Meditation on

Kurukullā
Composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche

FPMT
Education Services
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Practice Series
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Image of Kurukullā on page 10, courtesy of Lama Zopa Rinpoche.

Practice Requirements
Restricted. In order to do this practice, you must have received the initiation
of Kurukullā.

Technical Note
Comments by the compiler or editor are contained in instruction boxes. For
example:

Recite these two verses three times.

Italics and a small font size indicate instructions by Lama Zopa RInpoche and
are not for recitation. For example:
This is the common graduated path of the great capable being.

The Lama Zopa Rinpoche Practice Series is a special collection

of practice materials that serves to present and preserve
Rinpoche’s lineage of practice, oral instructions, and translations.
 Meditation on Kurukullā
Taking Refuge and Generating Bodhicitta
I take refuge until I am enlightened
In the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly.
By my merits of generosity and so forth,
May I become a buddha to benefit transmigratory beings. (3x)

Four Immeasurables
How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were to
abide in equanimity, free from attachment and hatred,
discriminating some beings as close and others as distant.
May they abide in equanimity.
I myself will cause them to abide in equanimity.
Please, Guru-Buddha, bless me to be able to do this. (3x)

How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were to

achieve buddhahood.1
May they achieve buddhahood.
I myself will cause them to achieve buddhahood.
Please, Guru-Buddha, bless me to be able to do this. (3x)

How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were free

from suffering and the causes of suffering.
May they be free from suffering and its causes.
I myself will cause them to be free from suffering and its
causes.
Please, Guru-Buddha, bless me to be able to do this. (3x)

3
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How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were never sep-

arated from the happiness of higher rebirth and liberation.
May they never be separated from these.
I myself will cause them never to be separated from these.
Please, Guru-Buddha, bless me to be able to do this. (3x)

Motivation
The purpose of my life is to free all sentient beings from all their
suffering and bring them to happiness, especially to full enlight-
enment. To do this, I must attain buddhahood, full enlighten-
ment, which has the perfect qualities of omniscient mind, perfect
power to reveal all the various methods, and perfect compassion
embracing all living beings. Therefore, I must actualize the stages
of the path to enlightenment, and for this I need to have control
over my mind, especially my extremely subtle mind. Now in order
to be successful in benefiting other sentient beings, I am going to
do the meditation of Kurukullā.

With that motivation, visualize Kurukullā in front of you, not as a statue,

but as an actual living being. Her holy body is in the nature of red light.
Her holy omniscient mind directly and simultaneously perceives all past,
present, and future existents, including me and my wishes. She has infi-
nite compassion that encompasses me and all sentient beings as well as
perfect power to guide us to enlightenment.

Seven-Limb Prayer
Prostration
I prostrate reverently with my body, speech, and mind.
The benefits of prostration are that you cease all obscurations of body,
speech, and mind and achieve the infinite qualities of the holy body,
speech, and mind of all the buddhas. This limb is the specific remedy to
pride.
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Offering
I present clouds of every type of offering, both actually
arranged and mentally emanated.
The benefit of offering is that you will have enjoyments as limitless as
the sky when you become enlightened. This limb is the specific remedy
to miserliness.

Confession
I confess all my negative actions and downfalls collected from
beginningless time.2
The benefit of confession is that you cease the two obscurations. This
limb is the specific remedy to negative karmas and disturbing thoughts,
including the three poisonous minds.

Rejoicing
I rejoice in the virtues of ordinary beings and āryas.3
The benefit of rejoicing is that you achieve the holy body of a buddha,
which is beautiful in all ways and has no unpleasant qualities. This limb
is the specific remedy to jealousy.

Request to Remain
Please remain until the end of saṃsāra,4
The benefit of requesting the guru to remain in this world is that you
achieve the holy body of a buddha. This limb is the specific remedy to the
negative karma of having disturbed the guru’s holy mind, and the karmic
obscurations that prevent you from meeting a guru.

Request to Turn the Wheel of Dharma

And turn the wheel of Dharma for transmigratory beings.5
The benefits of requesting the guru to teach the holy Dharma are that
you achieve the holy speech of a buddha, which has infinite qualities,
and you are guided in all lifetimes by Guru Śākyamuni Buddha. This limb
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is a special inconceivable cause of meeting the holy Dharma again in

the future. It is the specific remedy to ignorance and abandoning the
Dharma.

Dedication
I dedicate my own and others’ virtues to great enlightenment.
The benefit of dedication is that a seed is planted in your mind to achieve
all the qualities of a buddha. This limb is the specific remedy to heresy.

Maṇḍala Offering
Maṇḍala offering practice is one of the best means of accumulating
inconceivable, extensive merit in the shortest time. When you visualize
the entire universe and all the offerings on the maṇḍala base, right that
second you collect inconceivable merit. It is said that King Aśoka was
able to build ten million stupas in a single day because in a past life,
he had offered grains of sand in Buddha Namtsig’s begging bowl while
visualizing them as gold. Here, by offering the entire universe visualized
on the maṇḍala base, you receive much more merit than King Aśoka
received because you are collecting the extensive merit of having actu-
ally offered the whole universe.
Lama Tsongkhapa mentioned that the two most important points of
maṇḍala offering meditation are to visualize many maṇḍalas and to visu-
alize them clearly. Therefore, you should visualize maṇḍalas of the high-
est quality, and as many of them as possible, filling the whole sky. The
fully ordained nun Gelongma Palmo accumulated much merit through
doing maṇḍala offerings and was thereby able to accomplish the Com-
passionate Buddha. Lama Tsongkhapa was able to realize the unmis-
taken right view by offering many hundreds of thousands of maṇḍalas.

This ground, anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers,

Adorned with Mount Meru, the four continents, the sun,
and the moon,
I imagine as a buddha land and offer it.
May all transmigratory beings enjoy this pure land.
IDAṂ GURU RATNA MAṆḌALAKAṂ NIRYĀTAYĀMI
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The Foundation of All Good Qualities

The foundation of all good qualities is the kind and perfect guru;
Correctly following the guru is the root of the path.
By my clearly seeing this and applying great effort,
Please bless me to rely upon the guru with great respect.

When I have discovered that the precious freedom of this rebirth

is found only once,
Is extremely difficult to find again, and is greatly meaningful,
Please bless me to unceasingly generate the mind
Taking its essence, day and night.

This body and life are changing, like a water bubble;

Remember how quickly they perish and death comes.
After death, just like a shadow follows the body,
The results of black and white karma follow.6

When I have found definite conviction in this,

Please bless me always to be conscientious
In abandoning even the slightest collection of shortcomings
And in accomplishing all virtuous deeds.

When I have recognized the shortcomings of saṃsāric

perfections—
There is no satisfaction in enjoying them, they are the door
to all suffering,
And they cannot be trusted—
Please bless me to generate a strong wish for the bliss of
liberation.

Through my being led by this pure thought

With great remembrance, alertness, and conscientiousness,
Please bless me to make keeping the individual liberation vows,
The root of the teachings, my essential practice.
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Just as I have fallen into the sea of saṃsāra,

So have all mother transmigratory beings.
By my seeing this, please bless me to train in supreme bodhicitta,
Which bears the responsibility of freeing transmigratory beings.

Even if I develop only bodhicitta, without familiarizing myself with

the three types of morality,
I cannot achieve enlightenment.
By my seeing this well,
Please bless me to keep the vow of the sons of the victorious
ones with fervent effort.

By my having pacified distractions to wrong objects

And correctly analyzed the meaning of reality,
Please bless me to quickly generate within my mindstream
The unified path of calm abiding and special insight.

When I have become a [suitable] vessel by training in

the common path,
Please bless me to immediately enter
The holy gateway of the fortunate beings—
The supreme of all vehicles, the Vajrayāna.

At that time, the basis of accomplishing the two attainments

Is keeping my vows and samayas purely.
When I have gained effortless conviction in this,
Please bless me to protect them even at the cost of my life.

Then, when I have realized exactly the vital points of

the two stages—
The essence of the tantric sets—
And am enjoying the yoga of four sessions with effort, without
being distracted [by nonmeditation objects],
Please bless me to accomplish these according to the teachings
of the holy beings.
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Thus, may the virtuous friends who reveal the noble path
And the spiritual practitioners who correctly accomplish it have
long lives.
Please bless me to pacify completely
The collections of outer and inner obstacles.

In all my lives, never separated from perfect gurus,

May I enjoy the magnificent Dharma
And, by completing the qualities of the grounds and paths,
May I quickly attain the state of Vajradhara.

Visualization-Meditation and Mantra Recitation

Mantra

OṂ KURUKULLE HRĪṂḤ * SVĀHĀ

Do the following visualization for a little while, according to the time you
have available, and then continue with the second and/or third visualiza-
tion as needed. With each visualization, recite one or more mālās of the
Kurukullā mantra.

The First Visualization

Visualize Kurukullā in the space in front of you emitting infinite red
beams of light. These enter your body and mind, purifying all your
inner and outer obstacles (including those that block you from
achieving success in your career or whatever it is you wish to suc-
ceed in), and completely burning away all your obscurations, nega-
tive karma, diseases, and spirit harms. Feel strongly that all these
have been completely purified without the slightest bit remaining.

*
Lama Zopa Rinpoche pronounces HRĪṂḤ as “HRING.”
Kurukullā
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Your whole body and mind are completely filled with red beams
of light. You achieve the power to control all the devas and human
beings, your own self-cherishing thoughts, and the appearances
of your own mind, so that you can lead all suffering beings to the
peerless happiness of enlightenment. You also receive all the per-
fections and goodness of saṃsāra and peace. You and other sen-
tient beings generate the whole path to enlightenment, especially
bodhicitta on the side of sūtra, and clear light on the side of high-
est tantra.

The Second Visualization

Do this visualization if there are people interfering with your success out
of jealousy and dislike for you.

Strong red beams of light are emitted from Kurukullā, enter-

ing those people who interfere with your success and don’t like
you. Think that all their negative karma and obscurations as well
as their thoughts of dislike for you are completely burned away
and purified. They generate the whole path to enlightenment in
their minds. Their minds are transformed into liking you, and they
want to help you in whatever way you wish. Feel strongly that this
has happened. Think especially that you are now able to benefit
others and the teachings of the Buddha.

The Third Visualization

Do this visualization when you need to change someone’s mind.

Visualize Kurukullā and make strong prayers to her. Think that

the person harming you comes under your control and develops
strong love and attachment for you, so much so that they want to
do exactly what you want.
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Conclusion
Make a vow to practice bodhicitta, the ultimate good heart. Think: “I am
going to make my life most useful by freeing others from suffering and
bringing them to happiness.” Feel that Kurukullā is extremely happy with
you for dedicating your life to sentient beings.
She melts into red light, which absorbs into your forehead between
your eyebrows. Think that all the blessings and qualities of her holy body,
speech, and mind enter your three doors and you receive all the powers
of control.

Magnificent and precious root guru,

Please abide on the lotus and moon at my heart,
Guide me with your great kindness,
And grant me the realizations of your holy body, speech,
and mind.

Dedication
Dedicate all the merit you have collected to achieve enlightenment for
the benefit of all sentient beings.

Due to this virtue, may I quickly

Become Kurukullā
And lead all transmigratory beings,
Without exception, to that state.

May the precious supreme bodhicitta

Not yet born arise.
May that arisen not decline,
But increase more and more.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche often elaborates on this prayer as follows:

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me and
all the merits of the three times collected by numberless buddhas
and numberless sentient beings, may bodhicitta be generated
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in the hearts of all the sentient beings of the six realms, and
especially in the hearts of everybody in this world, including all the
students, benefactors, and volunteers in the FPMT organization.
May it be generated in the hearts of all those who rely upon me,
all those for whom I have promised to pray, and all those whose
names have been given to me. May it be generated in my heart
and in the hearts of all my family members, those who are living
and those who have died. May the bodhicitta that has already
been generated increase.

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me

and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless
buddhas and numberless sentient beings,
May all father and mother sentient beings have happiness,
And all the lower realms be empty forever.
Wherever there are bodhisattvas,
May all their prayers be fulfilled.

Due to all the past, present, and future merits collected by me

and all the merits of the three times collected by numberless
buddhas and numberless sentient beings,
May any being who merely sees, hears, remembers, touches,
or talks to me
Be freed in that very second from all their sufferings
And abide in happiness forever.

May all sentient beings never be born in the lower realms

from now on, and may they attain enlightenment as quickly as
possible by generating bodhicitta.

Just as Guru Śakyamuni Buddha and Kurukullā did, may I be

able to offer extensive benefits like the sky to all sentient
beings from now on and in all my future lives, by achieving all
their holy qualities.
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For the Long Life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Jig ten kham dir phän de ma lü pa
Gang lä jung wäi sam phel yi zhin nor
K a drin tshung me tän dzin gya tsho chhog
Ku tshe tän ching thug zhe lhün drub shog
Incomparably kind and supreme Tenzin Gyatso,
The wish-granting Wish-Fulfilling Jewel—
Source of every single benefit and happiness in this world—
May you have a long life and all your holy wishes be
spontaneously fulfilled.

For the Long Life of Lama Zopa Rinpoche

Thub tshül chhang zhing jam gön gyäl wäi tän
Dzin kyong pel wä kün zö dog por dzä
Chhog sum kur wäi leg mön thu drub pa
Dag sog dül jäi gön du zhab tän shog
You who uphold the Subduer’s moral way, who serve as
the bountiful bearer of all,
Sustaining, preserving, and spreading Mañjunātha’s
victorious doctrine;
Who masterfully accomplish magnificent prayers honoring
the Three Sublime Ones:
Savior of myself and others, your disciples, please, please
live long!

Colophon:
This practice was compiled by Lama Thubten Zopa Rinpoche. Additional
modifications were made by Lama Zopa Rinpoche in Hong Kong, May 1996.
Edited by Ven. Constance Miller, September 1999. Revised edition, August
2001. Further revision by Vens. Joan Nicell and Tenzin Tsomo, and edited by
Doris Low, December 2022. FPMT Education Services.
 Notes
1 The original version of “Immeasurable Loving Kindness”:
Sem chän tham chä de wa dang de wäi gyu dang dän na chi ma
rung / dän par gyur chig / dän par dag gi ja o / de tar je nü par
la ma lhä jin gyi lab tu söl
How wonderful it would be if all sentient beings were to have
happiness and the causes of happiness. May they have happiness
and its causes. I myself will cause them to have happiness and its
causes. Please, Guru-Deity, bless me to be able to do this..
2 Here you can stand up and prostrate to the Thirty-Five Buddhas, if you like.
3 Pause here to meditate on rejoicing. First rejoice in your own beginning-
less past, present, and future merits, repeating “How wonderful!” or “How
fortunate I am!” as many times as you wish. The first time you rejoice all
the merits are doubled, the second time they are quadrupled, and so forth.
Then rejoice in the past, present, and future merits of all sentient beings,
including bodhisattvas; and then rejoice in the past, present, and future
merits of all buddhas.
If a sentient being’s level of mind is lower than yours, by rejoicing in
their merits you collect double their merits (and there are numberless
sentient beings with a lower level of mind). If they have a higher level of
mind, you collect half the merits they collect. If they have the same level
of mind, you collect the same merits. By rejoicing in a buddha’s merits you
collect one tenth of their merits.
4 At this point visualize offering numberless golden thrones decorated with a
double vajra and supported by eight snow lions. Think that Guru Śākyamuni
Buddha accepts your request to remain by verbally saying, “Yes, yes,” or
accepts in the dharmakāya way, which means in silence. After you have
offered the thrones, they absorb into Guru Śākyamuni Buddha’s throne.
5 At this point visualize offering numberless radiant thousand-spoked golden
dharmacakras. Guru Śākyamuni Buddha accepts your request verbally by
saying, “Yes, yes,” or in the dharmakāya way, in silence.
6 Here, “black” and “white” are being used metaphorically for “negative
karma” and “positive karma.”

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