Purpose
Tsem Rinpoche 1965
HOW FORTUNATE I AM
My Lord Manjushri,
How blessed I am to spend my days and nights serving others,
How my good merits have borne fruit I can see the difference
Between selfish and selfless!How fortunate I am able to hear the dharma,
Meet the Buddhas and serve the sangha! How rare
And perfect this situation really is.My life has meaning because I created the
Causes for it to have meaning, I rejoice in myself!Oh Manjushri may my every waking breath
Be for others and by continuing in this direction,
May I develop the highest of the high of which
There is no higher which is indivisible great compassion.Bless me to develop this trait which you have accomplished
Aeons ago. May my prayers be answered and I become one
With you oh Mystical Lord of three kalpas Shri Manjushri!~Tsem Rinpoche
PURPOSE
Fickle yet firm,
Solid yet soft,
Directed yet directionless,
Permanent yet illusory,
Happy nor sad,
Eternal yet impermanent,
Your mysteries baffle me Manjushri,
But hook me with your karuna moist
With action bearing results.
All in samsara resembles your nature
Prior to enlightenment.
I take refuge in your enlightenment and in You.~Tsem Rinpoche
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Meaningful poems tells us a thousand words. Value and appreciate every moment of our life with those around us. Rinpoche had a very strong connection with Manjushri since childhood and its not surprised the way Rinpoche describe the divine. Lovely poems for us to ponder deeply.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this with us.
Cutest baby ever. Laugh of victorious buddhahood. Possessor of infinite wisdom, glorious poet, melodious and eloquent speech and brilliance overall. I put my head on the sole of your feet.
Thank you Rinpoche for the two poems. It is not only a praise to Manjushri, but it also teaches us the value of serving others and why we should be taking refuge in a deity.
It is through Rinpoche’s actions and teachings that has encouraged me to constantly put the needs of others in front of my own. Through this, it has allowed me to find the true meaning of happiness in life. It is not only putting myself as the focus in life, but through serving others, we will find that sense of achievement that we may not find in doing other things.
It is just amazing how we can change and lit up others people’s faces just by showing our care and concern towards them.
Wonderful poems of infinite meaning and wisdom. I do love Rinpoche’s poems and read and dwell upon them with gratitude and much anticipation.
Rinpoche does have a wonderfully descriptive way with expression and word. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing these with us!
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the poems. I think I have not truly grasp how rare and perfect the situation is for me to meet the Buddhas, hear the dharma and serve the sangha. To treasure these opportunities and to savor every moment of it. The causes created long before. It gives hope and dreams that I can create the causes to always be close to and practice dharma in all my future lives.
Wow!
Beautiful and such profound poetry. Rinpoche in a moment of inspiration has composed these wonderful words. I think that these reflect very much on Rinpoche’s own realization and deep imprints and liking towards Manjushri. I personally love Manjushri too but perhaps not as deeply as Rinpoche because his love for Manjushri stem all the way back to his childhood and beyond. Mine just came about when I met Rinpoche and he explained the significance of Manjushri to me.
My very first statue is a Manjushri and it was given to me by Tsem Rinpoche. Ever since, I have developed a deep love for things related to Manjushri. I guess the underlying reason for my love for Manjushri is the very fact that I innately feel insecure about everything and I guess the only way I know that I can feel secure is if I have knowledge and wisdom. Hence, Manjushri is just perfect or maybe, I am just putting grandiose reasons for my love of a male deity. ; ).
Anyway, thank you Rinpoche for a most profound teaching.
Thank you for sharing these two beautiful praises to the Lord of Wisdom.you are kindness guru always giving benifit to many people.you are buddha.
What an amazing Praise composed by Rinpoche! Not only is Rinpoche compassionate and kind. Rinpoche is also a very talented writer! Hopefully Rinpoche will compose more of these praises to share with us! =)
How fortunate I am to be able to meet the Dharma and Rinpoche!
May Lord Manjushri blesses everyone with His profound wisdom! Om Ah Ra Pa Tsa Na Dhi!
Thank you for sharing, Rinpoche!
Dear Rinpoche, Thank you for sharing this two meaningful poem in prayer form.
I like this phase the most”My life has meaning because I created the
Causes for it to have meaning, I rejoice in myself!
I am lucky able to met Dharma through Rinpoche,learning more dharma knowledge and ritual and able share my knowledge who need it for help.In my life my greatest fortune is fond my lama who has gave me many love and care to leading me all the way to the spiritual path. Without my lama and dharma, my life will not be meaningful in this life time.
Thank you for such beautiful words and insight Rinpoche. Though I confess I must read them many times over to really be able to understand the full depth and meaning of the lines – they are profound on so many levels.
It’s quite mind-blowing to think that from just the very little, miniscule amount of wisdom that I have been able to grasp, there has already been such a remarkable difference (for the better) in the way I experience things around me now and the way I feel and am able to react to situations. I really can’t imagine how much more incredible it must be to achieve that level of mind, insight, clarity and wisdom as Manjushri’s!?!? I sit and think sometimes of what “what Tara would do” or “How would Manjushri react in this situation?” and that alone is calming, brings back the focus and sets a stronger focus – for after all, these practices serve most of all to pull us away from the things that bring us harm (but which we continue to hang on to and believe that we “enjoy” it) and bring us to the things that will really bring us happiness. Inherently, I think, we kind of all know what we should be doing and what really makes us happy – but we choose to ignore it. These practices help us to refocus on who we really should aspire to be and what we should aspire to be doing.
I like especially this line in the first poem, “May my prayers be answered and I become one With you” for is sparks and reminds us of that infinite, inherent possibility that we CAN indeed be like Manjushri – just as wise, just as sharp and just as compassionate. For everything we aspire towards and love of Manjushri is exactly all that we can achieve for ourselves 🙂
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this poem.
Manjushri is the buddha of wisdom, by practicing Manjushri daily with sincerity and consistently, it help us to gain wisdom, it helps to dissolve delusion mind.
Most of our problem comes from our attachment to relationship, material wealth, and physical enjoyment. That is all serving only ourselves. Manjushri helps us seeing the truth, the truth of our suffering, from where it comes from, what caused it.
Having clarity of mind is very important, because when we understands cause and effect well, we’ll know live for others is the best way to live, when you don’t calculate gain or lose, your life will be much happier.
Om Ah Ra Ba Tsa Na Dhi….
Thank you , Rinpoche, for these exquisite prayers in poetry form.
Thank you for reminding me that I am so fortunate: I have created the rare merits and precious causes to be able to hear the Dharma,meet the Buddha,and serve the Sangha. How perfect!
I have frittered away most of this life already.
Here’s my fervent prayer to Lord Manjushri:
“Oh Manjushri, may my every waking breath,
Be for others and by continuing in this direction,
May I develop the highest of the high of which,
There is no higher which is indivisible great compassion.
Hook me with your karuna moist….”
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing these two beautiful poems with us.
I love these two lines very much:
“Your mysteries baffle me Manjushri,
But hook me with your karuna moist”
I guess this is what attracted me to Dharma. I did not believe in reincarnation and was never a spiritual person. However, what Dharma shows me is the compassion way towards others, never mind whether it’s a religion or not.
However by entering Dharma, I started to realize how ignorant I am by always trying to prove things my way using my limited knowledge whereas there are so many things that I do not know about the truth of life.
From here, I begin to want to learn more, to open up more to the unknown and unexplainable.
Dharma has given me a whole new life by changing my view on almost everything.
Thank you Rinpoche.
Thank you for sharing these two beautiful praises to the Lord of Wisdom, Manjushri. How fortunate I am to be able to experience serving others every day due to Rinpoche’s kindness. The “How Fortunate I am” prayer is perfect to contemplate on and set my motivation every day before i start my Dharma day. Thank you.
This poem touches me very deeply.
Virtually all my waking hours are spent drowning in the deep ocean of samsaric thoughts. Attached, afraid, wanting, longing, wishing…with one meaningless thought crashing onto another. Still, there are moments such as when I read this poem that the waters calm just long enough for me to peer into my life and see how all my best karma have come together and colluded to get me into a life of dharma. It is not something I have done on this life but the result of merits I gained from previous lives. For sure, it is not something I will take for granted again.
Thank you very much for this, Rinpoche.
Thank You Rinpoche for this wonderful praise to Lord Manjushri,
‘My life has meaning because I created the
Causes for it to have meaning, I rejoice in myself!’
i like this sentence very much, it reminds me that what our life is going through is what we had created before. To have a meaningful life is depend on ourself, not others, because we are the creator of our future. To live in a meaningless life does not bring any purpose, but through understanding Dharma, we can change that mindset and instill meaning into our life, to create something meaningful not only for ourself, but for others as well.
It is Lord Manjushri wisdom that blessed us to pierce through that dark cloud of ignorance and slash through the stupidity of samsara’s life that bound us to greed, jealousy, selfishness and attachment.
May Rinpoche teaching and the blessing of Lord Majushri dispels the ignorance in us to be able to give meaning to life for all sentient being.
Thanks Rinpoche for sharing such touching poems… Thanks for always staying beside us and give teaching and practices to lower down our ignorance mind. And Kecharians are so fortunate that able to take refuge in Rinpoche until enlightenment.
Thank you Rinpoche for the two simple but yet very meaningful poems.I am glad to receive such valuable Dharma knowledge from you Rinpoche and I hope in turn I would have the opportunity to share with others.We should make good use of our precious human live to study Dharma as we might not be so lucky the next time around.
Dear Rinpoche, thank you for another beautiful sharing. This is extra ordinary because it was written and composted by Rinpoche. To be able to meet Rinpoche, we need lots of merits. Need not say about myself and many more Rinpoche’s students that being able to work closely and around Rinpoche.
Definitely because of Rinpoche, I am now leaving a meaningful life everyday. I rejoice everyday to be able to do my little good in Dharma.
Rinpoche,Thanks for the sharing of the poem, it was touch that how fortunate i am can meet Rinpoche in this limited lifetime and can listen to your Dharma.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing two poems you composed here.
I feel myself fortunate to be able to meet dharma now through some twists and turns, although not at my very young age. There must be something that I have done in the past that is right that makes this dharma seed blossoms.
To be able to serve others can be seen as a precious opportunity? Why? Because when we can give, it means that we have more than what others have. Serving people also helps us to lower our pride, ego and teach us to learn to be selfless.
To serve others makes us more pleasant, because we dont keep posession only to ourselves, but to share with others, so that many can benefit.
As a side note, I love this picture posted here. Rinpoche looks so carefree and happy.
Thank you Rinpoche for this beautiful poem, it is wonderful 🙂
I like the same phrase as Abby “How my good merits have borne fruit I can see the difference Between selfish and selfless!” Of course I am still not to the level of selfless yet but I am practicing everyday. I notice being selfish does not make me any happier, to put “YOU” before “ME” that makes me really happy and contented. And Rinpoche always being very inspiring and a good mentor for us to learn from.
I am fortunate to meet Rinpoche and my Dharma family. Thank you Rinpoche.
Thank you Rinpoche for the two absolutely beautiful poems.
The prayer to Lord Manjushri brought tears to my eyes.It has so much passion in the poem – line by line , word for word.
The poem Purpose truly brought home to my heart what we must aim our purpose in life to be.
Thank you Rinpoche for guiding us, loving us , being in our lives.
HOW FORTUNATE WE ALL ARE !
Thank you Rinpoche for this two wonderful poetic prayers or praise to Manjushri. It is like a teaching to us as well, to remind us of our true purpose. To make aspirational prayers and gain blessings for our work. To set the right motivation – serving others. Bless us so that we may gain insight in to the words of the Buddhas teachings and Manjushri’s wisdom to comprehend them and wipe away the darkness enclosing our minds.
Dear Rinpoche, thank you for these wonderful poems.
I like this phrase the most: “How my good merits have borne fruit I can see the difference Between selfish and selfless!”
Because of all the teachings that Rinpoche gives verbally and in written form, and all the actions and results Rinpoche show to me, I able to see what is the difference between selfish and selfless. No one ever shows me like Rinpoche does, and I rejoice for myself and I’m grateful to have a role model like Rinpoche to follow.
And working for others for sure it is not easy, but not working for others doesn’t makes me happy as well. Because I already got to see what is the difference between selfish and selfless. I could not hide away from what is right in my head. I like the idea of happily being unhappy, at least the ‘unhappiness’ has meanings. Because in samsara, everything brings sufferings in the end. Thank you Rinpoche again for all your care and teachings. Dharma knowledge really free our mind and I need it, everyone needs it! 🙂
Thank you Rinpoche, those poems are such beautiful gifts!