Memorial Day Weekend Retreat: Good Karma
Friday, May 26-Monday, May 29
Venerable Thubten Chodron continues her series of teachings based on her book, Good Karma: How to Create the Causes of Happiness and Avoid the Causes of Suffering, a commentary on “The Wheel of Sharp Weapons” by Indian sage Dharmarakshita. She will likely review Chapters 1 – 3 before picking up the teaching where she left off last year in Chapter 4.
Watch teachings from 2021 and 2023 here
To join the Zoom discussion and meditation sessions, complete this registration form. You will receive the Zoom link by email. Online meditations and discussions are facilitated by senior lay students.
All Abbey programs are offered freely and your offerings are welcomed. Donate here.
Retreat Schedule (Pacific Time) and Links
Friday | |
6:00 | Teaching with Venerable Chodron on YouTube |
Saturday & Sunday | |
5:30–7:00 am | Meditation practice–Online on Zoom – You must register in advance to attend |
9:00–10:30 am | Teachings with Ven. Thubten Chodron on YouTube |
11:00–11:55 am | Meditation–Online on Zoom – You must register in advance to attend |
12:00–2:00 pm | Lunch Break |
2:30–4:00 pm | Discussion Groups–Online on Zoom – You must register in advance to attend |
4:30 – 6:00 pm | Teachings with Ven. Thubten Chodron on YouTube |
Monday | |
5:30–7:00 am | Meditation practice – Online on Zoom – You must register in advance to attend |
9:00-10:30 am | Teachings with Ven. Thubten Chodron on YouTube |
Retreat Recitations
Morning Shakyamuni Buddha Practice Recitations
We will lead you in the Shakyamuni Buddha meditation. These are the recitations.
Find the full practice text, complete with instructions on how to think at each step of the practice, along with audio of Ven. Thubten Chodron guiding the practice, here.
Visualization
Meditation leader: Imagine the qualities of love, compassion, wisdom, skillful means, and so on appearing in the physical form of the Buddha, in the space in front of you.
He sits on a throne, above which is an open lotus flower, and cushions of the sun and moon disks. His body is made of radiant, transparent light, as is the entire visualization. His body is golden and he wears the robes of a monastic. His right palm rests on his right knee and his left is in his lap, holding a bowl of nectar, which is medicine to cure our afflictions and other hindrances.
The Buddha’s face is very beautiful. His smiling, compassionate gaze looks at you with total acceptance and simultaneously encompasses all sentient beings. His eyes are long, narrow, and peaceful. His lips are red and his earlobes long.
Rays of light emanate from each pore of the Buddha’s body and reach every part of the universe. These rays carry countless miniature Buddhas, some going out to help beings, others dissolving back into the Buddha after having finished their work.
The Buddha is surrounded by the entire lineage of spiritual teachers, all meditational deities, innumerable other Buddhas, bodhisattvas, arhats, dakas, dakinis, and Dharma protectors. To the side of each spiritual mentor is an elegant table upon which are arranged volumes of Dharma teachings.
Surrounding you are all sentient beings appearing in human form, with your mother on your left and your father on your right. The people you do not get along with are in front of you. All of you are looking at the Buddha for guidance.
Abbreviated Recitations
Refuge
Namo Gurubhya. Namo Buddhaya. Namo Dharmaya. Namo Sanghaya. (3x or 7x)
Refuge and Bodhicitta
I take refuge until I have awakened in the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Sangha. By the merit I create by engaging in generosity and the other far-reaching practices, I will attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings. (3x)
The Four Immeasurables
May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings not be separated from sorrowless bliss.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.
Seven Limb Prayer
Reverently I prostrate with my body, speech and mind,
And present clouds of every type of offering, actual and mentally transformed.
I confess all my destructive actions accumulated since beginningless time,
And rejoice in the virtues of all holy and ordinary beings.
Please remain until cyclic existence ends,
And turn the wheel of Dharma for sentient beings.
I dedicate all the virtues of myself and others to the great awakening.
Mandala Offering
This ground, anointed with perfume, flowers strewn,
Mount Meru, four lands, sun and moon,
Imagined as a Buddha land and offered to you.
May all beings enjoy this pure land.
The objects of attachment, aversion and ignorance – friends, enemies and strangers, my body, wealth and enjoyments – I offer these without any sense of loss. Please accept them with pleasure, and inspire me and others to be free from the three poisonous attitudes.
Idam guru ratna mandala kam nirya tayami
Requesting Inspiration
Glorious and precious root guru, sit upon the lotus and moon seat on my crown. Guiding me with your great kindness, bestow upon me the attainments of your body, speech and mind.
The eyes through whom the vast scriptures are seen, supreme doors for the fortunate who would cross over to spiritual freedom, illuminators whose wise means vibrate with compassion, to the entire line of spiritual mentors I make request.
Shakyamuni Buddha’s Mantra
Tayata om muni muni maha muniye soha (21x)
Dedication of Merit
Due to this merit may we soon
Attain the awakened state of Guru Buddha,
That we may be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their sufferings.
May the precious bodhi mind
Not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline,
But increase forever more.
Long life prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama
In the snowy mountain pure land
You’re the source of good and happiness.
Powerful Tenzin Gyatso Chenresig,
May you stay until samsara ends.
Monastic Mind Motivation
Having a “monastic mind” benefits our Dharma practice whether we are monastics or lay practitioners.
A monastic mind is one that is humble, imbued with the Buddhist worldview, dedicated to cultivating mindfulness, clear knowing, love, compassion, wisdom, and other good qualities.
Being mindful of the kindness I have received from all sentient beings, I will relate to them with patience, kindness, and compassion.
I will be mindful of my precepts and values and will cultivate clear knowing of my thoughts and feelings, as well as how I speak and act.
I will take care to act and speak at suitable times and in appropriate ways, abandoning idle talk and disruptive movements.
With respect for others and confidence in my good qualities, I will be humble and easy for others to speak to.
In all these activities, I will endeavor to remember impermanence and the emptiness of inherent existence and to act with bodhicitta.
Recitations before & after teachings - Morning session
Before Teachings
Homage to Shakyamuni Buddha
To the teacher, endowed transcendent destroyer, one thus gone, foe destroyer, completely and fully awakened one,
perfect in knowledge and good conduct, one gone to bliss, knower of the world, supreme guide of beings to be tamed,
teacher of gods and humans, to you the Buddha, endowed transcendent destroyer, glorious conqueror Shakyamuni,
I prostrate, make offerings and go for refuge. (3x)
When, O supreme among humans, you were born on this earth,
You paced seven strides,
Then said, “I am supreme in this world.”
To you, who were wise then, I bow.
With pure bodies, form supremely fine;
Wisdom ocean, like a golden mountain;
Fame that blazes in the three worlds,
Winner of the best – supreme guide, to you I bow.
With the supreme signs, face like the spotless moon,
Color like gold – to you I bow.
You are immaculate, the three worlds are not.
Incomparable wise one – to you I bow.
Great compassionate Protector,
All-knowing Teacher,
Field of merit and good qualities vast as an ocean –
To the Tathagata, I bow.
Through purity, freeing from attachment,
Through virtue, freeing from the lower realms,
Unique, supreme ultimate reality –
To the Dharma that is peace, I bow.
Having freed themselves, showing the path to freedom too,
Well established in the trainings,
The holy field endowed with good qualities –
To the Sangha, I bow.
Do not commit any non-virtuous actions,
Perform only perfect virtuous actions,
Subdue your mind completely –
This is the teaching of the Buddha.
A star, a mirage, a flame of a lamp,
An illusion, a drop of dew, a bubble,
A dream, a flash of lightning, a cloud –
See conditioned things as such!
Through this merit may sentient beings
Attain the state of all-seeing, subdue the foe of faults,
And be delivered from the ocean of cyclic existence,
Perturbed by the waves of ageing, sickness, and death
Mandala Offering
This ground, anointed with perfume, flowers strewn,
Mount Meru, four lands, sun and moon,
Imagined as a Buddha land and offered to you.
May all beings enjoy this pure land.
Mandala Offering to Request Teachings
Venerable holy gurus, in the space of your truth body, from billowing clouds of your wisdom and love, let fall the rain of the profound and extensive Dharma in whatever form is suitable for subduing sentient beings.
idam guru ratna mandala kam nirya tayami
Refuge & Bodhicitta
I take refuge until I have awakened
in the Buddhas, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
By the merit I create by listening to the Dharma,
I will attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings. (3x)
After Teachings
Mandala Offering after Teachings
This ground, anointed with perfume, flowers strewn,
Mount Meru, four lands, sun and moon,
Imagined as a Buddha land and offered to you.
May all beings enjoy this pure land.
idam guru ratna mandala kam nirya tayami
Dedication
Due to this merit may we soon
Attain the awakened state of Guru Buddha,
That we may be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their sufferings.
May the precious bodhi mind
Not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline,
But increase forever more.
11 am Meditation session recitations
Refuge & Bodhicitta
I take refuge until I have awakened
in the Buddhas, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
By the merit I create by listening to the Dharma,
I will attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings. (3x)
The Four Immeasurables
May all sentient beings have happiness and its causes.
May all sentient beings be free of suffering and its causes.
May all sentient beings not be separated from sorrowless bliss.
May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of bias, attachment and anger.
Shakyamuni Buddha Mantra
Tayata om mune mune mahamuneye soha
Dedication Verses
Due to this merit may we soon
Attain the awakened state of Guru Buddha,
That we will be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their sufferings.
May the precious bodhi mind
Not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline,
But increase forever more.
Recitations before & after teachings - Afternoon session
Before Teachings
Refuge & Bodhicitta (1 time only)
I take refuge until I have awakened
in the Buddhas, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
By the merit I create by listening to the Dharma,
I will attain Buddhahood in order to benefit all sentient beings. (1x)
After Teachings
Mandala Offering after Teachings
May the spiritual teachers who lead me on the sacred path and all spiritual friends who practice it have long life. May I pacify completely all outer and inner hindrances – grant such inspiration, I pray.
May the lives of the venerable spiritual mentors be stable, and their divine actions spread in the ten directions. May the light of Lobsang’s teaching, dispelling the darkness of the beings in the three worlds, always increase.
idam guru ratna mandala kam nirya tayami
Dedication Verses
Due to this merit may we soon
Attain the awakened state of Guru Buddha,
That we will be able to liberate
All sentient beings from their sufferings.
May the precious bodhi mind
Not yet born arise and grow.
May that born have no decline,
But increase forever more.
Long Life Prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama
In the snowy mountain pure land
You’re the source of good and happiness.
Powerful Tenzin Gyatso Chenresig,
May you stay until samsara ends.
Prayer for Sravasti Abbey
by Tsenzhap Serkong Rinpoche
May the deeds of explaining and practicing the Dharma done by groups supporting the teachings and their upholders, who spread the view of dependent arising and non-violent actions in the ten directions – and especially at Sravasti Abbey in the West – flourish.
Star Spangled Compassion
Star Spangled Compassion
AKA Dedication from Guide to a Bodhisattva’s Way of Life,
by the great Indian sage, Shantideva
May all beings everywhere
Plagued by sufferings of body and mind
Obtain an ocean of happiness and joy
By virtue of my merits.
May no living creature suffer,
Commit evil or ever fall ill.
May no one be afraid or belittled,
With a mind weighed down by depression.
May the blind see forms,
And the deaf hear sounds.
May those whose bodies are worn with toil
Be restored on finding repose.
May the naked find clothing,
The hungry find food.
May the thirsty find water
And other delicious drinks.
May the poor find wealth,
Those weak with sorrow find joy.
May the forlorn find hope,
Constant happiness and prosperity.
May all who are ill and injured
Quickly be freed from their ailments.
Whatever diseases there are in the world,
May these never occur again.
May the frightened cease to be afraid
And those bound be freed.
May the powerless find power
And may people think of benefiting each other.
For as long as space endures
And as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I too abide
To dispel the misery of the world.
I Need Help: How to Access Abbey Programs Online
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