The Cult of Tara

32 MAGIC AND RITUAL IN TIBET
Then he should go for refuge to the Three Jewels:
Until I reach the terrace of enlightenment
I go for refuge to the Buddha,
until I reach the terrace of enlightenment
I go for refuge to the Law,
until I reach the terrace of enlightenment
I go for refuge to the Assembly.
After that he should take recourse to the path [here a variation
on the thought of enlightenment]: "Let me take recourse to the
path spoken by the Tathagatas, and to no other 1"
After that he should pray: "I pray the blessed Tathagatas and
their sons to remain for the sake of beings as long as this world
shall last, and not to pass away into nirvana."
After that he should entreat them to teach: "I pray the blessed
Tathagatas to teach the supreme Law, so that all the beings in
this world may be freed from their bondage to becoming."
After that he should dedicate his merit: "Whatever merit I may
have accumulated through this supreme sevenfold offering, this
confession of my sins, all of it I dedicate to the attaining of
complete enlightenment."
Or else the practitioner may abbreviate the above and recite
these verses to represent the supreme sevenfold offering:
I confess all my sins
and rejoice with the greatest happiness at virtue ;
I pray that the Blessed Ones remain forever
and teach the holy precious Law;
into the presence of the three precious Jewels
I go for refuge until I gain enlightenment;
I take recourse to this path
and dedicate to perfect enlightenment
the virtue I have gained.
With these verses he should perform the sevenfold supreme offering,
and then pray that the field of hosts depart with OM AH HUM
MUH1 Or [he may absorb them into an image, for example, thus
"consecrating" it, or into himself] by reciting this verse:
Your bodies anointed with the sandalwood of morality,
clothed in the garments of meditation,
strewn with the lotus flowers of the portions of enlightenment,
remain here as long as you wish!
After that he should contemplate the four "abodes of Brahma"
[the four "immeasurables") called "friendship," "compassion,"
"symptahetic joy," and "equanimity"—according to the following
explanations.