Maitreya's Sutras and Prayer

The Prayer of Maitreya, found in the forty-first chapter of the Ratnakuta Great Vehicle Sutra, is one of the five great prayers of the Great Vehicle tradition and, after Samantabhadra's Prayer, one of the most popular prayers for all followers of that tradition. It is recited every day without fail by many Tibetan followers and we think would be recited more often by non-Tibetans if they had access to a reliable translation with a clear explanation.

The prayer is approximately half the size of Samantabhadra's Prayer, though the content of the two prayers is sufficiently similar that learning about one considerably enhances an understanding of the other. Thus, this text of Maitreya's Prayer will be an excellent support for those trying to understand more of Samantabhadra's prayer and vice versa. Maitreya's Prayer is a little less complicated than Samantabhadra's Prayer and hence easier to understand and also easier to use as a prayer. Essentially, it consists of the seven limbs followed by an explanation of emptiness followed by explanations of the six paramitas.

The prayer itself contains many prayers within its twenty-four verses, so a guide to it is needed. There are not many commentaries available, though a highly informative one by the great Drukpa Kagyu author Padma Karpo is very useful.

Thus, the book is a very rich collection of materials, containing two previously un-translated Great Vehicle sutras, plus the prayer of Maitreya, plus a major commentary to it. A long introduction clarifying all these materials is also included. Finally, all of the Tibetan sources are included in Tibetan script to assist translators and those studying the Tibetan language.