In my Buddhist lineage, morning chants always begin with The Four Dharmas of Gampopa. Gampopa (1079-1153) was a major teacher of the Kagyu (or ear-whispered) lineage within Tibetan Buddhism. Many of his teachings are contained in a book called “The Jewel Ornament of Liberation” which remains a relevant, mind-stopping primer on true wisdom, compassion, and basically how to create a life of joy and goodness. When I attended Buddhist seminary, we spent an entire month studying this text, during which time I probably grasped .00001% of what it has to offer.

Luckily, Gampopa was kind enough to distill his entire canon into four lines and these are The Four Dharmas. With uncanny precision, they describe the entire spiritual path. If you want to wake up completely, request the following as you begin your meditation practice (or your day, before you go to sleep, as you’re about to do something scary, or, well, anytime):

Grant your blessings so that my mind may be one with the dharma.
I hope that my own mind will continually turn toward wisdom and openness and away from pettiness, discursiveness, and negativity.

Grant your blessings so that dharma may progress along the path.
May this wisdom deepen and deepen beyond what I can conceive and so benefit all sentient beings (which includes me).

Grant your blessings so that the path may clarify confusion.
Thus, may all my sorrow, rage, doubt, confusion, discomfort, and so on be revealed for what they really are…

Grant your blessings so that confusion may dawn as wisdom.
…which is merely my own intelligence, momentarily in disguise. When confusion and wisdom are seen as one, so the theory goes, you see that samsara and nirvana are not separate and in fact you’ve been dwelling in enlightenment the whole time. So please enjoy.

As you go through this day, there is no need to think about “spiritual” matters. Just look at your everyday thoughts. Ask things along these lines: Is what I’m currently thinking a manifestation of wisdom or confusion? If it is wisdom, can I apply it, actually use it to benefit the situation, rather than hide it? What do I notice about how my environment changes when I act from my own inner wisdom? Can I look at all my thoughts, so-called positive or negative, and find the kernel of wisdom contained in each?

These are my very simplistic ideas about what these lines mean. For some great commentaries by true masters on The Four Dharmas, please go here and here.