A Buddhist Funeral Prayer

A few months ago a friend here in Saigon, Ramsey Montgomery passed away at a rather young age. His parents held his memorial service in a Buddhist temple. Following is a prayer passed out to the gathering. We didn't speak this prayer in unison. Rather we were left to use it as we chose whilst the monk chanted and tapped out his rhythm with a wooden stick on a gourd.

The phrasings and Capitalization are how it was passed on to me:


O Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,
abiding in all directions,
endowed with great compassion,
endowed with fore-knowledge,
endowed with the divine eye,
endowed with love,
affording protection to sentient beings,
consent through the power of your
great compassion to come forth.
Consent to accept these offerings concretely
laid out and mentally created.
O Compassionate Ones,
you who possess the wisdom of understanding,
the love of compassion,
the power of doing divine deeds and of
protecting in incomprehensible measure.
( __________ ) is passing from this world to the next.
He/she is taking a great leap.
The light of this world has faded for him/her.
He/she has entered solitude with his/her karmic forces.
He/she has gone into a vast Silence.
He/she is borne away by the Great Ocean of birth and death.
O Compassionate Ones,
protect ( _________ ),who is defenseless.
Be to him/her like a father and a mother.
O Compassionate Ones,
let not the force of your compassion be weak,
but aid him/her.
Forget not your ancient vows.


My enjoyment and surprise is this particular evocation comes in the last line – "Forget not your ancient vows" – in that it nearly chides the Gods should they be remiss in their duty to our human friend. To me it indicates a sort of equality, a communication between the two parties, in that the Gods and we as devotees share a symbiotic relationship – something not stressed in the Christian faiths.

For clarification of the manuscript, Buddhas are the Gods and Botisattvas are the reincarnated Buddhas such as the Dalai Lama - people who are believed to be Gods but in a human form only for a lifetime. The painting is by Robert Spellman.

Ramsey Montgomery: In Passing

This week, Ramsey Montgomery died. He was a writer and teacher living here in Saigon. I didn't know him well, but he was the one person, without fail, who would call out, "Hey Bowie!" to me whenever he saw me around town. Ramsey was always a sweetheart to me. I attended his funeral and met a loving and very interesting family and many of his friends I would not have otherwise met. He died at 40 years old and brought many together in his passing. RIP Ramsey. We will miss you.

For his Buddhist funeral prayer, click here.