A prayer to Open our Mind

The Great Sun of Wisdom Prayer

Namo Buddhas of all directions,
please open my mind.

Namo Bodhisattvas of the ten Bhumis,
please awaken my love.

Namo Gurus of the three Dzogchen Lineages,
please awaken my wisdom.

Namo Dewas of the four Tantras,
please awaken my compassion.

Namo Dakinis of the three realms,
please awaken my power.

The beginning prayer of the Learning Practice of the Buddha Path gives us the opportunity to open our hearts and minds to the innate love, wisdom, compassion, and power within.

In order to call up the positive energies within us, we call on deities, yidams, enlightened masters, etc. Each verse shall be briefly explained in order to aid in the prayer and its visualizations.

Namo, as discussed before, is Sanskrit for “I pay my respect and homage to…”

Namo Buddhas of all directions, please open my mind. In this first line, we are calling all Buddhas of all directions to please open our minds. Buddhas here refers to all those fully awakened beings. Their presence is always with us. They are always surrounding us, always protecting us, and always guiding us. Traditionally, whenever there is a reference to all directions, these directions are summarized as ten directions: the 4 coordinate directions (east, south, west, north or similarly front, right side, behind, left-side), the four directions in between (southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast), and finally above and below. In total this is 10. As an extension of this, each directional ‘point’ then expands into the 10 directions as well. Each one of these points further expands into 10 points and so forth. Finally, all space is filled unendingly with points of light representing the countless Buddhas.

Namo Bodhisattvas of the ten Bhumis, please awaken my love. Bodhisattvas are regarded as the ‘sons of Buddhas.’ Bodhisattvas are present within the human realm as well as appearing in other forms to assist with our awakening. A bodhisattva, briefly stated, is one who pledges to remain in the samsaric world to assist all sentient being to fully awaken.

The 10 Bhumis (Tib. sa bcu) are the traditional levels of Bodhisattva:
1. The Joyus (Tib. rab-tu dga’-ba, Skt. Pramudita)
2. The Immaculate (Tib. Dri ma med pa, Skt. Vimala)
3. The Light Giving / The Illuminating (Tib. ‘od byed, Skt. Prahakari)
4. The Radiant / The Flamming (Tib. ‘od phro ba, Skt. Arcismati)
5. The Hard to Conquer (Tib. sbyang dka’-ba, Skt. Sudurjaya)
6. The Manifest / The Presencing / The Face-to-Face (Tib. mngon-du byed-pa, Skt. Abhimukhi)
7. The Far-Reaching / The Far-Going (Tib. ring-du song-ba, Skt. Durangama)
8. The Unmoving / Immoveable / Unswerving (Tib. mi-gYo ba, Skt. Acala)
9. The Excellent Knower / Great Discernment (Tib. legs-pai blo-gros, Skt. Sadhumati)
10. The Cloud of Dharma (Tib. chos-kyi sprin-pa, Skt Dharmamegha)

Within Vajrayana, practices and teachings will often refer to the 5 Stages of Realization (also known as the 5 Paths). These 5 Paths are further broken down into 37-Branches and are an integral part of the Sutra Vehicle of Vajrayana. The 5 paths (and the 37-Branches) appear in the latter portion of the Sutra section of the Buddha Path and will be discussed there.

For now, it is interesting to note that a first level Bodhisattva is attained at the third level of the 5 Paths which is after the completion of 22 of the 37-branches. It is interesting that many great masters, in their biographies, are referred to as “clearly attaining the first level of Bodhisattva.” So being a Bodhisattva at even the first level is considered of great merit and results from great learning, contemplation, and training.

Namo Gurus of the three Dzogchen Lineages, please awaken my wisdom. Gurus refer to present and former lineage masters of the Dzogchen lineages. The three Dzogchen lineages refer to the Bodhisattva lineage, the Longchen Nyingthig lineage, and the Khadro Nyingthig lineage. Each carry a body of teachings, practices, and levels of realization unique to their respective path which all ultimately link at their final result of full awakening to our Buddha-Nature.

Namo Dewas of the four Tantras, please awaken my compassion. Dewas (Tib. lha) refer to wisdom deities associated with the 6,400,000 Tantras. These Tantras are initially divided into the four divisions, which are:

1. Active – Kriya Tantras. These are action based with emphasis on practices using our body and speech.
2. Elaborate – Ubhaya / Carya. Here is an interim stage where conduct is based on those of Active (the previous division) and View is based on Yoga-Tantra (the following division).
3. Yoga – Yoga-Tantras emphasize contemplative practices of meditation.
4. Supreme – These are the category of unsurpassable Tantras of skillful means and discriminative awareness. Further, this division is divided into Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga (Dzogchen).

Namo Dakinis of the three realms, please awaken my power. Dakinis are the female “sky-dancers” who carry out enlightened activity and guide us along our path of practice. The Three realms in which these sky-dancers inhabit are Desire Realm, Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. The Desire Realm includes the Six Realms which appear in other parts of the practices: God, Demi-Gods, Human, Animal, Hungry-Ghosts, and Hell realms. Form and Formless Realms are additional realms of Gods. Mind you, when Vajrayana Buddhist refer to being born in one of the God Realms, it is quite different from the concept of a permanent Heaven commonly found in Christianity and many other religious traditions. Within the God Realms, a being is still subject to impermanence and karmic residues which propel one back into other realms upon their deaths.

With the completion of this prayer, using our full attention and thinking, we have open our mind and the energies of love, wisdom, compassion and power to fully awakening.

As a guide to our training and learning, we call upon the powers and mind of Manjurshri in the following portion of the Learning Practice.