This practice is focused on the Buddha of compassion,
Known as Chinraisi in Tibetan and as Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit.
Through connecting to his form,
Mantra,
And wisdom,
We are taking steps towards a full flourishing of our own basic goodness,
Our Buddha nature.
And so it is in this spirit of uncovering our basic goodness that we begin this practice by finding a comfortable stationary position and then settling our body,
Speech,
And mind in a state of profound relaxation,
Just relaxing in stillness.
Let's bring our awareness to the body and relax it deeply as we breathe naturally,
Releasing all tension from our feet and toes,
Our pelvic floor,
Our shoulders,
And our face.
And now,
Resting in this relaxed state without losing clarity,
Let's think of our motivation for this practice.
Through this practice,
May I attain the state of a Buddha,
The fully awakened state,
For the benefit of all sentient beings.
May this practice help me fulfill my highest spiritual aspirations,
And may it also contribute to the happiness and freedom of all beings.
With this motivation as our basis,
We enter the practice of Chinraisi,
Or the Buddha of Compassion,
Or Avalokitesvara.
And the first thing to do is to imagine ourselves in a spacious,
Pure dimension that is imbued with pristine natural beauty.
We are surrounded by verdant fields,
Streams of water,
Majestic mountains,
And above us is a radiant blue sky suffused with rainbow light.
All the natural sounds here,
The sound of the water,
The wind,
The chirping of the birds,
Are an expression of primordial wisdom and universal compassion.
The same with all the visual forms,
Which are a play of rainbow light designed to enlighten beings.
And so,
In the open blue sky before us appears a beautiful fragrant lotus flower,
Fresh and fully open.
On this lotus flower,
Which represents renunciation of suffering,
Appears a beautiful flat moon cushion,
Soft and gentle,
Gently glowing.
And then on that moon cushion appears Avalokitesvara himself in his radiant shining body of light,
Sitting in a full lotus posture,
With his body the color of pristine snow,
Glowing like the moon.
He has four arms which represent the four immeasurable aspects of kindness.
The first two hands are joined at his heart,
Holding a wish-fulfilling jewel.
The second right hand is holding a crystal rosary or a crystal mala.
And the second left hand holds a white lotus flower.
Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri Shri His body is adorned with beautiful silk garments and jeweled ornaments which represent the qualities of his enlightened mind,
His generosity,
Ethics,
Patience,
Joyful effort,
Concentration and wisdom,
And of course his great immeasurable compassion.
And so for a while we just rest in his presence,
Experiencing a never-ending flow of compassion and love from him to us and to all the other beings.
We are in the presence of unconditional support and compassion,
Compassion that is constantly inspiring us to grow and uncover our basic goodness more fully.
Rest in this experience as if being embraced by a cloud of love and compassion.
And then to strengthen our connection to Chinrezi and his enlightened nature,
Which is also our own Buddha nature,
We use his mantra Om Mani Padme Hum.
As some lineage masters explain,
When the mantra is used as a request or supplication,
It's like calling someone on the phone.
The more we call,
The closer our connection.
And so,
Feeling that we're invoking the limitless compassion of Chinrezi,
With a sense of trust in this process,
We recite the mantra for a short time after chanting it together several times.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
Om Mani Padme Hum.
We then imagine that from Chinrezi's heart,
His blessings come as beams of rainbow light entering our body,
Speech,
And mind.
As these blessings stream forth,
Our own qualities of serenity,
Insight,
Love,
And skillfulness in helping others,
Unfold stage by stage.
Our own Buddha nature unfolds like a flower.
And throughout this process,
We're basking in an experience of unconditional love.
Love without a reference point,
Radiating limitlessly without reifying anything or anyone.
With this,
Our negativities,
Including our negative karmic imprints and our mental distortions,
Completely melt away.
And so we attain a state of greater freedom and greater purity,
Resting in this experience.
With that,
Our own form also gains the qualities of rainbow light,
Becoming the form of a radiant Bodhisattva,
A radiant being that expresses the qualities of awakening.
Our own speech and indeed all sounds become the sound of Om Mani Padme Hum.
Our mind becomes the awakened mind of wisdom and compassion.
And so now,
Both from the Buddha of compassion in front of us and from our own heart,
Rays of compassion go out to other sentient beings.
In this process,
We can first focus on a specific being that needs help right now,
Or a group of beings,
Or those who are physically close to us at the moment,
Imagining that these rays have the nature of compassion and wisdom,
And when they touch others,
They eliminate both the causes of suffering and suffering itself.
All negative karma,
All mental afflictions,
All types of pain are eliminated,
And all the beings start to experience awakened freedom,
As if waking up from a nightmare.
We imagine this happening to more and more beings,
Until eventually everyone is transformed into a radiant being of awakening,
A radiant Bodhisattva emanating goodness.
While imagining this process of helping others and extending our compassion to them,
We will chant and recite the mantra once again.
Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Now we imagine that all beings have been fully liberated.
With that,
They dissolve their rainbow-like forms into light,
And that light absorbs into the Buddha of Compassion in front of us,
Along with the natural environment.
Genresi,
In turn,
Comes to the crown of our head,
Melts into light,
And that light absorbs into our crown.
Abandoning all thoughts of me or not me,
All reference points,
We rest in an experience of union.
Our body-speech and mind,
Genresi's body-speech and mind,
And the body-speech and mind of all the lineage gurus are completely one.
And so we rest in an approximation of our own Buddha nature,
Of primordial wisdom.
And so,
For the final part of this practice,
We mentally dedicate the energy that we've been able to create through this meditation.
We dedicate our merit.
May it go towards our highest spiritual aspirations.
May we achieve the state of Genresi for the benefit of all sentient beings,
And may all types of suffering immediately be removed.
We then bring our awareness to the body just to round ourselves,
Gently conclude the meditation,
And invite the bell.
