THE ROAR OF THE LIONESS

A PUJA TO AKASADHATESVARI

INTRODUCTION

This puja to Akasadhatesvari is one of a set of pujas to the Five Prajnas - the female consorts of the Five Buddhas. There is a very rich symbolism connected with the Five Buddhas, male and female. The female aspects, the Prajnas, are particularly associated with the five elements and also with the five wisdoms. So Akasadhatesvari embodies the element space, and the wisdom of the Dharmadhatu, as well as many other symbolic associations.

The particular form of Akasadhatesvari to which this puja relates is described in a set of sadhanas called Queens of the Mandala. In the sadhana she appears seated on a pure white lotus and a moon mat. The sadhana says:

“Her body is brilliant white in colour. She sits with her legs crossed in the vajra posture. She is wearing exquisite clothing, and has adornments of sapphire and other precious things. 

Her hands are at her heart, in the mudra of turning the Wheel of the Dharma. Between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand she holds the stem of a pale-blue lotus that blossoms at her right shoulder. On the lotus is a white moon mat, on which stands a golden Dharmachakra. Her left hand also holds the stem of a pale-blue lotus between her thumb and forefinger. This lotus blossoms at her left shoulder, supporting a moon mat, on which stands a silver vajra-bell.

On her head is a five-jeweled crown. She has long black hair, some of which is bound up into a topknot, the rest flowing over her shoulders. In front of her topknot sits the brilliant white Buddha Vairocana. He is seated in the vajra posture. His hands rest in his lap in dhyana mudra, holding a golden sun.

Akasadhatesvari's head and body are surrounded by auras of light. She is regal, intensely beautiful, serene and smiling.”

The puja can be enriched by including the Refuges and Precepts after the third section, by chanting the mantra of Akasadhatesvari - OM SARVA BUDDHA JNANA AM SVAHA, and in other ways, such as making physical offerings.

Vessantara.

THE ROAR OF THE LIONESS

A PUJA TO AKASADHATESVARI

Worship

I worship the Buddhas
In all the directions of space,
So how much more must I worship you,
Akasadhatesvari,
The shining space in which all Buddhas appear?

Your space is not the dark aloneness
That separates the galaxies,
But the live and vibrant
Sphere of light
Of consciousness itself. 

Boundless Queen,
Your mind perceives
The true nature of all things.
So to delight your mind
I conjure from space
The flowers of emptiness
The perfume of emptiness
The light of emptiness
The waters of emptiness
The music of emptiness.

These mind-made treasures fill the sky,
Above, below,
On every side,
Countless, limitless as space. 
In this way I offer you to yourself:
Vastness to vastness.
Beauty to beauty,
Emptiness to emptiness. 

Salutation

Peaceful Queen,
For what could ever trouble space?

Eternally still,
For all movement is within you.

Eternally silent,
For all speech is within you.

Eternally tranquil,
For all concepts 
Are within you.

To you,
The queen of queens,
I prostrate without moving,
Praise you without speaking,
Commit myself to you
Without a thought.

Going for Refuge

O Queen of wisdom,
In this world of constant change
In which appearances fade as fast
As breath on a mirror, 
To what can I go for refuge?

Not to form or feeling,
Not to words and concepts,
Not to any object of the mind,
Only to the nature of mind itself.

Space is more intimate than breath,
Closer to the heart of life,
Yet I barely think of it.

The true nature of mind
Is more intimate than space,
At the very heart of life,
Yet I never recognise it.

Mind of space,
Clear, translucent, knowing,
Open secret of all the Buddhas,
I go for refuge to you.

Confession of Faults

O Queen of white light, 
You who have no views at all, 
I confess the stubborn self-concern,
The deep-rooted ignorance,
That spawns a thousand wrong ideas,
Clouding how I see and act.

Believing that I and the world 
Could truly exist,
I cling to things 
With useless hope.

Believing that I and the world
Could really not exist,
I live in a sweat of fear
Stalked by death and destruction.

O Queen of space,
Although I talk of love and care,
If I look at how I act,
I am the centre of the world,
Round which the moon and stars revolve.

O please help me to recognise 
That this ‘self’ I hold so tight,
Causing me and others pain,
Is just a habit of the mind
Empty as a summer cloud.
Rejoicing in Merit

Queen of total freedom,
For my own sake
And for the sake of all that lives
I rejoice in you,
And in all our good fortune.

Suffering could have been limitless,
Samsara could have had no end,
I rejoice in all those 
Who have pointed out the Way
That leads beyond all pain:
To the unborn,
The unmade,
The uncompounded.

Life could have had no meaning,
Death could have been the end. 
I rejoice that beyond birth and death
Is your endless sphere –
Radiant, 
Timeless, 
Perfect in itself.

Entreaty and Supplication

Goddess of the sphere of Truth
There is no need
To entreat you to remain
For how could truth ever disappear?
The mind is eternal,
And cannot be destroyed.

Goddess of the Golden Wheel
There is no need
To supplicate you to teach
For in all worlds
In all times
It is you who set rolling 
The Wheel of the Doctrine.

Whenever the Dharma disappears
It is you who set it turning again.
All Buddhas to be,
Coming at last to the vajra seat,
See the morning star
Of your wisdom.

In the Deer Park at Sarnath
You appeared.
It was you who opened Kaundinya’s eyes,
You who set all five ascetics
On the path to the Deathless.

Goddess of pure awareness,
I need to entreat you to teach,
For like an exhausted traveller,
Fighting to stay awake,
It is only by calling on you
That I save myself
From falling back into unconsciousness,
Into the delusive dreams of samsara.

And so I beg you from my heart
To care for me and all the world:
May your teaching of emptiness,
The roar of the lioness,
Echo forever,
Throughout time and space.

Transference of Merits

At the beginning of time
An earthquake within consciousness 
Created that great rift
Into subject and object,
Into 'me' and 'you',
Across which we all call 
With longing to one another.

O Queen of non-duality, 
By the merits of devoting myself to you,
And by the power of your compassion
For all sentient beings,
May subject and object,
Like long-lost lovers,
Be reunited. 

By the power of your word of truth
May that chasm of suffering
Be closed at last.
May our minds all be healed.
May life be made whole.

By the power of your great love
May all separateness disappear.
May we all enter the shining space
Of the Dharmadhatu wisdom.

First edition July 2003.

Website: www.vessantara.net
Email: vs@vessantara.net