Prayers

With my body, speech, and mind, I humbly prostrate before all my teachers and make offerings both spoken and unspoken. I declare every negative action, spoken word, and intention for my entire life, and dedicate the merit of this practice to the liberation of all sentient beings.

There is nothing more important than what I do in this moment. I remind myself that the essential purpose of my life is to be happy, and yet I should not chase after happiness, but I should instead seek out and eliminate all the barriers I have built against it.

I have everything I need –
There is nothing I desire in this moment that would be of benefit to either myself or the world.

May I fully embrace and abide by the four noble truths:

 The truth about the nature of suffering
 The truth about the underlying cause of suffering
 The truth about the cessation of suffering
 The truth about the path of liberation from suffering

May I attain happiness and the root of happiness
May I be free from suffering and the root of suffering
May I be inseparable from the limitless joy that is free from suffering
May I reside in the selfless equanimity that is free from attachment and aversion

May you attain happiness and the root of happiness
May you be free from suffering and the root of suffering
May you be inseparable from the limitless joy that is free from suffering
May you reside in the selfless equanimity that is free from attachment and aversion

May all beings attain happiness and the root of happiness
May all beings be free from suffering and the root of suffering
May all beings be inseparable from the limitless joy that is free from suffering
May all beings reside in the selfless equanimity that is free from attachment and aversion

May I be free from selfish, harmful, and deluded actions
May my actions always abide by the essential nature of compassion, loving-kindness, patience, and equanimity
May my actions always be true, gentle, and never without purpose

May I be free from selfish, harmful, and deluded speech
May my speech always abide by the essential nature of compassion, loving-kindness, patience, and equanimity
May my speech always be true, gentle, and never without purpose

May I be free from selfish, harmful, and deluded intentions
May my intentions always abide by the essential nature of compassion, loving-kindness, patience, and equanimity
May my intentions always be true, gentle, and never without purpose

May I fully embrace and abide by the nine cornerstones of compassion, loving-kindness, patience, equanimity, joyful perspective, gratitude, generosity, faith, and courage.

May I fully embrace and abide by the four fundamental truths:

 The rarity and preciousness of my life
 The inevitability of my death
 The awesome and indelible power of my actions, speech, and intentions
 My inability to escape suffering through distraction

Do not think lightly of good, saying it will not come to me. Drop by drop the water pot is filled. Likewise, the wise person, gathering it little by little, is filled with good.

Bravery is the essential heart of the Bodhisattva. I will embrace bravery every day.