Prayer Text<note>Cover reads: Dedication and Vows for the Seven-Day Buddha Recitation Session. Humbly presented by this disciple of

We take refuge. The one mind, perfectly pure, does not stray from the Pure Land even amid the Five Turbidities. It transcends the Three Realms directly; the Nine Grades do not separate ordinary beings from enlightenment. Thus, the king of supreme samadhi dissolves into the ocean of true nature, and the ultimate truth turns in the spoken word. The Path is realized through human effort; the Buddha responds according to people's capacity.

In a certain province, prefecture, and county of the Great Qing Empire, in a certain temple, the Bhikshu (monk) So-and-so and others, on this day purify themselves through bathing and incense, sincerely prostrate themselves, and take refuge in the Lord and Teacher of this Saha world, Shakyamuni, the Accomplished Buddha; in Amitabha Buddha of the Western Pure Land, the Guide who leads beings to rebirth; in Guan Yin and Shi Zhi (Avalokiteshvara and Mahasthama); and in all the holy ones. May you all bestow compassion and watch over us from above.

We reflect: Your disciple [name] and all beings present are born in an age of corruption (Kali Yuga), and are embodied as ordinary mortal beings. In our three kinds of actions and six senses (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, mind), there is no offense we have not committed. Among the five realms of rebirth (hells, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, gods) and eight difficulties (conditions unfavorable for practice), there is no suffering we have not tasted. Our dark, unenlightened consciousness has been transmitted from life to life, and we have never yet awakened. Birth and death roll on boundlessly—when will we find liberation?

Fortunately, thanks to subtle wholesome roots planted in past lives, we have been able to develop Right Faith, and have entered early into Amitabha’s Ocean of Vows. We exclusively cultivate the Pure Land Dharma-door, praying that we may take refuge in the Pure Land and entrust our minds to the lotus wheel, sending forth our thoughts toward rebirth.

Therefore, relying on the Sutras, we establish this practice, and in accordance with the Dharma, we reverently carry out this cultivation. Respectfully, beginning from the current month on a certain day, we initiate a single-minded, vigorous Seven-day Recitation Retreat (Buddha-remembrance practice). During these seven full days, we will decorate the hall and arrange the liturgy seriously, dividing ourselves into groups. We will uphold the sacred Name (Namo Amituofo) with constancy, never letting even a meal disturb our mindfulness. We will contemplate the Great Name continuously, never parting from it even for a moment.

With these merits, we dedicate and transfer them toward rebirth in the Pure Land. We only pray that Amitabha Buddha, with compassionate acceptance, together with the holy host, will personally descend and receive us, so that surely our faculties may become still and clear, right mindfulness may shine brightly, the realm of Sumeru may appear before our eyes, and upon the end of our lives, golden lotuses may fully bloom for us. As the Sutra says, may these vows not be in vain.

Furthermore, we vow that through the vigorous merits of these seven days, may all beings universally: - Cut off the seven kinds of evil actions (killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, harsh speech, divisive speech, idle talk; or the seven evil karmic doors: three of body, four of speech) - Eliminate the seven obstructing karmas (the seven grave hindrances that block rebirth) - Remove the seven kinds of pride (arrogance, complacency, etc.) - Leave behind the seven defiled states (the six sense objects and the mind object, contaminated) - Travel in the seven-jeweled pond (of the Pure Land) - Scatter the seven pure flowers (the seven factors of enlightenment: mindfulness, investigation of Dharma, effort, joy, tranquility, concentration, equanimity) - Possess the wisdom of the seven kinds of eloquence (being skilled in various forms of teaching) - Pronounce the seven Bodhi factors (factors of enlightenment) - Transcend the seven provisional stages (of the bodhisattva path) - Realize the seven permanent fruits (the true, unchanging realizations of nirvana)

Furthermore, we vow that through these three groups of pure companions, together with the twelve Sangha members (possibly meaning the group of monastics), cultivating in harmony, may the merits produced universally cause all beings to: - Put an end to the three evil realms (hell, hungry ghosts, animals) - Transform the three heavy obstructions (karmic hindrances, afflictions, ignorance) - Purify the three sets of precepts (the pure precepts of the Pratimoksha, the Bodhisattva precepts, and the esoteric precepts, or the precepts of individual liberation, the precepts of benefiting beings, and the precepts of wholesome dharmas) - Traverse the three vehicles (Shravaka, Pratyekabuddha, and Bodhisattva) - Surpass the three realms (desire realm, form realm, formless realm) and progress far forward - Surpass the three grades (upper, middle, and lower grades of rebirth) and ascend to higher stages - Deeply enter the three gates to liberation (emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness) - Perfectly realize the three Tathagata-garbhas (the Buddha-nature inherent in all beings)

Again, we vow that when beings have attained Buddhahood, sitting under the Bodhi tree, for three times seven days they will contemplate and, for the sake of sentient beings, will teach the Dharma of the Three Vehicles. They will turn the Dharma-wheel of the Four Noble Truths in three turns of twelve aspects. They will skillfully preach the twelve-linked chain of conditioned arising (dependent origination) over past, present, and future lives. They will teach on the revolving and ceasing (of samsara and nirvana), methods going and against, until all beings ultimately converge in the Ocean of All-Knowledge (Sarvajna).

Furthermore, we vow that during these seven days, whether monastics or laypeople, near or far, for a long or short time, coming or going, or even those who perform labor, provide strength, or rejoice upon seeing and hearing—may all universally emerge from the wheel of suffering, be born together in the Blissful Land, and together witness the fine hair-and-mark of Mount Sumeru, and together behold the Dharma-body containing the entire universe.

Finally, we vow that when beings have been reborn in the Land of Peace and Nurturing (Sukhavati) and drawn near to Amitabha, they may serve all Tathagatas, adorn all Buddha-lands, comply with all virtuous friends, penetrate all Dharma-doors, liberate all sentient beings, and perfect all practices and vows. As long as space exists, my vows will never end.

We humbly pray that the Three Jewels (Buddha, Dharma, Sangha) bear witness, causing us to attain according to these vows and fulfill the Bodhi aspiration to perfection.