Rev. Danny Fisher

On this, the blessed occasion of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet’s 73rd birthday, I would like to take a moment to wish him many happy returns of the day and share the below prayer for his long life (which was translated into English by Dr. Thupten Jinpa Langri).

OM SVASTI

To the assembly of most kind teachers, both present and past -
the miraculous dance of the body, speech and mind of
innumerable Buddhas
manifesting in accord with aspirants’ spiritual capacities,
the wish-granting jewel, the source of all virtue and goodness -
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

To the assembly of all meditational deities
manifesting as countless mandalas and divinities –
the magical clouds of immaculate, transcendent wisdom
reaching to the farthest expanse of the space of ultimate reality –
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

To all the victorious Buddhas of the three times
endowed with ten powers and who are even masters of the gods,
and whose attributes of perfection are the source of all compassionate deeds
benefiting the vast ocean-like realm of sentient beings,
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

To the assembly of sacred doctrine embodied in the Three Vehicles,
supremely serene, a jewel-treasure of enlightenment,
stainless, unchanging, eternally good, and the glory of all virtues,
which actually liberates beings from the sufferings of the three worlds,
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

To all members of the enlightening, noble spiritual community,
who never stray from the thoroughly liberating adamantine city,
who possess the wisdom eye that directly sees the profound truth
and the highest valour to destroy all machinations of cyclic existence,
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

To the assembly of heroes and dakinis, heavenly beings of the three worlds,
who appear in the highest paradises, in the sacred places, and in the cremation grounds,
and who, through creative play in the hundred-fold experiences of bliss and emptiness,
support practitioners in their meditation on the excellent path,
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

To the ocean of protectors endowed with eyes of transcendent wisdom -
the powerful guardians and upholders of the teaching
who wear inseparably on their matted locks
the knot symbolising their pledge to the ‘Vajra Holder’ -
to you, we offer our prayers with fervent devotion:
That Tenzin Gyatso, protector of the Land of Snows,
live for a hundred aeons. Shower on him your blessings
so that his aspirations are fulfilled without hindrance.

Thus to this congregation of excellent, undeceiving refuge,
we pray that by the power of this prayer
expressed from a heart filled with fervent devotion and humility,
may the body, speech and mind of the sole of the Land of Snows,
the supreme Ngawang Lobsang Tenzin Gyatso,
be indestructible, unfluctuating and unceasing;
may he live immutable for a hundred aeons,
seated on a diamond throne, transcending decay and destruction.

You are the jewel-heart embodying all compassionate, beneficial deeds;
O most courageous one, you carry upon your shoulders
the burden of all the Buddhas of the infinite realms.
May all your noble aspirations be fulfilled as intended.

By virtue of this may the heavenly doors of the fortunate era open
eternally as a source of relief and respite for all beings;
And may the auspicious signs reach the apex of existence and release,
as the sacred teachings flourish through all times and in all realms.

May the nectar-stream of the blessings of the ‘Lotus Holder’
always enter our hearts and nourish it with strength.
May we please you with our offerings of dedicated practice,
And may we reach beyond the shores of perfect, compassionate deeds.

Through the blessings of the wondrous Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
by the infallible truth of the laws of dependent origination,
and by the purity of our fervent aspirations,
may the aims of my prayer be fulfilled without hindrance.