The Prayers of the Garland of Lives
- jjustinn85
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Greetings Dharma Friends!
There are many types of prayers that exist in the Vajrayana tradition that came down to us from our teachers. One of them is called ‘Garland of Lives’ prayers. These special prayers arise as guideposts for teachers and students in a community to understand the embodiments of a Guru within a Vajrakula and to help orient the practices and trajectory of that community.
I wrote relatively recently about the concept of the Nirmanakaya, called Tulku in Tibetan. The Garland of Lives prayers should be seen entirely in that framework. For as much as a community uses such prayers and practices to form a narrative of ownership, it strays from the meaning of the Dharma. The entirety of the Dharma of the Buddhas of the Three Times is for the liberation of wanderers.
Rather, if these prayers are used to give rise to inspiration on the path, to know which practices and teachers one’s community is connected, and to have faith in the efficacy of the teachers over time, then these prayers become worthwhile methods toward freedom.
Many of our own long time students not only know the embodiments to which myself and Lama Fede are connected, but also their own inheritance of embodiments to guide their practice and commitments.
For those who feel no connection to us and don’t desire to train with us, in general, such information is not useful.
However, due to our own translation and teaching efforts, understanding our lineage and why we are teaching particular cycles of the Dharma, we have decided especially for those on the path with us to release our own Garland of Lives prayers.
If you are interested in learning who these embodiments are and praying this to invoke the blessings of the lineage, please listen to each of our transmissions of the prayers.
First is the prayer to the lineage of the great Terton Dudul Dorje, which continues through the embodiments of the Dudjom lineage, that is expressed in our Kula by our own dear Lama Fede:
Then there is the prayer to the Dzamling Khyentse lineage, connected with myself, here:
After listening to these prayers and lessons regarding these embodiments, the associated prayers given are below in order to help you in your practice:
This is the prayer of the tendril of our connected emanations working together:
This is the prayer of the embodiments of the Dudul Dudjom Line:
This is the prayer of the embodiments of the Dzamling Khyentse Line:
It is our hope that by remembering these incredible teachers and calling on them, that every one connected with us comes to swift realization beyond bias and limitation!
Sarva Mangalam!
– Lama Dorje Sherab