Request to remain in the world

From Encyclopedia of Buddhism
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Request [to remain in the world] (S. prārthanā; T. gsol ba; C. qingfo zhushi 請佛住世).[1] A request to the buddhas to remain in this world until samsara is empty.[1] One of the branches of the seven-branch practice (saptāṇga pūja).

Also referred to as:

  • a supplication/entreaty (S. adhyeṣaṇa; T. གསོལ་བ་འདེབས་པ།).[2][3]
  • beseeching the buddhas not to pass into nirvana (S. aparinirvṛtādhyeṣaṇa)[4][5]

The Library of Wisdom and Compassion (Vol 2) sates:

Requesting the buddhas to remain until cyclic existence ends helps to purify negativities created in relation to our spiritual mentors and the buddhas and increases our understanding of the importance of having excellent spiritual mentors. With heartfelt sincerity, request the emanation bodies of buddhas not to pass into parinirvāṇa, but to remain in the world to guide sentient beings according to their various dispositions and tendencies.[6]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Lists of lists, "seven branch service".
  2. ↑ གསོལ་བ་འདེབས་པ།, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
  3. ↑ ཡན་ལག་བདུན་པ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
  4. ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. saptāṅgavidhi.
  5. ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. tshogs zhing.
  6. ↑ Dalai Lama & Thubten Chodron 2018, Chapter 6.

Sources