"However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act upon them?" - Buddha 

Prayers in Buddhism encapsulate the wisdom of the Buddhist view of reality in verse form. These prayers remind us to think about and orient ourselves toward what's really important. 

Download Prayers (PDF) By Clicking on the Prayer Title: 

  • Refuge and Heart of Awakening Prayer
    A quintessential prayer of Mahayana Buddhism, this prayer affirms the basic view that an orientation toward the spiritual aspect of life is the only reliable source of peace, and that our efforts to embody wisdom ultimately benefit everyone.

    In the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha

    We take refuge from now until enlightenment.

    By our practice of generosity and the other perfections

    May we become Buddhas in order to benefit all beings.

  • Heart of Awakening Prayer
    A prayer for the continued flourishing of wisdom and compassion in the hearts of beings.

    The Awakened Heart is supremely precious.

    In those in whom it has not yet been born, may it be born.

    In those in whom it has been born, may it never decline.

    May it forever increase more and more.

  • Morning Aspiration

    May all beings rise up from the bed of samsara.
    May they all attain buddhahood, the ultimate dimension of awakening.

  • Morning Affirmation

    Today from this instant on until the moment in the evening when I fall asleep, I will exert myself to accomplish all the positive and reject all the negative. I will practice the Dharma to become able to help all beings be free from suffering and progress toward liberation.

    Today I will avoid causing harm through my physical activity. I will avoid causing harm through my speech. I will avoid causing harm through my thoughts.

    Today I will do my best to engage in beneficial physical activity. I will do my best to speak useful and pleasant words. I will do my best to nourish well-wishing thoughts for all beings.

  • The Eight Verses of Training the Mind
    The Lotsawa House website describes this text nicely: “These eight verses, which are now regularly transmitted around the world by the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, succinctly convey the compassionate attitude, humility, and uncompromising vision of a true bodhisattva—as encapsulated in the text's most famous and most striking lines: "I will take defeat upon myself and give the victory to others."

  • Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas, Verses 3.23-3.24

    These two famous verses are from Shantideva’s Engaging in the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas, Chapter 3: “Adopting the Heart of Awakening”. They are often recited and taught in the Tibetan Buddhist context to express the commitment to follow the Mahayana way.

  • The Four Immeasurables
    A recitation that reminds us to expand our awareness and compassionate understanding to all people, plants, animals, and beings everywhere, whose happiness is inextricably linked to our own.

    May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness;

    May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering;

    May all beings never be separate from the sacred bliss that is free from suffering;

    May all beings be free of attachment to dear ones and aversion to others and live in great equanimity.

  • The 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva, Vs. 11 & 12

    Verse 11

    All suffering, without any exception, comes about from the desire for one’s own happiness.

    Perfect buddhas arise from consideration of the well-being of others.

    Therefore, to actually exchange one’s own happiness for the suffering of others

    Is the practice of a bodhisattva.

    Verse 12

    Even if someone, under the influence of great desire,

    Steals all of your wealth or compels someone else to steal it,

    To dedicate to that person your body, your possessions, and all of your virtue of the three times

    Is the practice of a bodhisattva.

  • The Heart Sutra - David Curtis Translation

    The 14th Dalai Lama has called the Heart Sutra “the essence of the essence of Buddhism.” It is a beloved Mahayana Buddhist text that is part of the collection of Prajnaparamita Sutras. 

  • Dedication of Beneficial Activity

    A prayer recited after the completion of practice to express our aspiration to share any benefits with all others.

    By this beneficial activity may I, having obtained omniscience

    And having vanquished the harmful enemies of greed, hatred, and delusion,

    Liberate all beings from the ocean of existence,

    Which surges with the waves of birth, aging, illness, and death.

  • The Three Statements That Strike The Essential Points
    The quintessential Dzogchen teaching.