Light a Lamp with a prayer and a wish for developing inner peace, kindness, love, compassion and for world peace. Let the light glow until the ultimate happiness for all sentient beings is attained.
Butter Lamp Prayer
In the Tune of Brahma Sutra, Shakyamuni Buddha mentioned the 10 benefits of offering lights:
- One becomes like the light of the world
- One achieves clairvoyance of the pure eye as a human
- One achieves the Deva’s eye
- One receives the wisdom to discriminate virtue from non-virtue
- One is able to eliminate the concept of inherent existence
- One receives the illumination of wisdom
- One is reborn as a human or deva
- One receives wealth of great enjoyment
- One quickly becomes liberated
- One quickly attains enlightenment
The offering of light is a means of dispelling the darkness of our own ignorance, giving rise to clarity and wisdom. We offer the lamps with the wish that their light will illuminate the lower realms and the bardo, assuaging the torment of beings who suffer in darkness. We also aspire that all beings will develop greater mental clarity in order to discover the causes of long-lasting happiness in virtuous actions of body, speech and mind. Finally, we offer them so that the inner light of great knowing will arise in the minds of all beings and remove the darkness of ignorance and intellectual obscuration.
For benefit of the deceased – We make light offerings to ease their passage after death, with the wish that they make a positive future connection with a true spiritual path.
For benefit of someone undergoing suffering – We offer lamps with the wish that suffering and its cause may be dispelled and dedicate the merits who are suffering.
As a prayer for someone’s long life – We can offer lamps on the occasion of someone’s birthday or anytime, with the wish that they remain long in this world with good health to bring benefit to beings.
