I pay homage to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.
Ananda, the Bodhisattva, the great being Maitreya, after having made his commitment, in the past when following Bodhisattva conduct, three times a day and three times a night, having hung his robe from one shoulder, knelt with his right knee on the ground and joined his palms, would formulate his aspirations in the following terms:
To all Buddhas I pay homage.
To the Bodhisattvas – rishis endowed with the divine eye,
And also to listeners I pay homage.
To those who reverse the paths to lower realms
And perfectly show the way to higher rebirths,
Who guide us to the state free of ageing and death,
To the Bodhisattvas I pay homage.
All the misdeeds I have committed
Influenced by my negative states of mind,
In the presence of the Buddhas
I confess them.
With the store of merit I have generated
By means of any of the three kinds of activities,
And with the germ of my omniscience
May I attain inexhaustible enlightenment!
In the worlds of the ten directions
Whatever offerings made to the Buddhas,
Known and rejoiced in by the Buddhas,
I too rejoice in.
I confess all wrongdoing.
I rejoice in all merit.
I pay homage to all Buddhas.
May I attain excellent superior wisdom!
I petition the Bodhisattvas
Abiding at the tenth level
In all ten directions,
To attain Buddhahood, supreme enlightenment.
Having attained Buddhahood – precious enlightenment,
And tamed Mara together with his armies,
By way of a remedy for all living beings
May you turn the wheel of the law!
May the sound of the great Dharma drum
Liberate living beings from their suffering!
May you reside, teaching the Dharma
For immeasurable millions of aeons!
Those stuck in the mire of desire
Tightly bound by the twine of attachment,
And restrained by every bond,
I pray the supreme Buddhas to heed.
Those influenced by their mind’s impurities,
The Buddhas do not reject.
May those endowed with love for living beings
Liberate them from the ocean of samsara!
Those now abiding in consummate Buddhahood,
Buddhas of the past and those who have yet to appear,
By following their example,
May I practise Bodhisattva conduct!
Having fully achieved the six perfections
May I liberate the six classes of beings!
Having attained all six supernormal powers
May I attain supreme enlightenment!
Inherently there is nothing that has arisen, nothing that will arise
And nothing now existing, no abiding object
No subject, no thing that exists;
May I realise the emptiness of phenomena!
Ultimately just as there are no Buddhas, no great Rishis,
There are no ordinary beings, there is no life
There are no living beings and nothing living;
May I realise the selflessness of persons!
Free of self grasping and holding as mine
In relation to all phenomena,
By way of a remedy for all beings
Devoid of stinginess, may I practise generosity!
Free of grasping at things as things,
May I spontaneously acquire possessions!
Because all things are subject to dissolution
May I fully achieve the perfection of generosity!
With the ethics engaged in, free of fault,
Endowed with perfect moral discipline,
By means of ethics free of pride
May I fully achieve the perfection of moral discipline!
With patience and non-aversion,
Similar to the elements of earth and water,
Fire and air that is never static,
May I fully achieve the perfection of patience!
By cultivating enthusiastic effort –
Stable, joyful and free of laziness –
With a mind and a body thus endowed with strength,
May I fully achieve the perfection of enthusiastic effort!
With the samadhi similar to a magical illusion,
The samadhi like the well-followed general
And the vajra-like samadhi,
May I fully achieve the perfection of concentration!
By directly realising the three doors of deliverance,
The equality of the three times in emptiness,
And the three kinds of knowledge,
May I fully achieve the perfection of wisdom!
Having attained the state praised by all Buddhas
With light and splendour
By means of the enthusiastic effort perfected as a Bodhisattva,
May I fulfill the aspirations of others and myself!
Practising the Bodhisattva path in this way,
May I who have earned the name Maitreya (‘Love’)
Having completed the six perfections,
Repeatedly return to the summit of the tenth level.
By the virtue generated by this practice, may myself and all other beings,
As soon as we die, be reborn in Tushita
In the palace rich in Dharma
And may we become the main spiritual sons of the
Unvanquished Lord of Dharma Maitreya!
Lord of the tenth level, the Conqueror’s regent, in Jambudvipa
When you enact the attainment of the ten powered state,
Being the first to taste the nectar of your teaching,
May I fully accomplish all Conqueror activities!
As soon as I leave the present life
May I be reborn in Tushita’s Land of Joy
And promptly pleasing the Protector Maitreya
May he prophesize my enlightenment!
