May I be properly grateful for this food,
which is the result of the work of others
and the suffering of other forms of life.
May I always be grateful to the Buddha,
Who was born at Kapilavastu,
Enlightened at Magadha,
Preached at Varanasi,
And died at Kushinagara.
I now open the Tathagata’s* eating bowl for my meal.
May I and all others
Be delivered from self-clinging.
May we be led from the unreal to the real,
From darkness into light,
Bringing an end to the suffering of all beings.
*Tathagata is another name for the Buddha, meaning “the One who thus comes.”
