Teachings from the Mani Retreat: Chenrezig Institute, December 2000 by Zopa Rinpoche Lama

Author:Zopa Rinpoche, Lama
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive
Published: 2012-09-04T03:00:00+00:00

FOOD OFFERING

First generate the motivation: “The purpose of my life is to free all sentient beings from all their suffering and its causes and bring them to enlightenment; therefore, I must achieve enlightenment; therefore, I’m going to practice the yoga of eating, making food offering and charity to sentient beings.”

As we’ve just done the sadhana, you yourself are Chenrezig. All the food in the kitchen is purified in emptiness. (You can recite “OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM” or simply purify it in emptiness.) Then, while it is empty, your wisdom understanding emptiness is transformed into an extensive jeweled container, inside of which is an OM.

You have to understand the reason for visualizing OM. OM is made up of three sounds: “AH,” “O” and “MA,” which symbolize Buddha’s holy body, holy speech and holy mind. You can now understand the way the blessing is done. The OM manifests in uncontaminated nectar, which in this way is blessed in the essence of Buddha’s holy body, holy speech and holy mind. Actually, it manifests in numberless oceans of uncontaminated nectar.

If you have visualized the merit field surrounding Compassion Buddha—all the direct and indirect gurus, buddhas and bodhisattvas, Dharma protectors and so forth—they are all included in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.

Make offering of numberless oceans of uncontaminated nectar to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, with strong recognition that the essence is your root virtuous friend. Generate infinite bliss within them. Put your palms together and prostrate to them.

Make offering of numberless oceans of uncontaminated nectar to all the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha of the ten directions, imagining that their essence is your root virtuous friend. Generate infinite bliss within them. Prostrate to all of them.

Make offering of numberless oceans of uncontaminated nectar to all the statues, stupas, scriptures and thangkas in all the universes in the ten directions, imagining that their essence is your root virtuous friend. Generate infinite bliss within them. Prostrate with your palms together to all of them.

Make charity of numberless oceans of uncontaminated nectar to every single hell being, every single hungry ghost, every single animal (including the ants), every single human being, every single asura being, every single sura being, every single intermediate state being. They all fully enjoy the nectar and are liberated from all their suffering, including its causes. They all become enlightened in the aspect of Compassion Buddha. Visualize every hell being, hungry ghost, animal, human, asura, sura and intermediate state being as Compassion Buddha.

We collected limitless skies of merit—or good karma, the cause of happiness—with our motivation of bodhicitta. We collected limitless skies of merit by offering to all the beings in the merit field, with Compassion Buddha, Guru Avalokiteshvara, as the principal figure. We collected limitless skies of merit by offering to all Buddha, Dharma and Sangha of the ten directions. We collected four times limitless skies of merit by offering to all the stupas, statues, scriptures and thangkas of the ten directions. We collected seven times limitless skies of merit by making charity to all the sentient beings.

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