The fourth cause is to make an aspiration. We dedicate all the virtue that we and all others have performed as a cause for rebirth in the pure realms and then make the aspiration: “Through this virtue, may all sentient beings be born in the pure realm.”
You might think that cultivating these four causes seems very difficult. Or you could think, “I can actually do that. It’s not so hard.” And now is the time to do it!
Like an eagle, you have to practice soaring in the sky now so that your mind will have a good place to go.
Source: Khenchen Thrangu. Advice from a Yogi: An Explanation of a Tibetan Classic on What Is Most Important. Padampa Sangye’s One Hundred Verses. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 2015.
The fourth principal meditation to cultivate as a condition necessary for rebirth in Sukhavati is to dedicate the merit you have gathered for rebirth in Sukhavati, and make heartfelt aspirations to be reborn there.
Ascertain that you are dedicating merit exactly as your forefathers did on their path to enlightenment. These dedications and aspirations are like a steering wheel that guides our merit toward the goal of rebirth in Sukhavati.
Source: Holecek, Andrew. Preparing to Die: Practical Advice and Spiritual Wisdom from the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition. Boston & London: Snow Lion, 2013.
The fourth cause is to make an aspiration. We dedicate all the virtue that we and all others have performed as a cause for rebirth in the pure realms and then make the aspiration: “Through this virtue, may all sentient beings be born in the pure realm.”
(Khenchen Thrangu, Advice from a Yogi)