Honor the Winter Solstice with the Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra, one of the most famous and often-recited Dzogchen texts.
We will offer this prayer twice: at 11 a.m. Saturday Dec. 21 and 7 p.m. Thursday Dec. 26.
This is a uniquely profound prayer because it simultaneously takes place on two distinct levels and also serves as an immediate practice instruction.
Conventionally speaking, it appears to be an aspiration prayer by the primordial Buddha Samantabhadra for all sentient beings to recognize the nature of their mind and thus become buddhas. Actually, however, it is an aspiration prayer of this very nature of the mind — the primordial basic awareness (rigpa) that is called “Samantabhadra”— to recognize itself, “its own face,” or its own essence, which is nothing other than beginningless perfect buddhahood.
Thus, it is a wake-up call by our own buddha nature to be revealed as it is by way of seeing through its adventitious fleeting obscurations. The prayer not only outlines the profound view of Dzogchen in a nutshell but also provides clear instructions on how to discover the five wisdoms of a buddha in the very midst of our five main mental afflictions.
