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Puja and Prayers to Prepare the Land

We got the news on Monday morning: the bulldozers would arrive on Tuesday to construct the access road, the first step in building Gotami House. So Venerable Chodron announced that on Monday evening, June 9, we would do a special puja to prepare the land and the resident living beings for the activities to come.

A broad rainbow appeared across the valley to the east in the minutes before the puja began. Ven. Chodron had prepared three plates of tormas – ritual offerings – earlier in the day, and these were on the altar when the ceremony began.

In essence, the puja reinforced our intent for building Gotami House. We set our minds to recall that it isn’t built with a worldly motivation, but with a wish for the welfare and enlightenment of all beings. Venerable Chodron led us in what became a beautiful and extended prayer of aspiration:

“May all the animals—the moles, voles, and the ants, the wasps, bees, butterflies, snakes, ticks, spiders, worms, ground squirrels, and any of the animals and beings that could be harmed by the digging—live happily with their friends and relatives. May they be reborn in a precious human life and come back to the Abbey to ordain.

 “May all the devas, the nagas, the landlords of the site, and all those that have promised to protect the Dharma be happy and well and at peace. And may all the beings who might make trouble be satisfied by the blissful wisdom nectar we offer and go elsewhere.

“May everyone who has anything to do with project—contractors, engineers, plumbers, electricians, county officials, construction workers, benefactors, volunteers, everyone—be safe. May they have peaceful minds and take that peace home to bring compassion and love to their families. May everyone who works on the building be harmonious and have a virtuous mind. May we always be kind and generous with them, and may the Dharma seeds they plant here ripen in their developing wisdom and compassion.

“May the neighbors also be harmonious and may they have peaceful minds, and may their contact with the Abbey plant seeds of the Dharma in their minds.

“May all the virtuous aspirations be fulfilled of each and every person who makes a donation for Gotami House and the retreat cabin to be built.”

We prayed for the people who will stay in Gotami House. “In the future, many people will come to the Abbey. Some lay people will come and remain lay people. Some lay people will come and become monastics. Monastics will come and remain monastics. May they all practice the Dharma well and have a harmonious community.”

And then we made our dedications:

“Through this merit, may all beings be free of suffering. May the people who live here and those who wish to come here to train have no obstacles to that training. May many learned and kind teachers and senior monastics reside here. May the animals with whom we share the land—the moose, deer, elk, coyotes, birds, and bear—all stay on the land and be happy.

“May the forest and the trees and the land always be safe from fire and drought, may it always be healthy and flourish. May we always have timely rains and good harvest in the garden. May all the sentient beings and plants here be free from disease and infestation.

“May everybody who resides at the Abbey realize emptiness of inheritant existence and be free from the suffering we create for ourselves and others. May we realize that happiness comes from benefiting others, always remembering Lama Yeshe’s teaching that, “I am the servant of others.”

“May the Abbey’s Dharma outreach—Internet, teaching videos, Venerable's books, brochures, or any other word of the Dharma—plant seeds that will ripen in the enlightenment of all beings. If the land can bear it, may Geshe Wangdak Rinpoche’s vision of 10,000 monastics someday be realized, and may they spread the Dharma to the ten directions of the universe.

“May all sentient beings that never know the Abbey still benefit from its positive potential and bodhicitta.

“May all Venerable Chodron’s teachers be able to come many times, and may Serkong Rinpoche be able to come in any capacity – to teach, retreat, or just rest for a long time. May Ven. Chodron be able to do a long retreat in this very life and in this place, and may she gain many realizations and lead us to enlightenment.

“May His Holiness the Dalai Lama come and have time to relax, to take long walks in the forest, to enjoy the land and appreciate the beauty. May he teach the Dharma at the Abbey for the benefit of all beings.

“And may Je Rinpoche come many, many times . . . and Gotami, Upali, Ananda, and Chenresig.”

Then. with joy and determination, we closed with our daily dedication prayers.

Within minutes of our completion, a huge clap of thunder roared preceding a torrential downpour. A flurry of unseasonable snowflakes fell early the next morning, reminding us of Chenresig’s rain of compassion. After practice, we spotted a doe standing in the meadow on the site of Gotami House.

As the Abbey’s first monastic residence takes form, may these aspirations be actualized as well, leading to the liberation and enlightenment of all living beings.

 
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