The 15th day of the 12th lunar month in 2023 is the 18,040th birth anniversary of the founder of the Yungdrung Bön tradition, the Enlightened Lord Tönpa Shenrap Miwo Künlé Nampar Gyalwa. This date corresponds with February 5th on the Western calendar. Below is a partial translation of a recitation traditionally performed on the anniversary of his birth.

Prayer of Request

Namo!  

Within the mandala of the space of the Bön essence is the lord of the teachings, Tritsuk Gyal, together with the buddhas and bodhisattvas of a thousand eons. Please pay heed to me right here and now, I pray! Until cyclic existence is empty, I will strive for supreme enlightenment and follow after the buddhas and bodhisattvas!

Generating the Mind of Enlightenment  

This lifetime is not only for my own welfare and happiness. For the benefit of all sentient beings who are transmigrating within the six destinies, I generate the mind of supreme enlightenment!

Going for Refuge 

Through pure prostrations and with the reverence of my body, speech and mind, I and other beings without exception go for refuge to the divine mandala of enlightened beings.

Admission of Wrongdoing and Purification

I, and the countless sentient beings, admit to the gathering of buddhas all non-virtue that has arisen because of the five poisons from beginning-less time until this very moment.

Offering  

With diligence and effort, I produce through visualization offerings of luxury, useful possessions, and all that exists. I offer this to the divine mandala of enlightened beings.

Remorse

I generate remorse for the actions of non-virtue and immorality that I have done in the past. I vow that from now on, I will not repeat them. Instead, I will delight in accumulating virtue.

Joyfulness

I and the other beings pray for you to stay and not pass into nirvana for the sake of transmigrating beings. Hold us within your compassion without ever letting go! We urge you to turn the wheel of joy!  

Dedication

I dedicate the roots of virtue of myself and others for the quick attainment of enlightenment. By the force of this powerful virtue, may we purify the two obscurations, accumulate the two perfections, and quickly attain the fruit of the three enlightened bodies!

Conclusion: A Prayer of Aspiration   

Throughout the countless universes and infinite realms, may the age of enemies, poison, weapons and disease be pacified!  May the blazing fire of rage and warfare not arise!  

May happiness and goodness pervade everywhere! 

May all auspicious circumstances of time and place fall like a constantly beautiful shower of rain!  

May the four elements be balanced throughout the four seasons! 

May peace and happiness along with auspicious goodness pervade the phenomenal universe!  

By having the potency of blissful and harmonious conditions, may all goals which are in harmony with Bön be accomplished!

Through the light of wisdom of the Bön teachings of enlightenment in this world, which strongly blaze and never decline like the light of the sun and moon, may we reach the ultimate destination without obstacle!

Having engaged in all kinds of pure teachings and abandoned impure activities and karmic potentialities, and having engaged in pure discipline, may I maintain the wisdom and purity of the three trainings! 

Having completed the purpose of the three trainings and accomplished the benefit for myself and others, may I and others be inseparable from the state of the single sphere!

May our experience be the same as the expansive space of the Bön essence which is just like the sky!

—Excerpt from the Zi Ji

Tibetan translations by Raven Cypress Wood

Raven Cypress Wood ©All Rights Reserved. No content, in part or in whole, is allowed to be used without direct permission from the author.

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