release from the sufferings of cyclic existence. In order to attain highest enlightenment, we must be able to give to a superlative degree, with perfect motivation, thus attaining the unsurpassable level of the perfection of giving.

Whether the physical offerings benefit the recipient or not, from a Buddhist practitioner’s point of view as a donor, they are essential means of reducing our attachment to the physical world. Attachment reinforces our notion of ourselves as real, independent selves to be satisfied by obtaining or clinging onto objects we desire. Making offerings accustoms the mind to giving and letting go of desirable objects. It serves to loosen our conception of a real and independent self.

In this way, it contributes to our acquiring the essential wisdom realising that all phenomena as empty of intrinsic existence. Without such realisation we will not attain Buddhahood. The value of merit acquired from an act of giving depends on several factors: the motivation, the status of the recipient and the quality of the offering.

Motivation

Motivation or intent consciously or unconsciously precedes all our actions. The ultimate motivation for giving is to generate the causes for attaining enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. The value of an act of giving closely corresponds to the quality of motivation. The narrower the intention, the smaller the merit.

You may offer a bag of gold to a monastery, but if your real intention is just to show off, to acquire further wealth or a similar worldly motivation, the merit acquired may provide the desired result, but no more. If you give with a wish to attain liberation from cyclic existence, much greater merit will be generated. And if by giving you aspire to the ultimate attainment of Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings, the merit you acquire will be limitless.

During the Buddha’s lifetime, when he was staying in Shravasti, King Prasenajit celebrated his presence with a lavish banquet presented before all the important people in the town. One poor man looking on from the edge of the crowd rejoiced at this display of generosity. Later, when Ananda asked the Buddha who had created the greatest merit as a result of the feast, he replied that it was the poor man who rejoiced at the king’s virtue.

The story is also told of a woman who lived the life of a beggar at the time of a previous Buddha. She and her husband owned nothing but the single piece of cloth which they would take turns to wrap around themselves when they went to beg for food. The Buddha of that time was nearby and a monk on his alms round came across the woman and exhorted her to take advantage of the opportunity to go and make offerings to the Awakened One.

Realising that she and her husband were beggars because they had neglected to give in the past, she decided to offer their only possession to the Buddha. Her husband simply asked how they would live if they were unable to beg, because she had given away their only clothing. She replied, “If we give the cloth and then die, what will be the loss? We have nothing in this life, but we will have good fruits in the next. If we make such a gift and then die we shall be fortunate.” So saying she asked the monk to look away while she wrapped herself in grass and handed him the cloth as an offering to the Buddha. The monk accepted the offering with embarrassment.

However, before the king and queen, the wealthy merchants and countless onlookers, the Buddha picked out the heap of rags and hailed it as the most worthy offering, because the woman’s motivation was pure. The woman later attained liberation at the time of the Buddha Shakyamuni, who cited her story as an example to others to give gifts.

Another example of the importance of pure motivation is shown in the story of Geshe Ben. He was a celebrated Tibetan lama who, following a career as a notorious bandit, became a great practitioner. One day, hearing that his patron was coming to visit, he worked from early morning dusting his altar and arranging his offerings in an attractive manner.

Sitting back to admire his work, and pleased at the thought of how impressed his patron would be, he suddenly realised the impure nature of his motivation. He picked up a handful of ashes and threw them over the offerings to destroy his pride. Later, other Kadampa masters commented that such offerings were by far the most valuable because they were made with a pure motivation, without hope of reward.

The actual aim in making elaborate offerings is to give up our preoccupation with external objects and to place spiritual aims above material pleasures. However, the motivation can become distorted. We may give in hope of a greater return, leading only to disappointment. Pure offerings should be made with faith and without regret. When Atisha, the Indian saint, visited Tibet in the 11^th century, he greatly praised the quality of the water. He recommended using it to make offerings because although it had numerous qualities, nobody would regret giving water away.

The word for offering in Sanskrit is puja, which means to please. In making offerings to exalted beings such as Buddhas, bodhisattvas and various deities, we not only accumulate merit, but also create connections with these higher beings. If we make such offerings with a pure motivation, they will help us on the path to enlightenment.

Although exalted beings have no real need for our offerings, they delight in the merit of the giver, which is determined by the quality of his or her motivation. It may be possible to fool other people, pretending to be acting out of a pure and exalted motivation, covering up your mundane aspirations, but it does not generate merit. Apparently attractive offerings performed with an ulterior motivation do not please the Buddhas and bodhisattvas and generate little merit.

The situation is comparable to the relationship between a good master and a deceitful servant. However much the servant may flatter his master, he will only be really pleased if his servant performs his duty faithfully and genuinely tries to be helpful.

Similarly, an offering made to the Buddhas with perfect motivation will generate merit of the same nature as that generated by the Buddhas of the past, present and future. It will merge with that inexhaustible pool of merit, giving rise to boundless merit. This is what is known as ‘pleasing the Buddhas’. It is the ultimate purpose of making offerings.

The Recipient

In providing us with an opportunity to give, those we give to are like teachers. We depend on them to accumulate the merit. Because we dislike giving to certain kinds of beings, we have to take counter measures to correct our attitude.

When somebody appears to be unattractive, we have to try to overcome our aversion by meditating on love. Giving to them, offers further opportunity to acquire merit. Giving is not an occasion to be patronising or condescending.

When giving to those who are suffering, we should meditate on compassion, mindful of their miseries and strongly wishing that they be parted from them.

Making offerings to wise beings such as Buddhas, bodhisattvas and spiritual masters is an occasion for faith and joy. When giving to those who help us, such as our parents or friends, we should give impartially, with equanimity, the basis for developing the awakening mind.

Giving is not an opportunity to favour one being over another, for all beings are equal in wishing to be happy. Giving simply to show off and cultivate popularity or to outdo someone else will result in little merit. To give purely, we should do so joyfully without regret, with equanimity and without expectation of any reward.

Action

Giving should be direct and straightforward. Delaying giving something in order to look more important, or to make people work harder for what they are going to receive reduces the resultant merit. Giving should be accompanied by a joyful expression and agreeable words. If we can, it is always better to give with our own hands.

The Object

Anything that reflects the giver’s wish to please someone is suitable to be given. At best, a gift should be beneficial both immediately and ultimately. If it is not beneficial in the short term, but only in the long term like bitter medicine that takes some time to act, it is suitable. When something provides short term pleasure, but ultimate damage, such as supplying an addict his drug or a drunkard his drink, it would be better to refrain from giving.

The greater the sacrifice we make, the greater the merit we create. A piece of gold offered by a poor man for whom it represents his entire wealth will earn more merit than when a rich man offers it among many other such pieces. The ultimate sacrifice is to give away parts of our bodies. Many instances of such offerings are recounted in the collection of stories about the Buddha’s past lives. The Buddha spent many aeons accumulating limitless merit through the practice of the six perfections of giving, ethics, patience, effort, meditative stabilisation and wisdom.

For example, in one of his past lives, the future Buddha was Santavik, the son of a merchant. One day he noticed that the birds in the nearby cemetery were starving, and overwhelmed by compassion for them, decide to offer them his body. He lay down as if dead and soon vultures began pecking at his left eye. They were intrigued that he kept so still and paused. Santavik thought, “This body is impermanent, I have no desire for it, and giving it away is beneficial.” He encouraged the birds to eat it, and they did so without misgivings.

As this story shows, perfect giving is accomplished without regret. Giving away part of your body requires a degree of determination that reflects a high level of realisation. Beginners cannot readily perform such acts, and if they try to do so are likely to lead to disaster. Even practitioners who have attained sufficient spiritual realisation will not give away their bodies for a trivial purpose or to someone demanding it out of malice. It is likewise a mistake to give something to someone who we know will use it to harm others.

Dedication

Once an act of giving is complete, the giver can reflect on it and rejoice at the merit he or she has created. When we are actually involved with doing something, we may not remember consciously to set up the correct motivation as described in the scriptures, although for a more advanced practitioner, who has generated a firm awakening mind, the correct motivation arises spontaneously.

A mindful and conscientious practitioner will maintain a sufficiently positive motivation to attain the highest fruit from the virtue of giving. However, if a practitioner has not set the right motivation at the time of performing the action, he or she can still correct and redirect the virtue at the end by dedicating it to the welfare of all sentient beings.

The small amount of merit we earn through such a virtuous action as giving can be compared to a drop, which, when dedicated to the welfare of all sentient beings, is cast into the ocean of merit accumulated by all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. When a drop of water mingles with the ocean, it becomes virtually inexhaustible.

Similarly, when correctly dedicating our merit, like casting it into the ocean of merit created by Buddhas and bodhisattvas, being of a similar nature it will likewise be inexhaustible. If, on the other hand, we dedicate our merit to some worldly end, it is like throwing a stone into the ocean. Being of a different nature from that of the Buddhas, our merit will not become one with theirs, but will remain like a small pebble lying on the ocean floor.

Obstacles to Giving

The principal obstacle to giving is avarice, our attachment to possessions and our reluctance to part with them. An effective antidote to avarice is to reflect on impermanence. We bring to mind all the people and objects we are attached to and reflect that at the time of death we will have to part from them all: body, wealth, close relatives and dearest friends. No one is exempt from this; a king leaves behind his palace, a rich man his wealth and a beggar, his stick.

We can also reflect on the positive fruits of giving according to the principles of causality. Although we should not dwell on what we might receive in return when we give something ourselves, it can be encouraging to remind ourselves and others of the positive effects of giving. That generosity is the principal cause of wealth in future lives, for example, can function as an attractive incentive for someone otherwise not inclined to give. Acquiring resources through giving can also be justified by the need for at least basic material facilities, if we are to achieve the ultimate goal of perfect Buddhahood for the welfare of all sentient beings.

If we are not very determined in our practice of generosity, we should enumerate all the positive reasons for giving. Recall that all beings, just like us, wish for happiness and seek to avoid suffering. Altruistic actions on our part can quell another’s pain or contribute to his or her well-being. Giving to others or helping them in other ways also reduces our emphasis on our own interests and serves to diminish attachment. Recognising that recipients are pleased with his or her offerings, a giver should feel encouraged. These ways of thinking can be helpful to people who have trouble parting with their wealth of possessions.

Avaricious people who wish to overcome their attachment can begin gradually, to accustom their minds to giving. First they can give away small things. At the time of the Buddha, there was a wealthy merchant known for his miserliness. One day, he came to see the Buddha and told him that however hard he tried, he could not bear the thought of even giving water to someone begging at his door. The Buddha advised him to take some grain in his hand and pass it from one hand to the other and to think that one hand was giving to the other. This is how he began to accustom himself to the simple notion of giving.

Imaginary Offerings

Making imaginary offerings is also useful in opening our minds to the practice of giving. If we can overcome the obstacles to offering our bodies, wealth and sources of merit, it will give rise to immeasurable virtue. Generally, the main obstacle to giving away our material possession is the thought that if we do so, we will have less left for ourselves. In the case of imaginary offerings, such anxiety has no place for we can cause even the smallest mental offering to become limitless.

In Tibet, in the centuries following the advent of Buddhism, rituals of offering, have taken countless forms. Offerings are laid out in a formal manner, according to specific instructions. This physical aspect of the offering is called the surpassable offering. It should be clean, honestly obtained, and offered with a proper motivation. However, the most important aspect of the offering in terms of merit, is not the physical aspect of the ritual cake or flowers, but what is imagined or meditated upon by the practitioner, the transformed aspect. This is called the unsurpassable offering.

All the physical offerings arranged in rituals provide a basis for transformation into the unsurpassable offering. Because all Buddhist offerings originated in India, many of them retain characteristics of that land. As the practitioner progresses on the path, he or she becomes less dependent on such as basis. Other unsurpassable offerings consist of non-physical substances, such as offering virtue or the awakening mind. Because these offerings are created in our minds and are based on an understanding that all phenomena are empty of intrinsic existence, their potential is limitless. By making such offerings we can acquire limitless merit.

To make an unsurpassable offering, the practitioner must have perfect motivation and a high level of meditative stabilisation. If he or she can do the visualisations correctly, the splendour that appears to the mind will surpass the most exquisite mundane beauty. In the light of this the faults of ordinary existence, such as impermanence, appear obvious, which leads to a further loosening of attachment to the world and enhances the determination to be free.

Altar Offerings

In every Tibetan home, a place is reserved to make offerings to the Three Jewels, the Buddha, Dharma and Spiritual Community. The Three Jewels are often represented by a statue or thanka painting, a scripture and a stupa or a reliquary object. Before them is space to set up a set of standard offerings, represented by bowls of water, and the occasional torma ritual cake or other offerings of food. The water in the bowls would be changed every morning. For a practitioner, such offerings provide a basis for transformation into unsurpassable offerings.

According to the Buddhist scriptures, all the faults in the universe are the result of sentient beings’ disturbing emotions. Instead of dwelling on the faults to be seen in our offerings, but imagining them as pure and faultless, we create an imprint for purifying our minds of obstruction and defilement.

Therefore they are imagined as pure and beautiful as possible, incorporating the best of everything existing in the past, present and future and the ten directions of the universe. The exalted beings to whom we make offerings do not apparently consume the physical substances before us.

Nevertheless, as a basis for acquiring merit, such physical offerings should be clean, made of the best substances, attractive to ourselves and acquired through honest means. Consequently, they will form a better basis for imagining perfect offerings.

When preparing to make offerings, we should begin by meditating on the wisdom of great bliss and emptiness, imagining it has taken the form of the offering. When making the offering, we should think of it as empty of intrinsic existence. In this way, we purify the offering of its ordinary aspects and also purify our minds.

We should abandon any thought of immediate benefit, especially in relation to ourselves in this life. It is also important not to entertain doubts about the quality of our offering and whether or not it pleased the exalted being to whom we presented it. Instead think that the deity rejoiced at the offering and generated great bliss from partaking of it.

Water-bowl Offerings

The traditional set of offerings, commonly represented by bowls of water, derives from the customary offerings presented to an honoured guest in ancient India.

The first bowl contains clear water for the newly arrived guests to drink. The water should be imagined as pure as nectar and offered in vessels made of precious substances.

In the second bowl is water for the guest to was his or her feet; a reminder that in India people walked barefoot.

In the third bowl are flowers, reminiscent of the crowns of flowers offered to women and the garlands offered to men. Masses of fragrant, beautiful flowers can be called up in the imagination.

In the fourth bowl is incense, an offering to please the sense of smell. In the imagination billowing clouds of fragrant incense are offered.

The fifth offering, pleasing to sight, is bright light commonly in the form of a lamp, which like the sun and the moon illuminates darkness. This light is imagined to be so clear that you can see even the smallest atoms without obstruction. Sometimes coloured lights are offered and imagined to be emanating from nectar. In Tibetan tradition different colours are believed to have various healing properties. Coloured or not, the light offered should be very clear. Light is imagined as dispelling the darkness of ignorance. Shariputra, the Buddha’s main disciple renowned for his intelligence, had, in a previous life, offered a bright light before a stupa. As a result he was reborn with great intelligence.

The sixth offering consists of a bowl of scented water. Intended to soothe the mind, it is applied at the heart.

Seventh is an offering of food, commonly in the form of a torma or ritual cake. In India, this offering traditionally contained three sweet substances: molasses, honey and sugar and three white substances: curd, butter and milk. In Tibet, these would be mixed with tsampa or parched barley flour to make an offering cake. The result is like ambrosia, pleasing in colour, form, smell and taste.

Eighth is an offering of sound. It is not represented on the altar, but can simply be imagined as beautiful music.

Offerings of the five sense objects

When making offerings of the external objects of desire, the practitioner imagines emanating offering goddesses from the heart, each holding something symbolic of one of the objects of the five senses.

Form

Form is symbolised by a mirror, which reflects any pleasing objects before it.

Sound

Sound, is represented by the melodious sounds of musical instruments and singing. In the drawings, these are depicted by a lute.

Smell

Smell is represented by substances to soothe the mind, aromatic substances to be anointed at the heart.

Taste

Fine tasting substances are represented by a mango.

Touch

Objects of touch are offered in the form of soft cloth, or beautiful clothes. These are like celestial garments, so fine that a fold can pass under a fingernail, so extensive they could cover Mount Meru. They are warm or cool, according to need, and stunningly beautiful.

To make these offerings a meditator vividly visualises himself or herself as a deity, as described in the Tantras, generating what is known as divine pride in that identity. The meditator then visualises making theses offerings, each of which is carried by an offering goddess. They are emanated from the meditator’s heart and either make offerings to the meditator manifested as a deity or to a deity visualised in front of him.

These offerings give rise to great bliss in whoever they are offered to. Whatever tantric offerings we make should be qualified by three characteristics: their nature must be the wisdom of bliss and emptiness; their form should correspond to whatever is being offered; and they should have the power to induce uncontaminated bliss in the one they are offered to. By dissolving these offerings into the mandala deities, the practitioner gains a special power for inducing bliss. Once the particular offering has been made each offering goddess dissolves back into the meditator’s heart.

There are many meditations for making unsurpassable offerings. Many involve the bodhisattva Samantabhadra, who emerges from the meditator’s heart, holding a jewel at his own heart. From this emerge countless more jewels, which spread all over the world making unsurpassable offerings. These can take the form of jewels, victory banners or any other beautiful object we can bring to mind.

When non-physical offerings are made, they are given physical form to facilitate visualisation. For example, in the Offering to the Spiritual Master, the practitioner makes an offering of his or her own spiritual practice in the following form:

On the shore of the wish-granting sea grow lotuses,
Which are offerings arisen from the virtues of cyclic existence and peace.

Both real and emanated they captivate all hearts;
Flowers, being both the worldly and supramundane virtues
Of my own and others three doors,
Brighten all places.

This garden is permeated by the myriad fragrances of Samantabhadra offerings
And is laden with fruit – the three trainings, two states and five paths;
I offer this in order to please you, O venerable gurus.

Another common from of the unsurpassable offering is to offer the body, mind and roots of virtue. In all three cases, the visualisation and motivation are similar.

Offering the Body

Mentally offering the body in its ordinary aspect, can take the form of giving service to our spiritual masters and help to beings in need. There was once a practitioner who failed to serve his spiritual master well while he was alive. When the master finally passed away, the disciple realised his mistakes with regret.

Since nothing he could do would alter the actual situation, he began regularly to imagine performing backbreaking labour for his master. He carried stones, buckets of water and so forth while imagining that he was helping countless beings. He further imagined that he thereby fulfilled his spiritual master’s wishes and so redeemed his past behaviour.

Another reason for offering our body in its ordinary form is to seek protection. If a man offers his body to a king and the king accepts it, the man becomes the king’s subject and as such enjoys his protection. Similarly seeking mere physical protection from exalted beings is the motivation of someone with limited aspirations. The desire for protection however, can be extended beyond mere physical defence to protection from obstacles on the path to enlightenment.

In exchange for pledging body, speech and mind to the attainment of enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, the practitioner can receive support and protection from a meditational deity or protector.

We can also offer our body by transforming it into the aspect of a wish-fulfilling jewel which can satisfy the needs of all. From it emanate innumerable offerings in the form of jewels, victory banners, umbrellas and so forth which radiate out to all beings, from the enlightened Buddhas down to the most insignificant insects. Although the Buddha has no need for such offerings, great bliss arises in his continuum as a result of partaking from them.

Bodhisattvas have almost completed the path to Buddhahood and we can imagine that our offerings clear away their last and subtlest obstructions to enlightenment. By offering our body we can fulfil the wishes of beings in an equal or worse state to ourselves. We feed the hungry, clothe the poor, relieve the suffering of beings in worse states of rebirth and provide everything we can possibly imagine to whoever may need it.

Another way of offering the body is to visualise it in the form of a deity, free from ordinary appearances. The aim of this practice is to put a stop to ordinary appearances and to attain the great bliss which is dependent on the six senses.

Offering Wealth

In this case we can imagine our wealth and possessions transformed into wish-granting jewels, able to fulfil all wishes. From this jewel emanate victory banners, flower garlands and precious objects. We can also visualise the world and our environment being purified by such precious, limitless offerings. This type of practice can create imprints for future rebirths in the pure lands.

The greatest obstacle to purifying our vision is seeing things as they ordinarily appear. Special mantras are recited to help us prevent our perceiving phenomena in that way. According to the Buddhist explanation, things appear to us the way they do because of our disturbing emotions. Because all phenomena are empty of intrinsic existence, the way they appear to us and their actual mode of existence are different in nature.

Since the way in which they appear reflects the state of our mind, purifying our minds will also purify our perception of ordinary appearances. In this way, it is possible to visualise a pea as a celestial mansion and then by making an offering of that celestial mansion to create corresponding merit.

There are similar methods for making an offering of our environment. We first purify it of its impure elements and then offer it. We imagine ourselves surrounded by all the beings of the six realms of existence and, acting as their leader, offer our purified world to the Buddhas for the benefit of them all.

Offering the Roots of Virtue

When it comes to offering our roots of virtue, we imagine all the virtue we have created in the present, all that we have created in the past and that we will create in the future. The fruits of virtue are to acquire happiness and to be parted from suffering. By offering our virtue to others we are making a gift of those fruits to them.

A practitioner on the path to enlightenment makes many pledges. Among these are pledges to give. Specifically, he or she pledges to make four kinds of gifts: material objects, dharma, protection from fear, and love.

Material Objects

Offering material objects has already been discussed. It is to give something to others with the aim of pleasing and helping them. Sometimes giving material objects is a means of attracting someone to a higher purpose as, for example, when a teacher offers a student gifts as an incentive to study.

Offering of Dharma

Offerings commonly consist of material objects, but what monks have to offer is the Dharma. All forms of knowledge, from crafts to literature, fall into this category. The offering of Dharma is the most precious offering of all. When a person is receptive and can put into practice what has been taught, he or she can achieve not only the temporary happiness that results from ordinary offerings, but can eventually attain the ultimate happiness of liberation from suffering. If we are not in a position to give teachings, even offering our roots of virtue is a form of offering of Dharma.

Offering of Safety and Protection

Saving beings by any means from the fear of being killed by hunters, wild animals, or disease, from the fear of hunger and thirst, poverty or any unpleasant situation, is to offer them safety. If you have no opportunity to help in that way, simply living peacefully, in harmony with others and refraining from any kind of harmful activity is also a form of offering freedom from fear.

A common practice in Buddhist countries is to save animals from slaughter. People buy animals back from butchers and offer them the freedom to live out their natural lives. Offering freedom from fear is not isolated from other aspects of practice, since it also incorporates the practices of love and compassion.

For example, the meditation on equanimity that is part of what is known as the four limitless wishes, the wish that all sentient beings be freed from anger and attachment, is a form of offering of protection. Beings freed from these disturbing emotions will not encounter situations in which they need protection.

Offering of Love

All sentient beings seek happiness and wish to be parted from suffering. In making the offering of love, we should first cultivate equanimity towards all beings. Beginning with those closest to us, we then reach out to include even beings we dislike until we can generate the same feeling for all of them.

By generating a boundless love that encompasses infinite sentient beings we will create correspondingly vast merit. Love here means seeing all beings freed from sufferings, attaining good rebirth, accumulating merit and high levels of realisation and finally reaching Buddhahood. Similarly, love can be generated to purify the environment.

Mandala Offering

The mandala offering, a symbolic representation of the purified world system, is offered to the lama. It is made formally and ceremonially when disciples request a lama to teach or to live long. In informal daily practice a practitioner offers a mandala of the purified universe to acquire merit and attain realisations. Representing all the bountiful riches of the universe, it is considered the most meritorious object that can be offered.

Making such an offering is thus a powerful aid to the practitioner on the path to Buddhahood. When making the mandala offering, visualising ourselves as the lama’s best disciple, we offer ourselves to him in order to serve all sentient beings.

The physical base for making a mandala offering can be round or square, made of precious or ordinary materials, depending on what is available to the individual. When the mandala is offered formally in a wealthy monastery the base may be made of gold or silver, but a solitary hermit might use simply a slab of stone or a flat piece of wood.

Whatever it is made of, the base should be kept very clean and washed with saffron scented water. The material which is heaped onto the base to represent the various constituent offerings can be jewels, shells, clean grain or crushed white stone. Rice is commonly used.

After sprinkling a little rice over the smooth base, the practitioner wipes his or her forearm over the mandala base in a circular motion. The arm’s movement away symbolises clearing away all impurities in the world and all defilements in the mental continuums of sentient beings. The arm’s movement towards himself or herself symbolises bringing forth everything positive and virtuous in the world.

All worlds are then visualised as having becoming like pure lands, pristine and of the essence of jewels. All beings dwelling in them have become like deities, freed from suffering. Merely imagining that all beings are free from disturbing emotions and afflictions does not actually set them free. But by imagining that others have been purified, appreciating the value of purification provides the impetus for purifying your own mind.

The surface of the mandala is once again evenly spread with grain. While doing this we imagine spreading jewels and flowers over the surface of the whole world. Grain is then scattered in a circular pattern around the edge of the mandala, symbolising the iron fence described in Buddhist cosmology as encircling the four continents and the eight subcontinents. A handful of grain, symbolising Mount Meru, is placed in the centre. Half of Mount Meru is below the sea. The half above the surface of the sea has four levels, topmost of which is Indra’s mansion and heavenly abode. The three lower levels are the abodes of the other gods.

The eastern face of Mount Meru is white and of the nature of crystal. The southern face is blue and made of sapphire. The western face is red and made of rubies and the northern face is yellow and made of gold. Around Mount Meru are seven gold mountains. The oceans surrounding them are inhabited by inestimably wealthy nagas.

The eastern continent, which faces the object to whom the offering is being made, is white and crescent-shaped. The southern continent is blue and triangular, the western continent is red and circular, and the northern continent is yellow and square. Each continent is flanked on either side by a smaller subcontinent. The inhabitants of the continents are imagined to be attractive and wealthy.

Representing the eastern continent, which is visualised as a mountain of jewels, a small heap of grain is made in the direction facing the lama. Another heap represents the southern continent, which is visualised as a wish-fulfilling tree. On the western continent is an abundance of cows and milk and on the northern continent, uncultivated harvest of outstanding nutritional value. Small heaps of grain are made to represent the seven emblems of a universal monarch.

Between the eastern continent and Mount Meru, another heap of grain represents the precious wheel; between the southern continent and Mount Meru, another heap of grain represents the precious jewel; between the western continent and Mount Meru is the precious queen; and between the northern continent and Mount Meru is the precious minister. Between the south and east continents is the precious elephant; between the south and west, the precious horse; between the west and north, the precious general; and between the north and east, a vase of jewels.

The precious general can sometimes be a precious chamberlain, but in the present era, which is considered to be a degenerate time, a precious general is thought to be more useful in expelling evil forces and obstacles.

The eight offering goddesses are very beautiful. They sing, dance, and carry garlands, flowers and incense over all four continents.

The sun, which symbolises the wisdom understanding emptiness, has the power to clear way all disturbing emotions, is represented by a heap of grain in the east. The moon, which stands for great compassion, is represented in the west.

On the right, a small heap of rice represents a bejewelled umbrella of the kind the King of the Nagas offered the Buddha. It is gold with a sapphire handle and its edges are studded with jewels, including diamonds which shine like the sun. The jewels give off a nectar which can quench the thirst of all sentient beings and is suitable for offering an ablution to the Buddha. Attached to the umbrella are bells whose melodious sound conveys the doctrine to sentient beings according to their capacities.

On the left is a victory banner bearing symbols of united opposites such as the lion-garuda, the otter-fish and the sea-monster conch. These symbolise overcoming disturbing emotions and are said to bring prosperity. This banner is an auspicious sign for saving all beings from the heat of cyclic existence. Another handful of grain scattered all around the base symbolises the entire wealth of the world.

Since an empty world is meaningless, it is imagined populated by countless beings, free from disturbing emotions and suffering and enjoying the abundance already described. The practitioner imagines a splendid mansion as a residence for the lama, within which is a throne supported by lifelike lions. He or she imagines a multitude of worthy disciples, himself or herself foremost among them, which is regarded as creating an auspicious cause for becoming the lama’s principal disciple in future.

Attaining such status he or she can understand and accomplish the lama’s wishes for the purpose of sentient beings. As the meditator makes this offering to the lama or to his visualised image, he or she imagines a replica of the lama emanating from the original and descending into the world we have visualised, giving teachings, abiding in the mansion and eventually returning to the pure lands.

The practice is ended by pouring the grain off the mandala base, either by tipping it towards the lama, or by tipped it towards ourselves, imaging that the lama has returned it to us to fulfil the wishes of sentient beings.

Inner Mandala

The practice of the inner mandala is a potent means of controlling the three main disturbing emotions: anger, desire and ignorance. It is a powerful antidote to miserliness and attachment to our body, possession and merit or the environment.

First, we visualise our skin becoming the golden base of the mandala and our blood the nectar which is spilled over the base to purify it. Our flesh becomes flower garlands floating on the ocean of nectar. Our torso becomes Mount Meru, our arms and legs, the four continents, and our hands, feet and joints, the eight subcontinents. Our head becomes a beautiful mansion and our eyes, the sun and moon. Our heart is transformed into a wish-fulfilling gem and our sense organs and other organs become perfect objects of enjoyment for gods and men.

In the space above Mount Meru, we visualise all the objects of our desire, anger and ignorance. These are the people and objects for whom we feel attachment, anger or indifference, all of whom disturb our minds. These are offered to the lama, sincerely and with total abandon.

Since they no longer belong to us, we need no longer feel attached to them. All distorted perceptions will be purified by this offering and which sows the seed for rebirth in pure lands, where the entire environment is conducive to the practice of dharma.

Tsok Offerings

A tsok offering provides a basis for unsurpassable offerings. Tsok means assembly, and refers to a gathering of male and female tantric practitioners, who have maintained their pledges. Offering are made to the assembly of realised beings, to all the sentient beings who have been our mothers, and to ourselves. Leftovers are given to such suffering beings as hungry ghosts.

Some of them can freely benefit from the gift. Others can only do so when it has been specifically dedicated to them by the recitation of transformative mantras. The offering is accompanied by the chanting of a special liturgy, many of them poignantly beautiful.

Nowadays, tsok is offered in a prescribed ritual manner, but in the past, in India, it would have been more like a religious feast. At the end of the ceremony, the offerings are divided among the participants and eaten, the spiritual master receiving the best parts. It is expressly indicated that participants should not argue with each other about what they receive, nor engage in other unruly behaviour.

During the tsok offering, practitioners visualise themselves as deities, maintaining that identity with divine pride and stable clarity, free of all ordinary appearances. They visualise all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas abiding in their bodies, enjoying the inexhaustible nectar being offered to them. Practitioners belonging to the great vehicle will always think that whatever they enjoy is for the purpose of other sentient beings.

With this basic motivation, they should think that the deities, who have partaken of the offering feel fulfilled and that feeling of fulfilment is transformed into uncontaminated bliss. The offering is first presented to the deity visualised in front of the meditator, then to those abiding in his or her body, then to himself or herself.

Ingredients of the tsok offering

The main object of a tsok offering is a conical cake, made of sweet substances such as molasses, sugar, and honey and tsampa. Only the best and most delicious ingredients should be used. The cake’s red colour represents power, which is necessary to cause the heroes and heroines to gather. The white decorations are ornamental.

Tsok offering always includes some meat and alcohol, although in Tibet alcohol was often replaced by black tea. Impure substances such as alcohol and tea were offered to provide a basis for transformation into nectar. Participants in the ritual make their own contribution of food to the offering.

Tsok offerings usually take place in the evening. When offerings to the deities are complete and the participants have eaten their share, leftovers are gathered from each and piled on a plate. These are taken outside. Originally the bearer held a torch, but now the offering is most often accompanied by a candle or a stick of incense. It is believed that disruptive spirits lurk at night and that the light will prevent them interfering with the leftovers that are destined for miserable hungry ghosts.

The blessed substance of the tsok itself is considered to be very precious is not to be wasted. It should not be thrown on the ground or carelessly disposed of. If some of it is left over, it should be put on a roof or such high places so that birds or monkeys will collect it and take it even higher. It is considered unfit for animals that live on the ground to eat.

Occasions for Making Tsok Offerings

Tsok is generally offered at the conclusion of a tantric initiation, in celebration of the completion of a great event. Offering tsok is also one of the ways for a tantric practitioner to purify faults in his or her committed practice and to restore broken vows.

Tsok can be performed at any time, but the two particular dates in the lunar month, the 10^th and 25^th, are considered more propitious. These are the days when practitioners who have made pledges to perform tsok offerings as part of their practice do so. It is believed that the skyfarers or dakinis assemble at these times and can actually partake of the offerings.

Offering Food

Tantric practitioners consecrate their food in the same way as they offer tsok. They visualise a blue syllable Hung at their hearts, wherein abides all the Buddhas. The upper part of the syllable is a blazing fire, in which all the food is consumed as it is eaten. This can be thought of as the food being transformed into energy by the fire of the wisdom of bliss and emptiness.

Their motivation is to feed themselves to accomplish the welfare of others, rather than eating simply for their own enjoyment. They also remember the bacteria and other organisms living within their bodies who are feeding off the food and make the wish that just as they are now being satisfied by food, in the future, they will be satisfied by hearing the Dharma.

Tantric practitioners first visualise themselves in the form of their own meditational deity and maintain that identity with divine pride and clarity of appearance. This is the basis upon which they consecrate the offerings. Ridding them of their ordinary appearances and contaminated aspect, they visualise them free of all impurities. Ordinary offerings give rise to only limited pleasure, which in turn gives rise to further desire. Our desire is not quelled by limited pleasure. Consecrating the offerings overcomes these faults and limitations.

Visualisation for Purifying Offerings of Food

The meditator dissolves the object into emptiness and dwells sometime on that. From emptiness he or she generates the particular offering in the nature of the wisdom of great bliss and emptiness. He or she imagines all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas at the heart and having transformed the food, eats it and so offers it to them.

Fire Offering

At the conclusion of a meditation retreat, a meditator commonly makes a fire offering to the meditational deity concerned. After receiving initiation into the practice of a particular deity, the practitioner will cultivate that practice with the goal of attaining enlightenment for all sentient beings. The deity assists the practitioner to gain accomplishments on the path.

The fire offering, correctly performed with the right visualisations, pleases the deity and reinforces the bond with the practitioner. It also serves to purify the faults of badly or incompletely recited mantras and removes obstacles to good meditative stabilisation, forestalls impending difficulties and illnesses which have manifested themselves through dreams and inauspicious omens.

Fire offerings are performed outside. A throne is built for the meditator who is to make the offering, with a low wall to protect him or her from the flames. The hearth is a smooth square raised platform on which an eight petalled flower wit a vajra at its centre is drawn with chalk. Firewood is placed in a circle around the flower.

The five kinds of offerings, of which there are two sets, are set up on a table to the right of the throne. The first set of offerings is made to the fire god, Agnidevatta, who is invoked so that the offerings will not be consumed by ordinary fire. The second set is for the meditational deity to whom the offering is made. This set involves greater quantities than the first, although the procedures for making the offering are the same.

Torma Offerings

Tormas are variously shaped ritual cakes used as offerings in Tantric rituals. Unlike tsok, tormas are not eaten after the ceremony, but are scattered on roofs and left for the birds. However, they should be fit for human consumption. In Tibet, poor monks and practitioners sometimes depended on eating such discarded tormas to survive. Phurchok Jampa Rinpoche reputedly had to compete with the crows to get his share.

Tormas provide a physical basis for making unsurpassable offerings to meditational deities, protectors and local deities. They are summoned forth and offered the torma. Tormas are blessed and offered in the same manner as the Inner Offering, using the same visualisation to transform impure elements. Requests accompany the offering which may range from a wish to enhance spiritual realisation to more mundane demands.

Such offerings are part of an elaborate ritual directed to a chosen deity. The preparations for such rituals and the tormas themselves are usually made by monks who specialise in ritual. Though most are discarded afterwards, some are kept for a whole year. These are made from raw cereals and must be periodically sprinkled with water to prevent them from completely drying out. Most tormas are offered when making a request, others, especially when protectors are concerned, are offered once the request made has been fulfilled.

There are also tormas which are meditated on as deities during initiations. The master and initiates visualise the torma before them as transformed into a deity. Tormas vary in shape, depending on the ritual they belong to. Tormas offered to peaceful deities are conical with lotus bases and those destined for wrathful deities are triangular with decorates of flames.

When properly constructed, tormas include twenty-five ingredients – the five precious substances which eliminate war and conflict and fulfil wishes: gold, silver, pearl, ruby, sapphire; the five aromas conducive to good conduct: camphor, saffron, nutmeg, musk and sandalwood; the five essences which cause beings of the world to prosper: salt, water, honey – the essence of flowers, oil – the essence of seeds, sugar – the essence of fruit; the five grains which eliminate famine and increase wealth: barley, wheat, lentils, sesame and rice; the five medicinal substances which destroy illness. Nowadays, these substances are synthesised into small pills, which are prepared independently and are added to the dough mixture when tormas are made.

Monks in Shar Gaden, offering Ghanachakra Tsok on Lama Tsongkhapa’s Parinirvana day.

DE-CHEN NGANG-LAE RANG-NYI LA-MA-LHA,
From a state of Great Bliss I manifest as a Guru-Yidam.
GANG-DER SAEL-WAE KU-LAE WOE-ZER-TSOk
From my transparent body, a profusion of light-rays
CHOk-CHUR TrOE-PAE NOE-CHUE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Radiates to the ten directions, blessing the beings and their environment,
DAK-PA RAP-JAM BA-ZHIK YOEN-TAEN-GYI
With only excellent qualities, infinitely pure,
KOE-PAE KYAE-PAR PUEN-SUM TSOk-PAR-GYUR.
All become most perfectly arrayed.

RAP-KAR GE-SEM CHEN-POE NGANG-NYI-NAE
With a very exalted, white, virtuous state of mind,
DAK-DANG KA-NYAM MAR-GAEN SEM-CHAEN-NAM,
I and my old mothers, the infinite sentient beings,
DENG-NAE JI-SrI JANG-CHUP NYING-POE-BAR,
From now until our Enlightenment
LA-MA KOEN-CHOK SUM-LA KYAP-SU DrO.
Go for Refuge to the Gurus and the Three Precious Gems.

NAMO GURUBHYAH
NAMO BUDDHAYA
NAMO DHARMAYA
NAMO SANGHAYA (recite three or more times)

Generating Bodhicitta

MA SEM-CHAEN KUEN-GYI DOEN-GYI CHIR,
For the benefit of all mother sentient beings,
DAK-NYI LA-MA LHAR-GYUR-NAE,
I transform myself into a Guru-Yidam,
SEM-CHAEN TAM-CHAE LA-MA LHA-YI
And thus I shall lead all beings
GO-PANG CHOK-LA GOE-PAR-JA.
To the supreme Enlightenment of a Guru-Yidam. (recite three times)

MA SEM-CHAEN TAM-CHAE-KYI DOEN-DU.
For the sake of all mother sentient beings,
DAK-GI TSE-DI NYI-LA, NYUR-WA NYUR-WAR,
In this very lifetime I shall quickly, quickly
DOE-MAE SANG-GYAE, LA-MA LHA-YI,
attain the state of a primordial
GO-PANG NGOEN-DU-JAE.
Guru-Yidam Buddha.

MA SEM-CHAEN TAM-CHAE DUK-NGAEL-LAE-DrAEL;
I shall liberate all mother sentient beings from suffering
DE-CHEN SANG-GYAE-KYI, SA-LA GOE-PAR-JA.
And lead them to the Great Bliss of Buddhahood.
DE-YI CHIR-DU, LAM ZAP-MO, LA-MA LHA-YI,
For this purpose, I shall practise the Profound Path
NAEL-JOR NYAM-SU LANG-WAR-GYIO.
of Guru-Yidam yoga. (both verses 3x)

Blessing the Inner Offerings

OM AH HUM (recite three times)

You should think (recite quickly while the instruments are being played):
NGO-WO YE-SHE-LA,
In essence, Wisdom.
NAM-PA NANG-CHOE DANG CHOE-DZAE SO-SOE NAM-PA,
In aspect, the aspects of the inner offerings and the various offering-objects.
JE-LAE WANG-PO DrUK-GI CHOE-YUEL-DU
In function, to generate as objects enjoyed by the six senses
DE-TONG-GI YE-SHE KYAE-PAR-CHAEN KYE-PAE,
the special Wisdom of Voidness and Bliss.
SA-DANG BAR-NANG NAM-KAE KYOEN TAM-CHAE YONG-SU KYAP-PAE
Filling the earth, the sky and all the space in between,
CHI NANG SANG-WAE CHOE-TrIN DAM-DZAE CHAEN-ZIk
clouds of outer, inner and secret offerings and splendid sacred offering-objects
SAM-GYI MI-KYAP-PAE GANG-WAR-GYUR.
spread out beyond the range of thought.

Visualisation of the Field of Merit

DE-TONG YER-ME LHA-LAM YANG-PAR
In the vast heavens of indivisible Voidness and Bliss,
KUEN-ZANG CHOE-TrIN TrIk-PAE UE,
amidst billowing clouds of Samantabhadra offerings,
LO-MA ME-TOK DrAE-BUE YONG-DZE
Embellished with leaves, flowers and fruit
DOE-GUE PAK-SAM JOEN-PAE TSER,
is a wish-granting tree; at its crest,
DONG-NGA BAR-WAE RIN-CHEN TrI-TENG,
On a lion throne ablaze with precious gems,
CHU-KYE NYI-DA GYAE-PAE TENG,
on a lotus, a sun and a full moon disk,

KA-DrIN SUM-DAEN TSA-WAE LA-MA,
Sits my Root Guru, kind in three ways,
SANG-GYAE KUEN-GYI NGO-WO-NYI.
You are the essence of all the Buddhas.
NAM-PA NGUR-MIK DZIN-PAE GELONG,
You have the aspect of a saffron-robed monk,
ZHAEL-CHIK CHAK-NYI DZUM-KAR TrO.
with one face, two arms and a radiant white smile.
CHAK-YAE CHOE-CHAE, YOEN-PA NYAM-ZHAK
Your right hand expresses teaching, your left in meditative pose
DUE-TSI GANG-WAE LHUNG-ZE NAM.
holds a begging bowl filled with nectar.
GUR-GUM DANG-DAEN CHOE-GOE SUM-SOEL,
are draped in three robes of lustrous saffron,
SER-DOK PAEN-ZHAE U-LA DZE.
and your head is graced by a pandit’s gold-coloured hat.

TUk-KAR KYAP-DAK DOR-JE CHANG-WANG,
In your heart is the all-pervading Lord Vajradhara,
ZHAEL-CHIK CHAK-NYI KU-DOK NGO.
with one face, two arms and a blue-coloured body.
DOR-DrIL ZUNG-NAE, YING-CHUK-MAR-KYUE,
He holds a vajra and bell and embraces Vajradhatu Isvari.
LHAEN-KYE DE-TONG ROEL-PAE GYE.
They delight in the play of simultaneous Voidness and Bliss.

NAM-MANG RIN-CHEN GYAEN-GYI TrAE-SHING,
Both are adorned with jewel ornaments of many designs
LHA-DZAE DAR-GYI NA-ZAE LUP.
and are arrayed with garments of heavenly silk.

TSAEN-PE GYAEN-DAEN WOE-ZER TONG-BAR,
Adorned with the major and minor marks, you radiate a thousand light-rays
JA-TSOEN NGA-NGAE KOR-WAE UE,
as, enhaloed by a five-coloured rainbow,
DOR-JE KYIL TrUNG TSUEL-GI ZHUk-PAE,
You sit in the vajra position.
PUNG-PO NAM-DAK DE-SHEk-NGA.
Your purified skandhas are the five Meditational Buddhas,
KAM-ZHI YUM-ZHI, KYE-CHE TSA-GYUE
Your four elements are the four Consorts, your sense spheres, veins, sinews
TSIk-NAM JANG-CHUP SEM-PA NGOE.
and members are all in reality Bodhisattvas.

BA-PU DrA-CHOM NYI-TrI CHIK-TONG,
The hairs of your pores are the twenty-one thousand Arhats,
YAEN-LAK TrO-WOE WANG-PO-NYI.
limbs are wrathful deities.
WOE-ZER CHOk-KYONG NOE-JIN SANG-WA,
light-rays hide directional guardians and yakshas,
JIK-TEN-PA-NAM ZHAP-KYI DAEN.
while all worldly deities are cushions for your feet.

TA-KOR RIM-ZHIN NGOE-GYUE LA-MA,
Surrounding you in their proper order, actual and lineage Gurus,
YI-DAM KYIL-KOR LHA-TSOk-DANG
Yidams, hosts of mandala deities,
SANG-GYAE JANG-SEM PA-WO KA-DrO,
Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Dakas, Dakinis
TAEN-SrUNG GYA-TSOE KOR-NAE ZHUk.
and Dharmapalas form an encircling sea.

DE-DAK GO-SUM DOR-JE SUM-TSAEN.
The three doors of each are marked with the three vajra syllables.
HUM-YIK WOE-ZER CHAk-KYU-YI
From the HUM syllables, hook-like light-rays
RANG-ZHIN NAE-NAE YE-SHE-PA-NAM
Draw forth from their actual abodes the Wisdom Beings
CHAEN-DrANG YER-ME TAEN-PAR GYUR.
to become inseparably fixed.

Invocation

P-UEN-TSOk DE-LEK JUNG-NAE, DUE-SUM-GYI
O Sources of goodness, bliss and perfection, from all three times -
TSA-GYUE LA-MA YI-DAM KOEN-CHOK-SUM,
You Root and Lineage Gurus, Yidams, Three Precious Gems,
PA-WO KA-DrO CHOE-KYONG SrUNG-TSOk-CHAE,
Dakas, Dakinis, Dharmapalas and Protectors, with your entourage -
TUk-JE WANG-GI DIR-SHEk TAEN-PAR ZHUk!
By the forces of your Compassion, come here and remain fixed!

CHOE-NAM RANG-ZHIN DrO-WONG KUEN-DrAEL-YANG,
Although all dharmas totally lack inherent going and coming,
NA-TSOk DUEL-JAE SAM-PA JI-ZHIN-DU
Appearing as whatever suits the various sentient beings
CHIR-YANG CHAR-WAE KYEN-TSE TrIN-LAE-CHAEN,
Dispositions, with your activity of Wisdom and Loving Compassion,
KYAP-GOEN DAM-PA KOR-CHAE SHEk-SU-SOEL!
O holy Refuge Protectors, please come with your entourage!

OM GURU BUDDHA BODHISATTVA DHARMAPALA SA PARIVARA EHYA HIH; JAH HUM BAM HOH!
YE-SHE-PA-NAM DAM-TSIK-PA-DANG NYI-SU ME-PAR GYUR!

The Seven Limbs

1) Prostration

Prostration to the Guru as Sambhogakaya
GANG-GI TUk-JE DE-WA CHEN-POE YING,
You whose Compassion bestows even the sphere of Great Bliss,
KU-SUM GO-PANG CHOK-KYANG KAE-CHIK-LA,
The supreme attainment of the Three Bodies, in an instant,
TSOEL-DZAE LA-MA RIN-CHEN TA-BUE KU,
O Guru with jewel-like body,
DOR-JE CHAEN ZHAP PAE-MOR CHAK-TSAEL-LO.
Vajradhara, I prostrate at your lotus feet.

Prostration to the Guru as Nirmanakaya
RAP-JAM GYAEL-WA KUEN-GYI YE-SHE-NI,
O Wisdom of all the infinite Buddhas,
GANG-DUEL CHIR-YANG CHAR-WAE TAP-KAE CHOK,
Appearing with supreme Skilful Means in whatever form suits disciples,
NGUR-MIK DZIN-PAE GAR-GYI NAM-ROEL-WA,
And manifesting in the guise of a saffron-robed monk,
KYAP-GOEN DAM-PAE ZHAP-LA CHAK-TSAEL-LO.
Holy Refuge Protector, I prostrate at your feet.

Prostration to the Guru as Dharmakaya
NYE-KUEN BAK-CHAk CHAE-PA DrUNG-CHUNG-ZHING,
Purifier of all delusions together with their instincts,
PAK-ME YOEN-TAEN RIN-CHEN TSOk-KYI TER,
Treasury of measureless jewel-like qualities,
PAEN-DE MA-LUE JUNG-WAE GO-CHIK-PU,
Sole source of benefit and bliss without exception,
JE-TSUEN LA-MAE ZHAP-LA CHAK-TSAEL-LO.
Venerable Guru, I prostrate at your feet.

Prostration to the Guru as the Manifestation of the Triple Gem
LHAR-CHAE TOEN-PA SANG-GYAE KUEN-GYI NGOE,
Teachers of the gods and others, essence of all the Buddhas,
GYAE-TrI ZHI-TONG DAM-CHOE JUNG-WAE NAE,
Source of the eighty-four thousand holy Teachings,
PAK-TSOk KUEN-GYI UE-NA LHANG-NGE-WA,
Standing out among the whole host of Aryas,
DrIN-CHAEN LA-MA NAM-LA CHAK-TSAEL-LO.
Benevolent Gurus, I prostrate to you.

Prostration to the Guru as the Manifestation of all the Buddhas of the Ten Directions
DUE-SUM CHOk-CHUR ZHUk-PAE LA-MA-DANG,
To the Gurus of the three times and ten directions,
RIN-CHEN CHOK-SUM CHAK-WOE TAM-CHAE-LA,
And to the Three Precious Gems and all worthy of homage,
DAE-CHING MOE-PAE TOE-YANG GYA-TSOR-CHAE,
With faith, esteem, and seas of lyric praise,
ZHING-DUEL NYAM-PAE LUE-TrUEL CHAK-TSAEL-LO.
I prostrate, manifested in bodies as many as the atoms of the world.

2) Offering

Outer Offerings

The Four Waters

KYAP-GOEN JE-TSUEN LA-MA KOR-CHAE-LA,
O Refuge Protectors, venerable Gurus, with your entourage,
NA-TSOk CHOE-TrIN GYA-TSO BUEL-WA-NI.
I present you an ocean of clouds of various offerings.

KOE-LEk RIN-CHEN WOE-BAR NOE-YANG-LAE,
From expansive, well-fashioned vessels, radiant and precious,
DAK-JE DUE-TSI CHUZHI DAEL-GYI BAP.
Flow gently forth four streams of purifying nectars.

Flowers, incense, light, perfume, food and music
DONG-PO SIL-MA TrENG-WA PEL-LEk-PA
Trees and beautiful flowers, singly and in well-arranged
DZE-PAE ME-TOK SA-DANG BAR-NANG GANG.
Garlands, fill the earth and sky.

DrI-ZHIM POE-KYI DUE-PA BAIDURYAE
The azure smoke of sweet fragrant incense
YAR-KYE NGOEN-POE TrIN-GYI LHA-LAM TrIk.
Billows in the heavens as blue summer clouds.

NYI-DA NOR-BU RAP-BAR DrOEN-ME TSOk
From suns, moons, glittering jewels and a host of flaming lamps,
TONG-SUM MUEN-SEL WOE-ZER TSE-GA GOE.
Light frolics joyfully, dispelling the darkness of a milliard worlds.

GA-BUR TSAENDAEN GUR-KUM DrI-GOE-PAE
Scented with camphor, sandalwood and saffron,
POE-CHUE TSO-CHEN KOR-YUK KUEN-NAE KYIL.
Great seas of perfumes swirl out to the horizon.

RO-GYAE CHUE-DAEN ZA-CHA TUNG-WA-DANG
Nourishing food and drink of a hundred flavours
LHA-DANG MI-YI ZHAEL-ZAE LHUEN-POR PUNG.
And victuals of gods and men are heaped up in a Mount Meru.

NA-TSOk ROEL-MOE JE-DrAK TA-YAE-LAE
From an endless diversity of varied instruments
JUNG-WAE DANG-NYAEN GYUR-WAE SA-SUM GENG.
Comes music which fills the three realms.

The Five Sense Objects

ZUk-DrA DrI-RO REK-JAE PAEL-DZIN-PAE,
Holding an abundance of forms, sounds, smells, tastes and tangibles,
CHI-NANG DOE-YOEN LHA-MOE CHOk-KUEN KYAP.
Goddesses of outer and inner pleasures fill all the directions.

The Mandala

The seven-heap mandala:
SA-ZHI POE-KYI JUk-SHING ME-TOK TrAM,
This ground, anointed with perfume, bestrewn with flowers,
RI-RAP LING-ZHI NYI-DAE GYAEN-PA-DI,
And adorned with Mount Meru, the Four Continents, the Sun and the Moon,
SANG-GYAE ZHING-DU MIk-TE UEL-WAR-GYI.
I offer in visualisation to this Field of Buddhas.
DrO-KUEN NAM-DAK ZHING-LA CHOE-PAR SHOK!
May all sentient beings enjoy the Pure Realm!

The mandala of twenty-three heaps:
JE-WA TrAK-GYAE LING-ZHI LHUEN-POR CHAE,
A thousand million of the Four Continents with Mount Meru,
RIN-CHEN DUEN-DANG NYE-WAE RIN-CHEN SOk,
The Seven Precious Things, the [Seven] Semi-Precious Things and so on,
KUEN-GA KYE-PAE NOE-CHUE PUEN-SUM-TSOk,
Perfectly delightful beings and environments,
LHA-MI LONG-CHOE DOE-GUE TER-CHEN-PO,
And a great treasury of all the wishes and wealth of gods and men,
DANG-WAE SEM-KYI PUEL-JUNG ZHING-GI CHOK,
I offer with devotion to you eminent and supreme Field of Merit,
KYAP-GOEN TUk-JE TER-LA UEL-WAR-GYI.
O Refuge Protectors, Treasures of Compassion !
IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI
(Sanskrit): This jewelled mandala I send forth to you Gurus.

Offering of Practice

NGOE-SHAM YI-TrUEL YI-ZHIN GYA-TSOE NGOk,
Both actual and mentally created, it is on the shore of a wish-granting sea.
SrI-ZHI NAM-KAR LAE-WONG CHOE-DZAE-KYI
From the white virtues of Samsara and Nirvana come its offering-objects,
DAP-TONG GYAE-PAE KUEN-GYI YI-TrOK-CHING,
Abundant thousand-petalled lotuses, which captivate all.
JIK-TEN JIK-TEN-LAE-DAE RANG-ZHAEN-GYI
The worldly and supermundane virtues of myself and others.
GO-SUM GE-WAE ME-TOK CHI-YANG TrA,
From all three doors, are flowers brightening every part.
KUEN-ZANG CHOE-PAE DrI-SUNG BUM-TrO-ZHING,
A hundred thousand fragrances disperse like Samantabhadra’s offerings.
LAP-SUM RIM-NYI LAM-NGAE DrAE-DAEN-PAE
It has as fruit the three Trainings, two Stages and five Paths.
GA-TSAEL JE-TSUEN LA-MA NYE-CHIR BUEL.
This pleasure garden, venerable Gurus, I offer for your delight.

Inner Offering

GUR-KUM DANG-DAEN ZANG-POE DrI-NGAE CHAEN,
I offer, bright as saffron and with a delicate scent,
RO-GYAE PAEL-DZIN GYA-JAE TUNG-WA-DANG,
Steeped in a hundred flavours, a brew of China tea;
CHAk-KYU NGA-DANG DrOEN-MA NGA-LA-SOk
This, with the five hooks, five lamps and so forth,
JANG-TOk BAR-WAE DUE-TSI GYA-TSOE CHOE.
Is purified, transformed and increased into a sea of nectar.

Secret Offering

YI-WONG LANG-TSOE PAEL-DZIN DrUK-CHU-ZHI
Even consorts, aglow with vibrant youth, skilled
DOE-PAE GYU-TSAEL-LA-KAE LUE-TrA-MA,
In the sixty-four arts of love, slender in body,
ZHING-KYE NGAk-KYE LHAEN-KYE PO-NYAE TSOk,
A host of Field-born, Mantra-born and Innate Dakinis,
DZE-DUK GYU-MAE CHAK-GYA NAM-KYANG BUEL.
Fair and beautiful in appearance, I offer to you.

Suchness Offering

DrIP-DrAEL LHAEN-KYE DE-WAE YE-SHE CHE,
The Great Wisdom simultaneous with Bliss, unobstructed,
CHOE-KUEN RANG-ZHIN TrOE-DANG DrAEL-WAE YING,
The Void Sphere of all things, free of fabrications of inherent existence,
YER-ME LHUEN-DrUP MrA-SAM JOE-LAE-DAE,
Indivisible and spontaneous, beyond words, thoughts and expressions,
DOEN-DAM JANG-CHUP SEM-CHOK KYOE-LA BUEL.
Supreme Ultimate Bodhicitta, I offer to you.

Offering of Medicines and Service

NYOEN-MONG ZHI-GYA TSA-ZHI NAE-JOM-PAE
To destroy the four hundred and twenty four ills of delusions,
ZANG-POE MAEN-GYI JE-DrAK NA-TSOk-DANG,
I offer various and sundry potent medicines,
KYOE-NYE GYI-CHIR DAK-DrAEN BUEL-LAk-NA,
And myself as a servant to please you.
NAM-KA JI-SrI BANG-SU ZUNG-DU SOEL!
Pray keep me in your service as long as the heavens endure!

3) Confession of Non-Virtue

TOK-ME DUE-NAE MI-GE DIK-PAE LAE,
Whatever non-virtues and evil actions, from beginningless time,
GYI-DANG GYI-TSAEL YI-RANG CHI-CHI-PA,
I have done, caused others to do, or have rejoiced in,
TUk-JE CHE-DAEN CHAEN-NGAR GYOE-SEM-KYI
Before the eyes of the Greatly Compassionate Ones I confess
SHAk-SHING LAEN-CHAE MI-GYI DOM-PA-NOE.
With regretful mind, and vow never to do again.

4) Rejoicing in Virtue

CHOE-NAM RANG-ZHIN TSAEN-MA DANG-DrAEL-YANG,
Although all dharmas lack inherent existence,
MI-LAM JI-ZHIN, KYE-PAk TAM-CHAE-KYI
Like a dream, in all ordinary and Arya beings’
DE-GA CHIR-YANG CHAR-WAE NAM-KAR-LA
Happiness and joy, and in every white virtue whatever,
DAK-CHAK SAM-PA TAK-PAE YI-RANG-NGO.
We rejoice with all our heart.

5) Requesting Teachings

PUEL-JUNG KYEN-TSE CHU-DZIN BUM-TrIK-TE,
From a hundred thousand clouds billowing with sublime Wisdom and Compassion
TA-YAE DrO-DI PAEN-DE KUEN-DAE TSAEL
That the jasmine garden of the Benefit and bliss of these limitless beings
KYE-DANG YUEN-DU NAE-DANG PEL-WAE CHIR,
May be nurtured, sustained and increased,
ZAP-GYAE CHOE-KYI CHAR-PA WAP-TU SOEL!
May the rain of the Vast and Profound Dharma fall!

6) Requesting the Guru to Stay

DOR-JE KU-LA KYE-CHI MI-NGA-YANG,
Although your Vajra Body has no birth nor death,
ZUNG-JUK WANG-GI GYAEL-POE ZA-MA-TOK,
But is the vessel of the mighty monarch, Unification,
DAK-CHAK MOE-PA JI-ZHIN SrI-TAE BAR,
In keeping with our wishes, until the end of existence
NYA-NGAEN MI-DA TAK-PAR ZHUk-SU SOEL!
Please abide for ever, not passing beyond sorrow!

7) Dedication of Merits

DE-TAR TrUEN-PAE NAM-KAR GE-WAE TSOk,
We dedicate the collection of white virtues thus created
KA-DrIN SUM-DAEN JE-TSUEN LA-MA-YI
So that venerable Gurus endowed with the three kindnesses
TSE-RAP KUEN-TU DrAEL-ME JE-DZIN-CHING,
May inseparably protect us throughout all our lives
ZUNG-JUK DOR-JE CHANG-WANG TOP-CHIR NGO.
And we may attain the Unification of Vajradhara.

Making Requests

Requesting by Thinking of the Guru’s Good Qualities

His good qualities according to the Vinaya
YOEN-TAEN JUNG-NAE TSUEL-TrIM GYA-TSO CHE,
Source of great knowledge, great ocean of moral discipline,
MANG-TOE NOR-BUE TSOk-KYI YONG-SU TAM,
Brimming with heaps of jewels of vast learning,
NGUR-MIK DZIN-PA TUP-WANG NYI-PAE-JE,
Master, second Buddha clad in saffron,
NAE-TAEN DUEL-WA DZIN-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
Elder, holder of the Vinaya – to you I request!

His Good Qualities According to the Common Mahayana Teachings
GANG-DANG DAEN-NA DE-WAR SHEk-PAE LAM
You who to show the Path of the Sugatas
TOEN-PAR WOE-PAE YOEN-TAEN CHU-DAEN-PA,
Have the ten qualities rendering you suitable,
MA-LUE GYAEL-WAE DUNG-TSOP CHOE-KYI JE,
O Lord of the Dharma, representing all Conquerors,
TEK-CHOK GE-WAE SHE-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
Guru of the Great Vehicle – to you I request!

His Qualities According to the Vajrayana Teachings
GO-SUM LEk-DAM, LO-CHEN, ZOE-DAEN, DrANG
Your three doors well-subdued; intelligent, patient, honourable,
YO-DANG GYU-ME, NGAk-DANG GYUE SHE-SHING,
Without pretence or guile; knowing tantra and rituals;
DE-NYI CHU-ZUNG, DrI-DANG CHAE KAE-PAE,
Having those ten, and skilled in writing and explaining,
DOR-JE DZIN-PAE TSO-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
O foremost Vajra-holder – to you I request!

Requesting by Remembering the Guru’s Kindness

The Guru is Kinder than All the Buddhas
SANG-GYAE DrANG-ME JOEN-PAE MA-TUEL-WAE
To those unfit to be tamed by the countless past Buddhas,
MA-RUNG DUEL-KAE NYIk-DUE DrO-WA-LA,
The hard-to-tame beings of this degenerate age,
DE-SHEk LAM-ZANG JI-ZHIN TOEN-PA-YI
You correctly impart the good way of the Sugatas,
KYAP-GOEN TUk-JE CHAEN-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
O Compassionate Refuge Protector – to you I request!

He is even Kinder than Shakyamuni Buddha
TUP-PAE NYI-MA DUE-KYI NUP-GYUR-TE,
Now, when the sun of the Sage’s Teachings is setting,
GOEN-KYAP ME-PAE DrO-WA MANG-PO-LA,
For the many beings who lack a Refuge Protector,
GYAEL-WAE DZAE-PA NYE-WAR DrUP-DZAE-PAE
You do the same deeds as the Victorious Ones,
KYAP-GOEN TUk-JE CHAEN-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
O Compassionate Refuge Protector – to you I request!

Even his Relatives, Animals, etc. are a Higher Object of Offering than All the Buddhas
DUE-SUM CHOk-CHUE GYAEL-WA TAM-CHAE-LAE,
Higher than all Buddhas of the three times and ten directions,
GANG-GI BA-PUE BU-GA CHIK-TSAM-YANG
Just one single hair from a pore of yours
DAK-CHAK SOE-NAM ZHING-DU LEk-NGAk-PAE
Is praised as a field of merit for us -
KYAP-GOEN TUk-JE CHAEN-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
O Compassionate Refuge Protector – to you I request!

Requesting by Expressing the Guru’s Outer, Inner, Secret and Suchness Qualities

His Outer Qualities
DE-SHEk KU-SUM GYAEN-GYI KOR-LO-NI,
Your chakras adorned with the Sugata’s Three Bodies,
TAP-KAE GYU-TrUEL DrA-WAE JO-GEK-LAE,
By Skilful Means, from a magical net’s allure
TA-MAEL TSUEL-GYI DrO-WA DrEN-DZAE-PAE
You appear in an ordinary form, guiding beings -
KYAP-GOEN TUk-JE CHAEN-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
O Compassionate Refuge Protector – to you I request!

His Inner Qualities
KYOE-KYI PUNG KAM KYE-CHE YAEN-LAK-NAM
Your aggregates, elements, sensory spheres and limbs
DE-SHEk RIk-NGA YAP-YUM SEM-PA-DANG
Are really the five Buddha Families, deities and consorts,
TrO-WOE WANG-POE RANG-ZHIN CHOK-SUM-GYI
Bodhisattvas, and wrathful protectors. O Essence
DAK-NYI LA-MA CHOK-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
Of the Triple Gem, supreme Guru – to you I request!

His Secret Qualities
KUEN-KYEN YE-SHE ROEL-PA LAE JUNG-WAE
From the play of Omniscient Wisdom arise
KYIL-KOR KOR-LO JE-WAE DAK-NYI-DE,
Ten million mandala circles: you are their essence.
RIK-GYAE KYAP-DAK DOR-JE DZIN-PAE TSO,
O all-pervading Lord of a hundred (Buddha) tribes, chief Vajra-holder,
ZUNG-JUK DANG-POE GOEN-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
Primordial Buddha of Unification, to you I request!

His Suchness Qualities
DrIP-ME LHAEN-KYE GA-WAE ROEL-PA-DANG
Unobscured, Inseparable from the play of simultaneous joy,
YER-ME TAEN-YO KUEN-KYAP KUEN-GYI DAK,
Nature of everything, pervading all moving or still,
TOK-MA TA-DrAEL KUEN-ZANG DOEN-DAM-GYI
Free of beginning or end, Always Good, you are really
JANG-CHUP SEM-NGOE KYOE-LA SOEL-WA DEP!
Ultimate Bodhicitta! To you I request!

Special One-Pointed Request

KYOE-NI LA-MA, KYOE-NI YI-DAM,
You are the Guru, you are the Yidam,
KYOE-NI KA-DrO CHOE-KYONG-TE,
you are the Dakinis and Dharma-Protectors.
DENG-NAE ZUNG-TE, JANG-CHUP BAR-DU,
From now until Enlightenment
KYOE-MIN KYAP-ZHAEN MI-TSOEL-WAE;
I shall seek no other Refuge than you.
DI-DANG BAR-DO, CHI-MAE TAR-YANG,
In this life, the bardo, and even to the end of my lives,
TUk-JE CHAk-KYUE ZUNG-DZOE-LA,
with your hook-like compassion, hold me!
SrI-ZHI JIk-DrOEL! NGOE-DrUP KUEN-TSOEL!
Save me from the fears of samsara and Nirvana! Grant all the powerful attainments!
TAEN-GYI DrOK-DZOE BAR-CHOE SrUNG!
Be my constant companion, and shield me from hindrances! (Three times)

Receiving the Blessing of the Four Initiations

DE-TAR LAEN-SUM SOEL-WA TAP-PAE TUE,
By virtue of having thus requested three times,
LA-MAE KU-SUNG-TUk-KYI NAE-NAM-LAE,
From the seats of my Guru’s body, speech and mind
DUE-TSI WOE-ZER KAR MAR TING-GA SUM
Nectar rays of three colours – white, red and dark blue -
RIM-DANG CHIK-CHAR JUNG-NAE DAK-NYI-KYI
Stream forth one by one and then together. Into my own
NAE-SUM RIM-DANG CHIK-CHAR TIM PA-LAE,
Three seats, one by one and then together, they dissolve,
DrIP-ZHI DAK-CHING NAM-DAK WANG-ZHI TOP.
Cleansing the four obscurations, and implanting the four empowerments.
KU-ZHI TOP-CHING, LA-MA NYI-PA-ZHIK
I receive the four Kayas. A replica of my Guru
GYE-ZHIN TIM-PAE JIN-GYI LAP-PAR GYUR.
Happily dissolves into me, and I am blessed with inspiration.

The Tsok Offering

Blessing the inner offerings and offering objects

OM AH HUM (three times)
NGO-WO YE-SHE-LA,
In essence, wisdom.
NAM-PA NANG-CHOE DANG CHOE-DZAE SO-SOE NAM-PA.
In aspect, the aspects of the inner offerings and various offering-objects.
JE-LAE, WANG-PO DrUK-GI CHOE-YUEL-DU
In function, to generate as objects enjoyed by the six senses
DE-TONG-GI YE-SHE KYAE-PAR-CHAEN KYE-PAE,
the special wisdom of voidness and bliss.
SA-DANG BAR-NANG NAM-KAE KYOEN TAM-CHAE YONG-SU KYAP-PAE,
Filling the earth, the sky and all the space in between,
CHI NANG SANG-WAE CHOE-TrIN DAM-DZAE CHAEN-ZIK
clouds of outer, inner and secret offerings and splendid sacred offering objects
SAM-GYI MI-KYAP-PAE GANG-WAR-GYUR.
spread beyond the range of thought.

Presentation of the Tsok Offering

HO! TING-DZIN NGAK-DANG CHAK-GYAE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Blessed by concentration, mantra and mudra,
ZAK-ME DUE-TSI TSOK-CHOE GYA-TSO DI
This ocean-like Tsok-offering of spotless nectar
TSA-GYUE LA-MAE TSOK-NAM NYE-CHIR BUEL.
I offer for your delight, assemblies of root and lineage Gurus
OM AH HUM!

DOE-GUE PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TSIM-DZAE-NAE,
Satisfied by enjoying abundance of all you desire,
E-MA-HO! JIN-LAP CHAR-CHEN AP-TU-SOEL!
Please, I beg, let fall a great rain of blessings!

HO! TING-DZIN NGAK-DANG CHAK-GYAE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Blessed by concentration, mantra and mudra,
ZAK-ME DUE-TSI TSOK-CHOE GYA-TSO DI
This ocean-like Tsok-offering of spotless nectar
YI-DAM LHA-TSOK KOR-CHAE NYE-CHIR BUEL.
I offer for your delight, assemblies of Yidams, deities and attendants!
OM AH HUM!

DOE-GUE PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TSIM-DZAE-NAE,
Satisfied by enjoying abundance of all you desire,
E-MA-HO! NGOE-DrUP CHAR-CHEN AP-TU-SOEL!
Please, I beg, let fall a great rain of powerful accomplishments!

HO! TING-DZIN NGAK-DANG CHAK-GYAE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Blessed by concentration, mantra and mudra,
ZAK-ME DUE-TSI TSOK-CHOE GYA-TSO DI
This ocean-like Tsok-offering of spotless nectar
KOEN-CHOK RIN-CHEN TSOK-NAM NYE-CHIR BUEL.
I offer for your delight, assemblies of the most precious jewels!
OM AH HUM!

DOE-GUE PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TSIM-DZAE-NAE,
Satisfied by enjoying abundance of all you desire,
E-MA-HO! DAM-CHOE CHAR-CHEN AP-TU-SOEL!
Please, I beg, let fall a great rain of the Holy Dharma!

HO! TING-DZIN NGAK-DANG CHAK-GYAE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Blessed by concentration, mantra and mudra,
ZAK-ME DUE-TSI TSOK-CHOE GYA-TSO DI
This ocean-like Tsok-offering of spotless nectar
KA-DrO CHOE-KYONG TSOK-NAM NYE-CHIR BUEL.
I offer for your delight, assemblies of dakinis and Dharma Protectors!
OM AH HUM!

DOE-GUE PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TSIM-DZAE-NAE,
Satisfied by enjoying abundance of all you desire,
E-MA-HO! TrIN-LAE CHAR-CHEN AP-TU-SOEL!
Please, I beg, let fall a great rain of virtuous deeds!

HO! TING-DZIN NGAK-DANG CHAK-GYAE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Blessed by concentration, mantra and mudra,
ZAK-ME DUE-TSI TSOK-CHOE GYA-TSO DI
This ocean-like Tsok-offering of spotless nectar
MAR-GYUR SEM-CHAEN TSOK-NAM NYE-CHIR BUEL.
I offer for your delight, assemblies of mother sentient beings!
OM AH HUM!

DOE-GUE PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TSIM-DZAE-NAE,
Satisfied by enjoying abundance of all you desire,
E-MA-HO! TrUEL-NANG DUK-NGAEL ZHI-GYUR-CHIK!
Please, let delusive appearances and sufferings be allayed!

(recite the presentation three, seven, 21x etc. times)

Offering the Tsok to the Master

E-MA-HO! TSOk KYI KOR-LO CHE
Look, sir! A great circle of tsok!
DUE-SUM DE-SHEk SHEk-SHUEL-TE,
You have followed in the track of the Sugatas of the three times,
NGOE-DrUP MA-LUE JUNG-WAE NAE,
And are the source of all powerful attainments -
DE-TAR SHE-NAE PA-WO CHE,
Since we realise this, O Great Hero,
NAM-PAR TOK-PAE SEM-BOR-NAE,
Who has forsaken the conceptualising mind,
TSOk-KYI KOR-LO GYUEN-DU ROEL!
Please enjoy continually this circle of tsok!
A-LA-LA HO!
Very good!

The Master’s Reply

OM! DOR-JE SUM YER-ME-PAE DAK,
With nature inseparable from the three vajras,
RANG-NY LA-MA LHAR-SAEL-NAE,
I visualise myself as a Guru-Yidam,
AH! ZAK-ME YE-SHE DUE-TSI DI
This nectar of immaculate wisdom-knowledge
HUM! JANG-CHUP SEM-LAE YO-ME-PAR,
Without stirring from bodhicitta,
LUE-NAE LHA-NAM TSIM-CHIR ROEL.
I drink to satisfy the deities dwelling in my body.
AHO MAHA SUKHA!
What great bliss!

Song of the Spring Queen

HUM! DE-ZHIN-SHEG-PA TAM-CHAE DANG,
All Tathagata-buddhas,
PA-WO DANG-NI NAEL-JOR-MA,
Vira-heroes, yoginis,
KA-DrO DAG-NI KA-DrO-MA,
Dakas and Dakinis,
KUN-LA DAG-NI SOEL-WA-DEB.
To all of you I make this request.
DE-WA CHOG-LA GYE-PAE HE-RU-KA
O Heruka, who delights in supreme bliss
DE-WAE RAB-NYOE MA-LA NYEN-JAE-NAE,
And who attends the lady intoxicated with bliss,
CHO-GA ZHIN-DU LONG-CHOE PA-YI-NI,
Please, by enjoying in accordance with the rites,
LHEN-KYE DE-WAE JOR-WA LA-ZHUG-SO,
Join with simultaneous bliss (and voidness),
AH-LA-LA, LA-LA-HO, AH-I-AH AH-RA-LI-HO.
DrI-ME KA-DROE TSOG-NAM-KYI,
May the hosts of stainless dakinis
TSE-WAE ZIG-LA LAE-KUN-DZOE.
Look with loving compassion and accomplish all deeds.

HUM! DE-ZHIN-SHEG-PA TAM-CHAE DANG,
All Tathagata-buddhas,
PA-WO DANG-NI NAEL-JOR-MA,
Vira-heroes, yoginis,
KA-DrO DAG-NI KA-DrO-MA,
Dakas and Dakinis,
KUN-LA DAG-NI SOEL-WA-DEB.
To all of you I make this request.
DE-WA CHEN-PO YI-NI RAB-KYOE-PAE,
With your mind of great bliss fully excited,
LU-NI KUN-TU YO-WAE GAR-GYI-NI,
And your body in a dance of constant motion,
CHAG-GYAE PE-MAR ROEL-PAE DE-WA-CHE,
Please offer to the hosts of yoginis
NAEL-JOR-MA TSOG NAM-LA CHOE-PAR-DZOE,
The great bliss of sporting in the lotus of the mudra.
AH-LA-LA, LA-LA-HO, AH-I-AH AH-RA-LI-HO.
DrI-ME KA-DROE TSOG-NAM-KYI,
May the hosts of stainless dakinis
TSE-WAE ZIG-LA LAE-KUN-DZOE.
Look with loving compassion and accomplish all deeds.

HUM! DE-ZHIN-SHEG-PA TAM-CHAE DANG,
All Tathagata-buddhas,
PA-WO DANG-NI NAEL-JOR-MA,
Vira-heroes, yoginis,
KA-DrO DAG-NI KA-DrO-MA,
Dakas and Dakinis,
KUN-LA DAG-NI SOEL-WA-DEB.
To all of you I make this request.
YI-ONG ZHI-WAE NYAM-KYI GAR-DZAE-MA,
Dancing with a beautiful, peaceful step,
RAB-GYE GOEN-PO KYOE-DANG KA-DrO-TSOG,
O delightful protector and host of dakinis,
DAG-GI DUN-DU ZHUG-TE JIN-LOB-LA
Come here before me and give me your blessings -
LHEN-KYE DE-CHEN DAG-LA TSEL-DU-SOEL.
Bestow on me the great bliss simultaneous with voidness.
AH-LA-LA, LA-LA-HO, AH-I-AH AH-RA-LI-HO.
DrI-ME KA-DROE TSOG-NAM-KYI,
May the hosts of stainless dakinis
TSE-WAE ZIG-LA LAE-KUN-DZOE.
Look with loving compassion and accomplish all deeds.

HUM! DE-ZHIN-SHEG-PA TAM-CHAE DANG,
All Tathagata-buddhas,
PA-WO DANG-NI NAEL-JOR-MA,
Vira-heroes, yoginis,
KA-DrO DAG-NI KA-DrO-MA,
Dakas and Dakinis,
KUN-LA DAG-NI SOEL-WA-DEB.
To all of you I make this request.
DE-CHEN TAR-PAE TSEN-NYI DEN-PA-KYOE,
You, who have the characteristic of great blissful liberation,
DE-CHEN PANG-PAE KA-TUB DU-MA-YI,
Do not assert that, through ascetic practices without great bliss,
TSE-CHIG DrOEL-WAR MI-ZHE DE-CHEN-YANG,
Liberation can be gained in one lifetime;
CHU-KYE CHOG-GI U-NA NAE-PA-YIN.
Great bliss indeed is found in the centre of the supreme lotus.
AH-LA-LA, LA-LA-HO, AH-I-AH AH-RA-LI-HO.
DrI-ME KA-DROE TSOG-NAM-KYI,
May the hosts of stainless dakinis
TSE-WAE ZIG-LA LAE-KUN-DZOE.
Look with loving compassion and accomplish all deeds.

HUM! DE-ZHIN-SHEG-PA TAM-CHAE DANG,
All Tathagata-buddhas,
PA-WO DANG-NI NAEL-JOR-MA,
Vira-heroes, yoginis,
KA-DrO DAG-NI KA-DrO-MA,
Dakas and Dakinis,
KUN-LA DAG-NI SOEL-WA-DEB.
To all of you I make this request.
DAM-GYI U-SU KYE-PAE PAE-MA-ZHIN,
O yogini, like the lotus born from the centre of a swamp,
CHAG-LAE KYE-KYANG CHAG-PAE KYOEN-MA-GOE,
this method, although born from desire is unstained by desire’s faults;
NAEL-JOR-MA CHOG PAE-MAE DE-WA-YI,
Please, through the bliss of your supreme lotus,
SI-PAE CHING-WA NYUR-DU DrOL-WAR-DZOE.
Quickly bring liberation from the bonds of cyclic existence.
AH-LA-LA, LA-LA-HO, AH-I-AH AH-RA-LI-HO.
DrI-ME KA-DROE TSOG-NAM-KYI,
May the hosts of stainless dakinis
TSE-WAE ZIG-LA LAE-KUN-DZOE.
Look with loving compassion and accomplish all deeds.

HUM! DE-ZHIN-SHEG-PA TAM-CHAE DANG,
All Tathagata-buddhas,
PA-WO DANG-NI NAEL-JOR-MA,
Vira-heroes, yoginis,
KA-DrO DAG-NI KA-DrO-MA,
Dakas and Dakinis,
KUN-LA DAG-NI SOEL-WA-DEB.
To all of you I make this request.
DrANG-TSI JUNG-NAE NAM-KYI DrANG-TSI-CHUE
Just as the essence of honey from honey-sources
BUNG-WAE TSOG-KYI KUN-NAE TUNG-WA-TAR,
Is drunk by swarms of bees from every direction,
TSAEN-NYI DrUG-DAEN TSO-KYE GYAE-PA-YI,
Please, through your matured, lake-born (lotus) having the six signs,
CHU-CHING-PA-YI RO-YI TSIM-PAR-DZOE.
Bring satisfaction with the taste that is bound to the essence.
AH-LA-LA, LA-LA-HO, AH-I-AH AH-RA-LI-HO.
DrI-ME KA-DROE TSOG-NAM-KYI,
May the hosts of stainless dakinis
TSE-WAE ZIG-LA LAE-KUN-DZOE.
Look with loving compassion and accomplish all deeds.

Distributing the Leftovers from the Tsok-Offering

HUM! MA-DAK TrUEL-NANG YING-SU DAK.
Impure, delusive appearances become pure in the sphere of Voidness.
AH! YE-SHE LAE-DrUP DUE-TSI CHE.
(It becomes) a great nectar made of Wisdom.
OM! DOE-GUE GYA-TSO CHEN-POR GYUR.
It becomes a great ocean of everything desired.
OM AH HUM
(Three times).

HO! TING-DZIN NGAk-DANG CHAK-GYAE JIN-LAP-PAE,
Blessed by concentration, mantra and mudra,
ZAK-ME DUE-TSI TSOk-LHAK GYA-TSO DI
The rest of this ocean-like Tsok of spotless nectar
DAM-CHAEN ZHING-KYONG TSOk-NAM NYE-CHIR BUEL.
I offer for your delight, assemblies of guardians and field-protectors!
OM AH HUM!
DOE-GUE PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TSIM-DZAE-NAE,
Satisfied by enjoying abundance of all you desire,
E-MA-HO! NAEL-JOE TrIN-LAE TSUEL-ZHIN DrUP!
Please, let yogas and virtuous deeds be performed right!
(The following five verses are recited extremely fast, while the instruments are being played.)

HO! LHAK-MAE DrOEN-NAM KOR-CHAE-KYI
You remaining guests, with your attendants,
TSOk-LHAK GYA-TSO DI ZHE-LA,
Accept this ocean of Tsok still left,
TAEN-PA RIN-CHEN GYAE-PA-DANG
And make the spreaders of the precious Doctrine,
TAEN-DZIN YOEN-CHOE KOR-CHAE-DANG
Followers of the Doctrine, patrons and their attendants,

KYAE-PAR NAEL-JOR DAK-CHAK-LA
And in particular, us yogins, obtain
NAE-ME TSE-DANG WANG-CHUK-DANG
Health, life and power,
PAEL-DANG DrAk-DANG KAEL-WA-ZANG
Glory, renown, good fortune,
LONG-CHOE GYA-CHEN KUEN-TOP-CHING,
And very extensive enjoyments, all these!

ZHI-DANG GYAE-LA SOk-PA-YI
With the actions of Calming, Increasing and so on,
LAE-KYI NGOE-DrUP DAK-LA TSOEL!
Bestow on us the powerful attainments!
DAM-TSIK CHAEN-GYI DAK-LA SrUNG!
Pledged guardians, protect us!
NGOE-DrUP KUEN-GYI TONG-DrOk-DZOE!
Help with all powerful attainments!

DUE-MIN CHI-DANG NAE-NAM-DANG
Eliminate untimely death, sicknesses,
DOEN-DANG GEk-NAM ME-PAR DZOE!
Demons of disease, and evil spirits!
MI-LAM NGAEN-DANG TSAEN-MA NGAEN
Eliminate bad dreams, ill omens,
JA-JE NGAEN-PA ME-PAR DZOE!
And evil doings!

JIK-TEN DE-ZHING LO-LEk-DANG
May the world be happy, good years
DrU-NAM PEL-ZHING CHOE-PEL-DANG
And grains increase, the Dharma flourish,
DE-LEk TAM-CHAE JUNG-WA-DANG
Every happiness and bliss arise,
YI-LA DOE-PA KUEN-DrUP-SHOK!
And every wish in the mind be fulfilled!

The Way to Receive Blessings by Developing One’s Mind Through Meditation on the Entire Mahayana Path

The Way to Devote Oneself to One’s Guru as the Root of the Path to Enlightenment

ZHING-CHOK DAM-PA JE-TSUEN LA-MA-LA
O holy and venerable Gurus, supreme fields of merit,
CHOE-CHING GUE-PAE SOEL-WA TAP-PAE TUE,
By the power of my offering and respectfully requesting to you,
DE-LEk TSA-WA GOEN-PO KYOE-NYI-KYI
May you protector, root of (all) well-being,
GYE-ZHIN JE-SU DZIN-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Be pleased to care for me – bless me thus!

The Way to Develop One’s Mind after having made Guru Devotions
The Way to Develop the Mind on the Common Path

The Way to Develop the Mind on the Common Path of the Person of Initial-level Motivation
Expanding One’s Mind in the Interest of Future Lives

LAEN-CHIK TSAM-ZHIK NYE-PAE DAEL-JOR DI
Let me realise how these freedoms and endowments,
NYE-KA NYUR-DU JIK-PAE TSUEL-TOk-NAE,
Found but once, and hard to attain, are quickly lost,
DOEN-ME TSE-DI JA-WAE MI-YENG-WAR
Then, undistracted by meaningless works of this life,
DOEN-DAEN NYING-PO LEN-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Seize their meaningful essence – bless me thus!

Finding the Means for Happiness in Future Lives
NGAEN-SONG DUK-NGAEL BAR-WAE ME JIk-NAE,
Afraid of the blazing fire of lower realms’ suffering,
NYING-NAE KOEN-CHOK SUM-LA KYAP-DrO-ZHING,
Let me take heartfelt Refuge in the Three Precious Jewels,
DIK-PONG GE-TSOk TA-DAK DrUP-PA-LA
And fervently strive to avoid non-virtue and practise
TSOEN-PA LHUR-LEN JE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Amassing the various virtues – bless me thus!

The Way to Develop the Mind on the Common Path of the Person of Intermediate-level Motivation
Developing Interest for Liberation

LAE-DANG NYOEN-MONG BA-LONG DrAK-TU TrUK,
Frantically tossed by waves of delusion and karma,
DUK-NGAEL SUM-GYI CHU-SrIN MANG-POE TSE,
Tormented by many sea-monsters of the three sufferings,
TA-ME JIk-RUNG SrI-TSO CHEN-PO-LAE
From this fearful, boundless great ocean of Becoming
TAR-DOE SHUk-DrAK KYE-WAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let a strong wish for Liberation grow in me – bless me thus!

The Way of Training Oneself to Attain Liberation
ZOE-KA TSOEN-RA DrA-WAE KOR-WA DI
This Cyclic Existence, like an unbearable prison,
GA-WAE TSAEL-TAR TONG-WAE LO-PANG-NAE,
I see as a charming garden. Rejecting this view,
LAP-SUM PAk-PAE NOR-GYI DZOE ZUNG-TE,
Let me hold the Three Trainings, the store of the Aryas’ Jewels,
TAR-PAE GYAEL-TSAEN DZIN-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And grasp the banner of Liberation – bless me thus!

The Way to Develop the Mind on the Path of the Person of Advanced-level Motivation
The Way to Develop Bodhicitta
The Way to Develop Compassion, the Foundation of the Mahayana

NYAM-TAK DrO-WA DI-KUEN DAK-GI MA,
All these tormented beings are my mothers,
YANG-YANG DrIN-GYI KYANG-PAE TSUEL SAM-NAE,
Repeatedly caring for me kindly. Reflecting on this,
DUK-PAE BU-LA TSE-WAE MA-ZHIN-DU,
Like a loving mother for her darling child,
CHOE-MIN NYING-JE KYE-WAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me develop unfeigned Compassion – bless me thus!

The Way to Meditate on the Exchange of Self and Others through the Seven-Point Training of the Mind.

In the Second Point of the Mind-Training, the Way of Generating Conventional Bodhicitta
The Way of Developing Equanimity between Self and Others

DUK-NGAEL TrA-MO TSAM-YANG MI-DOE-CHING,
As no-one desires the slightest suffering
DE-LA NAM-YANG CHOK-SHE ME-PAR-NI,
Nor ever has enough of happiness,
DAK-DANG ZHAEN-LA KYAE-PAR YOE-MIN ZHE
There is no difference between myself and others,
ZHAEN-DE GA-WA KYE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
So let me make others joyfully happy – bless me thus!

Exchange of Self for Others

Contemplating the Faults of the Self-cherishing Attitude
RANG-NYI CHE-PAR DZIN-PAE CHONG-NAE DI
This chronic disease of cherishing oneself
MI-DOE DUK-NGAEL KYE-PAE GYUR TONG-NAE,
Is the cause of unwanted suffering. Seeing this,
LE-LAEN DAE-LA KOEN-DU ZUNG-JAE-TE,
Let me lay blame on it and begrudge it and
DAK-DZIN DOEN-CHEN JOM-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Destroy the great demon of self-grasping – bless me thus!

Contemplating the Advantages of Caring for Others
MA-NAM CHE-ZUNG DE-LA GOE-PAE LO
The attitude cherishing one’s mothers and placing them in bliss
TA-YAE YOEN-TAEN JUNG-WAE GOR TONG-NAE,
Is the gateway to endless virtues. Let me see this,
DrO-WA DI-DAK DAK-GI DrAR LANG-KYANG
And even should these beings rise up as my foes,
SrOK-LAE CHE-PAR DZIN-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Hold them dearer than my life – O, bless me thus!

Exchanging the Attitudes of Self-cherishing and Cherishing Others
DOE-NA JI-PA RANG-DOEN KO-NA-DANG,
In short, the childish work only for their own gain,
TUP-WANG ZHAEN-DOEN BA-ZHIK DZAE-PA-YI
The Buddha only for others’ gain. With the wisdom
KYOEN-DANG YOEN-TAEN YE-WA TOk-PAE LOE
Understanding the differences in the faults and virtues of these,
DAK-ZHAEN NYAM-JE NUE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
May I be able to exchange self and others – bless me thus!

RANG-NYI CHE-DZIN GUE-PA KUEN-GYI GO,
Cherishing oneself is the door to every downfall;
MA-NAM CHE-DZIN YOEN-TAEN KUEN-GYI ZHI.
Cherishing one’s mothers, the basis of everything good.
DE-CHIR DAK-ZHAEN JE-WAE NAEL-JOR-LA,
Therefore, in the yoga of exchanging self and others,
NYAM-LEN NYING-POR JE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me take to heart the main point – bless me thus!

Taking and Giving
DE-NA JE-TSUEN LA-MA TUk-JE-CHAEN,
Therefore, Venerable and Compassionate Gurus,
MA-GYUR DrO-WAE DIK-DrIP DUK-NGAEL KUEN
By my letting all the black karmic obscurations and suffering
MA-LUE DA-TA DAK-LA MIN-PA-DANG
Of mother sentient beings ripen on me now,
DAK-GI DE-GE ZHAEN-LA TANG-WA-YI
And giving to others my happiness and good deeds,
DrO-KUEN DE-DANG-DAEN-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
May all sentient beings have happiness – bless me thus!
(recite three times)

The Third to Seventh Points of the Seven-Point Mind-Training

NOE-CHUE DIK-PAE DrAE-BUE YONG-GANG-TE,
Though the whole world and its beings are full of the fruits of non-virtue,
MI-DOE DUK-NGAEL CHAR-TAR BAP-GYUR-KYANG,
And undesired sufferings pour down (on me) like rain,
LAE-NGAEN DrAE-BU ZAE-PAE GYUR TONG-NAE
By seeing they’ve a chance to use up the fruits of bad karma,
KYEN-NGAEN LAM-DU LONG-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me use bad conditions in the Path – O, bless me thus!

DOR-NA ZANG-NGAEN NANG-WA CHI-SHAR-YANG,
In short, whatever appearance, good or bad, comes up,
CHOE-KUEN NYING-PO TOP-NGAE NYAM-LEN-GYI
By practising the Five Forces, the essence of all Dharma,
JANG-CHUP SEM-NYI PEL-WAE LAM-GYUR-TE,
Let me change it to a Path to develop the two Bodhicittas,
YI-DE BA-ZHIK GOM-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And entertain only happiness of mind – bless me thus!

JOR-WA ZHI-DANG-DAEN-PAE TAP-KAE-KYI
With the Skilful Means of having the Four Activities,
TrAEL-LA GANG-TUK GOM-LA JOR-WA-DANG,
Let me join what I meet straightaway to meditation;
LO-JONG DAM-TSIK LAP-JAE NYAM-LEN-GYI
and by practising the commitments and advices of the Mind-Training,
DAEL-JOR DOEN-CHEN JE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Make these freedoms and endowments very meaningful – bless me thus!

The Way to Meditate on the Supreme Wish and the Development of Bodhicitta

TONG-LEN LUNG-LA KYOEN-PAE TrUEL-DEk-CHAEN,
With Taking and Giving, the magical practice of mounting the Breath,
JAM-DANG NYING-JE LHAK-PAE SAM-PA-YI,
By friendliness, compassion, and the Supreme Wish,
DrO-NAM SrI-TSO CHE-LAE DrOEL-WAE CHIR
To free beings from the great ocean of Becoming
JANG-CHUP SEM-NYI JONG-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me perfect actual Bodhicitta – bless me thus!

The Way to take the Vows of the Wishing and Actual Bodhicittas

DUE-SUM GYAEL-WA KUEN-GYI DrOE-CHIK-LAM,
With the one Path all Buddhas of the three times tread,
NAM-DAK GYAEL-SrAE DOM-PAE GYUE-DAM-SHING,
The pure vows of Buddha-sons, let me bind my mindstream,
TEK-CHOK TSUEL-TrIM SUM-GYI NYAM-LEN-LA
And strive in the practise of the three Moralities
TSOEN-PA LHUR-LEN JE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Of the Great Vehicle with a will – bless me thus!

The Way of Practising the Perfections after Developing Bodhicitta

The Way to Engage in the General Practice of Bodhisattvas

The Perfection of Generosity
LUE-DANG LONG-CHOE DUE-SUM GE-TSOk-CHAE,
My body and possessions, and my virtues of the three times,
SEM-CHAEN RANG-RANG DOE-PAE NGOE GYUR-TE,
Let me change into things each being desires,
CHAk-ME TONG-SEM PEL-WAE MAEN-NGAK-GI
And by the oral teaching of cultivating unattached generousness
JIN-PAE PAR-CHIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Accomplish the Perfection of Giving – bless me thus!

The Perfection of Morality
SO-TAR JANG-SEM SANG-NGAk DOM-PA-YI
Of the Pratimoksa, Bodhicitta and Tantric Vows
CHAE-TSAM SrOK-GI CHIR-YANG MI-TONG-ZHIN,
Not leaving the bounds even for my life;
GE-CHOE DUE-DANG SEM-CHAEN DOEN-DrUP-PAE
Collecting virtues; and benefiting sentient beings,
TSUEL-TrIM PAR-CHIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me accomplish the Perfection of Morality- bless me thus!

The Perfection of Patience
KAM-SUM KYE-GU MA-LUE TrOE-GYUR-TE,
Though all beings of the Three Realms, of nine types, get angry,
SHE-ZHING TSANG-DrU DIk-SHING SrOK-CHOE-KYANG,
Abuse, upbraid, and threaten, or even kill me,
MI-TrUk NOE-LAEN PAEN-PA DrUP-JE-PAE
Let me, undisturbed, in return for their harm try to help them,
ZOE-PAE PAR-CHIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And accomplish the Perfection of Patience – bless me thus!

The Perfection of Enthusiastic Perseverance
SEM-CHAEN RE-RE CHIR-YANG NAR-ME-PAE
Even if, for every sentient being, in Avici’s
ME-NANG KAEL-PA GYATSOR NAE-GOE-KYANG,
Fire I must remain for an ocean of aeons,
NYING-JE MI-KYO JANG-CHUP CHOK TSOEN-PAE,
Never tired of Compassion, let me strive for Supreme Awakening,
TSOEN-DrUE PAR-CHIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And accomplish the Perfection of Energy – bless me thus!

The Perfection of Concentration
JING-GOE NAM-PAR YENG-WAE KYOEN PANG-NAE,
Avoiding the faults of dullness, agitation and wandering,
CHOE-KUEN DEN-PAE TONG-PAE NAE-LUk-LA
On all dharmas’ mode of being, Void of true existence,
TSE-CHIK NYAM-PAR JOK-PAE TING-DZIN-GYI
One-pointedly collected, let me by this samadhi
SAM-TAEN PAR-CHIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Accomplish the Perfection of Concentration – bless me thus!

The Perfection of Wisdom
The Space-like Concentration on Voidness in the meditation period
DE-NYI SO-SOR TOK-PAE SHE-RAP-KYI
With the Distinguishing Wisdom of Absolute Reality
DrANG-PAE SHIN-JANG DE-CHEN DANG-DrEL-WA,
And the suppleness it causes, combined with Great Bliss,
DOEN-DAM NYAM-ZHAK NAM-KAE NAEL-JOR-GYI
By the practice of Space-like Concentration on the Ultimate
SHE-RAP PAR-CHIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me accomplish the Perfection of Wisdom – bless me thus!

The Illusion-like Concentration on Voidness in the Post-meditation Period

CHI-NANG CHOE-NAM GYU-MA MI-LAM-DANG
All dharmas, outer or inner, are like illusions,
DANG-PAE TSO-NANG DA-ZUk JI-ZHIN-DU,
Dreams, or the moon’s reflection in a clear lake.
NANG-YANG DEN-PAR ME-PAE TSUEL-TOk-NAE
Let me realise how, though they appear, they don’t truly exist,
GYU-MAE TING-DZIN DZOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And accomplish the Illusion-like Concentration – bless me thus!

The Way to Train the Mind in the Profound View of the Middle Path in Particular

KOR-DAE RANG-ZHIN DUEL-TSAM ME-PA-DANG,
In Samsara and Nirvana is not an atom of inherent existence;
GYU-DrAE TEN-DrEL LU-WA ME-PA NYI
Infallibly, cause and effect dependently arise.
PAEN-TSUEN GAEL-ME DrOk-SU CHAR-PA-YI
Between these two, there’s no contradiction, but harmony -
LU-DrUP GONG-DOEN TOk-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me realise the point of Nagarjuna’s thought – bless me thus!

The Way to Develop the Mind on the Uncommon Path of Vajrayana
Preparing Oneself for the Profound Path of Vajrayana

DE-NAE DOR-JE DZIN-PAE DE-POEN-GYI
Then, out of my Vajra-wielding sea-captain’s
DrIN-LAE GYUE-DE GYA-TSOE JING-GAEL-TE;
Kindness, let me cross the eddies of the ocean of Tantra;

The Way to Keep the Purity of the Tantric Vows and Words of Honour
After Preparing Oneself for Tantric Practice

NGOE-DrUP TSA-WA DAM-TSIK DOM-PA-NAM
The root of powerful attainments, my Vows and Words of Honour,
SrOK-LAE CHE-PAR DZIN-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me cherish more than my life – O, bless me thus!

The Way to Practise the Two Stages of Highest Yoga Tantra

The Actual Way to Practise the Two Stages

The Way to Practise the Development Stage
KYE SHI BAR-DO GYAEL-WAE KU-SUM-DU
Let me transform birth, death and bardo into the Three Bodies
GYUR-WAE RIM-PA DANG-POE NAEL-JOR-GYI,
Of the Conqueror, and by this practice of the First Stage
TA-MAEL NANG-ZHEN DrI-MA KUEN-JANG-TE,
Cleanse all the stains of ordinary appearances and attachments
GANG-NANG LHA-KUR CHAR-WAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And see whatever appears as deities – bless me thus!

The Way to Practise the Completion Stage
NYING-GAE DAP-GYAE DHUTI UE-DAK-TU
In my heart’s eight petals, right in the middle of the Central
GOEN-KYOE ZHAP-SEN KOE-PA LAE-JUNG-WA,
Channel, place your feet, O Protector! From which
WOE-SAEL GYU-LUE ZUNG-DU JUK-PAE LAM
The Path Uniting the Clear Light and the Illusory Body
TSE-DIR NGOEN-DU GYUR-WAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
I may actualise in this lifetime – bless me thus!

The Way to Perform the Rite of Transference of Consciousness at the Time of Death, if One has not Reached any State of Attainment Although it was Meditated On

LAM-NA MA-ZIN CHI-WAE DUE JE-NA,
Should the Paths not be completed at the time of my death,
TSAEN-TAP TSANG-GYA LA-MAE PO-WA-NI
By the Guru’s potent means to Buddhahood, Transference of Consciousness,
TOP-NGA YANG-DAK JAR-WAE DAM-NGAK-GI
Or the oral precept of applying the Five Forces,
DAK-PAE ZHING-DU DrOE-PAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
Let me get to a Pure Land – bless me thus!

The Way to Offer Prayers for One to be Cared for by the Guru for All One’s Lives

DOR-NA KYE-ZHING KYE-WA TAM-CHAE-DU,
In short, Protector, in all my future rebirths,
GOEN-PO KYOE-KYI DrAEL-ME JE-ZUNG-NAE,
Let me not part from but be cared for by you,
KU SUNG TUk-KYI SANG-WA KUEN-DZIN-PAE
Keep all the secrets of your body, speech and mind,
SrAE-KYI TU-WOR GYUR-WAR JIN-GYI-LOP!
And become your chief disciple – bless me thus!

GOEN-KYOE GANG-DU NGOEN-PAR SANG-GYAE-PAE
Protector, wherever you manifest as Buddha,
KOR-GYI TOK-MA NYI-DU DAK-GYUR-TE,
May I become the very first of your assembly;
NAE-KAP TAR-TUK GOE-DOE MA-LUE-PA
To achieve all my wants and wishes, temporal and ultimate,
BAE-ME LHUEN-GYI DrUP-PAE TrA-SHI TSOEL!
Spontaneously and without effort, please grant auspiciousness!

The Way to Dissolve the Field of Merit in order to Receive Blessings

DE-TAR SOEL-WA TAP-PAE LA-MA-CHOK
Being thus requested, supreme Guru, please
JIN-GYI LAP-CHIR GYE-ZHIN CHI-WOR JOEN
Come happily to the crown of my head to bless me,
LAR-YANG NYING-GAE PAE-MAE ZEU-DrU-LA
And again, on the anthers of the lotus of my heart
ZHAP-SEN WOE-CHAk TAEN-PAR ZHUk-SU-SOEL!
Plant firmly your radiant feet!

The Conclusion

Dedication of Merits

DI-TAR GYI-PAE NAM-KAR GE-WA-YANG
Any white virtues I have created like this,
DUE-SUM DE-SHEk SrAE-CHAE TAM-CHAE-KYI
Of all the Sugatas of the three times and their Sons
DZAE-PA MOEN-LAM MA-LUE DrUP-PA-DANG
To accomplish every deed and prayer,
LUNG-TOk DAM-CHOE DZIN-PAE GYU-RU NGO.
And to hold the scriptural and insight Teachings, I dedicate as causes.

DE-YI TU-LAE TSE-RAP KUEN-TU DAK
By the power of this, may I in all my lives
TEK-CHOK KOR-LO ZHI-DANG MI-DrAEL-ZHING
Not separate from the Four Wheels of the Mahayana,
NGE-JUNG JANG-SEM YANG-DAK TA-WA-DANG
And the Paths of Renunciation, Bodhicitta, Right View.
RIM-NYI LAM-GYI DrOE-PA TAR-CHIN-SHOK!
And the Two Stages, may I travel to the End!

Verses of Auspiciousness

SrI-ZHI NAM-KAR JI-NYE GE-TSAEN-GYI,
By the excellence of all the white Virtue in Samsara and Nirvana,
DENG-DIR MI-SHI GUE-PA KUEN-DrAEL-TE,
Henceforth may all be free of ill-omen and decline,
NAE-KAP TAR-TUK GE-LEk NAM-KAE DZOE
And enjoying the celestial treasure of temporal and ultimate
PUEN-TSOk PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TrA-SHI SHOK!
Good fortune, perfect and glorious, may all be auspicious!

KUEN-KYEN LO-ZANG DrAk-PAE CHOE-KYI DER,
In the monasteries of omniscient Tsongkhapa,
LAP-SUM NAM-DAK TSE-CHIK DrUP-LA TSOEN,
Striving one-pointedly to accomplish the Three pure Trainings,
NAEL-JOR RAP-JUNG TSOk-KYI YONG-GANG-WAE
May hosts of yogins and clergy throng, so that
TUP-TAEN YUEN-DU NAE-PAE TrA-SHI SHOK!
The Sage’s Teachings stay long – may all be auspicious!

ZHOEN-NUE DUE-NAE LA-MA LHA-CHOK-LA
Since, from your youth, to the supreme Guru-Yidam
SOEL-WA TAP-PAE LO-ZANG DrAk-PA-YI
You made requests, Je Tsongkhapa, may we
JIN-LAP ZHUk-NAE ZHAEN-DOEN LHUEN-GYI-DrUP,
Walk in your blessing and spontaneously benefit others -
LO-ZANG DOR-JE CHANG-GI TrA-SHI SHOK!
In Losang Dorje Chang, may all be auspicious!

DOE-GUE JOR-PA YAR-GYI TSO-TAR PEL,
As all wished-for endowments increase like a lake in summer,
KYOEN-ME RIk-KYI DAEL-DrO GYUEN-CHAE-ME,
May we find without break the freedom of faultless birth,
NYIN-TSAEN LO-ZANG DAM-PAE CHOE-KYI DA,
And spend day and night with Tsongkhapa’s holy Dharma,
PUEN-TSOk PAEL-LA ROEL-PAE TrA-SHI SHOK!
Enjoying its glorious perfection – may all be auspicious!

DAK-SOk NAM-KYI DENG-NAE JANG-CHUP-BAR,
From now until I and others are Enlightened,
GYI-DANG GYI-GYUR GE-WA CHI-SAk-PA,
(By) whatever merits we have done and will heap up,
ZHING-DIR JE-TSUEN DAM-PAE ZUk-KYI-KU
In this land may the Holy Venerable One’s Form-Body
GYUR-ME DOR-JE TAR-TAEN TrA-SHI SHOK!
Endure like immutable vajra – may all be auspicious!