ARYASURA'S ASPIRATION

Seventy Stanzas

Homage to the Awakening Warrior

The entirely good Samantabhadra

Homage to the Buddhas Gone to Bliss

Endowed with an accumulation of

imeasurable precious qualities,

Who have uprooted every last poisoned tree of

moral failings

And who abide during the three times

throughout the ten directions.

Homage to the Truth of Dharma

That opens the wisdom-eye of beings

in all three realms,

That disperses the gloom of unknowing

And is the means for extracting the poisonous

arrow of latent tendencies.

Homage to the Sons of Those Gone to Bliss,

the Sangha intent on virtue

Who never revert (to worldliness)

And whose thoughts are motivated by

great compassion.

Unceasingly I bow my head to all who have

opened the eye of their mind.

Whatever slight non-virtue I have committed

throughout my lifetimes, Or have

encouraged, or rejoiced in,

I lay bare before the Conquerors

And pledge never to commit them again.

Without any exception I rejoice in the virtue

Accumulated by Those Gone to Bliss, Solitary

Realisers, Listeners and Conquerors' Sons, And in

other wholesome deeds of worldly beings.

Whatever non-virtue creatures commit

Confounded by venomous emotional afflictions,

For them may I surely plunge alone With pleasure

into the realms of hell.

Having satiated the world with the nectar of peaceful delight,

May everyone's mind become active in virtue.

May I willingly take on myself

As much misery as beings may have.

May perfect awakening itself be produced

Soon in the minds of these beings.

May those who have generated the pure awakening thought

Perfectly accomplish the collections for enlightenment.

By accomplishing the collections of virtue

and attaining the spiritual levels,

By remaining in the lineage of Protectors of all three worlds,

And by annihilating the foes (of delusion),

May the abode of the Great Kingdom of Truth over

the three worlds be attained.

No matter how many days there have been since the Awakened Beings

Became enlightened under the bodhi-tree,

I beseech those who are alive and abiding

Hereafter to cause the incomparable nectar of Truth to

rain upon ongoing beings.

I entreat those nobleminded ones who have completed

Their sublime activities for the sake of others

And who are about to enter the supreme state beyond sorrow

To remain for a long time, acting to benefit others.

However many sentient beings there are

Wandering in the gloomy three worlds

I shall invite them as my guests

To savour the blissful nectar of extreme peace.

Whatever virtue has been accumulated in this way

May be dedicated totally for perfect awakening.

Thus may I never be apart even for an instant

From bodhichitta-the mind intent on enlightenment

Until the rank of those Gone to Bliss-

The basis of complete perfection-is gained,

May I never be apart from the leader

Of the Subduers and the Awakening Warriors.

They are the ones who finely elucidate

The path of activities for benefitting others.

May I also advance, free from despondency,

Through every spiritual level of the Sons of the Awakened Ones.

May my body be complete with the physical attributes of a human

And amassed with qualities worthy of praise by all creatures;

May I recollect past lives, be born to an  honourable family

And have an attractive body.

Having discarded the vile action of ceasing to aid others

That zealously works for one's welfare alone,

(Aroused) by thoughts tormented with compassion

May I cherish dearly all creatures without favouring one.

May there be not the slightest grasping in the thoughts of others

At my possessions that I consider the wealth of others,

But may they take and use whatever they wish

Like someone who never doubts his own wealth.

Even if someone should demand my flesh,

May I offer it with pleasure in my eyes ;

May I always donate my limbs and so on

For the welfare of all embodied beings.

May I, like a wish-fulfilling gem,

Provide all that beings desire

And may I, like the wish-granting tree,

Completely fulfill their hopes.

May I spontaneously banish

Evil actions far away like filth

And may I never breach the dam of precepts

Proclaimed by the supreme Subduer.

BY abolishing concern for my body and life,

May I always enjoy places of solitude;

May my thoughts turn away from all gains

And honour as if they were poisoned food.

Like a child of lowly status, I will discard

Arrogance, self-importance and pride towards beings

And shall act to establish harmonious relations

Like in a gathering of kin from a noble family.

May I be accustomed to ethical discipline,

An ornament utterly pacifying all (obscurations).

Stainless like moonlight and the root of a lotus,

Untorn, unmixed and unsoiled.

Although someone against whom I have done no wrong

Should saw my head, splitting it into hundreds of pieces,

I shall unceasingly hold him dear in my mind

Just as (a mother) cherishes an only son.

Should someone become angry with me from his heart

And needlessly rob me of my life,

May the unbearable and bitter fruits

Of his actions never arise.

Although anger, abuse, provocation and aggression

Should besiege me, may I never forsake patience

But willingly take on all adversity

To practise the deeds of the Conquerors' Sons.

Thus, may the dangling rope of doubt

Never sway in my mind for even an instant

Over the extremely profound and highly logical

Dharma of the Subduer, that never before did I find.

May I who am born from lifetime to lifetime,

By earnestly acting to benefit all beings,

Never fail to engage in vast virtues

For even a mere moment of time.

Like a servant, may I accomplish

All the tasks of every living being

And, having accepted the burden of working for all,

May sentient beings abide in happiness.

Since my body acts as a servant for others,

Even when speaking, may I be pleased to teach them Dharma.

And may even my thoughts constantly be empowered

By the mind endeavouring to benefit others.

Even if I alone have to undergo misery

For innumerable aeons in hell,

Still may I ripen sentient beings spiritually

Without ever becoming weary.

Surely, in the very process of accomplishing

(the welfare of others)

I actually will don this very armour

Of spiritually nurturing the three types of beings

So that they may become disciplined.

May I joyfully cross without hesitation

Pits so filled with burning embers of fire

That there is no space, so as to hear

Even one word of the good doctrine.

In abandoning being enticed by the results

Of all concentration and formless absorptions

But by dwelling on the Supreme Limit of Perfection

May I be accustomed purely to the bliss that arises.

Having mounted the horse of calm abiding

That is not obsessed (with the warm experience of meditative absorption),

May I tame the elephant of the mind

That naturally roams, is most difficult to tame and ventures along wrong paths.

Since the supremely fine riches posssesed by

Rulers of Gods and Universal Emperors,

Being in the nature of desire are just like filth,

May I never hold them in high regard.

There is no joy drifting through this existence

Similar to a burning house of iron,

But, being led by compassion, may I be reborn

Wherever it is conducive to assist others.

Whatever absorptions all spiritual sons

Of Universaln Protectors have mastered

Such as the Stance (of a Lion), the Inconceivable,

The Sport of a Hero, the Various Activities.

The Going Bravely, the Treasure of Space

And the Stainless, having attained all myself,

I will bestow their bliss on the three kinds of beings,

Thus allowing them to enjoy their sublime accomplishments.

May I thoroughly and supremely perfect

The ocean of craft, literature and art,

And may every sentient being be wise in knowing

The entire meaning of their own language.

Having gained the stainless, sharp and infinite

Intelligence distinguishing all words and meanings

May I share with sentient beings

The extremely profound and logical teachings.

To every living being without exception

Who does not perfectly understand Buddha's word

May I finely elucidate many teachings

As though inscribing letters on their minds.

Having surely ascended to the state of the ten fruitful powers

May I actualize those practices

That are the means for making the purpose

Of living beings completely worthwhile.

Just as all prayers of the Subduers

Are a cause for helping sentient beings,

So too may I work constantly

To attain the perfection of prayer.

By immediately suppressing as they arise

All overwhelming masses of foe-like emotional afflictions

And, not wavering from mental activities,

May I remain only to be of benefit on earth.

By having perfectly realised these phenomena

To be like illusions, mirages and magical emanations

And having discarded the mesh of conceptions

May I be of benefit throughout the three worlds.

Just as fathers especially cherish an only son,

So will I continuously remain in meditation

On pure love for every ongoing being

By removing all stains (of aggression).

Just as mothers out of affection for an ailing son,

In taking his burden on themselves, (suffer) accordingly,

So will I work to enhance my compassion

Towards each and every ongoing sentient being.

When I see success delighting others

May I, in especially generating much pleasure,

Remain meditating on joyfulness

As if my only dear son were happy.

Having dispensed with anger and attachment towards. sentient beings

That correspondingly cause me to harm or to favour

them, May accomplish the tasks of all three worlds

Like completing one's work for one's son.

Having realised the powers, heightened awarenesses, analytical knowledges,

Mystical spells and the doors to liberation

May I simultaneously be of benefit to sentient beings

Throughout the immeasurable expanse of the universe.

Whatever countries where the name

Of "Buddha" has not entered the ear,

There may I act according to the deeds of Buddha

Through imparting his various methods.

Until the sun, the teacher of the three worlds,

Rises here in this universe, may I, like the sun,

Dispel the darkness (of ignorance)

From each and every embodied being.

Whatever beings there are whose thoughts are saturated with evil

And who have been rejected by many beings Gone to Bliss,

May they be tamed by relying upon

The sphere of action of my speech.

So that I may serve everyone in the universe

I will be loving like a relative,

Kind like a mother and, like a father,

Shall give beneficial advice.

Even by merely recollecting my name

May all beings immediately be

Protected from fear and may all misery

Of the three worlds be dispelled.

May I be a vase of goodness and medicine against illness

For people who are destitute in hundreds of ways.

May I also provide a cool pool of nectar

Continuously for the masses of ungry spirits.

May I be warmth for the cold hells and cause rain

With sweet breezes to shower on the hot.

As well, may I placate every harm

In the very low realms of bad migration.

Even by beings merely remembering me

May I be a true friend to those who face destitution,

Solid armour for those stricken by a rain of arrows,

And cooling water for those afflicted by fire.

When beings remember me may I be an opponent

For the venom of defilements, a firm bridge

Over the torrent of the three worlds,

And may I bar the door to unfortunate destinies.

May even merely recollecting my name, be enough to prevent

All beings from falling into the abyss of worldly existence.

May I become the foundation of the stairway

Leading them to the pinnacle of pure peace.

Even if someone out of anger should recall

My name for just an instant of time,

May he never plunge into bad destinies

And may he surely accomplish perfect Buddhahood.

May my excellences, stainless like moonlight,

Bring happiness throughout the whole universe;

May I work to generate immeasurable delight

For others even by merely breathing.

Having attained perfect awakening itself

Where all is fully complete

May I also settle all ongoing beings

In that ultimate awakening itself.

At that time, may not even slightly faulty actions

Arise in the minds of whoever (may be my disciples).

May they always help other creatures

And remain on the path of ten virtues.

May the realms of bad migration never be seen

Even in dreams of anyone fitting (to be my disciple)

And may the far reaches of places of bad destiny

Be pleasurable like the realms of celestial beings.

As long as anyone remains in the midst

Of the ocean of the three worlds' non-virtues,

Though I have completed the deeds of a Buddha

May I remain in this world for them.

When I have enacted my passing into the State Beyond Sorrow

May my teachings not become disordered

And may none of my followers be swayed

For oven a moment by the dangling rope of doubt.

Thus, by delighting in the performance of then Conquerors' Sons,

May whatever virtues I have gathered

All be shared by each and every

Living being without exception.