INVOCATION OF RATNASAMBHAVA

Turning to the south,
In the bright midday sun,
I bow to the golden yellow light
That is the Buddha Ratnasambhava.

Lord of Riches,
You sit on a golden-yellow lotus,
Right hand open in the gesture of supreme giving.
Cradled in the palm of your left hand
Is the scintillating wish-fulfilling jewel.
 
Your body is the colour of golden sunshine,
Your robes a richly embroidered orange.
Around you an aura of blue light
And the green light of wisdom surrounds your head.

Your abundance knows no limits.
There is no self to restrict your giving,
No thoughts of me and mine.
Everything flows through you
And out to others,
The free flow of your generosity
Bestowed on all.
And each receives your golden abundance
In equal measure.

The whole world is in a grain of sand,
Each thing reflects all others,
And you see this basic sameness of all things..
You identify with everything as though it were yourself.

You are the earth element
With all its profusion of growth,
The riches returning each year
In the warmth of spring and summer.
The harvests ripen in the light of your sun
All things growing in your presence,
Reaching up from earth to sky.

You are beauty too,
The beauty of a landscape in its fullness,
Alive with birdsong
Full of the wonders of nature.
And the beauty of human activity in the arts,
Great paintings of many colours,
Temples of sandstone and marble
Where poets and musicians sing your praises.
All this creativity you ripen and mature
With your sun-like energy
Falling on all alike.

Everyone takes their part
In co-operating to build your pure land,
A pure land of harmony and warmth,
Of mutual love and generosity,
A truly healthy human realm
Free of pride and conceit.

O Ratnasambhava
Help us to be free of our poverty,
Our meanness.
Help us to free our restricted energy,
To overcome our pride,
To see others as like ourselves.
Help us to become truly human,
To make something beautiful of our lives.

O Ratnasambhava,
Lord of Riches,
The Jewel-born Buddha of the South,
We praise you again and again.

Written by Dharmachari Saccanama, Dec 1999.