Prayer of Kuntuzangpo

The Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra

Prayer of Kuntuzangpo (Tib. ཀུན་བཟང་སྨོན་ལམ་, Kunzang Mönlam, Wyl. kun bzang smon lam) — a famous Dzogchen aspiration prayer from the Gongpa Zangthal. It is to be recited especially during a solar or lunar eclipse, an earthquake or at the solstices.

This aspiration prayer comes from the Dzogchen tantra called the Tantra of the Great Perfection which Shows the Penetrating Wisdom of Samantabhadra. In Tibetan, the short title of this tantra is Gongpa Zangthal Gyi Gyü, which means “The Tantra of Penetrating Wisdom” or “The Tantra of Transcendent Intention.”

Topical Outline of the Prayer

PART 1. BRIEFLY PRESENTING THE GROUND, PATH AND FRUITION

lines: ‘ho nangsi khordé...’ – ‘ngönpar dzok té...’

PART 2. A MORE ELABORATE EXPLANATION OF GROUND, PATH AND FRUITION IN TURN

2.1 Ground

a) An elaborate explanation of the Ground

‘kün gyi shi ni’ – ‘jöme shyi dön’

b) How Samantabhadra is liberated through taking recognition as the Path

A. The Actual Method of Liberation

• i) Enlightenment through primordial purity

‘küntuzangpo nga yi’ – ‘döpé zuk dang’

• ii) Enlightenment through spontaneous presence

‘rigpé salcha’ – ‘yeshe chenpo’

B. How Samantabhadra Accomplishes the Benefit of Others

‘ngayi trulpa’ – ‘rik druk ne ne’

c.) How ordinary beings are deluded and led astray in samsara through failing to recognize the Ground

A. The general way in which delusion occurs

‘dangpo semchen’ – ‘kün gyi rigpa’

B. Showing each particular form of delusion

‘lhenchik kyepe’ – ‘rigpe rang ngoshepar’

2.2 Path: An Explanation of the Path for Actualizing the Ground and Eliminating Delusion

a.) How desire is liberated as the wisdom of perfect discernment

‘nyidzin lo ni’ – ‘küntok yeshe’

b.) How anger is liberated as the wisdom of clarity, or mirror-like wisdom

‘chirol yul gyi’ – ‘salwe yeshe’

c.) How pride is liberated as the wisdom of equality

‘rangsem khenpar’ – ‘nyampa nyi kyi’

d.) How jealousy and competitiveness are liberated as the wisdom of spontaneous accomplishment

‘nyidzin tepe’ – ‘trinle tokme’

e.) How dull indifference is liberated as the non-conceptual wisdom of dharmadhatu

‘drenme tangnyom’ – ‘tokme yeshe’

2.3 Fruition: Showing How the Qualities of the Immaculate Fruition are Made Manifest

‘kham sum semchen’ – ‘chö kyi ying su’

PART 3. THE BENEFITS OF RECITING AND HEARING THIS PRAYER

3.1 The actual benefits

‘a ho chinche’ – ‘kyewa sum ne’

3.2 The occasions on which this prayer is crucial

‘nyida za yi’ – ‘ta ru sangye’

Text

There are four main versions of this aspiration prayer available to us, and they exhibit a number of significant variant readings:

• (1)–(2) the two versions in two editions of the Tantra of Samantabhadra’s Unobstructed Awakened Mind,
• (3) the version in the Treasury of Precious Treasures, and
• (4) the commonly used version that is available in a number of printed and digital editions.”

English Translations

• Bhakha Tulku and Steven Goodman: 'The Prayer of Kuntuzangpo' in Quintessential Dzogchen: Confusion Dawns as Wisdom (Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2006), Ch. 9
• Brunnhölzl, Karl, A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart: The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra and Its Tibetan Commentaries (Sommerville: Wisdom Publications, 2018)
• Dowman, Keith, 'The Wish-Granting Prayer of Kuntu Zangpo' in The Flight of the Garuda (Somerville: Wisdom, 1994 & 2003), pages 111-119
• Kapstein, Matthew, 'The Prayer of the Primordial Buddha' in Buddhism in Practice edited by Donald S. Lopez Jr. Princeton, 1995
• Lama Yeshe Gyamtso and The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche in Penetrating Wisdom: The Aspiration of Samantabhadra (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2006), 'The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra', pages 1-6
• Pearcey, Adam, Prayer of Kuntuzangpo (Kunzang Mönlam), 2019.

German Translations

• Gangteng Tulku Rinpoche: Samantabhadra Dzogchen-Gebet. Khampa-Buchverlag, Osterby, 2000. This translation of the Kuntuzangpo-Prayer contains a partial translation of the commentary by the 15th Karmapa.
• Das kraftvolle Wunschgebet (Kunzang Mönlam)

Commentaries

• Jikme Lingpa, The Aspiration Prayer: Clearing the Guide to The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra with the Lancet of a Ṭīkā
• Khakhyap Dorje, The Aspiration Prayer: A Commentary on the Meaning of The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra Found in the Great Tantra of the Unobstructed Awakened Mind from the Northern Treasures, an Explanation Called Ketaka Lucidly Arranged in the Form of a Few Glosses (Wyl. kun bzang smon lam gyi don 'grel nyung ngu mchan bu)

ཀུན་བཟང་སྨོན་ལམ་གྱི་དོན་འགྲེལ་ཉུང་ངུ་མཆན་བུ་། བྱང་གཏེར་དགོངས་པ་ཟང་ཐལ, kun bzang smon lam gyi don 'grel nyung ngu mchan bu / byang gter dgongs pa zang thal

• Tulku Tsultrim Zangpo, The Aspiration Prayer: An Exposition of The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra Found in the Great Tantra of the Unobstructed Awakened Mind from the Northern Treasures, Called The Lamp That Clearly Illuminates the Short Path of Samantabhadra (Wyl. kun bzang smon lam gyi rnam bshad kun bzang nye lam), written in 1925 (Wood Ox)

ཀུན་བཟང་སྨོན་ལམ་གྱི་རྣམ་བཤད་ཀུན་བཟང་ཉེ་ལམ།, kun bzang smon lam gyi rnam bshad kun bzang nye lam/

English Translations

• All three commentaries have been translated by Karl Brunnhölzl in A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart.

Teachings Given to the Rigpa Sangha on the Prayer of Kuntuzangpo

• Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Rigpa London, 8-9 & 22-23 February 1992
• Garchen Rinpoche, Rigpa Berlin, 3-5 October 2008
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Rigpa Berlin, 4-5 June 2011
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Dzogchen Beara, 16 & 18 June 2011
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Rigpa Berlin, 1-3 October 2011
• Sogyal Rinpoche, Rigpa London, 5-6 November 2011
• Garchen Rinpoche, Rigpa Sydney, Australia, 2-3 August 2014

Further Reading

• Karl Brunnhölzl, A Lullaby to Awaken the Heart: The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra and Its Tibetan Commentaries (Sommerville: Wisdom Publications, 2018)
• Chamgon Kenting Tai Situpa, Aspiration of Kuntu Zangpo (Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Trust, 2012)
• Keith Dowman, The Flight of the Garuda (Somerville: Wisdom, 1994 & 2003)
• Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, Penetrating Wisdom: The Aspiration of Samantabhadra (Ithaca: Snow Lion, 2006)
• Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche, Discovering Infinite Freedom: The Prayer of Küntuzangpo. Dharma Samudra, 2010
• Kunzang Péma Namgyèl (aka Gangten Tulku Rinpoche), L'Escalier de Cristal, III - Les souhaits de Kuntuzangpo (La Boulaye: Editions Marpa, 1998)
• The Amnesic Monarch and the Five Mnemic Men: Memory in Great Perfection Thought. An article by Matthew Kapstein in the book In the Mirror of Memory, Articles by Buddhist scholars, collected by Janet Gyatso. Sri Satguri Publications, ISBN-81-7030-374-5. pp.239-269.

External Links

• Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, Kuntuzangpo Monlam, 21 June 2020 - Bir, India
• Teaching by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche on Kuntuzangpo Mönlam, an Eclipse Teaching, 19 November 2021 (Online)