Last Rites Funeral

Last Rites - Funeral Service
(4-Feb-2014)

We are here today to repose the remains of our dearly departed mother, grandmother and friend to earth, water, fire and wind.

Let us  shall now pay homage and take refuge in the Buddha, the Dhamma and the Sangha, observe the five precepts and recall the virtues of the Buddha.

You may chant aloud together with me or after me in silence

Sadu, Sadu, Sadu
Meaning (not to be chanted) :
Sadu means excellent or virtuous quality, and said three times to express the virtue of being disciplined in body, speech and mind.

Chant in Mantra :
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa…///

Meaning (not to be chanted) :
Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One
Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One
Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One

Buddham saranam gacchami
Dhammam saranam gacchami 
Sangham saranam gacchami

Dutiyampi Buddham Saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi Dhammam Saranam gacchami
Dutiyampi Sangham Saranam gacchami

Tatiyampi Buddham Saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi Dhammam Saranam gacchami
Tatiyampi Sangham Saranam gacchami

Meaning (not to be chanted) :

I go to the Buddha as my refuge
I go to the Dhamma as my refuge
I go to the Sangha as my refuge

For the second time, I go to the Buddha for my refuge
For the second time, I go to the Dhamma for my refuge
For the second time, I go to the Sangha for my refuge

For the third time, I go to the Buddha for my refuge
For the third time, I go to the Dhamma for my refuge
For the third time, I go to the Sangha for my refuge

Panatipata veramani sikkapadam samadiyami
Addinnadana veramani sikkapadam samadiyami.
Kamesu micchacara veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
Musavada veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami
Sura-meraya-majja pamadatthana veramani sikkhapadam samadiyami

Meaning (not to be chanted) :

I take the precept to abstain from killing
I take the precept to abstain from taking that which is not given
I take the precept to abstain from sexual/sensual misconduct
I take the precept to abstain from false speech
I take the precept to abstain from intoxicants

Sadu, Sadu, Sadu
Meaning (not to be chanted) :
Sadu means excellent or virtuous quality, and said three times to express the virtue of being disciplined in body, speech and mind.

Chant in Mantra :
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa…///

Meaning (not to be chanted) :
Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One
Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One
Honour to the Blessed One, the Exalted One, the fully Enlightened One

Iti pi so bhagava araham sammasambuddho Vijjacharana sampanno sugato lokavidu anuttaro purisa dhamma sarati satta deva manussanam buddho bhagava ti".
Meaning (not to be recited) :
Such indeed is the Blessed one; Exalted, Omniscient, Endowed with knowledge and virtue. Auspicious knower of worlds, a Guide incomparable for the training of individuals, Teacher of Gods and Men, Enlightened and holy.

We shall now invoke the celestial beings, beings of the 40 different realms or dimensions, beings of higher dimensions, gods, demigods, asuras, titans, the Devas, the Nagas, bestow merit upon them and seek their help for our mother and grandmother in her after life, with special prayer to the Devas, Lord Kataragama, Lord Vishnu and Lord Ganesh with whom she had a special affinity. 

Recite: (You may recite with me or in silence)
Akasatha ça bhummattha, Devanaga mahiddhika, Punnantam anumodantu-çiram rakkhatu sasanam
Akasatha ça bhummattha, Devanaga mahiddhika, Punnantam anumodantu-çiram rakkhatu desanam
Akasatha ça bhummattha, Devanaga mahiddhika, Punnantam anumodantu-çiram rakkhatu tumam param ti

Meaning (not to be recited) :

May beings inhabiting space and earth  - Devas and Nagas of the mighty power share this merit. May they long protect the dispensation (substitution of desanam (teaching) and param (me and others)

Let us now invoke the presence before us of
Lord Kataragama: (You may visualize his image as a mark to concentrate on the invocation)

Let us concentrate on his invocation. Allow me to guide you through aloud on this prayer which you may do in silence. Please refrain from saying it aloud after me as it will disturb the concentration of others.

Through your blessings, grace and guidance and through the power of the light that streams from you,  may you destroy, purify and remove our mother and grandmother’s metal cankers, bad karma, negative emotions, destructive mental formations, mental obscuration and blockages in her afterlife. 

May you guide her to a place of great peace and tranquility and guide her through to achieve liberation from sansara and achieve nirvana.

We now invoke the presence of our mother, grandmother and friend by visualizing her before us. We now imagine a ray of light of wisdom streams from the Lord to our mother from the crown of her head to her heart, purifying her completely.

Let us now invoke the presence before us of
Lord Vishnu: (You may visualize his image as a mark to concentrate on the invocation)

 Let us concentrate on his invocation. Allow me to guide you through aloud on this prayer which you may do in silence. Please refrain from saying it aloud after me as it will disturb the concentration of others.

Through your blessings, grace and guidance and through the power of the light that streams from you, may you protect our mother and grandmother in her path in the afterlife. 

May you protect her from her metal cankers, bad karma, negative emotions, destructive mental formations, mental obscurations and blockages. 

May you guide her to a place of great peace and tranquility and guide her through to achieve liberation from sansara and achieve nirvana. 

We now invoke the presence of our mother, grandmother and friend by visualizing her before us. We now imagine a ray of light of wisdom streams from the Lord to our mother from the crown of her head to her heart, purifying her completely.

Let us now invoke the presence before us of
Lord Ganesh: (You may visualize his image as a mark to concentrate on the invocation)

Let us concentrate on his invocation. Allow me to guide you through aloud on this prayer which you may do in silence. Please refrain from saying it aloud after me as it will disturb the concentration of others.

Through your blessings, grace and guidance and through the power of the light that streams from you, may you guide our mother and grandmother to a place of great peace and tranquility and guide her through to achieve liberation from sansara and achieve nirvana. 

We now invoke the presence of our mother, grandmother and friend by visualizing her before us. We now imagine a ray of light of wisdom streams from the Lord to our mother from the crown of her head to her heart, purifying her completely.

Let us now invoke the presence before us of
Lord Avalokiteshavara: (You may visualize his image as a mark to concentrate on the invocation)

Chant Mantra with me:
Om….Ma.ni…Pa.Me…Hum….///// (5)

Not to be chanted:   
'O Avalokiteshvara, please bestow the precious jewel of enlightenment to liberate all living beings'
Om it is blessed to help you achieve perfection in the practice of generosity, 
Ma helps perfect the practice of pure ethics, 
Ni helps achieve perfection in the practice of tolerance and patience. 
Pä, the fourth syllable, helps to achieve perfection of perseverance, 
Me helps achieve perfection in the practice of concentration,  
Hum helps achieve perfection in the practice of wisdom.

Let us concentrate on his invocation. Allow me to guide you through aloud on this prayer which you may do in silence. Please refrain from saying it aloud after me as it will disturb the concentration of others.

Through your blessings, grace and guidance and through the power of the light that streams from you, may guide our mother and grandmother through the path in the afterlife. 

May you bestow upon her your love, loving kindness and compassion and guide her to a place of great peace and tranquility and guide her through to achieve liberation from sansara and achieve nirvana. 

We now invoke the presence of our mother, grandmother and friend by visualizing her before us. We now imagine a ray of light of wisdom streams from the Lord to our mother from the crown of her head to her heart, purifying her completely.

Let us now invoke the presence before us of
Lord Padhmasambhava: (You may visualize his image as a mark to concentrate on the invocation)

Chant Mantra with me or in silence:
Om.. ah... hum... vaj.ra.. gu.ru... pad.ma... si.ddhi... hum ….///// (5)

Meaning (not to be chanted) :

"…the twelve syllables Om Ah Hum Vajra Guru Padma Siddhi Hum carry the entire blessing of the twelve types of teaching taught by Buddha, which are the essence of His Eighty-four  Thousand Dharmas, concised into twelve sets of teachings and chanted.

The wisdom mind of Padmasambhava is manifested in the form of the mantra; these twelve syllables are actually the emanation of His wisdom mind, and they are endowed with His entire blessing. So when you invoke Him with the recitation of the twelve syllables, the blessing and merit you obtain is tremendous.

Let us concentrate on his invocation. Allow me to guide you through aloud on this prayer which you may do in silence. Please refrain from saying it aloud after me as it will disturb the concentration of others.

Through your blessings, grace and guidance and through the power of the light that streams from you, may guide our mother and grandmother through the path in the afterlife. 

May you bestow upon her the power see the true nature of all things and to cut through the illusion of all composite things. 

May you guide her to a place of great peace and tranquility and guide her through to achieve liberation from sansara and achieve nirvana. 

We now invoke the presence of our mother, grandmother and friend by visualizing her before us. We now imagine a ray of light of wisdom streams from the Lord to our mother from the crown of her head to her heart, purifying her completely.

We now invoke the presence of all the celestial beings, beings of the superior dimensions, of the  gods, demi-gods, the asuras, the titans, of all realms: 

Through your blessings, grace and guidance and through the power of the light that streams from you,

May all our mother and grandmother’s mental cankers, negative karma, destructive emotions, mental obscurations and blockages be destroyed, purified and removed, 

May you know that you are forgiven for all harm caused from your past thoughts and deeds,

May you with this practice enjoy a calm and peaceful afterlife in a place of great peace and tranquility and achieve liberation from sansara and achieve nirvana. 

And may your passing be of benefit to all beings in the sansaric life and in the realms.

In silence by all with deep concentration on the invocation of our mother and grandmother: This is the concluding practice.

We now visualize our mother, grandmother and friend, who respond with a loving smile. We now imagine the rays of light from the gods we invoked streaming through to our mother from the crown of her head to her heart, purifying her from all her cankers, negative karma, destructive emotions, mental obscuration and blockages.

We now imagine that she is purified and a ray of light penetrates from her heart and soars up to the sky and dissolves completely in the realm of the superior beings, beings of superior dimensions of the gods.

Thereafter let us imagine that she merges with the vast expanse, of limitless space, experiencing the poetry of the infinite, and in to the infinite, in the light of pure consciousness, of nirvana.

Remain in this state in the vast expanse of pure consciousness until the bell rings.

We will now proceed to with the final transference of merit on our dearly departed mother and grandmother and friend, and all those who have departed. 

You may recite with me or in silence:

Idam me natinam hotu, sukhita hontu natayo…///

Meaning (not to be chanted) :

Let this merit accrue to our relatives and may they be happy

You may now observe a minute or so of silence and say any final words you may have, until you hear the bell, after which we will proceed to close the casket.

Hong Kong,
4th February, 2014

The Last Words of the Buddha:  “ Behold now Bhikkhus, I exhort you: All compounded things are subject to vanish. Strive with earnestness! “   -  Maha Parinibbana Sutta

"By depending upon the boat-like human form we can cross the great ocean of suffering, Since such a vessel will be hard to find again there is no time to sleep, you fool"   -Shantideva in the Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life

“gate gate pāragate pārasangate bodhi svāhā” - "Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone utterly beyond, Enlightenment hail!" -  Mantra of the Heart Sutra (Prajñāpāramitā Hrdaya Sutra)


Note: 
A Man-tra (Mind-Instrument, sk.) is a means by which we can tune our mental vibrations, to frequencies that may enable us to reach out to the dimensions beyond the human dimension of space-time.  (Lowest level frequency known to us such as delta waves (0.5Hz) is experienced in transcendental meditation, where there is detachment from awareness from the conceptual world. A higher level frequency such as gamma (over 40Hz) is associated with minds experiencing insight). It would therefore offer protection to the mind from conceptual thought, and so it is usually found translated and referred to as “mind protection”.  

Instructions:
Words underlined to be said aloud by me. Words in Bold to be said aloud or in silence by all.  I will ring the meditation bell to bring you back to a state of mindfulness before we proceed to the next group of practices. There will be brief interludes of silence between each. The success of the practice depends how well we can immerse ourselves in this practice. So try leave all your thoughts at the door. You may sit on a chair, stand or sit in the lotus position, anything that makes you comfortable and that enable to direct your full attention and concentration on the practice.