Sherab Plaza: Prayers to Guru Rinpoche
Lama Zopa Rinpoche with students at the 120-foot Guru Rinpoche statue in Sikkim, in northwest India, in March 2006. Photo fpmt.org.
2,011,614+ prayers completed, and counting!
One of the many practices Lama Zopa Rinpoche advised in 2006 to bring success to Sherab Plaza was the recitation of a powerful prayer to Guru Rinpoche, or Padmasambhava, the 8th century Indian saint: Prayer to Guru Rinpoche to Remove All Obstacles.
Ven. Robina immediately requested the monks of Kopan Monastery in Nepal to recite one million, which they did. The US and Australian staff of Liberation Prison Project, which Ven. Robina was running at the time, plus the staff of Tse Chen Ling in San Francisco, also began reciting the prayer daily. And people in prison, who read about Sherab Plaza in LPP’s newsletter, offered hundreds of thousands of recitations. By May 2008 another million had been completed.
If you would like to offer Guru Rinpoche prayers, please email your count to Kate Macdonald: info@robinacourtin.com.
Beloved by Tibetans, Guru Rinpoche – Precious Guru – is said to have been born from the blossom of a red lotus in Lake Dhanakosha, in the Kingdom of Uddiyan, in Northern India, as a perfectly formed eight-year-old, holding a vajra and lotus in his hands. He immediately began giving teachings to the surrounding gods and dakinis. Guru Rinpoche was invited to Tibet by King Trisong Detsen, to tame local spirits who were hindering the construction of Tibet’s first monastery at Samye and thus the introduction of Buddhism to Tibet. He traveled throughout the country, blessing the landscape, giving teachings, transforming the hostile spirits into protectors of the Dharma and concealing thousands of hidden teachings, terma, for the benefit of future generations.
Prayer to Guru Rinpoche to Remove All Obstacles
Precious Guru, the embodiment of all Buddhas of the three times,
Great Bliss, the lord of all accomplishments,
Wrathful Power, the one who dispels all hindrances and subdues demons,
Pray, bestow your blessings!
Please remove the outer, inner, and secret obstacles
And grant your blessings to accomplish wishes spontaneously!
People who have offered prayers
Ven. Aileen Barry, Dharamsala
Ven. Lobsang Chokyi, San Francisco
Ven. Thubten Chokyi, Sydney
Ven. Katy Cole, Aptos, CA
Ven. Thubten Drolkar, Santa Luce, Italy
Ven. Gyalten Palmo, San Francisco
Ven. Tenzin Pelza, Dharamsala
Al Adams, CA
Rashel Adragna, Los Angeles
David Lloyd Beard, TX
James Bettis, IA
Dechen Bloom, Portland, OR
Sarah Brooks, Raleigh, NC
Timothy Burns, AZ
John Castelloe, Raleigh, NC
Ravi Chankar, NY
Steve Conover, Santa Cruz, CA
Sara Brooke Curtis, San Francisco
David Davis, MI
Nick Dickison, Portland, OR
David Genther, ID
Alison Harr, San Francisco
Buck Heater, ID
Chris Helstowski, CA
Harvey Horrocks, San Jose, CA
Kevin Ison, Blue Mountains, NSW
Raven Jones, ID
Yonten Lama, San Francisco
Shaheeb Loving, NY
LPP Mongolia students Dorjsuren, Narangerel, Gangkhu, Tsogtbaatar, Gangtogtokh, Gansukh, Tumuurbaatar, and Gangbaatar;
Kate Macdonald, Portland, OR
John B. Mason, AZ
Chris McNeely, CA
Michael Mohr, NSW;
Losang Monlam, San Francisco
Moreland Nicholson, FL
Sue Ann Powers, San Francisco, CA
Carina Rumrill, Portland, OR
Rob Snyder, VA
Rickey Sonney, CA
Michelle Stewart, Alameda, CA
Charles Strain, TX
Wayne Swan, GA
Thich an Thanh, AZ
Peter Tuohy, NSW
Walter Veilbig, ID
Knut von Walter, Germany
Stephen Wenitong, VIC
Margaret White, Blue Mountains, NSW
Ciguiri Wilkovich, TX
Tsengal Yidam, San Francisco