Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo by: Orgyen Norla
Lamrim Yeshe Nyingpo,The Wisdom Essence of Oral Instructions in Stages of the Path spoken by Padmasambhava recorded by Khandro Yeshe Tsogyal revealed and decoded by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo and Chokgyur Lingpa
“Likewise, whoever reads and memorizes it, recites, explains, or
studies it, will be blessed by me, Padma” said Guru Rinpoche.
OM AH HUNG HO
The essence of primordially pure space is Samantabhadra,
The spontaneously present awareness is Padmasambhava,
And their indivisble unity, Dorje Drakpo Tsal,
Is the heruka, the supreme sovereign of all mandalas.
In the realm of the great sphere, the all-pervasive dharmadhatu,
In the sambhogakaya palace with the fivefold luminosity,
And in all the indefinite places of nirmanakayas who tame beings,
They turn throughout the three times
The wheel of Dharma of the inconceivable number of causal and resultant vehicles,
For oceanlike assemblies of disciples possessing potential,
In accordance with the various types of suitability and capacity of
each individual.
I will now teach to my closest disciples
The quintessence of all these condensed into one,
The essence of my heart, the ultimate counsel,
As a direct instruction that is easy to understand and simple to apply
Don’t let it dwindle away, but practice one-pointedly.
It has that to be understood, that which causes realization, and the
final result.
Thus it is demonstrated by these three aspects.
The ground to be understood is the all-pervasive sugata essence.
Uncompounded, luminous, and empty, it is the natural state of awareness.
Beyond confusion and liberation, it is completely quiescent, like space.
Although it abides without separation in samsara or joining in nirvana,
Due to the great demon of coemergent and conceptual ignorance,
From the solidified habitual patterns of grasping and fixation,
And the different perceptions of worlds and inhabitants,
The six classes of beings appeared as a dream.
Although this is so, you have never moved and will never move
From the original condition of the essence.
Endeavor therefore in purifying the temporary stains.
The stages of the path that bring about realization are innumerable.
Purify your beings, sow the seeds, and cultivate them.
Remove the hindrances, and likewise bring forth enhancement.
Thus enter the correct path through these five aspects.
First of all is to purify your mind and being.
The vajra master, the root of the path,
Is someone who has the pure conduct of samaya and vows.
He is fully adorned with learning, has discerned it through reflection.
And through meditation he posseses the qualities and signs of
experience and realization.
With his compassionate action he accepts disciples.
Serve a master endowed with these characteristics by means of the
three pleasing actions,
And do not commit the displeasing ones for even an instant.
Take the pledge to accomplish whatever he commands
By the skill of correctly training in his thoughts and deeds.
The master should give the teachings suited to the mind of the disciple
Who has faith, renunciation, and compassion,
And who has sharp faculties, intelligence, and discipline.
He should not give instructions that are inappropriate for the recipient.
For the way of guiding gradually in accordance with the types of
mental capacity,
First, keep far away from places of disturbance
By going to a place of solitude and giving up worldly activities.
Sit on a comfortable seat, straighten your body, and expel the stale breath.
Supplicate the Three Jewels and generate devotion to your guru.
Apply mindfulness and reflect in the following way.
This bodily support adorned with the perfect freedoms and riches,
Like the udumbara flower, is extremely hard to find.
If you skillfully take advantage of it,
Then this find has great value, exceeding that of a wish-fulfilling gem.
Therefore follow spiritual guides and virtuous friends
At all times and on all occasions.
Giving up concerns for this life, and for the sake of the future.
Exert yourself quickly to take advantage of it, for if you don’t, [it
will not last].
Like the rising and setting of the sun and moon, composite things are
impermanent.
The time of death lies uncertain, like a flash of lightning in the sky.
At the time of death nondharmic things are of no help at all,
So practice the sacred and sublime Dharma correctly.
The root of practicing the sacred Dharma is the law of karma.
Through evil deeds and nonvirtues you will go to the three lower realms.
By virtuous actions you achieve the higher realms and liberation.
Therefore confess evil deeds and make the wholehearted vow to refrain from them.
Diligently take up the roots of virtue.
Prostrations and circumambulations purify the wrongdoings of your body.
Reciting and reading the Buddha’s words purify the obscurations of your speech,
And supplicating the Three Jewels pacifies the faults of your mind.
Always train correctly in being mindful, careful, and conscientious.
In particular, for accomplishing the state of emancipation,
With the recognition and remembrance that all of samsara
Is like a fiery pit, a garden of razors, or a forest of swords,
Arouse again and again the intense and genuine attitude
Of desiring to be quickly freed from the three sufferings
At some point, when you understand that all samsaric grandeur
Is impermanent, inconstant, and illusive,
Fascination with even the splendor of Brahma and Indra
Will have no occasion to arise for as much as an instant.
While truly perceiving the Three Precious Ones, the Roots, and the
guardians of the Dharma
To be the unfailing and permanent protection,
Regard them repectfully as your refuge until enlightenment
In order to free yourself and others from the terrors of samsara.
Using your own experience as a measure,
Arouse the bodhicitta of aspiration
Through the four immeasurables of love, compassion, joy and impartiality
In order that your mothers, all beings, may have happiness and be free
from suffering
With the intent of pursuing complete enlightenment solely for the sake
of others,
Give away, like grass, your body and possesions,
And give the relief of protection to those disturbed by dangers.
Practice the Dharma yourself and establish others in it.
With the intention of renouncing, a throughly delighted frame of mind,
Constrain yourself from committing the negative misdeeds of your three doors.
Practice the conditioned and unconditioned virtues as much as you can,
And motivate yourself to carry out all your deeds for the sake of
sentient beings.
In order never to be overcome by harmdoers,
Cultivate patience through mindfulness of the demerits of anger.
Joyfully undertake hardships for the sake of the Dharma,
And be unafraid of the profound emptiness.
By awakening a courageous fortitude for what is virtuous,
Don the armor of tirelessly engaging in bodhisattva deeds.
Exert yourself without distraction throughout day and night,
And cast away weariness when achieving the welfare of others
With the thorough intention to calm your mind,
Take the mundane dhyanas as the foundation.
Through fully accomplishing samadhi with vipashyana,
Enter the domain of the experience of the tathagatas.
By means of the intelligence that fully discerns phenomena,
First comprehend the words of all teachings through learning.
Next seek an understanding of their meaning through reflection,
And finally realize the meaning through meditation.
Having ripened your own beings, gather followers through generosity,
Delight them with pleasing words, and comfort them by being consistent.
Through counseling them in meaningful conduct, fully establish them,
temporarily and ultimately
In the splendor of benefit and well-being.
As the essential point, take upon yourself the burden
Of all the miseries of sentient beings,
Give away your happiness and virtue to the six classes of beings,
And train in compassion and bodhicitta without being carried away by
difficulties.
In particular, external objects grasped by fixation
Are all unreal and appear like an illusion.
Not permanent, yet their transiency is able to function.
They are not singular, since a variety emerges and changes.
They are not independent, but follow the karmic deeds.
They are not particles, since partless atoms do not exist.
If they did exist, gross things could not be assembled.
If they had parts, this would contradict the assertion of partlessness.
They are nothing but a nonexistent and false appearance, an interdependence,
Like dreams, magical illusion, and the reflection of the moon in water.
Regard them as a city of gandharvas and as a rainbow.
The mind that observes is also devoid of an ego or a self-entity.
It is neither seen as something different from the aggregates
Nor as identical with these five aggregates.
If the first were true, there would exist some other substance.
This is not the case, so were the second to be true,
That would contradict a permanent self, since the aggregates are impermanent.
Therefore, based on the five aggregates,
The self is a mere imputation by the power of ego-clinging.
As to that which imputes, the past thought has vanished and is nonexistent.
The future thought has not occurred, and the present thought does not
withstand scrutiny.
In short, understand the twofold self, the perceiver and the perceived,
To be totally quiescent, like the sky, and devoid of arising,
And also that this nonarising is beyond the domain of conceptual mind.
Since even the Omniscient Ones find no words for this,
This absence of mental constructs is called the Middle Way.
Having realized this, rest in equanimity,
Free from conceptual activity, in the state devoid of fixation.
Thoughts then subside, and the natural state of the essence is seen.
Hereby you accomplish the virtues such as the eyes,
superknowledge, and dharani-recall.
The causal vehicle of the paramitas
Is to gradually attain the paths and bhumis.
On the path of fruition, you should still regard
The practice of unified emptiness and compassion as the basis of the path.
Recitations,Preliminary Practices of Treasures of Düdjom
PÄL DEN TSA WA’I LA MA RIN PO CHE
Glorious Root Lama, Precious One,
DAG GI CHI WOR PE MA’I DEN SHUG LA
Seated upon the lotus throne on the crown of my head,
KA’ DRIN CHEN PO’I GO NE JE ZUNG TE
Hold me with your great kindness:
KU SUNG T’UG KYI NGÖ DRUB TSÄL DU SÖL
Grant me the accomplishments of Body, Speech and Mind.
The Seven-Line Prayer
HUNG OR GYEN YÜL GYI NUB JANG TS’AM
Born in the north-west of the land of Uddiyana
PE MA GE SAR DONG PO LA
In the calyx of a lotus
YA TS’ÄN CHOG GI NGÖ DRUB NYE
And endowed with the most marvellous qualities,
PE MA ‘JUNG NE SHE SU TRAG
You are renowned as the Lotus-Born,
‘KOR DU K’AN ‘DRO MANG PÖ KOR
Surrounded by a host of many Dakinis.
KY’E KYI JE SU DAG DRUB KYI
I am the one who follows in your footsteps:
CHIN GYI LAB CH’IR SHEG SU SÖL
Please approach and bless me!
GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG
GYANG ‘PÖ KYI SÖL ‘DEP NYUG MA’I T’ÖL LU SHE JA WA
The Prayer of Calling the Lama from Afar entitled Song of the Primordial State
NGO WO DÖ NE MI ‘GYUR TRÖ DRÄL GYI SHI LUG
Essence unchanging from the very start, fundamental nature beyond elaboration,
KA DAG TING SÄL SHÖN NU BUM KU RU SHUG PA
Primordially pure profound clarity, present as the Youthful Vase Body,
CHÖ KU’I LA MA YE SHE DOR JE DE KY’EN NO
Dharmakaya Lama, Yeshe Dorje (“Adamantine Primordial Wisdom”), you who know,
TA WA’I DING CHEN T’OB PAR CHIN GYI RANG LOB SHIG
Grant me your blessings that I attain great confidence in the View.
RANG ZHIN MA ‘GAG ZUNG ‘JUG ‘Ö SÄL GYI TS’OM BU
Self-nature unceasing, concentration of the radiant luminosity of
primordial union,
LHÜN DRUB NGE PA NGA DEN RÖL PA RU SHUG PA
Spontaneous realisation, present as the display of the five certainties,
LONG KU’I LA MA DE CHEN DOR JE DE KY’EN NO
Sambhogakaya Lama, Dechen Dorje (“Adamantine Great Bliss”), you who know,
GOM PA’I TSÄL CHEN DZOG PA JIN GYI RANG LOB SHIG
Grant me your blessings that I perfect great clarity of meditation.
T’UG JE CH’OG LHUNG DRÄL WA TA’ DRÖL GYI YE SHE
Compassion free from bias, primordial wisdom beyond all limitation,
KÜN KY’AB RIG TONG JEN PA’I NGO WO RU SHUG PA
Present as the naked essence of all-pervading awareness-emptiness,
TRÜL KU’I LA MA ‘DRO ‘DÜL LING PA DA KY’EN NO
Nirmanakaya Lama, ‘Drön’dül Lingpa (“He who is from the Continent of
Taming Beings”), you who know,
CHÖ PA’I BOG CHEN ‘JONG PAR JIN GYI RANG LOB SHIG
Grant me your blessings that I become skilled in activity that bestows
great benefit.
RANG RIG DÖ MA’I SHI LA ‘PO ‘GYUR NI MI ‘DUG
The primordial ground of intrinsic awareness is unmoving and unchanging;
GANG SHAR CHÖ KU’I TSÄL LA ZANG NGEN NI ME DA’
Whatever appears is the creativity of the Dharmakaya and is neither
good nor bad.
DA TA’I SHE PA SANG GYE NGÖN SUM DU ‘DUG PE
In the awareness of “nowness”, the very actuality of Buddhahood,
GU YANG LO DE’I LA MA NYING Ü NE NYE JUNG
The Lama of the vast expanse of serene joy is discovered in the heart,
NYUG MA’I SEM ‘DI LA MA’I RANG ZHIN DU TOG TS’E
And when this innate mind is realised to be the very nature of the Lama,
‘DZIN SHEN SÖL ‘DEB CHÖ MA’I DUG YÜ NI MA GÖ
There is no (longer any) need for contrived and fabricated prayers of
carping and complaint.
MA CHÖ RIG PA RANG BAB K’A YEN DU LÖ PE
By letting go in the free and natural flow of uncontrived pure awareness,
TE ME GANG SHAR RANG DRÖL CHIN LAB DE T’OB JUNG
Without solidifying or holding on, the blessing of the self-liberation
of whatever arises is obtained.
JE PA’I CHÖ KYI SANG GYE ‘DRUB DU NI MI DA’
There will never be a time when contrived practice leads to Buddhahood:
YI CHÖ LÖ JE GOM ‘DI LU JE KYI DRA RE
This intellectually contrived meditation of mental analysis is a
deceitful enemy.
DA NI ‘DZIN TANG SHIG PA’I DO ME KYI NYÖN PA
This very instant, (let) mental grasping fall apart with the abandon
of a madman,
JUNG GYÄL CHER NYÄL NGANG LA MI TS’E ‘DI KYEL TONG
And let this human life be spent in a state of spontaneous and naked ease:
GANG TAR JE KYANG GA’O DZOG CHEN GYI NÄL ‘JOR
Joyful in whatever he does, the yogin-practitioner of the Great Perfection;
SU DANG ‘DROG KYANG KYI DO PE ‘JUNG GI BU GYÜ
Happy in any company, the Lineage-Son of the Lotus Born.
GÖN LA ‘DREN DA ME DO TER CHEN GYI LA MA
Peerless Protector, Great Tertön Lama;
CHÖ LA DO DA ME DO K’AN ‘DRO YI NYING T’IG
Teaching beyond compare, Heart-Essence of the Dakinis.
MONG CHEN NYING GI MÜN PA RANG MÄL DU SANG NE
Purifying in its own place the great ignorance darkening the heart,
‘Ö SÄL NYI MA ‘DRIB ME K’OR YUG TU ‘CHAR WA’I
The immaculate sun of radiant clarity shines forth day and night.
KÄL ZANG ‘DI KO P’A CHIG LA MA YI KU TRIN
This good fortune is the graciousness of the only father Lama:
DRIN LEN ‘KOR TA’ ME DO LA MA RANG DREN NO
Unrepayable kindness! – My Lama! I think only of you!
Thus, at the request of my principal vajra disciple, Trülpa’iku Jigme
Chöying Dorje, Dön T’amche Drubpa’i-de, this was spoken as so much
meaningless chatter by Jigdräl Yeshe Dorje.
NGÖN TS’E RIG ’DZIN NÜ DEN DOR JE TSÄL
To Nüden Dorje, skilful vidyadhara of the past,
MA ’ONG DE SHEG MÖ PA TA’ YE SHAB
To the feet of Möpa Ta’ye, Tathagata of the future,
DA TA PE ’JUNG GYÄL TS’AB DROG BEN NO
To Drogben Lotsawa, present regent of Guru Padmasambhava —
’JIG DRÄL YE SHE DOR JE LA SÖL WA’DEB
To ’Jigdräl Yeshe Dorje I pray.
Düd ’Jom Ter Sar Ngön ’Dro’i
Ngag ’Dön Dü Pa Shug So
The Concise Recitation of the Preliminary Practices Related to the New Treasures of Düd’jom
In the arrangement of this practice of The Concise Recitation of the
Preliminary Practices Related to the New Treasures of Düd’jom, the
first section is the preliminaries — the recitation of the Four
Thoughts that Turn the Mind (from Samsara)
NAMO LÜ ME TEN GYI GÖN PO LA MA KY’EN
Unfailing and constant protector, Lama, you who know,
DÄL ’JOR ’DI NI SHIN TU NYE PAR KA’
This body of freedoms and favourable conditions is extremely hard to find,
KYE TS’E MI TAG ’CHI WA’I CHÖ CHEN YIN
All that is born is impermanent and bound, by its very nature, to die,
GE DIG LE KYI GYU ’DRE LU WA ME
The causality of virtuous and unvirtuous karma is infallible,
K’AM SUM ’KOR WA DUG NGÄL GYA TSO’I NGANG
And the three realms of cyclic existence are intrinsically an ocean of suffering:
DREN NE DAG LO CHÖ LA ’GYUR WAR SHOG
Remembering this, may my mind turn towards the Dharma.
Thus, reciting this as much as possible, train the mind.
Second comes the actual preliminary practice, of which the first
section is going for Refuge. Firmly believing that your Root Lama, the
quintessence and embodiment of three supreme objects of Refuge, is
actually seated in the space before you in the form of Guru Rinpoche…
’DI ZUNG CHANG CHUB NYING PO MA T’OB BAR
From this day forth, and until I attain the very heart of enlightenment,
LA MA KÖN CHOG SUM LA KYAB SU CHI
I take Refuge in the Lama and the Three Rare and Precious Jewels.
Thus recite as much possible with prostrations.
The second section is the generation of the Enlightened Attitude
Requesting the objects of Refuge to bear witness…
DA NE ZUNG TE ’KOR WA MA TONG BAR
From now until samsara is emptied,
MA GYUR SEM CHEN KÜN GYI P’EN DE DRUB
I shall work for the benefit and well–being of my mothers, all sentient beings.
Thus train the mind to generate the Enlightened Attitude.
The third is the mandala–offering in order to gain merit Laying out
an actual mandala of heaped up offerings as symbolic representation…
TS’E RAB KÜN GYI LÜ DANG LONG CHÖ PÄL
The bodies, possessions and honour I have known throughout all my lifetimes,
TS’OG NYI DZOG CH’IR KÖN CHOG SUM LA’BÜL
I offer to the Three Rare and Precious Jewels so as to complete the
two accumulations.
Thus offer the mandala as much as possible.
Fourth is the meditation on and recitation of Vajrasattva to purify
obscuration Remaining in your ordinary state…
CHI WOR LA MA DOR SEM YER ME PA’I
From the body of the Lama and Dorje Sempa’ inseparably one above the
crown of my head
KU LE DÜ TS’I GYÜN BAB DRIB JANG GYUR
Streams a downpour of nectar purifying all my obscurations.
OM is the supreme praise.
BENZAR SATTA SAMAYA
The Vajrasattva commitments.
MANU PALAYA BENZAR SATTA
Grant me your protection, Vajrasattva,
TENOPA TIKT’A DRI DHO MEBHAWA
Remain firm in me
SUTTO KHAYO MEBHAWA
Make me perfectly satisfied,
SUPPO KHAYO MEBHAWA
Increase the positive in me,
ANU RAKTO MEBHAWA
Be loving towards me,
SARWA SIDDHIM ME PRA YA TSA
Grant me all accomplishments
SARWA KARMA SU TSA ME
And all the activities.
TSITTAM SHIREYAM KURU
Make my mind virtuous.
HUNG is the vital essence seed-syllable.
HA HA HA HA symbolises the Four Boundless Thoughts, the Four
Empowerments, the Four Joys and the Four Kayas.
HO is the sound of laughter in these.
BHAGAWAN SARWA TATHAGATA
All the Lordly Tathagatas in one,
BENZRA MAME MÜN TSA
Vajrasattva, do not abandon me.
BENZRI BHAWA
I pray that I may become a Vajra-Holder.
MAHA SAMAYA SATTO
Great Commitment-Being!
AH means uniting in non-duality.
Thus recite the hundred syllables while visualising the nectar
descending and purifying, and (then)…
OM BENZAR SATTO HUNG
Recite the six–syllable mantra as much as you can, and when you have
completed this…
’Ö SHU DAG NANG DANG ’DRE RO CHIG GYUR
He dissolves into light and merges in one taste with one’s own phenomena.
Thus, Vajrasattva having gathered into oneself, remain in even–minded
meditation.
Fifth is the swiftly penetrating blessing of the Guruyoga.
RANG NYI DOR JE NÄL ’JOR DÜN KA’ RU
I am the Vajrayogini and in the sky in front of me
TSA WA’I LA MA PE MA’I KUR SHENG GYUR
Is the Root Lama in the form of Padmasambhava.
DÜ SUM SANG GYE MA LÜ ’DÜ PA’I KU
Embodiment of all the Buddhas of the past, present and future without exception,
TSA WA’I LA MA CHOG LA SÖL WA ’DEB
Most excellent Root Lama, to you I pray:
’DI CH’I BAR DO SUM DU T’UG JE ZUNG
In this life, my future life and in the intermediate state between
them, all three, hold me with your compassion
DÜ SUM GYÜN CHE ME PAR CHIN GYI LOB
And grant me unceasing blessing throughout the three times.
OM AH HUNG BENZAR GURU PEMA SIDDHI HUNG
Thus recite one hundred, one thousand times, etc As many times as possible.
KU SUNG T’UG KYI WANG JIN YONG DZOG T’OB
The blessings and empowerments of Body, Speech and Mind are received
in all their perfection.
BENZAR GURU KAYA WAKA TSITTA SIDDHI HUNG
Thus take the four empowerments and then…
LA MA ’Ö SHU RANG T’IM YER ME NGANG
The Lama dissolves into light, merges inseparably with me and in this
state I remain:
RIG TONG DÖN GYI LA MA’I RANG SHÄL TA
See the real face of the Lama, the quintessence of awareness–emptiness!
Thus absorbing the Lama into your self, remain in even–minded meditation.
The sixth section is the transference.
GÖN PO ’Ö PA ME LA SÖL WA’DEB
Protector Amitabha, to you I pray
ZAB LAM P’O WA ’JONG WAR CHIN GYI LOB
Bless me that I perfect the profound path of transference of consciousness.
Thus reciting as much as you possibly can, appeal for the transference.
Seventh is the offering of the body and the dedication of merit.
DA NI LÜ DANG LONG CHÖ GE TSAR CHE
This very instant, my body, wealth, and the sources of my virtue, all together,
MA GYUR’DRO LA P’ANG PA ME PAR TANG
I give without attachment to all beings, my parents.
’DRO DÖN LAB CHEN GEG ME’DRUB PAR SHOG
May I unobstructedly attain great benefit for the well–being of all
living beings
Thus earnestly make prayers of aspiration.
Thus, in order to benefit those who do not know or who are unable to
practice The Extensive Recitation–Practice of the Preliminaries
Connected with the New Treasures, this explicatory text simplifying
the essential meaning of the condensed recitation of the preliminaries
was composed by ’Jigdräl Yeshe Dorje.
May the youthful sun of speech, Manjushri, in his enlightened form,
With its signs and marks, embodying the secret body, speech and mind
Of all the infinite buddhas and their bodhisattva heirs,
Turn your minds towards the path to perfect awakening!
There are countless Dharma teachings, profound and extensive,
Suited to the mental capacities and inclinations of limitless beings,
Yet, by gathering all the key points together in a way that can be practised,
I offer this pithy advice to you, my friends, who I hold as dear as my own heart.
Becoming attached to this life, you will lose your fortunate connection to the Dharma.
Indulging your desires again and again, your craving will only increase,
And you will never find satisfaction. Wealth, happiness, fame and praise—
To pursue them is like buying and selling in a dream. Let go of such concerns!
By relying on a genuine and qualified teacher,
Your spiritual qualities will develop and increase,
And all your faults and failings will be cast away,
So serve him in the three ways[1] and others’ aims will be accomplished.
Just as gardens are not to be found growing in midair,
All the bounties of the higher realms and liberation,
Will never be yours as long as you lack moral discipline,
So with mindfulness, awareness and caution, control your mind.
Up to now, you have wandered like madmen lacking any guidance,
Through the vast darkness of unknowing in beginningless existence.
So now, in order to find the great sanctuary of peace and happiness,
It is right that you take joy in studying the vast ocean of excellent teachings.
Yet hearing alone will not be enough to eliminate misconceptions,
And confidence in the teacher and teachings will not come easily,
So take advantage of hundreds of debates, teachings and compositions,
And rely upon the elixir of mind that is the wisdom born of reflection.
Even the most erudite of teachers with vast scriptural learning,
Can repeat words like a parrot, without taking them to heart,
But when death suddenly arrives, this will bring only pangs of regret,
So rely on the essential meaning of the teachings, my heart-friends!
All the infinite teachings of the buddhas, so vast in number,
Are imparted purely as a means to subdue our own minds.
Don’t put your faith in words alone! I urge you once again:
Let the key points of the deeper meaning seep into your hearts!
This physical existence is difficult to find, like an udumvara flower,
Yet more rewarding than the discovery of a million precious gems.
It will be incredibly difficult to find another opportunity like this later on,
So don’t let it pass you by without accomplishing the highest purpose!
Our great enemy, the lord of death, arrives like a bolt of lightning in the sky,
And nobody can predict when and where he will strike next.
So you can not afford to wait for months and years.
Now is the time for virtuous practice—right here, right now!
For all beings, actions will not go to waste, but will bear their fruit,
And when karma ripens, there is no way to change its outcome.
So now, while you are fortunate enough still to have some control,
If you insist on bringing ruin upon yourself, who will ever save you!
If merely thinking of the various sufferings of samsara,
Which are so unbearably intense, can make you shudder,
Ask yourself: What will it be like when body and mind
Are actually afflicted by these countless forms of duhkha?
Only they have the power to lead us out of this great terror,
So extremely difficult to escape. No one else could ever save us!
So we should take these three most precious jewels as our refuge,
For they are undeceiving, wise, compassionate and powerful.
All the suffering of the three worlds comes from wanting happiness for ourselves,
And all virtue and happiness is born of a mind that wishes others well.
So, following the example of the teacher of all gods and men,
You should generate the supreme and unsurpassed bodhichitta.
When the glass mirror of your own mind is completely covered over,
With the thick layer of dust that is the adventitious defilements,
It is difficult for the reflection of profound and clear samadhi to appear,
So take pains to wipe it clean using the pure cloth of the four powers.
All appearance, sound and awareness are deity, mantra and dharmata.
And the view is knowing that this is how it always has been.
Without losing this view, take aim with the arrow of your meditation,
And gain mastery over the practices of elimination and development.
If you can generate bliss, clarity and non-thought as means of support,
Through the techniques of breathing and adopting physical postures,
You will come to master the illusory body of clear light,
So penetrate to the core of enlightened mind through the perfection stage.
When the darkness of the five degenerations prevails,
It is not easily overcome with the starlight of the eight lower yanas,
So shine the brilliant light of the sun of Nyingtik with its countless rays,
All drawn along by the swift carriage of the three kinds of faith!
Whatever arises, in pure awareness, unaltered and unconfined,
Look into the mind that is settled by itself, resting naturally.
If you recognize the natural clarity, always empty and without origin,
You traverse the paths and stages all at once, and seize the stronghold of the fruition.
Resting in a state of just-as-it-isness, through the right postures and gazes,
If you experience the natural manifestation of basic space and spheres of light as pure awareness,
The darkness of samsara’s dualism will disappear in absolute space,
And, passing through the four visions, you will reach maturity in the light body of great transference.
What I have said here—this plain talk arranged in verses—is my heart’s advice.
Although it lacks the poetic turns of phrase that might delight the intellectuals,
As a spontaneous and unaltered outpouring from the depths of my mind,
It is in the preferred style of the vidyadharas of the old translation school.
Through the merit of this, may all beings without exception
Receive the supreme royal empowerment of the four kayas,
And may I never be separated, even for a moment,
From the courageous strength of youthful Manjushri!
