“The Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal had a vision in which she saw a manifestation of Guru Rinpoche called Immense Vajra Ocean in the direction to the east. Each of the pores in his body held one billion realms and in each realm there were one billion world systems. In each of these world systems there were one billion Guru Rinpoches, who each created one billion emanations. Each of these emanations carried out the activity of taming one billion disciples. She then saw the same display in each of the other directions and in the center.” [2]

Many devotees of the great Lotus Born Buddha chant the supplication for the fulfillment of wishes. So many people chant it daily, how is it possible for Guru Rinpoche to realize all of these aspirations? If you wonder, remember the vision of Dakini Yeshe Tosggyal. There are countless emanations of the Lotus Born Buddha. Do we take this literally? Not necessarily, literally, but there is no doubt that the scale of Guru Rinpoche’s teachings are vast, as large as a billion galaxies.

Guru Rinpoche’s supplications in Seven Chapters are recited daily at “Monasteries, retreat centers, and homes where Guru Rinpoche’s presence is invoked ring daily with the sounds of these supplications.” [1]

They remain a vital and living spiritual legacy from the great Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born. Perhaps the best known of the Seven Supplications is “The Supplication for the Spontaneous Fulfillment of Wishes, a text that was revealed by treasure revealer Tulku Zongpo Drakpa, and translated by Rikzin Godem Chen (1337-1408) into Tibetan.

It is said that the faithful supplication of Guru Rinpoche with this supplication can bring the fulfillment of wishes.

The Supplication for the Spontaneous Fulfillment of Wishes

“Namo Guru!

When Master Lotus-Born was about to depart for the southwest land of the cannibal demons, he arrived at Goung-tong. There, Son of Heaven Mutri Tsepo prostrated before the Master and circumambulated him. He touched the Master’s foot to his head, then clutched the edge of the Master’s robe. Tears welled up in his eyes and he wept as he addressed these mournful words to the Master:

Alas, Guru Rinpoche!

In the final five hundred years

My family’s home is established here

At Mong-youl, on the Goung-tong plain,

Beside the range of snow mountains.

If we lords lose rank, find suffering,

How pitiful, Tibetan kings!

To whom can my family turn!?

 

Wars and battles: the nation’s life.

Hills and dales are with bandits rife.

If hermitages empty stand,

No time for practice through the land,

Both the masters and their patrons

Will be totally disheartened.

To whom can the future faithful turn!?”

 

The woeful verses continue, with terrible descriptions of sickness, famine, and demons who plague the Tibetans. Finally, he collapses into a faint. The Logus Born revived the king, and gave  exhorts him: “My compassion responds quickly and is very potent. It will appear at that time. Pray continually to me!”

He gives him the most famous and popular of supplications, for the Spontaneous Fulfilment of Wishes:

E Ma Ho!

In the western Blissful Pure Land,

Buddha Infinite Light’s compassionate blessing stirred

To bless manifest enlightenment, Lotus Born,

Who came to this world to aid the beings of Tibet

Compassionate one, who unceasingly aids the world,

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously

From King Trisong Detsen

Until the end of the royal lineage of Buddhist kings,

You bless each ruler continuously,

Sole friend of Tibet’s religious kings.

Compassionate one who lovingly protects spiritual sovereigns,

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me-

Grant Grant my wish spontaneously.

Your body subdues cannibal spirits in the southwest

While your compassion turns toward Tibet.

Glorious leader of sentient beings lost in ignorance,

You skillfully guide beings with deep-rooted emotions.

Compassionate one whose loving affection never ceases,

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me-Grant Grant my wish spontaneously.

In evil times, when degeneration reaches its depths,

You will come to Tibet at dawn and dusk,

Riding the sunlight’s brilliant rays.

On the tenth days of the waxing and waning moons you’ll visibly appear.

Compassionate one who works forcefully for others’ benefit,

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me-

Grant my wish spontaneously.

In the degenerate time of conflict, the final five hundred years,

All sentient beings’ five poisonous emotions will coarsen.

When those poisons churn within me,

Be loving toward me, Guru!

Compassionate one, who leads the faithful to higher realms,

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When I am surrounded by hordes

Ready to destroy Buddhist insitutions,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, circled by gods and demons’ eight groups,

You’ll turn back the ruthless armies

Master Lotus Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When disease strikes sentient beings’ illusory form,

Bringing overwhelming intense pain,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Inseparable from the Medicine Buddha of Oddiyana,

You’ll surely dispel these obstacles and ensure that my life does not end.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When the elements rise as enemies and the earth is polluted,

Bringing danger of sickness and famine,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Divine Wealth God of Oddiyana with your assembly,

You’ll surely dispel hunger, thirst, and poverty.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When destined persons reveal treasures for beings’ benefit,

Armed with the fierce confidence of having kept their commitments guilelessly,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, inseparable from the deity,

Your children will surely retrieve their father’s wealth.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When I wander in hidden, densely forested, isolated regions

And raging blizzards block my way,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana with your circle of powerful local deities,

You’ll surely guide practitioners on the path

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grand my wish spontaneously.

When I encounter wild animals, such as tigers, leopards, bears, or poisonous snakes,

In the fearful wilderness on open plains,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana with ging warriors and guardians,

You’ll surely chase savage beasts away.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When obstacles of the elements — earth, water, fire, or wind —

Threaten to destroy this illusory body of mine,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, with the four elements’ gods,

You’ll surely calm the elements within themselves.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When I walk along a narrow, fearful passage

And murderous thieves and bandits threaten me,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, skilled in the four gestures,

You’ll surely destroy those savage men’s greed.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When I am surrounded by killers

Who will strike me with sharp weapons,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana with a vajra tent,

You’ll surely make the killers drop their weapons and flee.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When my life ends and death arrives,

And the intense suffering of my extinction torments me,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, emanation of Buddha Infinite Light,

You’ll surely lead me to Blissful Pure Land.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

Once this borrowed illusory body has died

And I suffer from delusionary appearances after death,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, compassionate knower of the three times,

You’ll surely free delusion within itself.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

At any time, when karma or conditions

Lead me to suffer from overt attachment to delusionary appearances,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

Master from Oddiyana, essence of the king of great bliss,

You’ll uproot my suffering caused by delusion.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

When suffering overwhelms the six realms’ beings

And, in particular, when Tibet’s ruler and people suffer,

To you I pray with no doubt or hesitation:

When I pray with intense faith, respect, and devotion,

Master from Oddiyana, continually watch over me with compassion.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

Master from Oddiyana, your disciples who wish to leave the wheel of life

Turn to you with single-minded devotion;

Like children calling their parents with heartfelt songs,

We pray to you during the six times of the day and night.

Master Lotus-Born, please bless me —

Grant my wish spontaneously.

 

 

 

 

NOTES

[1] Ngawang Zangpo. Guru Rinpoche: His Life and Times (p. 216). Kindle Edition.

[2] Padmasambhava Guru Rinpoche. Dakini Teachings . Rangjung Yeshe Publications. Kindle Edition.