Connecting To Avalokiteshvara Through Seven Limbs

Avalokiteshvara, known as Chenrezig in Tibetan, is the buddha (and bodhisattva) of compassion—a reflection of our own buddha nature, often supplicated with the famous mantra of OM MANI PADME HUM. Invoking Avalokiteshvara, we then cultivate the positive qualities of our mind through the seven-limb practice originally taught in the Avatamsakara-sutra. Combining the power of our imagination with the image, mantra, and wisdom of Chenrezig, we open the door to a deeper level of awareness.

Transcript

To begin this practice,

We find a comfortable stationary position.

Adjust our body in a way that supports relaxation,

Stability and vigilance,

And then allow our awareness to descend into the body,

As if going down in an elevator,

Until it reaches our navel area,

Where we can directly observe the tactile sensations,

And release the physical tension present in our body,

Melting this tension so that it leaves our body through our feet and toes,

Our pelvic floor,

And so that eventually our abdomen and lower back,

Our chest,

Our shoulder blades,

All these areas are completely and fully relaxed.

Same with our shoulders,

Our elbows,

Hands and fingers,

Establishing them in a complete state of stillness.

And then from our hands,

Coming back to our shoulders,

Our neck,

The back of our head,

Our crown,

And eventually our facial muscles,

Expanding our awareness to our entire body,

With all of its somatic experiences.

And while allowing our body to continue resting in this state of relaxation,

Stillness and vigilance,

Generating a good motivation for this practice.

Ideally,

If we are practicing in a Buddhist context,

The motivation should be our aspiration for full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings.

But it can also include more immediate goals,

Such as cultivating greater levels of compassion,

Or helping someone right now,

Or enhancing our wisdom,

Finding greater levels of serenity,

And so forth.

And then in this relaxed state,

Pervaded by this powerful,

Beautiful motivation,

We start using our imagination to access the beautiful qualities of our Buddha nature.

And for that we imagine ourselves in a beautiful,

Pristine environment,

Where we are surrounded by beautiful green fields and valleys,

Streams of water,

Majestic mountains,

Beautiful trees,

Flowers,

Birds that sing the songs of the Dharma,

And above and in front us a beautiful,

Clear,

Open blue sky,

Deep bright blue,

And suffused with rainbow light.

For a short while we just observe the vastness of the sky,

Recognizing that our mind is similarly vast,

Spacious,

And open.

It's as if we're merging our mind with the sky.

And then from that spaciousness,

In the space in front of us,

In this open expanse,

Appears a beautiful,

Radiant flower.

It has hundreds,

Thousands,

Millions of beautiful petals made of rainbow light.

It's fragrant and fresh.

It's shining,

And its light fills the entire universe,

Or actually all the universes.

And that brilliant radiance soothes the suffering of beings,

Comforts them,

Guides them.

And then on top of this flower,

Appears a beautiful,

Soft moon cushion.

It's also glowing with beautiful,

Cooling light.

And then on that moon cushion appears the Buddha of compassion himself,

In this case in his four-armed form.

Sitting in a full lotus position,

With his legs crossed,

Adorned with beautiful ornaments and garments made of divine silk.

His first two hands are at his heart,

Holding a jewel that symbolizes the qualities of bodhicitta,

Our aspiration for full awakening,

And our pristine wisdom.

In his second right hand he's holding a jeweled rosary,

Made of transparent crystal stones.

And in his second left hand,

He's holding a beautiful lotus flower,

A symbol of primordial wisdom.

His beautiful,

Youthful face is serene,

Peaceful,

Radiant.

And his gaze is full of compassion and loving kindness for us and all the other sentient beings.

His entire bodily form emanates light,

And that light is like the cooling light of the moon,

Granting peace,

Guiding through the darkness,

Bringing joy.

We also find great joy in his smile,

Encouraging smile that promises that even though right now we are still in samsara,

The fact that we possess Buddha nature means that we can become fully awakened.

And if we rely on the Buddha of compassion,

Or Chenrezig,

For guidance,

If we supplicate him,

If we merge our minds together,

If we practice his method and recite his mantra,

He will step by step guide us out of samsara towards full awakening.

Because essentially he is nothing other than our own Buddha nature,

Our own wisdom and compassion.

On his crown,

On a lotus flower and a moon cushion,

Sits his own guru,

The Buddha of infinite light,

Or Amitabha,

In a body made of radiant red light.

And their joint energy,

The joint energy of infinite love,

Infinite light,

Infinite compassion,

Guides all the sentient beings through the cycles of samsara towards full awakening.

And so for a short while we can just abide in their radiance,

Perceiving that radiance as love and compassion directed towards us.

In this moment,

Chenrezig,

Or the Buddha of compassion,

Wants us to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

So,

Seeing that light as it enters our body,

Our speech,

And our mind,

We rest in this compassion,

Universal compassion for ourselves and all others.

Indeed,

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering,

Including ourselves.

And then to approach full awakening,

To attain full awakening more quickly,

We will use the practice of the seven limbs taught by the Buddha in order to help us to accumulate positive energy and wisdom that are necessary for attaining realizations.

And in this practice we will go through seven mental actions that allow us to eliminate certain afflictions and strengthen certain positive qualities in our mind by interacting with the Buddha of compassion in front of us.

And the first action is usually described as physical,

Verbal,

And mental prostrations,

Or paying homage.

Paying homage to the qualities of wisdom and compassion in front of us,

And of course in our own Buddha nature.

So we can imagine emanating numerous physical bodies that throughout this entire pure dimension that we're abiding in right now,

Are making full length prostrations,

Physically paying homage to Chinraisi,

To the Buddha of love and compassion.

Verbally we would sometimes use a prayer or praise,

Or even simply say homage to the great compassion,

Or to the great compassionate one.

And then mentally we maintain a sense of admiration,

Respect,

Devotion towards the quality of compassion and the quality of wisdom.

Indeed,

I pay homage to the great compassion and great wisdom.

And then having paid homage in this way,

We go to the second limb,

Which is the limb of offering.

Practicing generosity,

Giving something away to once again honor the qualities of awakening.

And so we can imagine that we're emanating numerous beautiful offerings of all kinds.

Flowers,

Nectar,

Food,

Clothing,

Jewelry,

Anything that we see as beautiful,

Celestial,

Divine.

And in addition to that,

Perhaps the specific objects that we ourselves are attached to.

Specific kinds of food,

Or material objects,

Or even specific people that we're especially attracted to.

We're entrusting all of that to the Buddha of compassion.

We can imagine that when we are making this offering,

The Buddha of compassion experiences great bliss,

Great joy,

Inseparable from his wisdom.

Not because he needs any of these gifts,

But because he's joyful about our ability to give away our generosity.

And then following that,

We need to purify our minds of negative imprints.

And so the third limb is traditionally described as the limb of confession,

Or openly disclosing our negativities,

Our negative acts and negative patterns to an awakened being.

And so in this process,

Which is deeply intimate,

We are disclosing all our actions,

Those we remember and those we don't,

Created under the influence of afflictive mental states.

And we're essentially asking,

Help me purify,

Guide me,

Guide me towards better patterns,

Guide me away from my negative habits towards full awakening.

And then flipping the coin,

We attend to our virtuous actions and the virtuous actions of others,

Because the fourth limb is the limb of rejoicing.

Thinking about our acts of generosity,

Wisdom,

Compassion,

Understanding,

And so forth,

Thinking about all the good actions that were ever done by all the beings,

And literally experiencing a sense of delight.

How wonderful,

How amazing,

How beautiful.

And then in the next two limbs,

Building a very personal connection with all the awakened ones,

And with all the genuine spiritual teachers present in this world,

As emanations of the Buddha of Compassion.

First,

Mentally requesting them to not leave us in samsara,

To not depart,

To not dissolve their forms until we have completed the path under their guidance.

And imagining that they graciously accept this request,

Agreeing to stay in our lives in their physical forms,

Agreeing to guide us.

And then to especially emphasize that point,

We mentally request them to teach,

To transmit the teachings of the Dharma,

Pouring them into us,

As if we were a suitable vessel,

So that eventually we can gain Realizations and Full Awakening.

So please teach the Dharma,

Please turn the will of Dharma.

And as we make that mental request,

We can even imagine offering a symbolic golden will of Dharma to the Buddha of Compassion,

Which he graciously accepts,

Promising to guide us,

To transmit the teachings.

All the teachings that we need.

And so now the final seventh limb here is to dedicate all the positive energy that we've created through the preceding limbs to Full Awakening,

Both our own and that of others.

May this energy ever grow and bring about the Full Awakening for all beings.

We then imagine that the Buddha of Compassion comes to the crown of our head,

Is sitting there facing the same direction,

Present above our crown as a guiding light.

And we mentally praise him by thinking about his qualities of Compassion and Wisdom,

And the qualities of Compassion and Wisdom in general.

Clarity of mind,

Exceptional levels of common sense,

Kindness,

Compassion,

Open-heartedness,

Tenderness.

And then to build a bridge between us and these qualities,

And eventually our own Buddha nature,

We supplicate the Buddha of Compassion by reciting his mantra.

And so we will chant it a few times and then continue the quiet recitation for a while.

And each recitation,

Each repetition is a new saplication to this aspect of Awakening.

A saplication from us and from all the other sentient beings that need this guidance.

Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum Om Mani Padme Hum And for a short while imagining that the energy of the mantra,

The brilliance of Chenrezig's form,

And the qualities of his wisdom and his compassion,

Pervade our entire sphere of experience.

So all forms are the forms of Chenrezig.

All sounds are the sound of his mantra.

And all aspects of our mental activity are the play of his wisdom.

And his actual form above our crown melts into a cloud of light,

And that light absorbs into us through our crown,

Through our central channel,

Through all of our energy channels.

And so we remain in a state of union.

Our body,

Speech,

And mind,

Chenrezig's body,

Speech,

And mind,

And the body,

Speech,

And mind of all the lineage lamas,

Including our own root gurus,

In this life,

Whether we have recognized them or not.

These three aspects of body,

Speech,

And mind are resting in complete union.

And so we abandon all thoughts,

And simply rest in spaciousness and clarity.

Spaciousness and clarity where there is no independent or inherent existence,

Because all things are empty and yet appearing.

And then to seal this practice in a powerful manner,

Returning to our own highest spiritual aspirations,

And using them as the object of dedication,

Or dedicating the energy of this practice to full awakening for the benefit of all sentient beings,

To our secondary spiritual or psychological goals,

And of course to all the beings that are suffering right now,

And need to be liberated from that suffering.

May they all find peace,

Healing,

And joy.

May the planet be protected along with all the beings living on it.

And may everything be auspicious at all times.

With this,

We return our awareness to the body,

Ground ourselves,

Conclude the practice,

And invite the bell.

Reviews

So helpful. Thank you as always for these wonderful practices.

Amazing guidance. Thank you!

What a beautiful practice and an elegant reflection and focusing.
It's a staple for me.
Thank you.

Dislodged a lot of emotions. .. and tears. Enjoyed it.

Beautiful!! Thank you for that explanation of the 7 limb prayer . I understand it so much better now. I know Avelokitesvara is always referred to as he but in my mind they are genderless and non binary. Thanks for the lovely practice. Namaste 🙏

✨️Thank you kindly for this practice ⚘️🕯
✨️Namaste✨️🙏🏼🤍🌠

Thank you 💫