The fourth cause is to dedicate all your merits as the cause of taking rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land and to make aspirations for the same purpose. 

Even if you have the merits, you need to invest them for the particular purpose by dedicating them and making aspiration prayers again and again. 

Dedication and aspiration are not merely devices to invest the merits as seeds of rebirth in the pure land; they are also powerful means of making merits in themselves. 

If you imagine that a buddha is before you, listening to and blessing your aspiration prayers, the results of your prayers will be even more powerful and effective. 

In order to accomplish the prayers of aspiration, it is crucial to rely on a source of power. So it is very important to rely on a deity such as the Buddha of Infinite Light, the Buddha of Compassion, or Guru Padmasambhava. These sources of power must be someone for whom you have devotion and with whom you are already connected by prayers and meditation. You must see the source of power as the embodiment of all the Precious Ones. Pray to him or her for the accomplishment of all your aspirations. 

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Teaching the four causes of taking rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land, Shakyamuni Buddha says: 

“O Anand, there are people who

[1] think of the details of the Buddha [of Infinite Light and his pure land] again and again.

[2] They create many immeasurable merits.

[3] They develop the mind of enlightenment.

[4] And they dedicate the merits and make aspirations to take rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land.

When they are about to die, before them the fully enlightened one, the Buddha of Infinite Light—thus gone, pacifier of the foes—will appear with a retinue of numerous ascetics, looking at them. Having seen the Buddha of Infinite Light, they will die with the mind of great clarity. Thereby they will take rebirth in the universe of the Blissful Pure Land.”

Think about the qualities of the pure land again and again, make as many merits as you can, and then dedicate the merits and make aspirations, saying, “May I take rebirth in the Blissful Pure Land.”

Source: Adapted from Tulku Thondup. Peaceful Death, Joyful Rebirth: A Tibetan Buddhist Guidebook. Edited by Harold Talbott. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 2005.

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