Which Buddha attracts you the most?
Chenrezig (Tib: spyan ras gzigs; སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས།) or Avalokiteshvara (Skt), is the Buddha of Compassion. Possibly the most famous and well-loved deity across all schools of Buddhism, Chenrezig manifested in various forms to benefit sentient beings.
Benefits
- Calms the mind
- Relieves anxiety
- Cultivates compassion, wisdom and confidence
- Prevents one from entering the lower realms
- Fulfills one’s wish for happiness
- Bestows celestial protection
- Any sentient being that comes into close contact will be blessed
Prayer
White in colour, untarnished by faults,
Amitabha Buddha embellishing the crown of your head,
You look upon living beings with overwhelming compassion,
To Chenrezig I humbly bow down.
Mantra:
OM MANI PADME HUNG
Vajrapani (Tib: phyag-na rDo-rje; ཕྱག་ན་རྡོ་རྗེ།) is the physical representation of the power of all the Buddhas and is practiced in all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
He represents the energy of the enlightened mind, which is the energy to break through the deluded mind, and his mantra is the essence of this quality.
Benefits
- Gives protection
- Clears inner and outer obstacles
Prayer
The combined power and energy of all the Buddhas,
Supreme holder of the treasure of the Secret Teachings,
Subjugator of all maras and obscurers without exception;
I praise and pay homage to Vajrapani
Mantra:
OM BENZAPANI HUNG
Vajrasattva (Tib: rdo rje sems dpa’; རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ) is a male meditational deity within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition who symbolizes the inherent purity of all the Buddhas. Vajrasattva is widely practiced to purify one’s negative actions.
Benefits
- Purifies even the heaviest negative karmas
- Shortens the duration of our current difficulties
- Achieves a better rebirth
Prayer
The negative karma I have accumulated from beginningless time is as extensive as the ocean. Although I know that each negative action leads to countless eons of suffering, it seems that I am constantly striving to create nothing but negative actions.
Even though I try to avoid non-virtue and practise positive acts, day and night without respite, negative and ethical downfalls come to me like rainfall. I lack the ability to purify these faults so that no trace of them remains.
With these negative imprints still in my mind, I could suddenly die and find myself falling to an unfortunate rebirth. What can I do?
Please Vajrasattva, with your great compassion, guide me from such misery!
Mantra:
OM BENZASATTO HUM
Manjushri (Tib: ‘jam dpal dbyangs; འཇམ་དཔལ་དབྱངས།) is the Buddha of Wisdom and revered as the patron of the sciences and arts. Centuries after people first heard of his holy name, Manjushri remains a deity beloved by Buddhists of all traditions.
Today, his practice has spread throughout Asia and to most parts of the world. Reverence for this wisdom-granting deity is so prevalent that his image is a mainstay in most Mahayana and Vajrayana temples.
Benefits
- Increases intelligence and memory
- Gains insight, intuition and wisdom
- Improves debate and communication skills
- Achieves perfect Enlightenment
Prayer
Obeisance to my Guru and Protector, Manjushri,
Who holds to his heart a scriptural text
Symbolic of his seeing all things as they are,
Whose intelligence shines forth like the sun,
Unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance,
Who teaches in sixty ways,
With the loving compassion of a father for his only child,
All creatures caught in the prison of samsara,
Confused in the darkness of their ignorance,
overwhelmed by their suffering.
You, whose dragon-thunder-like proclamation of Dharma
Arouses us from the stupor of our delusions
And frees us from the iron chains of our karma;
Who wields the sword of wisdom hewing down
Suffering wherever its sprouts appear,
Clearing away the darkness of ignorance;
You, whose princely body is adorned with
The one hundred and twelve marks of a Buddha,
Who has completed the stages achieving
The highest perfection of a Bodhisattva,
Who has been pure from the beginning,
I bow down to you, O Manjushri;
With the brilliance of your wisdom, O compassionate one,
Illuminate the darkness enclosing my mind,
Enlighten my intelligence and wisdom,
So that I may gain insight into the Buddha’s words
And the texts that explain them.
Mantra:
OM AH RA PA TSA NA DHI
Shakyamuni (Tib: rgyal ba shAkya thub pa; རྒྱལ་བ་ཤཱཀྱ་ཐུབ་པ།), the founder of Buddhism, is popularly known as the historical Buddha of this aeon and the compassionate one who turned the Wheel of Dharma in this fortunate time.
Benefits
- Removes obstacles and hindrances
- Purifies negative karma
- Accumulates vast amounts of merit
Prayer
To the Guru, founder,
Bhagawan, Tathagatha, Arhat,
Perfectly completed Buddha,
Glorious Conqueror Shakyamuni Buddha,
I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge.
Please grant me your blessings.
Mantra:
OM MUNI MUNI SHAKYAMUNI YE SOHA
Namgyalma (Tibetan: rnam rgyal ma; རྣམ་རྒྱལ་མ།), also known as ‘Ushnisha Vijaya‘ in Sanskrit, is one of the three Long Life deities commonly practiced within the Gaden Nyengyu tradition.
She is a special emanation of the Supreme Healer Vairocana. Engaging in Namgyalma’s practice or reciting her mantra can bestow the practitioner with infinite benefits regardless if they are Buddhists or not.
Benefits
- Purifies karmic obstructions
- Reverts fixed karma
- Increases one’s lifespan
- Eliminates various illnesses
- Promotes harmony between husband and wife
- Provides safety from physical harm
- Pacifies calamities
- Increases wisdom
- Blesses beings in the three lower realms
- Attainment of complete Enlightenment
Prayer
Glorious Goddess, of autumn-moon-like colour,
With beautiful, peaceful, three-faced, eight-armed form,
Granting supreme life with Gnosis beyond measure!
Victorious lady (Vijaya), homage and praise to you!
Mantra:
OM DROOM SOHA
Tara (Tib: rje btsun sgrol ma; རྗེ་བཙུན་སྒྲོལ་མ།) is known by many names, amongst them the “Savioress” and the “Mother of Liberation”.
She is a universal mother who nurtures and protects all sentient beings, making her the most beloved and popular goddess within Tibetan Buddhism.
Benefits
- Increases life energy and good health
- Increases one’s creativity
- Swift assistance
- Recovery from diseases
- Success in career and business
- Improves finances
- Helps childless couples to conceive
- Protection from dangerous situations
- Quick path to developing wisdom and compassion
Prayer
OM,
I prostrate to the Goddess foe destroyer, liberating Lady Tara,
Homage to TARE, saviouress heroine,
With TUTTARE dispelling all fears,
Granting all benefits with TURE,
To her with sound SOHA, I bow.
Mantra:
OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA
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