Mahakala Sadhana
Mahakala Sadhana
Brief Daily Practice of the Rapidly Acting Lord of Pristine Awareness, The Jewel, King of Power 1.Preliminaries Thought of Refuge (repeat three times) From this moment on: until attaining complete enlightenment solely for the benefit of others, I, together with all sentient beings of the Six Realms, continuously take refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha; the Lama, Yidam, and Dakini. Shaping of Motive (repeat three times) Through the practice of generosity and other virtues, may I attain buddhahood in order to help others. The Four Immeasurables (repeat three times) May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness; may all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering; may all sentient beings never be separate from the genuine happiness that is free from suffering; may all sentient beings abide in equanimity that is free from passion, aggression, and prejudice. 2. Visualization om shunyata jnana bedzra sobhawa atmako nya ham all things and I are the nature of that indestructible wisdom that is emptiness. [With this mantra, all appearances are refined to emptiness.] From empty space, a circle of protection comes from HUM. In its center a lotus appears from PAM, above it a sun from RAM, and from GAM, two Ganesh, white, with elephant heads, each holding a radish and mongoose, lying face down.
Above them, ones mind appears as two vital drops of pure being, both white and red together, the size of a pea.
In the center is HUM, the color of quicksilver. From them, light shines, clearing away the suffering of all sentient beings that poverty causes. The light is drawn in again and absorbed and the drops change to become the undifferentiated front and self generation, the forms of the Fast-acting Lord of Pristine Awareness, the Jewel, King of Power. He is white in color and shines brilliantly. His face is wrathful with a smiling expression, full of humor. He has three eyes. His eyebrows, beard, and hair are orange and flaring. His forehead is marked with a cinnabar triangle. Above his head, King Akshyoba seals him. His first right hand brandishes a chopper in the sky. The middle hand holds the precious wish-fulfilling gem to his heart. The last right hand rattles an acacia wood hand-drum. The first left hand holds by his left thigh a skull-cup filled with nectar in which there is a vase filled with jewels, in the second hand there is a trident, and the last left hand holds a noose. He stands on the seat of the lotus, sun, and two Ganesh with his feet in the position of preparing to move. He wears flowing silks of different patterns, a tiger-hide loincloth, and on his back, a freshly flayed elephant-hide mantel. He is adorned by a crown of five skulls, each surmounted by a precious jewel set in gold; a garland of fifty freshly severed heads, dripping with blood; ornaments of jewels; jingling bells, and garlands of flowers. Surrounded by throngs of hundreds of millions of power-gathering dakinis as attendants, he stands in the center of a mass of flames. At his forehead, there is a white OM, at his throat a red AH and in his heart a red powergathering dakini holding an elephant goad and a skull-cup filled with blood. At her heart is a vital drop of pure being and at its center a white HUM. From ones own heart, light shines out inviting the Fast-acting Lord of Pristine Awareness, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, and all his throngs of dakinis from the Cool Grove Cemetery in the Southeast. (bell) 3. Accomplishment of the deity pema kamala ya sa tam dza hung bam ho om bedzra argham ah hung om bedzra padyam ah hung om bedzra pukpe ah hung om bedzra dhupe ah hung om bedzra aloke ah hung om bedzra gendhe ah hung om bedzra newidye ah hung om bedzra shabda ah hung (*) Lord of pristine awareness, compassionate one: your body is white, radiant with light, like a snow-covered mountain. You completely pacify the poverty of beings. I pay homage and praise you. Grant me the attainment of numerous desires. 4. root mantra
GURU MAHAKALA HARI NI SA SIDDHI DZA (repeat 1,008 times, or as many times as possible) 5. torma offering (cleansing mantra of Trowo Dutsi Kyilwa) om bedzra amrita kundrali hana hana hung pe (purification mantra) om sobhawa shudha sarwa dharma sobhawa shudho ham Out of empty space, wind appears from YAM, fire from RAM and above that, a skull-cup from AH. It is completely filled with the five meats and the five elixirs all marked by the syllables HUM, BHRUM, OM, JRIM, and KHAM. (**) The wind blows, the fire blazes, and the ten substances and letters melt. Elixir is drawn from the hearts of all Buddhas, and is absorbed into the contents, which become an ocean of elixir of pristine wisdom. om ah hum ha ho hri (repeat three times) The assembly of wisdom deities drinks the torma, drawing it in with their tongues in the form of Vajra straws. (***) guru mahakala ha ri ni sa siddhi dza idam baling ta kaka kahi kahi Eat, eat, please eat, please eat this torma. (repeat seven times) om shri mahakala ya sha sa nam| u pa kari nam| e ko pash chi ma ka lo yam idam ratna trayaya| a pa kari nri ya di pratijaa| samara sita da| idam duktram kaka kahi kahi| mara mara| grihana grihana| bandha bandha| hana hana| daha daha| patsa patsa| di na me kena| maraya hung phat| idam baling ta kaka kahi kahi| (repeat above three times) om bedzra mahakala sapari wara| argham|padyam|pukpe| dhupe|aloke|gendhe|newidye| shabda|tra tyi tsa hung so ha| (drum & bell) Lord of pristine awareness, compassionate one: your body is white, radiant with light, like
a snow-covered mountain. You completely pacify the poverty of beings. I pay homage and praise you. Grant me the attainment of numerous desires. Accept this offering and torma. (bell) To we practitioners and our companions grant good health, life, power, glory, fame, and good fortune. Grant me attainment in enlightened activity, pacifying, enriching, and the others. Through your commitment, protect me. Through all attainments, be my companion. Eliminate premature death and sudden illness, demons and obstacles. Eliminate nightmares and bad omens, evil activities, and plans. Make the world happy with good harvests, make crops flourish, and make the Dharma flourish. Grant the best in happiness, and fortune, and everything the mind desires. (bell) 6. hundred syllable mantra of vajrasattva om vajra-sato samaya manupalaya vajra-sato day-nopa day-ta dri-do mebawa suto-kayo mebawa supo-kayo mebawa anu-rakto mebawa sarwa siddam mepar-ya-tsa sarwa karma sutsamay chi-tum shereyang kuru hum haha haha ho bagawan sarwa tata-gato vajra mame mun-tsa vajra bawa maha-samaya-sato ah In the guru and the lord undifferentiated, I take refuge with devotion. Clear away all emotional confusion in me and all sentient beings. 7. Placing in Support By staying in this very place, united to this representation, spare us illness and grant us long life and power. Grant us the Sublime Accomplishment in the most excellent way. May the goodness prevail of the Lama and Yidam, the fulfillment of all fine qualities. May the goodness prevail of the dakinis and dharma protectors, who effect all enlightened activity. ge way tsok nam sak pa kun dak gir yong su zung me par sem chen ma lu kun dun du che ying la na me par ngo 8. Dedication of Merit Through this merit may beings, having won omniscient perception, defeat all harmful enemies. May all beings be liberated from the ocean of existence and its surging waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death.