Sanghata Sutra

Later when your fear has gone,

listen to the Dharma fearlessly.

They said:

"Venerable elder, who are you?

We ourselves do not know you.

We see that you are beautiful,

your form is serene and your fame great.

You are released from the great fears of the world of pretas, hell beings and animals.

Just like one who beautifies the world,

all your negativity is pacified.

We see a vessel in your hand,

made of seven precious substances,

and a cord of jewels on your body,

ornamented with a mass of radiance.

To the words spoken by you who are peaceful, we are unable to offer any reply.

We do not need any food,

nor do we need delicious drinks.

From food what emerges is excrement.

Likewise, what is drunk becomes urine.

Juices transform into blood.

In the same way, from blood comes flesh.

Thus, we do not need even

nicely prepared food and drinks,

nor do we need fine garments

of woven silk or woolen cloth.

Golden bracelets we do not need.

We have no need of strands of pearls.

On our fingers, we need no rings.

All these are transient in nature.

We seek a life that does not go to migrations that are bad.

We strive for the devas' happiness and for the giving of Dharma.

Virtuous friends are what we need,

not to be wheel-turning kings.

Having left behind a lovely continent,

wheel-turning kings will also die.

Sons will not follow after them,

nor will wives or daughters.

The seven precious things will be left behind;

they will not follow after them.

Though they gather many people to them,

these will not follow along behind.

No one will scurry in front of them,

nor will it be thus later on.

After being a king for just one life,

due to impermanence, they will wander.

Due to having done many wicked acts,

they will fall into the Howling Hell.

After being surrounded on all four sides by seven jewels and by amazing power,

when the time for the Howling Hell ripens, where will that amazing power be?

Since they are nowhere to be found on earth, having died, they cannot display these powers.

Elder, please listen to us:

Please go to where the Tathágata is.

We earnestly wish to see him,

just like a mother or father.

We do not have any mother,

nor have we a father or siblings.

The Tathágata is chief in this world.

He is father and mother.

He is the sun and the moon.

He reveals the path to happiness.

He liberates us from samsára,

so that we are not reborn later.

He is the boat that saves us from the river, and the terrifying river of the delusions.

By him, beings are completely freed.

They will not come back again.

He who shows supreme enlightenment explains the holy Dharma, too.

We do not have need of food.

We do not wish the result of a kingdom.

Those who fear the realms of hell should not go to the devas' world.

The life of a human is happy:

there the All-Knowing One appears.

Due to harmful actions one has done oneself, one's life is short and one wanders.

They do not know death, but they know kingdoms and the enjoyments they desire.

Those deceived by birth and death do not know and have no fear.

Those confused by impermanence do not know the subtle Dharma.

They do not perform subtle duties,

and do not know the sphere of peace.

As they face death, they feel no remorse.

Again and again, they are reborn,

for a long time, overwhelmed with suffering, continually beaten up with sticks, and then they will steal from others, too.

Likewise they will be bound and killed.

Compelled by previous wickedness,

they are bound with the five bonds.

Their hopes also will be cut off.

They will be pierced with pangs of pain.

When their consciousness is ceased,

pitifully they will lament:

'Who will be my protector?

Gold and silver and crystal - all my wealth I will offer.

I will even become a servant.

In the way that servants do,

I will perform any and all tasks.'

We don't need kingdoms or property,

nor either wealth or even grain.

We do not need our own body;

those who act badly are not freed.

This being so, O Elder,

we do not have need for food.

Those who eat delicious foods,

even kings, will also die.

Those who drink the best of drinks,

deva sons, will also die.

Food and drink prepared with skill and of many varied flavors,

are placed before the king, and then,

with his tongue, he touches them.

Then kings become attached to tastes and commit not minor wicked acts,

attached to transitory tastes that are lacking in essence.

We do not have need of drink,

nor do we have need of food.

What we need is such Dharma itself that liberates us from suffering.

In the one who is released from bondage to craving, freed from bondage to delusions,

and fully freed from all bondage:

In that Buddha we take refuge.

We wish to go for refuge

to the great Sage who protects the world.

We also wish to go to prostrate to the one who is joyful for beings to behold.

Since we do not know your name,

please tell us your illustrious name."

Bhaishajya-séna said:

"You and all beings likewise

have the wish to hear the name.

Young beings in the billions

surround the Tathágata."

They said:

"You are a disciple of Buddha.

Your name is profoundly well renowned.

Similarly all beings

have the wish to hear your name."

He said:

"Bhaishajya-séna is my name.

I am the medicine of sentient beings.

The best of all the medicines,

that one I will teach to you - the one that pacifies all the sicknesses that have infected sentient beings.

The sickness of attachment is a great sickness.

Unbearable, it terrifies the world.

The sickness of ignorance is great and fierce, making one wander mindlessly.

Sentient beings go to hells,

and likewise, among pretas and animals.

These childish beings possessed by anger:

How could they be pacified?"

They said:

"By hearing this virtuous Dharma,

we will be freed from all suffering.

We are of childish mind and ignorant,

but after being freed from all suffering,

we abandoned doing wicked acts.

May we hear the gift of Dharma.

Having given up all wicked acts,

we gave up dreadful suffering, too.

May we swiftly see the Perfect Buddha,

the doctor who pacifies all sicknesses.

He is the king of physicians,

curing all those who suffer.

To pay homage to the Tathágata,

Elder, please do quickly go.

After prostrating, please speak our words to the Leader of the World.

Pacify fully this disease.

The whole body is fully ablaze.

Pacify this dreadful fire

that burns up and destroys our peace.

The burden of the body is a heavy burden,

an extremely fierce and sharp burden.

For us, who are overwhelmed with suffering,

Oath-bound Ascetic, have compassion.

Beings bear perpetually

the oppressive burden of anger and ignorance.

Not knowing how to be freed of the burden, they shoulder it time and time again.

Those who do not know the path of freedom and who do not see freedom's path,

though they are aware of death,

still this does not produce fear.

Thinking, 'I will never die,'

those who rest comfortably

are thoroughly confused.

Due to that, although they see their mother die, they are unaware.

Some do not recall their father,

continually oppressed by disease and disturbed by delusions and karma.

How in this case are we to eat?

Ignorant and worn out by suffering,

we are exhausted pointlessly.

Suffering like this of yours

arises on the basis of ignorance.

Discrimination, sensations and conditioned mental factors are a great fearful, heavy burden.

Due to craving, childish beings wander thoroughly, unaware of Dharma.

Surrounded by the burden of the body,

they are born into the world meaninglessly.

They need clean, exquisite clothes,

water to bathe in and lotions.

They will need delicious food that is gratifying to the body.

The ear likewise makes one seek out the five attractive musical instruments.

The eyes makes one attached to figures made of the seven precious substances.

The tongue also makes one search out all the delicious flavors.

The body makes one continually seek soft and light objects to touch.

The body attains a flesh-coupling,

even with pleasure, and from that,

this mindless body is produced.

Who would find pleasure in that?

In wearing very fine footwear,

therein my feet do find pleasure.

Yet when it comes the time to die,

these clothes and lotions offer no protection.

Since even the body is no protection,

no need to speak of clothes and lotion.

What is called 'human' is the body.

It will attain breath and great strength,

the power to listen and analyze.

In that, this body has great qualities.

Formerly I caroused and roamed always accompanied by horses and elephants.

Since I did not know the Dharma that liberates, how attached I was to wicked acts!

Since I did not know about future lives,

for my amusement, I had wickedness done.

Again and again I was born.

Again and again death came to me.

Again and again I saw sorrow,

thoroughly bound by lamentation.

I saw also my mothers' deaths.

I saw the deaths of my fathers,

of companions, sisters, children, wives.

Since all that is compounded is empty,

what being with a mind would be attached?

But with my mind captive to desire,

I thought them to be reliable.

I did not observe the peaceful Dharma.

There is no joy whatsoever in death.

Due to a mind obscured by desire,

I did not make offerings.

Thus desire is without equal in wickedness, and still it has not been turned away.

Mistaken fully, we were born.

Beings are endlessly mistaken.

Mistaken fully, we hear sounds,

holding on to what is not the holy Dharma.

We seek liberation and meditation.

We will not carry the burden of the body.

May we become the chief of beings - buddhas, teachers - for the sake of the world.

A buddha is mother and father of the world.

A buddha who reveals the path causes a rain of jewels to fall everywhere upon the earth.

Foolish beings do not know

of what sort the Dharma collection is.

One who dedicates their mind to enlightenment will actualize the Dharma collection.

All that is compounded is empty.

Empty too are riches and wealth.

When one sees as empty even oneself,

at that point, one has no hopes.

Elder, Bhaishajya-séna,

please listen to these words of ours.

For the sake of the bodhisattvas,

we ask you to go as a messenger.

Recalling all the faults of samsára,

bodhisattvas are not fatigued.

Endowed with effort and great austerity,

they will collect all good qualities.

Please go to where the Teacher is - the Teacher fully awakened into happiness, the Conqueror who is not even slightly tired.

For our sake, please go say to him:

'You have conquered Mara and

vanquished him despite his strength.

You quickly set ablaze the Dharma that supports and holds all sentient beings.'

Since we have not heard the Dharma by which we will become buddhas,

in order to benefit us,

Elder, we ask that you go quickly.

We have not seen the Tathágata,

endowed with thirty-two marks.

Until we do, we will not cross over.

Speaking so, we all wait respectfully."

Bhaishajya-séna said:

"Look above for a moment.

What is it you see up there?"

They looked above and there they saw three thousand and five hundred towering palaces in all,

remaining above, all around.

They were decorated exquisitely with seven gems and were well adorned with a latticework of jewels.

Inside were flowers in full bloom,

and divine incense wafted down.

At that, they questioned the Elder:

"What is this apparition here of towering palaces,

with jeweled latticework

and lotus filaments all throughout?"

Bhaishajya-séna said:

"These places are for you.

Go so that you may see the Buddha.

Bow down to the one who is chief,

who has passed beyond this world,

to the one who illuminates the world."

They said:

"But we know no path to him,

nor is the Tathágata seen.

Since we do not know the path,

where shall we go to prostrate?"

Bhaishajya-séna said:

"Just as space is without bounds and is not susceptible to being touched,

so it is not possible to go

to bow before the Teacher,

who gives forth nectar.

In just the way Mount Suméru abides,

so too is the Teacher in his abode.

Mount Suméru is susceptible to being measured, as is the depth of the great ocean.

It is possible to count all the specks of dust found in a galaxy of one billion worlds,

but there is no knowing the arising of buddhas.

Bodhisattvas from the ten directions bow before him who illuminates the world"

They said:

"Protector of the world, look at us!

Please fulfill our wishes.

We bow down from our hearts

to the Teacher, and from that may we attain the fruit."

Bhaishajya-séna said:

"The Teacher has no attachment to scents; none to garlands or to lotions.

He upholds the cause of sentient beings,

and by him they will be set free from conditioned existence.

Those who have subdued their minds and gone for refuge to Buddha will not be engaged in battle by the supremely terrifying Mara.

They will not come under the power of death.

They will quickly attain dhárani.

Their minds will be inspired with pure faith, and after that, they will see the Teacher."

Then the Blessed One, the Tathágata whose voice is delightful like the sound of a kalavinka sparrow, displayed a smile. At that, the bodhisattva, the great being Bhaishajya-séna arose from his seat, bowed down towards the Blessed One with palms joined and said to the

Blessed One, "Blessed One, 84,000 light rays have come forth from your face, and this galaxy of a billion world systems and everything in it is suffused with these light rays. All thirty-two great hells are suffused with them, too. They are also illuminating thirty-two deva realms. These light rays are of a great variety of colors, such as green, yellow, red, white, crimson, crystal and silver. These light rays, after emerging from the face of the Blessed One, did everything to bring about the happiness of the sentient beings of the galaxy of a billion world systems, and after that they returned, circumambulated the

Blessed One seven times and disappeared into the Blessed One's crown. What is the reason for displaying the smile that brought this about? What were the conditions?"

Then the bodhisattva, the great being Bhaishajya-séna also said to the Blessed One, "Blessed One, if an opportunity were afforded to me, I would like to ask a certain matter of the Blessed One, the

Tathágata, the Arhat, the Perfect and Complete Buddha."

He said this, and the Blessed One said the following to the bodhisattva, the great being Bhaishajya-séna: "Bhaishajya-séna, ask whatever you wish and I will satisfy your mind with an explanation of whatever is asked."

He said: "Blessed One, after those 30,000 million young beings who arose had understood the teaching of the subtle Dharma of the

Tathágata, they said to the old beings: 'You old ones do not know the

Dharma. You are constantly attached to what is not Dharma and to non-virtue.' When they say these subtle things that are unpleasant, speak out unreservedly and thus inflict harm, Blessed One, why were they uttering these pleasant and attractive words?"

The Blessed One said: "Bhaishajya-séna, do you not know why they speak these words? They speak things that are tender and extremely pleasant for the Tathágata. Because they have heard the Dharma,

Bhaishajya-séna, on account of that, they will understand the meaning of all the Dharma. They will become endowed with all good qualities. They will all realize dháranis. From today on, they will abide on the ten grounds. Today they will sound the great Dharma drum. Today they will become endowed with the attributes of the great Dharma. Bhaishajya-séna, do you see these towering palaces?"

He said: "Blessed One, I see them. Sugata, I see them."

The Blessed One said: "Bhaishajya-séna, on this very day, these young beings will be seated inside these towering palaces and will then attain a clear realization of the Dharma. On this very day, they will bring about the completion of all the virtuous dharmas. Today they will beat the great Dharma drum. Today many classes of devas will be made to attain a direct realization of the Dharma. Even many sentient beings of the hell realm dwelling in wrong realms, having heard the teaching of the Tathágata's wisdom, will overcome cyclic existence and be victorious. At that time all 90,000 million old beings will attain the fruit of stream-entry, and they will all become endowed with the Dharma, too. Bhaishajya-séna, they will all completely cast away all sufferings. Bhaishajya-séna, they will all accomplish the viewing of the Tathágata. Bhaishajya-séna, they will all become endowed with the sound of the great Dharma. Bhaishajya-séna, look in the four directions."

The bodhisattva, the great being Bhaishajya-séna looked everywhere in the four directions, and from the east, there came as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in fifty million Ganges rivers. From the south, there came as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in sixty million Ganges rivers. From the west, there came as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in seventy million Ganges rivers. From the north, there came as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in eighty million Ganges rivers. From below, there came as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in ninety million Ganges rivers, and from above, there came as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in 100 million

Ganges rivers. After they had arrived, they sat down to one side before the Blessed One.

They were seated to one side, and the bodhisattva, the great being

Bhaishajya-séna said to the Blessed One, "Blessed One, what are the black forms and red forms visible in the sky above?"

He said: "Bhaishajya-séna, do you not know what the black forms and red forms seen in the sky are? The Tathágata knows. Bhaishajya-séna, this is Mara. Bhaishajya-séna, do you wish to see?"

He said: "Blessed One, I wish to. Sugata, I wish to."

The Blessed One said, "Bhaishajya-séna, bodhisattvas equaling the grains of sand in 100 million Ganges rivers have arrived."

He said: "Blessed One, what is the reason for the arrival of these bodhisattvas? What are the conditions?"

"Bhaishajya-séna, the young beings are the condition by which all sentient beings will now become endowed with the Dharma of meditation. Bhaishajya-séna, do you see the sentient beings with various forms who have arrived here and the various blessings that have arrived here through supernatural powers?"

He said: "I see as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in 100 million Ganges rivers and as many bodhisattvas as grains of sand in hundreds of thousands of myriad millions of Ganges rivers abiding through supernatural powers, and they abide with many forms, many colors and many shapes. Those bodhisattvas abide in the abode of the Arya Dharma. I have seen those bodhisattvas abiding in places of Dharma together with their retinues."

After the Blessed One had spoken thus, the bodhisattva, the great being Sarva-shúra, the bodhisattva, the great being Bhaishajya-séna, and all the young and old bodhisattvas, along with the entire assembly and the world with its devas, humans, ásuras and gandhárvas rejoiced, and praised the speech of the Blessed One.

The Noble Sangháta Sutra Dharma-paryáya is completed.

Original Colophon:

Translated and edited by the Indian master Jina-mí­tra and Dana-shí­la and the chief editor Lotsawa Pande Yeshe de, and established after correcting with new language.

Colophon:

This English translation from the Tibetan was prepared by Venerable Damchö Diana Finnegan (Lhundup Damchö), after reading the text with Venerable Geshe Lhundub Sopa and then comparing the Tibetan with the Sanskrit. In addition to the invaluable assistance from Geshe Sopa, this translation was checked against the Tibetan with occasional reference to the Chinese translations by Shenghai (Roy) Li, whose copious suggestions vastly improved this translation. Painstaking proofreading and copy-editing was offered in the final stage by Venerable Gyalten Mindrol and Sara Blumenthal, FPMT Education Department. Many others generously contributed to this text, but all faults are the translator's. The translation was completed on January 25, 2006, in the home of Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Aptos, California. This edition was finalized, with typographical errors corrected, on August 31st, 2006, in Visakhapatnam, India.

Translator's Dedication:

May the kindness of the Buddha, as embodied within this wondrous sutra, fill the hearts of all beings and turn them all to virtue. Just as this Sangháta Sutra has existed for many centuries until now in the world only to benefit, may the Buddhadharma remain for eons more, to bring comfort and aid to all.

Appendix A A Brief History of the Sangháta Sutra

The Sangháta Sutra comes into your hands through a long chain of interdependent arisings - a chain that was very nearly broken. For many centuries, the Sangháta Sutra was actively recited, copied, translated, and treasured both in India and across central Asia. However, all this activity seems to have stopped some time after the tenth century ce, when the Sangháta fell into obscurity.

The Sangháta was first written down in Sanskrit. As with all other

Buddhist sutras, it is assumed to have circulated orally for quite a long time before it was committed to paper - or, in the case of the

Sangháta, to palm leaves and birch bark, the medium on which most manuscripts were written in India.

After circulating in Sanskrit for some time, the Sangháta was subsequently translated into all the major languages of Buddhist communities to the north, northwest and east of India: Khotanese, Chinese, Sogdian and Tibetan. This translation work took place over the course of the fifth through tenth centuries ce1. There are no known commentaries on the Sangháta, but the sutra is mentioned by name and quoted by the Indian pandit Abhíyíragupta in his twelfth-century com.

Historical research and the presence of large numbers of manuscripts indicate that the Sangháta was a particularly important text for Buddhist communities in the northwest of India and central Asia until at least the eighth century.

It is unclear why or exactly when the Sangháta slipped out of view. Some time early in the second millennium, the original Sanskrit was lost altogether. Translations were preserved in the Tibetan and Chinese canons, and fragments of translations also survived in a number of central Asian languages. For many centuries, the Sangháta sat silently in these canonical collections, preserved in physical form, but unread, unrecited, and uncelebrated.

The first step in the chain of events that brought the Sangháta back into active circulation took place in the 1930s, in the very northernmost reaches of Pakistan. Villagers living in a dry and mountainous place called Gilgit stumbled across a buried stupa housing a collection of Sanskrit manuscripts written on fragile and crumbling birch-bark scrolls. At first, the villagers left the stupa undisturbed, recognizing its sacred nature.

However, when some very ancient manuscripts began to appear for sale in nearby markets, the British colonial administrators of the area took notice, investigated the source, and ordered an archeological excavation of the stupa site. The excavation revealed a cache of Sanskrit Buddhist scriptures that rocked the world of Buddhist scholars. Included in this priceless collection were Sanskrit versions of many of the best known scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism - the Diamond

Cutter Sutra, the Eight-Thousand Verse Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra. But of all the texts preserved in this stupa, excavators found more copies of the Sangháta Sutra than of any other text. The dates of these manuscripts indicate that the Sangháta held a crucial place in the hearts and practice of Buddhists over the course of many centuries.

After the manuscripts were unearthed, Western scholars began studying the previously lost Sanskrit version. A German scholar named Oskar von Hinüber prepared a critical edition of those manuscripts, and based on that an edition of the Sangháta Sutra was later published by Giotto Canevascini, a European scholar specializing in linguistic analysis of Buddhist texts. Then, in the 1990s, while American scholars Karen Derris and Ed Murphy were graduate students at Harvard,

Murphy presented a copy of the text to their professor, Charles Hallisey. Professor Hallisey in turn assigned it to a class attended by an American Buddhist nun named Damchö, who prepared the translation you now have in your hands.

In the summer of 2002, that nun was fortunate enough to be able to offer a copy of the text to Lama Zopa Rinpoche. The very first day Rinpoche read the text, Rinpoche made a commitment to write the entire Sangháta Sutra by hand in gold, and decided to place this handwritten text in the 500-foot Maitreya statue being built in India.

Rinpoche also decided to have the Sangháta translated into many languages. Since that day, at Rinpoche's urging, the Sangháta Sutra has indeed been translated into English, French, Spanish, Italian, Vietnamese, and Japanese.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche sought out the oral transmission of the text, and received it from Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche in August, 2003. Lama

Zopa Rinpoche has since passed that transmission on to students worldwide. Rinpoche has commissioned translations of the text, sponsored hundreds of copies, assigned recitation of the Sangháta Sutra as a weekly practice, and requested thousands of recitations of the text for various purposes - including on the anniversary of September

11, and for victims of the tsunami in 2004. It is precisely Rinpoche's loving concern for his students and for sentient beings that has propelled the Sangháta Sutra back into an important position in the lives of many Buddhist practitioners.

The story of the Sangháta begins with the fullness of the Buddha's compassion for all of us sentient beings, for whom the teaching was first left in the world. Later, through the painstaking effort and loving care of generations of practitioners, reciters, scribes, and translators, the presence of the Sangháta in the world was preserved over the many centuries that separate us from the first moment of its utterance. For a time, it lay dormant in the canons in only its physical form, until the interest of academic scholars drew attention to the sutra's content. Most recently, it has been the transformational involvement of Lama Zopa Rinpoche that has brought this wondrous text back into the light of day and into the light of so many practitioners'

hearts.

Endnote:

The very first translation that we know of was from Sanskrit into Khotanese sometime before the middle of the fifth century. The Sangháta Sutra was translated into Chinese from Sanskrit twice, first by an Indian prince named Upashúnya in the sixth century ce, and then again around the end of the tenth century by Danapála, a prolific translator from India working in China.

The Sangháta was translated into Tibetan in the ninth century ce.

Appendix B

Guide to Reciting the Sangháta Sutra

When we recite this text, we are offering our bodies to allow the

Sangháta Sutra to manifest in the world in its fullest form: as physical sound, as verbal expression and as mental content.

Reciting the Sangháta Sutra can be seen as an offering to Buddha and to the Sangháta itself, as a form of purification, and as a way to bring all the benefits of the sutra to ourselves and to others who may be within earshot. The Sangháta Sutra can be recited any time and any place, but following some basic guidelines can help make the activity more beneficial and enjoyable.

Some Basic Guidelines

The Sangháta Sutra can be recited in any language. (It is currently available in eleven languages, with more on the way.)

There is no prerequisite for reciting. No initiation, transmission, teachings or permission are required. Anyone can recite at any time.

Recite out loud. The idea in reciting is to reproduce the sutra with our body, speech and mind. For that, reciting requires us to use our vocal chords, even if we recite quietly. However, it is especially important for the sound to be audible if pets or other animals are within earshot. The sutra itself describes vast benefits received by those whose ear the sutra reaches, even without understanding.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche explains, "If you don't read the sutra out loud, then you're cheating yourself and missing the chance to create the merit of speech."

It is good to place your palms together in prostration while reciting, as you might if Buddha were present addressing you directly. This is especially beneficial to do at those points where the Sangháta describes the benefits of placing palms together in prostration to the

Sangháta.

People usually find it most effective to recite the sutra all at once, rather than doing partial recitations or dividing the recitation into different sessions. However, since there are tremendous benefits to reciting even one verse from the Sangháta, when it is not possible to do complete recitations, it is still extremely beneficial to recite when one can, as many pages as one can at each time.

Many people who have recited with others report they find this more powerful than reciting alone. Indeed, the merit generated by group activities far outweighs the merit we can generate individually. When we join with others in positive activities, we all share in the larger pool of merit created through the group action. Thus reciting with friends (or strangers, or 'enemies'!) is highly recommended.

Basic Practice for Reciting (or Reading)

There are specific ways to set the motivation when reciting sutras, and there are also general ways to motivate for any virtuous practice.

First, the general: Before you begin reciting, sit quietly, settle your mind, and then let your heart fill with love and compassion towards all other sentient beings. With a wish to be able to offer them all that would bring them peace and lasting happiness, and to take away all their sufferings, make a determination to dedicate your recitation to developing the inner qualities to allow you to do that.

Next, these three contemplations are recommended for whenever you recite teachings of the Buddha in the Mahayana tradition:

Think that you are reciting the Sangháta to all the beings in the place where you are, and also to all the beings in the six realms.

In fact, we are always surrounded by others, so you can extend your thoughts to all those in the surrounding areas, countries and continents, and visualize that you are reciting directly to them, for their benefit.

Think that you are receiving the words directly from the Buddha.

Use your imagination to generate a strong sense that the Buddha is actually teaching you the sutra directly.

Think that as you hear each word recited, the meaning is actualized in your mind and you gain perfect understanding.

Begin by generating these visualizations, and then as you recite, from time to time you can silently refresh the visualizations.

Colophon:

This guide to recitation was taken from www.sanghatasutra.net. Reprinted with permission. See next section for a more extensive version of this practice from Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Appendix C

Extensive Practice

for Reciting or Reading the Sangháta

Lama Zopa Rinpoche has outlined the following extensive practice, which can be done when either reciting or reading the holy Arya

Sangháta Sutra.

Before reciting or reading:

Taking Refuge and Generating Bodhichitta

I go for refuge until I am enlightened

To the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly.

By my practice of giving and other perfections,

May I become a buddha to benefit all sentient beings. (3x)

Seven-Limb Prayer

Reverently, I prostrate with my body, speech, and mind;

I present clouds of every type of offering, actual and imagined;

I declare all my negative actions accumulated since beginningless time

And rejoice in the merit of all holy and ordinary beings.

Please, remain until the end of cyclic existence

And turn the wheel of Dharma for living beings.

I dedicate my own merits and those of all others to the great

enlightenment.

Short Mandala Offering

This ground, anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers,

Adorned with Mount Meru, four continents, the sun and the moon:

I imagine this as a buddha-field and offer it.

May all living beings enjoy this pure land!

Special Request for the Three Great Purposes

I prostrate and go for refuge to the guru and the Three Precious Gems: Please bless my mind. I am requesting you to immediately pacify all the wrong conceptions, from incorrect devotion to the guru up to the subtle dual view of the white, red, and dark visions, that exist in my mind and in the minds of all mother sentient beings.

I am requesting you to immediately generate all the right realizations from guru devotion up to enlightenment in my mind and in the minds of all mother sentient beings.

I am requesting you to pacify all outer and inner obstacles to actualizing the entire graduated path to enlightenment in my mind and in the minds of all mother sentient beings. (3x)

IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI

Then recite this mantra to multiply the merit of reciting the sutra by a million:

TAYATHA OM DHARE DHARE BENDHARE SVAHA (7x)

While reciting or reading the sutra:

There are two ways to visualize while reading sutras, and both can be done at the same time:

Visualize that Buddha is giving you the teaching directly while you read the sutra, and you actualize realizations in your heart while you are reciting.

When reciting, visualize that you are giving the teachings to sentient beings as you read the sutra out loud. Since dogs, cats, birds, spirits, and other beings can hear you as you recite, you can invite the spirits and devas to listen as well. The sutra is medicine for the mind's delusions, where all sufferings come from. When you read the sutra, visualize that you are giving teachings to the beings of all six realms, offering them the opportunity to actualize the path and be liberated from their delusions, defilements, karma and suffering.

As you recite or read, and when you have finished, visualize that you and all beings - the hell beings, animals and so on - are purified by unfathomable numbers of nectar beams coming from unfathomable numbers of bodhisattvas. On this basis, visualize clearly that you and all the beings receiving teachings are generating extraordinary bliss and emptiness.

After you finish:

When you finish reading the sutra, visualize that the sentient beings you have been reciting the sutra to are all liberated from the causes of suffering. Their causes of delusions are purified, and they all become enlightened.

Dedicate the merit, and then rejoice! Reciting sutras for these extensive benefits is how the bodhisattva Samantabhadra practiced, using extensive visualizations.

Colophon:

These instructions come from Lama Zopa Rinpoche, as explained to Venerable Thubten Wongmo in February of 2005. They were edited for publication at www.

sanghatasutra.net. Used with permission.

May the kindness of the Buddha, as embodied within this wondrous sutra, fill the hearts of all beings and turn them all to virtue. Just as this Sangháta Sutra has existed for many centuries until now in the world only to benefit, may the Buddhadharma remain for eons more, to bring comfort and aid to all.

May the supreme jewel bodhichitta

That has not arisen, arise and grow;

And may that which has arisen not diminish,

But increase more and more.

Foundation for the Preservation

of the Mahayana Tradition

The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) is a dynamic worldwide organization devoted to education and public service.

Established by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa Rinpoche, FPMT touches the lives of beings all over the world. In the early 1970s, young Westerners inspired by the intelligence and practicality of the Buddhist approach made contact with these lamas in Nepal and the organization was born. Now encompassing over 150 Dharma centers, projects, social services and publishing houses in thirty-three countries, we continue to bring the enlightened message of compassion, wisdom, and peace to the world.

We invite you to join us in our work to develop compassion around the world!

Visit our web site at www.fpmt.org to find a center near you, a study program suited to your needs, practice materials, meditation supplies, sacred art, and online teachings. We offer a membership program with benefits such as Mandala magazine and discounts at the online Foundation Store.

And check out some of the vast projects Lama Zopa Rinpoche has developed to preserve the Mahayana tradition and help end suffering in the world today.

Lastly, never hesitate to contact us if we can be of service to you.

FPMT, Inc.

1632 SE 11th Avenue

Portland, OR 97214 USA

(503) 808-1588

www.fpmt.org

FPMT Education Services

Education Services at FPMT International Office offers a vast range of

Buddhist study programs, prayer books, and practice materials from the Gelugpa lineage. Our study programs meet the needs of beginners through to the most advanced students, from courses introducing Buddhism to the study of Tibetan and the highest philosophical texts.

As the Dharma takes root in the West, we make clear translations of Buddhist texts, prayers, and teachings available through our study programs and publications. We work with translators around the world to provide texts in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, and many others.

Working in collaboration with the Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive, we publish

Buddhist prayer books, sadhanas, retreat materials, and practice texts, many with commentary by Lama Thubten Yeshe and Lama Zopa

Rinpoche. We also offer DVDs and CDs of prayers and teachings that inspire and inform. Whatever your interest, FPMT Education Services provides the materials you need to actualize the Buddhist path.

FPMT, Inc.

1632 SE 11th Avenue

Portland, OR 97214 USA

(503) 808-1588

www.fpmt.org