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　　With the practice of meditation, we can actually get the mind to rest on, what we want it to rest on and the mind becomes clearer and more peaceful. The Vajrayana tradition (footnote 1 - see below) has developed a practice that makes it possible to go through this process much more quickly than other meditation practices. In this practice one prays to one”s guru and to all the gurus that have come before and develops a very strong devotion--an openness to receive their blessings. If one prays to the gurus, one receives the blessing, and through this blessing one”s meditation progresses rapidly and naturally.

　　How is it possible that blessings are not felt by some

　　 It is not because the Buddhas and the gurus feel, "Well, he doesn”t pray to me, so I”m not going to give him blessings." The Buddhas and gurus look upon all beings with the same kindness and love as a mother has for her only son, but only persons open to these blessings can feel them. For example, if we have a hook and try to catch an egg, we can”t do it. However, if we try to catch a ring with a hook, it is easy. In the same way, the compassion and the blessings of the Buddhas are there constantly, but there has to be something in beings that is open to receive the blessings. Faith and devotion are like a ring for the hook of the Buddhas” compassion and blessings to pull us out of samsara. No matter how much compassion the Buddhas have, without devotion nothing will happen.

　　The Lineage Prayer

　　To develop devotion we imagine our guru as the embodiment of all the Buddhas in the form of Dorje Chang (Skt. Vajradhara).(fn 2) The prayer to Dorje Chang is of special value. It was composed by the guru of the seventh Karmapa. (fn 3) For 18 years he lived on a very small island in the middle of a lake in Tibet and meditated on the mahamudra. (fn4) He spent all that time just meditating until he reached full realization of the mahamudra. At this point he spontaneously composed the Dorje Chang prayer, and so this prayer has a great deal of blessing connected with it. When we say this prayer,(fn 5) we should be aware of the meaning of the words. We should do this prayer trying to really concentrate on what we”re saying, to be very attentive, and not to let our mind wander to other things, all the time praying with sincere devotion to remember all the qualities of our guru.

　　When we begin meditation, we should put our mind in the disposition of enlightenment so that the other conditions for true meditation will arise in us. In the vajrayana teachings, it is said real meditation will arise naturally if we receive the blessing of our guru and the gurus of the lineage. This is why we say the prayer to Dorje Chang, who is visualized in the space in front of us surrounded by the lamas of the lineage. If we cannot manage to visualize that many objects, we can just imagine the form of Dorje Chang, but think of him as a condensation of all the qualities and essence of the lamas of the lineage.

　　The Dorje Chang prayer has four parts. The first part is to turn our mind away from samsara so that we can see its illusion and develop disgust with samsara and want to practice the dharma. The second part is to cultivate devotion towards the lama and the dharma so we will be able to receive the blessings of the lamas and develop true meditation. The third part is that we pray to achieve peace of mind and not be distracted so we will develop true meditation. The fourth part is trying to understand that the essence of our thoughts is the dharmakaya. When we have understood this, we actually become Dorje Chang. After that we just remain in meditation. Whatever thought comes up, we just rest within the essence of that thought.

　　When we imagine Dorje Chang, w…

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