Aspiration Prayer of Meeting Limitless Light Buddha in the Bardo

Aspiration Prayer of Meeting Limitless Light Buddha in the Bardo

It has four subdivisions:

1. prayer to be without obstacles to good rebirth

2. prayer to meet Limitless Light Buddha when the breath stops

3. prayer to recognize the appearances of the bardo as the dynamic energy of Rigpa

4. prayer to continuously connect to the blessing of Limitless Light Buddha and not be attached to cyclic existence

1: Prayer to Be Without Obstacles to Good Rebirth

After I die, may I not be reborn,

In the three lower realms and as a downcasted god,

Eunuch, prostitute, weak, servant,

Or impoverished May I not be reborn,

Similarly, may I not be reborn in an impure body with impaired senses,

Evil actions, wrong views,

Sickly, insane, or harmful to others.

“After I die, may I not be reborn, In the three lower realms and as a downcasted god,”

When this body dies, we don’t want to be reborn in the three lower realms. What are the three lower realms?

Three Lower Realms:

There are 18 Hell Realms.

There are 15 Hungry Ghost Realms. Six types for a total of fifteen.

There are 3 Animal Realms. Ground, Inbetween, and Space/sky animal realms.

Hell realm - 8 hot hell realms, 8 cold hell realms, primary hells, and neighboring hells (eighteen kinds all together).

Hungry ghosts realm - those with outer obscurations, those with inner obscurations, those with obscurations upon obscurations, the harm bringer of the ten directions, those who wrong gradually like a ring of the water wheel, those that roam at the same time like a chariot wheel (fifteen kinds all together).

Animal realm - those who are on the ground, those in between, those in space.

There are more times about their suffering, the cause of their suffering, where and how long they live, how we can protect or benefit them. It is important to understand these. We always pray for “all sentient beings” and should know about them all!

Three Upper Realms: 

33 total Demigods

There are 13 Upper Demigods

There are 9 Middle Demigods

There are 11 Earth Demigods

There are 6 kinds of god realms:

4 classes of great king gods

33 heaven gods

Conflict free gods

Joyous gods

Emanation delight gods

Master over others creation gods

Human realms: (2 Classes)

General Class of Humans:

Four Continents of Humans:

1. East: Supreme Body

2. South: Rose Apple

3. West: Enjoyer of Cattle

4. North: Unpleasant Sound

Seven Religious Humans:

1. Human of the Wheel of Transformation

2. Human drinking Tree Sap

3. Human who stay inside the Flowers

Semi-Humans: (4 kinds)

1. Tree looking semi humans 

2. Six beings semi humans

3. Metal Cup Crest semi humans

4. Various Head semi humans

Eight Sub-continents Humans: (There are no teachings of the Buddha here. This is why we pray we are not born there.)

2: Prayer to Meeting Limitless Light Buddha When the Breath Stops

May I not be reborn in an impure body

After the breath stops and the luminosity arises,

At the same time Ӧpagmé, Buddha Limitless Light and retinue,

Manifest directly in front of me,

May they come to greet me.

After the breath stops - it will come! Who first? I don’t know. With compassion and love, may the Buddha of Limitless Light greet me when we are dying. Forget all of your belongings, relatives, all of this life. The connection to those things needs to stop. We can’t stay with them anymore. Confidently and decisively look at your path for the next life. When Buddha comes to invite and take us to the Pure Land, we are ready. Familiarize yourselves with this meditation on Buddha Ӧpagmé, Buddha Limitless Light.

3: Prayer to Recognize the Appearances of the Bardo as the Dynamic Energy of Rigpa

Any appearances of the bardo,

Deciding that they are the dynamic energy of rigpa,

Like an antelope climbing rocks,

May I be without fear.

At the time of the bardo, all appearances of sound, light, rays, forms of deities, spheres, the lord of death - any that may arise - by realizing and deciding that they are the dynamic energy of our rigpa, the dynamic energy of Kuntu Zangpo, may we not be afraid and may we become liberated. That is in the bardo state. There is no chance to escape this state. We need to reflect on and check how much we are prepared for this state. We prepare for worldly vacations and trips but we need to prepare for this state too! Be ready for that world. We have no time for distractions or laziness. We have no time to talk about mundane and meaningless chatter. We could be leaving tonight!

4: Prayer to Continuously Connect to the Blessing of Limitless Light Buddha and Not Be Attached to Cyclic Existence

It has two subdivisions:

1. prayer to connect to the blessing of Limitless Light Buddha

2. prayer to not be attached to cyclic existence

1: Prayer to Connect to the Blessing of Limitless Light Buddha

After that, Ӧpagmé, Buddha Limitless Light and retinue,

When they manifest in the sky,

The light path where they go,

May I go on that path without obstructions.

In the bardo state, if we don’t recognize the appearances of the dynamic energy of rigpa, then, we are in the becoming bardo state. At that time, Limitless Light Buddha and his retinue manifest in that state in the sky and go in the western direction. You can see that at that state. “May I go on that path” is the reference to going toward that western path. The Limitless Light Buddha and retinue arise in the sky and show the path that they go. We try to recognize this and go that way too. We move towards the West because that is the direction the sun goes, the movement of the light. And we move towards the light because the light is our own natural mind.

2: Prayer to Not Be Attached to Cyclic Existence

Without attachment to cyclic existence,

Like an eagle escaping a net,

Facing the western direction,

May I escape without looking back.

At the time of dying, this life’s family and loved ones, the town, state, house, possessions, food, and so forth, are not to be attached to. Any appearance of cyclic existence - the root text says to not attach like an eagle escaping a net, flying into the sky without looking back, not being attached to any of this life’s experience of cyclic existence. Instead we only need a strong motivation to go to the Pure Land. We should face the Pure Land, western direction, and go.