When my retreat cabin shook this Friday during a historic earthquake in the Northeast, I reached for “The Powerful Prayer of Aspiration,” a Dzogchen prayer that is prescribed not just for earthquakes but also eclipses. 

A fourteen-verse prayer meant to be recited out loud, the prayer comes from a larger Dzogchen text entitled The Tantra of Great Perfection that Reveals the All Penetrating Mind of Samantabhadra. This text teaches that by making powerful prayers of aspirations, all beings will surely awaken to Buddhahood. For those interested in reciting this prayer during today’s total solar eclipse, below is a short introduction and summary. 

According to the Buddhist Tantric tradition, every tantra is spoken by a Buddha. This tantra, and the aspirational prayer within it, are spoken by the primordial buddha, Samantabhadra (the Adi-Buddha of the Nyingma tradition, not to be confused with the bodhisattva of the Lotus Sutra and one third of the Shakyamuni Triad in Mahayana Buddhism). 

The closing verse is the most compelling for me. Here, Samantabhadra declares: 

Henceforth, whenever a powerful yogi, 
With naturally clear, undeluded awareness, 
Recites this powerful aspiration, 
All sentient beings who hear it 
Will awaken within the course of three lives. 

I like thinking of the day I heard my teacher recite this prayer as a magical time stamp, a celestial declaration that I’ve only got three lives to go. But I like what Samantabhadra says next even more. He declares that anyone who chants this prayer during eclipses, earthquakes, or solstices, will, by the power of their bodhisattva intention, cause all beings to awaken gradually to Buddhahood. 

I may not be “a powerful yogi with clear, undeluded awareness,” but I can certainly recite a prayer during an eclipse! To any beings who hear my recitation, I’m sorry that I can’t help propel you to Buddhahood within three lifetimes. But I take solace in knowing that, by the strength of my love and concern, I too, can help us all awaken.

When Rāhu seizes the sun or moon [during an eclipse], 
Whenever the earth rumbles or quakes, 
At the solstices or close of the year, 
Visualize yourself as Samantabhadra, 
And chant this aloud so all may hear. 
Then all the beings of the three realms 
Will, through the yogi’s prayer of aspiration, 
Gradually be freed from their suffering 
And ultimately awaken as a buddha. 

My next favorite part is the prayer’s opening verse. Here Samantabhadra explains how Buddhas and regular sentient beings come into existence. All that appears, he says, has one ground (our true nature), two paths (awareness and nonawareness), and two results (Buddhahood and samsara). 

Ho! All that appears and exists, saṃsara and nirvaṇa, 
Has one ground, two paths and two forms of fruition, 
The magical displays of awareness and unawareness. 

In Dzogchen, the ground (our true nature) is described as having three primary characteristics. First, it is primordially pure and empty of intrinsic nature. Second, it arises spontaneously and is naturally aware. Third, it manifests as effortless, all encompassing compassion. Buddhas recognize themselves as inseparable from the ground. Sentient beings, on the other hand, have yet to recognize their true nature, and remain compulsively trapped in samsara until they do. 

In the following verses, Samantabhadra offers a highly condensed explanation of how nonawareness gives rise to a dualistic sense of self and other. He then traces how this dualistic sense solidifies into the five poisons, namely craving, aversion, pride, jealousy, and ignorance. He dedicates a verse to each of the five poisons and their dangers. The descriptions are foreboding, yet Samantabhadra ends each verse with a version of the following prayer: by the power of my aspiration, may all beings be free of suffering. 

Before instructing us to recite the prayer during eclipses and the like, Samantabhadra reminds us of the central point, according to Dzogchen:

All sentient beings throughout the three realms 
Are equal to me, the buddha, in the ground of all. 

To those of us who take the path of nonawareness, by the strength of our love and concern for one another, may today’s eclipse become a cause for recognizing our true nature! 

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The Powerful Prayer of Aspiration 

“Ho! All that appears and exists, saṃsara and nirvaṇa, 
Has one ground, two paths and two forms of fruition, 
The magical displays of awareness and unawareness. 
Through this, Samantabhadra’s prayer of aspiration, 
May all attain complete and perfect awakening 
Within the palace of dharmadhatu, the absolute sphere. 

The basis of everything is uncompounded, 
A self-originating expanse, vast and inexpressible, 
Beyond the names ‘saṃsara’ and ‘nirvaṇa.’ 
This itself, when seen, is awakening. 
But in their ignorance beings wander in saṃsara. 
May all sentient beings throughout the three realms 
Realize the meaning of the ineffable ground! 

I, Samantabhadra, know the ground’s reality, 
Which is without cause or condition;
It originates by itself within this very ground, 
Is unspoilt by perspective,  supposition, or denial, 
And unstained by the darkness of unmindful delusion. 
That which is self-manifest is thus without fault. 
When abiding in genuine intrinsic awareness, 
There is no fear, even at the triple world’s demise. 
Nor is there attachment to the five sensory delights. 
In self-originating awareness free of concepts, 
There is neither solid form nor the five poisons. 
The unobstructed clarity of awareness 
Is one in essence and fivefold in wisdom. 
Through the ripening of the five wisdoms, 
The five original buddha families arise. 
And through wisdom’s further expansion 
The forty-two peaceful buddhas emerge. 
With the upsurge of fivefold wisdom’s power, 
The sixty blood-drinking herukas appear. 
Thus, ground awareness has never known delusion. 
I am the primordial buddha and therefore 
Through this, my prayer of aspiration, 
May beings of saṃsara’s three realms 
Recognize self-originating awareness, 
So that vast wisdom may be perfected.
Continuously my emanations will appear 
In their many billions, beyond imagining, 
Manifest in varied ways according to need. 
Through this, my compassionate aspiration, 
May all the beings of saṃsara’s three realms 
Escape their plight among the six classes. 

From the very first, since awareness does not dawn 
For deluded beings within the ground, 
They are entirely mindless and confused. 
This itself is unawareness, delusion’s cause. 
And then, as if out of a sudden daze, 
There is anxiety and mental disquiet, 
From which notions of self and other and enmity appear. 
As this habitual tendency is then reinforced, 
Saṃsara unfolds in its regular progression. 
Thus, mind’s afflictions, the five poisons, develop, 
And actions born of these five poisons never end. 
Therefore, since the basis for beings’ delusion 
Is a lack of mindfulness, an absence of awareness, 
Through this, my aspiration as a buddha,
May all beings recognize their own awareness. 

The unawareness that is co-emergent
Is a state of mindlessness, distraction.
The unawareness that designates
Is dualistic clinging to self and other. 
These two, co-emergent and designating unawareness, 
Provide the basis for the delusion of all beings. 
Now through this, my aspiration as a buddha, 
May the dark and murky gloom of mindlessness 
Among all sentient beings in saṃsara be dispelled; 
May their dualistic perceptions be purified; 
And may they recognize their very own awareness. 

A mind of dualistic clinging is one of doubt.
From subtle attachment, once it has arisen, 
Habitual tendencies gradually gain strength.
Food, wealth, clothing, home, and companions,
The pleasures of the five senses, or dear relations—
Whatever is attractive brings the torment of desire.
These are the delusions of the world.
Actions based on dualistic clinging are unending. 
When the fruits of attachment come to ripen, 
They bring birth as a preta tormented by desire.
How wretched are the pains of hunger and thirst! 
Now through this, my aspiration as a buddha, 
May beings beset by craving and attachment
Neither cast aside the torment of desire 
Nor pursue the craving of attachment. 
But by allowing the mind to relax just as it is, 
May they capture the natural state of awareness 
And gain the wisdom of perfect discernment. 

Through the subtle stirrings of anxiety and fear 
Towards the appearance of external objects 
Habitual tendencies of aversion are reinforced, 
Opening the way to enmity, injury, and slaughter. 

When the fruits of aggression come to ripen, 
How harrowing will be the boilings and burnings of hell! 
Now through this, my aspiration as a buddha, 
May all the sentient beings of the six realms 
Whenever they are beset by intense aggression, 
Neither reject nor indulge it, but relax therein, 
Capture the natural state of their own awareness, 
And gain the wisdom of lucid clarity. 

When the mind grows conceited 
It brings thoughts of rivalry and disdain, 
And the arising of intense pride 
Leads to the suffering of quarrels and disputes. 
When the fruits of such karma come to ripen
They bring birth as a deva subject to passage and fall. 
Now through this, my aspiration as a buddha, 
May all sentient beings in whom conceit is born 
Relax their minds there and then, 
Capture the natural state of their own awareness 
And realize the true meaning of equality. 

Habitual tendencies of intense dualistic clinging 
Bring about the pain of self-flattery and contempt, 
And by inflaming conflict, dispute, and competition, 
Lead to birth in the asura realm of slaughter and mutilation, 
Which in turn results in descent to the domains of hell. 
Now through this, my aspiration as a buddha, 
May those in whom rivalry and antagonism take root 
Not regard them as enemies but relax there and then, 
Capture the natural state of their own awareness 
And gain the wisdom of unimpeded activity. 

Mindlessness, indifference, distraction, 
Dullness, drowsiness, oblivion, 
Insensibility, laziness, and stupidity
Result in helpless animal wandering. 
Now through this, my aspiration as a buddha, 
May the light of clear cognizance arise
In those plunged into stupidity’s gloom, 
And may they gain wisdom free of thought. 

All sentient beings throughout the three realms 
Are equal to me, the buddha, in the ground of all, 
Yet for them it is but a base of mindless delusion. 
And now they engage in meaningless pursuits, 
With sixfold karma as if deceived by a dream. 
Yet I am the primordial buddha, 
Guide to the six classes through my emanations. 
Through this, Samantabhadra’s prayer of aspiration, 
May all sentient beings without exception 
Awaken within the dharmadhātu, the absolute sphere. 

Aho! 
Henceforth, whenever a powerful yogi, 
With naturally clear, undeluded awareness, 
Recites this powerful aspiration, 
All sentient beings who hear it 
Will awaken within the course of three lives. 

When Rahu seizes the sun or moon, 
Whenever the earth rumbles or quakes, 
At the solstices or close of the year,
Visualize yourself as Samantabhadra, 
And chant this aloud so all may hear. 
Then all the beings of the three realms 
Will, through the yogi’s prayer of aspiration, 
Gradually be freed from their suffering 
And ultimately awaken as a buddha.”

This was extracted from the nineteenth chapter of the Tantra of the Great Perfection that Reveals the All-Penetrating Wisdom Mind of Samantabhadra, which teaches that through making a powerful prayer of aspiration all sentient beings cannot but awaken. Translation by Adam Pearcey via Lotsawa House.