Blessed Wesak!

Blessed Wesak to all and especially to my dear Brothers and Sisters-in-Dharma. It is my most sincere wish that you join me in taking refuge in the Triple Gem being the Buddha, his Dharma (teachings) and the Sangha (the robed community) , as well as recite (at least once) the Heart Sutra on this very blessed day.

The Refuge Prayer
(Sanskrit/Tibetan translation to the English Language)

Sangye Cho Dang Tso Kyi Cho Namla I take refuge until I'm Enlightened,
Jang Chub Bardu Dagni Kyab Suchi to the Buddha, Dharma & Supreme Assembly.
Dagni Jinso Ghi Pay Sonam Ghi By my practise of giving and other perfections,
Drola Panchir Sangye Dro Pra Shog may I become a Buddha to benefit all sentient beings.
(x3 times)

The Heart Sutra
(The Prajnaparamita-Hridaya Sutra)

Thus did I hear at one time, the Bhagavan was dwelling on Mass at Vultures Mountain in Rajagriha, India together with a great community of monks and a great community of Bodhisattvas. At the time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called "Profound Perception"

Also, at that time, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara (Kuan Yin) looked upon the very practise of the profound perfection of wisdom and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.

Then, through the power of the Buddha, the Venerable Shariputra said this to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara: "How should any son of the lineage train who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom?"

He said that and the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara said this to the Venerable Sharadvatiputra. "Shariputra, any son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage who wishes to practice the profound perfection of wisdom should look upon it like this, correctly and repeatedly beholding those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature.

"Form is empty, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form; form is also not other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors, and conciousness are empty."

"Shariputra, likewise, all phenomena are emptiness; without chracteristic; unproduced, unceased, stainless, not without stain; not deficient, not fulfilled."
"Shariputra, therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, no discrimination, no compositional factors, no conciousness; no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind; no visual form, no sound, no odor, no taste, no object of touch, and no phenomenon. There is no eye element, and so on and upto and including no mind element and no mental conciousness element. There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance, and so on upto and including no aging and death. Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation, and path; there is no exalted wisdom, no attainment, and also no non-attainment."

"Shariputra, therefore, because there is no attainment, Bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom, the mind without obscuration and without fear. Having passed beyond error, they reach the end point nirvana. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifestedly, completely awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, complete Enlightenment in reliance of the perfection of wisdom."

"Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra equal to the unequaled, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, should be known as truth since it is not false. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is declared:

TAYATHA OM GAHTAY GAHTAY PARAGAHTAY PARASAMGAHTAY BODHI SOHA

"Shariputra, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like that.""The the Bhagavan arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara saying: "Well said, well said, son of the lineage, it is like that. It is lke that; one should practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated; even the Tathagatas rejoice. "The Bhagavan having thus spoken, the Venerable Sharadvatiputra, the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokiteshvara, those suppounding in their entirety along with the world of gods, humans, asuras and ghandharvas were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan.






Blessed Wesak to all. May peace and all other good conditions follow you, always! ^_^

I'll end this post with wise words from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama:

"My message is the practice of compassion, love, and kindness.
Compassion can be put into practice if one recognizes the fact
that every human being is a member of humanity and
the human family regardless of differences in religion,
culture, color, and creed.
Deep down there is no difference."

"We should try never to let our happy frame of mind be disturbed.
Whether we are suffering at present or have suffered in the past,
there is no reason to be unhappy. If we can remedy it, why be unhappy?
And if we cannot, what use is there in being depressed about it?
That just adds more unhappiness and does no good at all."

"By developing a sense of respect for others and a concern for their welfare,
we reduce our own selfishness, which is the source of all problems,
and enhance our sense of kindness which is a natural source of goodness."

"This is my simple religion.
There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy.
Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

"His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso