Song of the Eastern Snow Mountains

Composed by Gendun Drub, 1st Dalai Lama

Translated by Glenn H. Mullin

“It has remained one of his most popular and enduring verse works. In it he advised his followers to restrain themselves from responding to the violence with more violence, and instead practice compassion and patience.” It is a prayer in dedication to his gurus but most importantly Lama Tsongkhapa. Written during an extended retreat above Nartang Monastery when he was 50yrs of

age (approx. 1441), shortly after having a vision of Tsongkhapa. Gendun Drub “was in a quandary as to what to do for he was in meditation retreat and did not wish to break it. There was sectarian conflict in the region he was in, and “Overwhelmed with sadness, he offered a prayer to his gurus ad in particular Lama Tsongkhapa and his chief disciples. Suddenly Tsongkhapa appeared to him and resolved all his doubts.” This is his dedication prayer from that experience.

Above the peaks of the eastern snow mountains
White clouds float high in the sky.
There comes to me a vision of my teachers.
Again and again am I reminded of their kindness,
Again and again am I moved by faith.

To the east of the drifting white clouds
Lies the illustrious Ganden Monastery, Hermitage of Joy.
There dwelled three precious ones difficult to describe
My spiritual father Lobzang Drakpa, and his two chief disciples.

Vast are your teachings on the profound Dharma,
On the yogas of the path’s two stages.
To fortunate practitioners in this land of Snows,
Your kindness, O masters, transcends thought.

That I, Gendun Drubpa, who tends to be lazy,
Now have a mind somewhat propelled by Dharma,
Is due solely to the great kindness of this holy teacher and his chief
disciples.
O perfect masters, your compassion is indeed unsurpassed.

O three incomparable spiritual teachers,
From now until the essence of illumination
I need seek no other refuge.
Pull me to enlightenment’s shores
On the hooks of your great compassion.

Although your kindness can never be repaid,
O masters, still I pray to preserve your lineages
At all times and with all my strength,
Never letting my thoughts fall prey
To either attachment or aversion.

These days in our remote snow mountains
There are many people who uphold their
own lineages
While looking down upon other doctrine holders
Verily as their deepest enemies.
Watching how they think and act,
My heart fills with sadness.

They boast that the lineage they are following
Is high and superior path,
Yet their motives are only to harm other traditions
And their minds are chained in hopes of fame.
If we analyze them closely,
Are they not mere causes of shame?

Finding themselves in their old age
Lost on barren paths far from truth,
Their spirits rage with bitter jealousy
Toward those who purely practice true Dharma.
Have not demons entered into their hearts?

For them to feel guilt over evils done
Yet not to apply the methods, which counteract their cause,
the enemy Delusion,
Is of as little value as placing a ghost trap at the
western door,
When in fact the ghost resides near the eastern door.

The true spiritual masters, who understand this point,
Look upon all living beings with thoughts of love.
They regard other teachers with a deserved respect
And seek to harm only the enemy within themselves,
the enemy Delusion.

O friends who would follow my tradition:
Do not permit your minds to wander aimlessly.
Constantly be mindful of your thoughts
And try by every means to remain
On the direct path to enlightenment.

Should any living being ever heed this small advice,
May they gain the mind of great compassion
And the insight which perceives ultimate reality,
Thus quickly attaining the sublime glory
Of supreme, peerless enlightenment.

May there rain forth the glory of spiritual masters,
Their bodies ablaze with the marks of perfection,
Their speech richly adorned with the sixty qualities,
And their minds a treasure of profound knowledge
and vast compassion.

Extracted from: The Fourteen Dalai Lamas, A Sacred Legacy of Reincarnation

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