receive our newsletters
join Friends of FPMT
Lama Zopa Rinpoche at Kopan Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal, September 2020. Photo by Ven. Lobsang Sherab.
Students can now find the audio recording Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayers as an MP3 download bundled with supporting digital materials in the Foundation Store.
In this recording, four audio tracks have been extracted from the video “Lama Zopa Rinpoche’s Advice for Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).” In this video, which was recorded on March 19, 2020, Lama Zopa Rinpoche offers an oral transmission of three prayers by the great Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo: The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease,” Words of Truth Pacifying the Danger of Weapons, and A Request to Pacify the Fear of Famine.
Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo’s Prayers by Lama Zopa Rinpoche.
Mahasiddha Thangton Gyalpo’s Prayers is freely offered by the Foundation Store. The bundle includes the four audio tracks, a PDF copy of each prayer, and a transcript of the teaching and oral transmissions included in the recording, plus an image of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo.
The four audio tracks total approximately sixteen minutes of listening time. Students can listen to them while commuting, walking, resting, or as part of their practice.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends that students recite The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease” to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Students should look at an image of Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo while reciting the prayer.
Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo was a great yogi of fifteenth-century Tibet. In addition, he was a skilled engineer and artist, famous for helping the people of Tibet in very practical ways. He is said to have built fifty-eight iron bridges, sixty wooden bridges, 118 ferry crossings, 120 assembly halls and temples, 111 stupas, and many hundreds of large and small statues, and created innumerable paintings.
Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo.
In the audio download, Rinpoche explained the benefits of reciting the Mahasiddha Thangtong Gyalpo’s prayers:
The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease”
Rinpoche said, “One time in Tibet, an epidemic disease happened in Sakya and so many people died. Then the Bonpos and tantric practitioners, ngagpas, did many pujas but nothing helped. So then, I guess, he made prayers to stop all this epidemic disease in Sakya. Then everything completely stopped after he did this prayer. So this prayer is also good for this epidemic disease now to stop it. It is good to recite it to stop it in the world.”
A Request to Pacify the Fear of Famine
“In U-Tsang, a famine happened and so many people died,” Rinpoche said. “He made a prayer in front of the Jowo in Lhasa. Then, those people whose mind was purified, they saw Chenrezig pouring grain, seeds, from the sky. So much happened in the country where the famine happened, so the famine completely stopped. It seems from that time a famine didn’t happen.”
Words of Truth Pacifying the Danger of Weapons
Rinpoche said, “Then there was a fight, so much fighting in Kham, I think. They tried so many ways [to stop the fighting] but it didn’t help. They were unable to bring harmony to the two sides. Then Drubthob Thangtong Gyalpo made this prayer [to stop the danger from weapons], then everybody became harmonious and stopped the war.”
Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon
Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon, August 2020. Graphic by International Mahayana Institute.
Everyone—Dharma centers as well as individuals—is welcome to join the weekly online Thangtong Gyalpo Prayerathon by watching the livestream on the Chenrezig Institute YouTube channel and following along with their own copy of the text. (Download The Blessed Prayer Known as “Liberating Sakya from Disease” in English, French, or Spanish.)
This prayerathon was suggested by Rinpoche and will continue until the COVID-19 pandemic declines. It is organized by the International Mahayana Institute (IMI), FPMT’s community of monks and nuns, and hosted by FPMT center Chenrezig Institute in Eudlo, Queensland, Australia.
Find the audio recording Mahasiddha Thangton Gyalpo’s Prayers in the Foundation Store:
https://shop.fpmt.org/Mahasiddha-Thangtong-Gyalpos-Prayers–MP3-Download_p_3353.html
For more downloadable audio recordings, visit the Foundation Store:
https://shop.fpmt.org/Audio-Downloads_c_401.html
Through comprehensive study programs, practice materials, and training seminars, FPMT Education nourishes the development of compassion, wisdom, kindness, and true happiness in individuals of all ages.