Want hear how to pronounce the
Sanskrit in the Sanghata? To listen to all the
Sanskrit names and terms that appear in the Sanghata pronounced by a traditionally
trained Indian pandit and professor emeritus of Sanskrit from
south India, click
here.
In the Words of the Sanghāta:
“Bhaishajya-séna, many
are the Dharmas I have
taught. Bhaishajya-séna, for some hundreds of thousands of
myriad millions of eons, I engaged in arduous activities. But that
engagement in arduous activities was not for the sake of wealth. It was
not in order to enjoy a livelihood. It was not in order to enjoy power.
Bhaishajya-séna, I engaged in arduous activities in order to
comprehend the nature of phenomena. But until the time, until the
moment that I heard this Sangháta dharma-paryáya,
I did
not attain unsurpassed, perfect and complete enlightenment. But,
Bhaishajya-séna, on the very day I heard it, I was entirely,
completely enlightened into unsurpassed, perfect and complete
enlightenment.
“Bhaishajya-séna, this dharma-paryáya
is profound. Hearing this dharma-paryáya is rare.
- Ārya Sanghāta Sūtra
Guide to Reciting and Reading
Extensive Practice for Reciting or Reading the Sanghāta
Lama Zopa Rinpoche has outlined the following extensive preparatory
practice as excellent to do, when either reciting or reading the holy Ārya Sanghāta Sūtra.
This practice can also be used when reciting other Mahāyāna
sutras, such as the Sutra
of Golden Light.
To download the complete text of this practice to print, click
here (pdf).
Before reciting
or reading:
Take refuge and develop bodichitta
Recite a seven-limb prayer
Offer a short mandala
Recite the three requests for the three
purposes from Jorchoe (requesting wrong conceptions to be
pacified, right realizations to be generated and inner and outer
obstacles
removed)
Recite multiplying mantras (This is done to multiply the
merit by one million, Rinpoche explains.)
While reciting or
reading:
There are two ways to visualize while reading sutras. Both can
be done at the same time:
Visualize that Buddha is giving you the teaching directly
while you read the sutra. Visualize that you actualize realizations in
your heart while you are reciting.
Visualize that you are giving the teachings to sentient
beings as you recite the sutra out loud. Since dogs, cats, birds,
spirits, and other beings can hear you as you recite, you can invite
the spirits and devas to listen as well. The sutra is medicine for the
mind’s delusions, where all sufferings come from.
When you read the sutra, visualize that you are giving teachings to the
beings of all six realms, offering them the opportunity to
actualize the path and be liberated from their delusions, defilements,
karma and suffering.
As you recite, and when you have finished, visualize that you and all
beings—the hell beings, animals and so
on—are purified by unfathomable numbers of nectar beams
coming from
unfathomable numbers of bodhisattvas. On this basis, visualize clearly
that you and all the beings
receiving teachings are generating extraordinary bliss and emptiness.
After you finish:
When you finish reading the sutra, visualize that the sentient beings
you have been reciting the sutra to are all liberated from the causes
of suffering. Their causes of delusions are purified, and they all
become enlightened.
Then rejoice!
Reciting sutras for these extensive benefits is
how the bodhisattva Samantabhadra practiced, using extensive
visualizations.
These
instructions were dictated by Lama Zopa Rinpoche to
Ven. Wongmo in Feburary of 2005, and later edited
for this website.
