Master Lu once said,
there are three different levels of spirituality in one’s life,
with the first being the pursuit of material things.
This is also one of the impetuses that propels many of us to embark on this journey of spiritual cultivation.
To have our desires fulfilled, when we pray to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
our affinity with Buddhism will develop.
Therefore, praying is an important part of our Buddhist practice.
Despite years of Buddhism practice for some,
do we really know the proper way to pay homage
and say our prayers to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas?
Praying is the first step –
WHAT IS THE PROPER WAY TO PRAY?
< Praying to Bodhisattvas is Sowing the Positive Seeds of Karma >
I. The proper way to perform prostration
THE PROPER WAY TO PRAY
Master Jun Hong Lu: Many people do not know the proper way to pray. Please keep this in mind:
When performing prostration, close your eyes as this will help you to concentrate and stay free from distracting thoughts. As you lift up your head, open your eyes, gaze at Guan Yin Bodhisattva and instantly “capture” the image in your mind. Then close your eyes again as you bow down. By doing so, you would have retained Guan Yin Bodhisattva in your heart.
Prostration should be done at a slow pace and with sincerity. A hasty prostration serves no purpose. Many people offer the First Incense in a rush (Master Lu imitated the action of offering incense hurriedly), and by doing so, you defeat the purpose. On the other hand, if you do it slowly, you demonstrate sincerity.
Placing both palms together represents the unity of the Buddha nature and your hearts. The phenomena, ‘Ten fingers are connected to the heart’ is when your fingers touch each other which helps to completely clear both the small and big blood circulatory systems.
Prostration must be performed at a slow pace as it takes a little while for Guan Yin Bodhisattva to receive your energy field and messages. All of you must understand that when I seek Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s presence, even if She travels at the speed of light, it will still take a little while for Her to arrive as She is descending from a very high realm.
How would you know about this if I did not tell you? Many people have been performing prostrations all their lives without knowing the essence, which is why they never seem to have their prayers answered.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Public Talk, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14 December 2015
II. Saying prayers when offering incense
HOW TO ENHANCE THE EFFICACIOUSNESS OF OUR PRAYER
Master Jun Hong Lu: All of you, who are present today, are really blessed. Many do not know the proper ritual when praying to Bodhisattva. After offering incense, they will kneel down and start crying and wailing. Please remember, should you have an important matter to pray for, after lighting up the incense, do not insert the incense into the censer right away. Instead, hold it in your hands and with a sincere heart, state your prayer, “May Guan Yin Bodhisattva bless my child with good health. Deepest gratitude to Guan Yin Bodhisattva”. Thereafter, insert the incense into the censer.
With the incense in your hands, you are connected to the Bodhisattva. This is because your initial heart is known as “Beginner’s Heart”.
When offering the first incense of the day, with the incense in your hands, your heart and that of Buddha will be united as one. Bodhisattva is able to hear the voice in your heart. After stating your important prayer, insert the incense into the censer and start performing prostration. This will enhance the efficacy of your prayers.
Source: Master Jun Hong Lu’s Consecration Ceremony at Guan Yin Hall, Singapore, 21 April 2016
III. Saying prayers when performing recitations
Buddhism: Your Questions Answered
Q&A 101. Saying prayers when performing recitations (An Excerpt)
Avoid repeating your prayers with each recitation of a sutra or mantra. Once, there was a Buddhist practitioner who said his prayers this way. After performing a Totem reading for this Buddhist practitioner, Master Lu noticed that each title of the sutra or mantra he repeated was “dark”. This was because most of the wishes in his prayers contained unwholesome karmic results, bringing about the dark energy. Hence, if you repeat your prayers with each recitation of a sutra or mantra, the effects of your recitation will be impacted.
Beginners can say the corresponding prayer before they start reciting each type of sutra or mantra. They can include multiple wishes in their prayers, but the number of wishes should be limited. This is because having too many wishes may render their prayers ineffective. Besides, it may even intensify their greed. For more details, refer to the procedures in Q&A 71 and Q&A 72: Introduction to Buddhist sutras and mantras.
If you still have many urgent or specific problems to resolve, it is best to state a separate prayer for each problem. This will allow you to address the specific issues with better results.
If you have reached a certain spiritual state, and do not have many wishes or problems, you can say all the prayers once before your daily recitation, and repeat them upon completing your daily recitation. Your spiritual state will elevate as your Buddhist practice deepens, and the way you say your prayers should be adjusted accordingly.
The effect of performing recitation with a pure mind is different from one that is done with a specific intention. There are still many people who perform recitation with the intention to achieve a specific outcome. We should gradually rid ourselves of these desires, as they will blunt the effectiveness of our recitations.
As our spiritual state elevates and our Buddhist practice deepens, we must aim to ask for nothing in return. At times, even if we pray to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas for something, we may not get what we want, as we do not have enough merits and virtues. On the other hand, sometimes even if we do not ask for anything, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will help us regardless, because we have accumulated enough merits and virtues. Therefore, it is wrong to assume that Buddhas and Bodhisattvas will certainly bless us when we pray for many things.
Many things that you pray for will not materialise in the human realm because they are related to the effects of collective karma in heaven.
For full discourse, please visit:
IV. Repeat our prayers to Bodhisattva
WHY IS IT NECESSARY TO REPEAT OUR PRAYER REQUEST?
Caller: Master Lu, when praying for something, we just have to say it once and Bodhisattva will know. If so, why do we have to repeat our prayer to Bodhisattva?
Master Jun Hong Lu: Let me ask you a question. Regardless of what you are doing, don’t you think it’s helpful to have more frequent communication as people tend to forget?
Caller: Indeed.
Master Jun Hong Lu: Bodhisattva will never forget, however, if you are someone with heavy negative karma, Bodhisattva may not be able to hear you. Thus, if you repeat yourself a couple more times, Bodhisattva may be able to hear your prayers. For example, it’s common to hear people repeat themselves while on walkie-talkie, “Please respond, please respond ….” When the opposite party can’t hear you, don’t you have to repeat a few times?
Source: Wenda20160807B 50:31, Master Jun Hong Lu’s call-in radio program
< Do I have to Pray Every Day? >
Watch this video for Procedure to offer Heart Incense and full introduction to daily recitation:
< Buddhism in Plain Terms < 白话佛法共修分享
