INVOCATION OF AMITABHA

Turning to the West,
And the rays of the setting sun,
I bow to the ruby red light
Of the Buddha Amitabha.

Lover of light,
You sit on a rich red lotus,
Adrift on the ocean of existence.
Your hands touch together in your lap,
 A soft red lotus growing between them.

You are deep in meditation,
Completely at peace with yourself.
Rich red light emanates
From every pore of your skin.
Your red robes are embroidered with gold.
Soft red light and a rainbow surround you,
The wisdom aura of green encircles your head.

You are the rich red light of the setting sun
Sinking into the ocean of existence,
Your rays extending across the sea to meet us.

With your light comes your love,
A warm and passionate love for all that lives,
Suffusing all things,
Nourishing and healing,
Bringing back to life the hurt and wounded.
The red light washes over us,
Melting  the ice of our hearts.

Yet always you are deep in meditation,
Your energy drawn inwards,
Moving from the senses
To the riches of your inner world.
From this wholeness and containment,
Your love shines out.

And the lotus growing in your hands,
Each red petal slowly opening
And emanating light,
This lotus echoes the growth in us
Of our own inner life,
Our own aspirations,
The gentle warming and unfolding of our own hearts.

Lover of light,
Your discriminating vision
Sees each person exactly as they are,
Loves each one according to their need.
You perceive clearly the nature of all things,
Seeing with the eye of reality
Beneath the form to the thing itself.

O Amitabha
You are the fire element,
The spark of life,
The warmth and heat that is life itself.
Let the fires of your love burn brightly for all to see.
 
O Amitabha,
Help us to come alive to a world beyond the senses.
Help us to experience the joy of meditation,
The ever-renewing energies of our own minds.
Help us to enter Sukhavati
The blissful land of your light,
The blissful land of your love.

Written by Dharmachari Saccanama, Dec 1999.