A Refuge Prayer from the Land of the Snows with H.E. Dagmo Kusho Jamyang Sakya

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Duration 00:02:17

This video shows H.E. Dagmo Kusho Jamyang Sakya chanting a popular refuge prayer from the times of the great tibetan master Lama Atisha.

Lama Atisha (982-1053 AD) was born in Bengal, East India. From a very young age he studied many spiritual texts and became an adept practitioner. After completing his studies he travelled to Tibet at the invitation of Tibetan King Jangchub Oe. There he taught Bodhicitta (loving kindness and great compassion) extensively and wrote the famous Lam-rim text "Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment" which condenses all 84,000 teachings of Buddha Shakyamuni into one single profound work.

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, any spiritual practice consists of three main parts. Refuge , the main practice and dedication of merit. Each of these parts are fundamental for a succesful practice.

This is a translation of the refuge prayer:

"I take refuge until enlightment in the Buddhas, the Dharma, and the Excellent Assembly.
By the merit of my acts such as generosity, may I achieve Buddhahood for the sake of santient beings"

The Tibetan pronunciation is as follows

Sang gye cho dang tsok kyi chok nam la
Chang chup bar du dak ni kyap su chi
Dak gi ji sok gyi pe so nam kyi
Dro la pen chig sang sang gye drub par cho.

The translation was provided by Cyrus Stearns and Jeffrey Schoening

May all santient beings be happy!