A Ritual of Fire Sacrifice to Sakyamuni Buddha
Written in Chinese by the Buddhist Yogi C. M. Chen
English Translation by Yutang Lin
1. Get Permission from the Goddess of the Earth
Visualize the Goddess of the Earth with a yellow body suddenly appearing from the earth and accepting the blessing of the Master. After she offers her approbation, she suddenly disappears.
The Master wields his Vajra in the upper portion of the place where the fire alter is situated. He creates a Vajra-cross mental image there, and then recites the following half-stanza:
When abiding in the non-limit of cosmos,
The Palace of Sakyamuni appears within.
2. Develop the Bodhicitta
Your Holy Karma is based on the four vows,
Likewise, I'll spread the Dharma to save all beings!
3. Bless the Bell, Vajra, and Drum
Visualize that Father Buddha and Mother Buddha become lights that go into the Vajra and Bell respectively. Visualize the moon on the right palm and the sun on the left one. Cross the right hand over and above the left one, simultaneously pick up the Vajra with the right hand and the Bell with the left one, while reciting MAHA VAJRA HUM and VAJRA KA DZA AH. Use the Vajra to touch the heart (chakra) three times, simultaneously ring the Bell three times. Then repeat the following stanza:
The Five Wisdoms may conquer all evils,
The Five Elements produce the Lion's roar,
The Ewam of pleasure and Sunyata,
Brings Peace to the whole world forevermore!
(Note: The vajra represents the Five Wisdoms, the Bell the Five Elements, Ewam is the merging of Mother Buddha's wisdom with Father Buddha's pleasure, and playing the drum represents the act of merging.)
Then recite the incantation of Blessing the Bell and Vajra:
OM SARWA TATHAGATA, SIDDI VAJRA. SAMAYA. DITSA. OTSERSDOWN. TAZERYAMI. VAJRASATTVA. HA HA HA HA HA. HUM HUM HUM PHAT. SOHA.
Then while reciting the incantation of Requesting the Blessing of All Buddhas, use the Vajra to touch the heart (chakra) to awaken all the Buddhas that are in one's own Buddha-nature and with the opening of the Bell facing the top of the Master's head, turn the Bell around three times counter-clockwise, then three times clockwise, thus all Buddhas in the ten directions are requested to give blessing:
OM VAJRA. KENJRA ZERRITHA. TSA ZERRITHA. SUONTSA ZERRITHA. SARWA BUDAKENJRA. TSAJRA RILUE. TSAJRA PARIMI. KENJRA DANAZER. SUONHA PIDA. VAJRA THAMA SIDAYA. SARWA TSERRI HUM HUM HUM. HO HO HO. AH KON SOHA.
4. Protection
Two pieces of food, prepared in advance, in triangular shape are offered. The white one is for vegetarian Gods and the red one is for carnivorous Gods. The Karmic Vajra (attendant) should throw them in opposite directions for the Gods while the Master repeats the Four Hum incantation (incantation C. below), and think that all the protector Gods have been satisfied and are guarding the ceremony according to the Master's orders.
Incantation:
OM KA KA KA HSI KA HSI (meaning: Please taste it, please!)
Prayer Stanza to the Protectors: (This stanza is traditionally used. Since it belongs to the tradition, the Gods are quite used to accepting it, and hence its power to obtain protection is great.)
All the eight departments of Protectors,
And all the Yaksas and your family!
Please take all this blessed and delicious food.
Protect all the Yogis and their families.
Let all of them be free and have long life.
Gather all merits and sow all best seeds!
And may you inspire all special enjoyments!
Especially help this fire sacrifice,
And let me get all the Accomplishments!
Please remember all your excellent vows.
Help me gain all the attainments!
Get rid of all bad conditions and death.
Destroy all my obstacles and demons.
Purify all terrible dreams and bad omens.
Protect us from all dangerous risks.
Help make peace and rich harvests for all.
Plenty of all kinds of corns and Dharmas,
And all good pleasures might be helped by you.
Do help me fulfill all my best wishes!
Those who have been divined to darkness,
And cannot understand all the Tantras,
Not able to hear and see this secrecy,
Please leave here and go to the place where you belong.
If you don't take my advice right now,
I shall use the powerful and fiery Vajra,
To destroy your head into many pieces!
Repeat the Four Hum incantation to send the black deities away:
OM SUNBANI SUNBANI HUM HUM PEH!
OM KRIHARA KRIHARA HUM HUM PEH!
OM KRIHARA PAYA KRIHARA PAYA HUM HUM PEH!
OM AHRAYA HO BAGABIN BIYALANTZA HUM HUM PEH!
During this repetition the Master should throw some mustard seeds in ten directions, and visualize that all the black deities have returned to where they belong. Then the Master should visualize the Vajra Net which covers all ten directions and is formed with the Vajra-net Mudra. Thus from the beginning of the Homa performance until its end, the altar and the Master and his family and followers are protected.
5. Blessing the Offerings
Throughout the ceremony the Master should hold the Vajra and Bell at all times except when doing a mudra.
The Master should hold the sacred and secret Vajra dippers together in the union position of Heruka and visualize much nectar falling down upon all the offerings. It flows from the area of contact between their reproductive organs. Hence all worldly offerings become Vajra Nectar. Repeat the following mantra:
OM TZAR! TZAR! TZAR! TZAR! TZAR!
6. Arrange the Seat of the God of Fire and that of the Buddha
Place four auspicious grasses clockwise around the fire altar one on each side. Cross two grasses on top of the fire altar to form the seat of the God of Fire. On top of this seat form another grass- cross as the seat for the Buddha.
Arrange the seat of the God of Fire:
Praise the God of Fire with the following stanza:
Shine upon the dark becoming the bright.
Drive away the demons with big fire!
Your kind smile sends away the sorrows.
Please sit on this good seat and admire!
Visualize the White Fire God
On the lotus seat there is the word LUNG;
It becomes the White Fire God!
One face, two arms, holding a brazier profound,
And a fairy bottle the world never had.
His lovely hairs are numberless and long.
His great belly is round with white thread!
Welcome the God of Fire
The Master should raise a bunch of auspicious grass up to the sky with his thumb touching the end of the ring finger. He does this three times as a welcoming gesture, and repeats the following incantation:
OM AHRAYA SABARIVARA TZA KEI HUM TZA!
Then he recites the following stanza in praise:
You are the victorious Prince of Dharma;
You have got the initiation of good Karma!
Your wisdom fire can get rid of the obstacles!
I, now, beg you to help the Homa!
Arrange the seat of the Buddha:
Recite the following:
The four pillars of vows support the outer seat;
The four bodies of the four Wisdoms form the inner seat;
The lotus of pleasure and Sunyata in one is the secret seat;
The pleasure of Ch'an is the most secret seat!
Visualize the Shakyamuni Buddha
Majestic Buddha, Teacher of men and heavenly beings, the successor of ancient Buddhas and the model for all times to come,
Right hand pacifying the Earth, left one in the gesture of Samadhi.
Before you, all evils confess their sins, while believers do prostrate!
Recite the seven-branch praise:
We prostrate on the foundation of Hinayana Purity,
We praise through the inconceivable mystic gates of Mahayana,
We take delight in the unity of pleasure and Sunyata,
We repent by staying in the Ch'an-joy free from pretensions.
We plead with you to turn the Great Dharma Wheel to convert the outsiders.
We beg you to stay in the non-born and non-death of Tathata,
We are grateful for your tireless salvation of all sentient beings!
Recite the Grateful Commemoration Stanza to Sakyamuni Buddha:
Like thunders waking up beings in the hibernation of Ignorance,
As moonlight shining through barred windows upon jailbirds,
Buddha expounded the Tathagata-garbha luminously and fully;
Remembering such grace of Sakyamuni Buddha makes our tears flow!
Like a silkworm imprisoned by its cocoon of self-fabrication, we are caught in the illusive net of our Karmic threads;
The more our efforts to untangle it, the deeper our entanglement therein;
Buddha's transcendental wisdom clarified the non-existence of such inherent sufferers;
Remembering such grace of Sakyamuni Buddha makes our tears flow!
Buddha secretly realized the Bliss of Nirvana,
Not arising through practices, but existing innately to be enjoyed;
Buddha unconditionally presented the complete collection of His treasures to us;
Remembering such grace of Sakyamuni Buddha makes our tears flow!
The Light of Victorious Significance is continuously omnipresent;
Silently holding a flower to hint at the indescribable Truth,
Buddha showed us the meaning of the oneness of Samsara and Nirvana;
Remembering such grace of Sakyamuni Buddha makes our tears flow!
Pleading for Blessings:
Bless me to renounce thoroughly and be free from pollutions!
Bless me to remember Impermanence and be diligent!
Bless me to attain the supernatural powers of Buddha!
Bless me to have the power to debate and convert others!
To know the thoughts of sentient beings without doubts;
To see the views of sentient beings without veils;
To open the mind of sentient beings without blocks;
Do bless me with such Holy Karmas!
In this Kali Age the perversive views are getting wilder;
The outsiders' perversive views are mixed with the right Dharma;
The Holy land gradually loses the Buddhist tradition;
The New World has young sprouts that are mixed with weeds;
Thus it is even more difficult to preach the Right and Pure Dharma!
May Your Holiness bless me to attain Buddhahood soon:
Building Mahayana on the foundation of Hinayana,
Comprehending the Exoteric teachings while honoring the Pureland School,
Realizing the essence of Ch'an and applying the teachings of Tantras,
How could there be a more direct and all-round approach than this!
Bless me with the supernatural powers to convert all!
Bless me with the task of Buddhist Renaissance!
7. Bless the Wood
Recite the following half-stanza:
With the calamity-like wood start up the wisdom fire;
After offering them, all the Sages and beings do have the Pleasure!
8. Bless the Oil (For Homa of reducing, we should use sesame oil.)
The pure and clean oil helps the wisdom fire,
May all be served with endless merits we admire.
9. Start the Fire
Before starting, a candle-lamp should be arranged on the South-East corner of the fire altar. Now the Master should put it into the fire altar. Attendants should help the Master start the fire, starting from the inside and moving counter-clockwise around the altar with clean papers.
Bless the Fire
Do the fire mudra which is extending the middle three fingers of the right hand and folding the thumb and the small finger in the palm, and move it around on top of the fire altar. At the same time, the Master should recite the following stanza:
YOUNG YOUNG YOUNG
PARA PARA MAHA PARA
PARA PARA PURE PARA
PARA PARA SAMADHI PARA
PARA PARA SILENT PARA
Then with the right Vajra dipper which is in the form of a skull, take some sesame oil and put it into the left Vajra dipper which has four strata. For this reducing Homa the sesame oil should fill the circle stratum.
Offer to the Fire God the following incantation and stanza:
Incantation:
OM AHRAYA SABARIVARA KA KA KA HSI KA HSI
Praise:
You are the Sovereign Prince of Dharma.
You have been blessed as the King of Karma.
With the deep wisdom burn up the sorrow.
I, now, beg you to help the Homa!
Pray to the God of Fire:
I, the Acarya, and all my followers,
Have learned Dharma and do the good Karma.
Any kind of obstacles, during the Homa is done,
Please send them away from this Mandala.
10. Offer to the Sakyamuni Buddha
Offer the Bodhi-branches:
The Master puts the Bodhi-branches or three sticks of incense straight into the fire altar behind the Buddha. (Be careful not to put them upside down.) The Master visualizes that they become full-grown and that Buddha is sitting in their shade.
Incantation: (Repeat three times)
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM BODHITZI CHARYA SOHO.
Praise:
Like the Bodhi-tree that shades you on the Vajra Seat,
This offering will bring the attainment of Buddhahood!
Offer the Black Sesame Seeds:
Before the ritual starts, everyone attending should, with his left index-finger press on the outside of the left nostril, exhale through the right nostril into the sesame seeds, while visualizing all his sins and troubles becoming venomous snakes or poison gas that go into the sesame seeds.
Incantation: (Recite three times)
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM SAWA PAPAN SINDEN KURU YEH SOHO.
(The first half or the whole of this incantation may be repeated by the master and the attendants throughout the ritual when they are not otherwise occupied as required by the ritual.)
Praise:
The master of all sins is the perversive view,
May this offering bring the unlimited powers of debate.
Offer the Mustard Seeds: (to drive away evils)
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM SAWA ARTZA SIDDAYET SOHO.
Praise:
Perversive views and violence are promoted by the evils, May this offering convert the evils to become our protectors!
Offer the five kinds of Grain:
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM SAWA SAMBADA SOHO.
Praise:
People of this Kali age lack the two kinds of merits. May this offering bring abundance of Wisdom and Compassion!
Offer Gold Leaves or Bhutanese Gold Dust:
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM VAJRA MUNI YEH SOHO.
Praise:
The Priceless Dharmic teachings are better than gold.
May this offering bring the Muni-Jewel-like Compassion!
Offer five yards of Yellow Silk: (For Homa of reducing one normally would use white silk. But Sakyamuni wears a yellow robe, so we use yellow silk instead.)
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM AH HONG.
Praise:
Pure and majestic robe of yellow silk is offered,
So that we'll have wonderful partners to attain success.
Offer Yellow and Red Flowers:
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM BUBA SOHO.
Praise:
Just like this offering of half-open beautiful flowers,
May we obtain the young and beautiful Vajra partner!
Offer Fruits: (Red apples are preferable. The number should be five, ten or fifteen. One may also choose to offer five pairs of banana and apple.)
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHA.
OM VAJRA KEPAWA SOHO.
Application:
The fruit of Great Compassion of Nirmanakaya,
The fruit of the pure and perfect Sambhogakaya,
The fruit of the non-limit-light Dharmakaya,
The fruit of the trinity of Sahajakaya,
The fruit of the Mahasukha Prajnakaya,
May all these five bodies be obtained.
Offer Dates: (In Chinese dates are called "Tsao" which is also the pronunciation of another Chinese word meaning "Soon", therefore we have the following "Ten Soon Application.")
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM VAJRA KEPAWA SOHO.
Ten Soon Application:
Soon break all doubts and be happy!
Soon meet all dakinis and work together!
Soon increase all practices and obtain fulfillment!
Soon apply all mercies and conquer devils!
Soon grasp supreme teachings and produce miracles!
Soon attain original Wisdom and have the ten powers!
Soon turn the wondrous Dharma Wheel by all means!
Soon Purify the worldlings by wonderful speeches!
Soon illuminate the Dharmadhatu with the light of Dharma! Soon show the Buddha realm to all sentient beings!
Offer the eight common offerings:
Incantation:
OM MUNI MUNI MAHA-MUNI YEH SOHO.
OM AHGON, BADON, BUDBA, DOBA, ALGA, GANDE, RUVIDA, SHADA, DRADHITZAYA SOHO.
Pray:
When offering water may wealth come soon!
When offering flowers may all Dakinis come soon!
When offering incense may those with musk smell come!
When offering light may Dharmakaya light be found!
When offering Arghya may Silas be kept long!
When offering foods may Holy Samadhi last long!
When offering music may teachings be in sweet sound!
11. Give Thanks to the God of Fire
A small portion of each offering should be kept for the God of Fire. Now the Master should pour this remainder into the fire and visualize that the God of Fire appears from the fire in his original personality and accepts the offerings with a smile.
12. Dedication of the Merit
The Master should put the Vajra and Bell on the table, then fold his palms together, and pray as follows:
General Prayer:
If I and my followers have done anything which would make the Protector Gods or Goddesses of Buddhism unhappy, may this Homa performance be a confession. If my followers and sponsors have broken some silas or vinayas, have been disturbed by false views, or have been deserted by all the protectors, may this Homa be a redemption and get the permission to be forgiven. May the merit of this Homa be conducive to the attainment of Buddhahood
Special Prayer:
May the power of your great will and Holy Karma
And the power of the True Dharma Nature
And the power of the Master's Bodhicitta,
Deserve your helpfulness and your pleasure!
