As a part of the daily Lankavatarian-eremetical regimen, the following highlights a liturgical function which coincides with the structured Meditations of the Five Dhyani Buddhas and the Divine Liturgy of Vajrasattva.
This is a breakthrough for western-devotees of the Buddhadharma and is monastically-structured as “the Little Hours of Our Lady of the Void”, or the Divine Office as such. It is a cycle of readings, Buddhist psalms, passages from Sūtras and classical works like The Dharmakaya Sutra, pertinent meditations from the Unbornmind blog, ect. It is divided between Prime—or early morning prayers—and Vespers—or evening prayers; as such a good vehicle to remain mindful of the Buddhadharma at the beginning and conclusion of one’s day. It is in honor of Blessed Tara—for Lankavatarians Our Lady of the Void—one of her many manifestations and the most profound, highlighting the emptiness and void state that Mind must encounter as a heightened realization of its True Nature. She is the dark principle that freely animates all phenomena in fertile fashion and the Void into which they all eventually return—like decomposing elements drawn back into her blessed womb.
We are honored in offering this Buddhaic-enterprise as an alternative vehicle in which to proclaim the Buddhadharma in our broken-age. The followers of the Blessed Dharma Lord throughout the centuries have been transformed by His words and actions—brought to life in the Sūtras and contemplative-meditations that provide the needed spiritual nourishment for the soul that is enroute to the Nirvanic-Kingdom of Self. In a singular fashion, the Lankavatarian Liturgy consists in devotion to the Five Dhyani Buddhas, the Divine Liturgy of Vajrasattva, and by praying and meditating upon this Divine Office; in so doing, the devotee immerses oneself in the living story of the Buddha’s Liberation of Spirit. As Lankavatarians we unite ourselves to the mystery of becoming transfigured in the grace of the Tathāgatas and are thus rooted in the Unborn. We believe that our efforts here at Unbornmind.com is one of the best kept secrets in the world of Buddhism today. In writing this we encourage all interested parties to take an active attentiveness in learning and participating in these teachings and blogs and even incorporate what we offer here into their own daily spirituality.
The
Little Office
Of
Our Lady of the Void
Sunday
Prime
Blessed One, come to my assistance
O’ Lord, make haste to help me
Glory be to the Blessed Buddha and to the Divine Dharma and to the Hallowed Sangha, both now and forever and ever. Swaha.
Hail, Holy Wisdom; hail, Blessed Dark-Womb of the Unborn, our Translucent Light, our Sweetness, and our Strength. To you do we make supplication, subdued children under Mara’s dominion. To you do we send up our lamentations and afflictions in this valley of dukkha. Turn then, most gracious Tara, your eyes of mercy towards us; and after this, our most lingering exile in samsara, show unto us the Immaculate Seed of your Most Beloved Bodhichild. O Temperate One, Most Loving, O Sweet Virgin Mother.
Om Tare, Tuttare, Ture Swaha.
Lauding the Infinite One: (Buddhist Psalms, by S. Yamabe and L. Adams Beck, [1921])
1. Since He who is Infinite attained unto the Wisdom Supreme, the long, long ages of ten Kalpas have rolled away.
The Light of His Dharma-Kaya is in this world eyes to the blind.
2. Seek refuge in the True Illumination! For the light of His Wisdom is infinite.
In all the worlds there is nothing upon which His light shines not.
3. Take refuge in the Light universal.
As the Light of His deliverance is boundless, he who is within it is freed from the lie of affirmation or denial.
4. Seek refuge in That which is beyond understanding,
For His glory is all-embracing as the air. It shineth and pierceth all things, and there is nothing hid from the light thereof.
5. Take refuge in the ultimate Strength, for His pure radiance is above all things. He who perceiveth this Light is set free from the fetters of Karma.
6. Seek refuge in the World-Honoured.
Since His glorious radiance is above all He is called the Buddha of Divine Light. And by Him is the darkness of the three worlds Enlightened.
7. Excellent is the Light of His Wisdom. Therefore is he called the Buddha of Clear Shining.
He who is within the Light, being washed from the soil of Karma, shall attain unto the final deliverance.
8. Take refuge in the Mighty Consoler. Wheresoever His mercy shineth throughout all the worlds, men rejoice in its gladdening light.
9. The darkness of ignorance perisheth before His light. Therefore is He hailed as the Buddha of Radiant Wisdom. All the Buddhas and the threefold choir of sages praise Him.
10. His glory shineth for ever and ever. Therefore is He called the Buddha of Everlasting Light.
Most excellent is the virtue of this light, for he who perceiveth it is born into Paradise without dissolution of being.
11. The glory of the Infinite is boundless, therefore is He known as the Buddha of Light Past Comprehension.
All the Buddhas glorify the majesty of His holiness that leadeth all the earth into His Kingdom.
12. His clear shining transcendeth all revelation, nor can human speech utter it. Therefore is He named the Buddha of Light Unspeakable.
All the Buddhas glorify the glory of the Infinite One who is Buddha through His promise of Light immeasurable. Swaha.
The Trisagion
Blessed Buddha, Mighty Lord, Unborn and Undying…Have mercy on us
Blessed Buddha, Mighty Lord, Unborn and Undying…Have mercy on us
Blessed Buddha, Mighty Lord, Unborn and Undying…Have mercy on us
Supplication
Mother Tara, Noble Queen of the Unborn,
In you we take refuge…
Immaculate Heart of Tara, Out of Your Infinite Compassion,
We consecrate ourselves to you…
Tara-Consoler of the afflicted, Dispense your Healing Mantle,
For we have recourse to you.
Glory be to the Blessed Buddha and to the Divine Dharma and to the Hallowed Sangha, both now and forever and ever. Swaha.
From the Dharmakaya Sutra, 1.12:
“Being sustained and fed by your undivided awareness power, this wondrous garbhachild develops step by step into a fetus of auspicious qualities that solely unveils itself to itself, as a child of radiant pure light, as a spiritual being of divine permanent marks and is clearly revealed as such by those with the clear and discerning eyes of spiritual self-emancipation. As an instrument of your noble wisdom, this auspicious unfolding of undivided awareness power that begins to rekindle within its karmic host, bursts of pure bodhipower as its recalled unborn bodhi power announces the great significance of this birth; these small surges flash across the limited sense organs as dreams and visions of the predestined bodhisattva and above all, as a great instrument to enable an illustrious escape from the deceptive claws of the Evil One.”
OF THE MANY SUTRAS CONCERNING THE INFINITE ONE (S. Yamabe and L. Adams,)
1. Having great pity, our Eternal Father lighteneth the dark night of ignorance, manifesting Himself in that Land of Joy as the Buddha of Infinite Light which enlighteneth all the worlds with its immeasurable glory.
2. That Lord most compassionate, the Buddha of immeasurable Light, He who had attained unto the Supreme Wisdom even before the myriads of Kalpas were, pitying them that know not, made himself manifest in the Palace of Kapila as the Lord Sakya-muni.
3. If a man had the duration of all the myriad Kalpas, had he innumerable tongues and each of these tongues innumerable voices, yet should he vainly essay the praises of that Blessed One.
4. The Lord instructeth us that the way into Paradise is straight and easy. Therefore whosoreceiveth not this Truth is, in verity, called a man that hath not eyes to see nor ears to hear.
5. The One true freedom is the Highest, and the Absolute is perfect freedom. And when we attain unto that freedom, for us shall desire and doubt vanish away.
6. When every man is beloved of us, even as the son of our own body, there is the Universal Mind made perfect in us. And this shall be in Paradise.
7. He who is in all things supreme, is Himself Nirvana, and Nirvana is that true light that abideth in the Land that is to come, but this world cannot know it.
8. Our Lord instructeth us that he who rejoiceth in his faith is, in so doing, in unity with the Highest. For true faith is the seed of light, and the seed of true light is in itself the potentiality of that which is Deity.
9. Whoso trusteth not in the Supreme Wisdom of the Enlightened One, clinging unto his own purblind knowledge, must suffer by fire for long Kalpas of ages. Swaha.
Noble Tara, the mantle you wear is as spotless as the falling snow; your translucent smile is as radiant as a million ponds bathed in soft moonglow.
From the Lankavatara Sutra (VIII)
Perceiving that the triple existence is by reason of the habit-energy of erroneous discrimination and false reasoning that has been going on since beginningless time, and also thinking of the state of Buddhahood which is imageless and unborn, the Bodhisattva will become thoroughly conversant with the noble truth of self-realization, will become a perfect master of one’s own mind, will conduct oneself without effort, will be like a gem reflecting a variety of colours, will be able to assume the body of transformation, will be able to enter into the subtle minds of all beings, and, because of one’s firm belief in the truth of Mind-only, will, by gradually ascending the stages, become established in Buddhahood. Therefore, Mahamati, let the Bodhisattva-Mahasattva be well disciplined in self-realization.
From: Our Lady of the Void:
[Tara] is the dark principle that freely animates all phenomena in fertile fashion, yet also the void into which they all eventually return—like decaying elements drawn back into a uterine womb. We are reminded of the Black Dragon, Teresa of Avila, who once wrote that within this Great Deathless Void there is no-thing to see, no-thing to perceive, no-thing to grasp or cling to—just Total Unequivocal Relinquishment of all that is not the Unborn Absolute. Our Lady of the Void reflects the Great Deathless Void of the Unborn Mind—the Mahasunya. Huang Po once wrote of her that many “people are afraid of emptying their mind lest they plunge into the void. They do not know that their own Mind IS the void—the Void where no attachments are left, when subjectivity and objectivity are forgotten…that is the highest form of relinquishment.” Our Lady of the Void is like a Mystical Mother, who at the end of every karmic cycle—Yuga—calls all of her children back home via the dark principle from which they sprang. She is the Via Negativa, or undercurrent, from which the Via Positiva flows; the animating principle that sustains the Cosmic ebb and flow.
Benedictus
Blessed be the Hallowed Lord of the Unborn;
because He has Revealed His Inmost-Self within his devotees:
And has raised-up a Salvific-Light unto us,
in the face of our enemies:
Once this Noble Self-Realization is reached,
nothing more need be done,
nor is there anything lost by doing nothing less than
basking in the divine Freedom of the Unborn.
Free to partake in His-Self without fear,
Thus filled with Right Devotion,
we unceasingly celebrate His Abiding Presence.
And You MY Child shall be called the Dharma-womb of the Most High:
for you shall go before the Unborn Lord to prepare His Way:
To bestow Buddha-gnosis upon those who live
in the darkness of ignorance.
In the tender compassion of our Dharma-Lord,
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To enlighten those who are in the bondage of Mara’s death,
And to guide all of us homeward bound in the Unborn.
Glory be to the Blessed Buddha and to the Divine Dharma and to the Hallowed Sangha, both now and forever and ever. Swaha.
May all the Buddhas and Dharma-Guardians bless us, protect us from all harm, and awaken us to the Light of Truth in the Unborn. Swaha.
