Recollecting the Buddha United with Guru Yoga
Recollecting the Buddha United with Guru Yoga
By Tāranātha
Translated by James Rutke
On the level of absolute truth, free of going, coming, and staying,
beyond the convention of form, pervading all directions and times,
the best, the original condition of all dharmas,
Buddhaguru dharmakāya is gone to for refuge.
Reaching to the limits of space, sentient beings are like māyā,
a mere fictional appearance where, once self-disabused of it,
a single, same-tasting jñāna can be formulated by
the recollection of guru Buddha to be meditated upon here.
Like this: Buddha, Bhagavan, Tathāgata, Arhant
really fully accomplished Buddha,
having the wit and the walk
Sugāta, world-knower,
leader who disciplines born beings,
none-higher, teacher of gods and men,
this very Buddha Bhagavan.
Saying that slowly, contemplate the meaning.
Further:
(Buddha) That one recollected as the best conqueror, Śākyamuni,
(Bhagavan) conquering the four māras, six kalpas old,
(Tathāgata) seen as the ultimate mode of existence, unerring,
(Arhant) conquers affliction together with its careless production.
(Real Buddha) Cleansing away all moral faults,
(Wit) in all knowledge the knower etc, knowing the three times in all their excellent
fullness,
(Walk) pacing off illusion, pervader reaching to the limits of space,
(Sugāta) having accomplished the best means, the highest end is obtained.
(World Knower) Knowing evil actions and pain, the extreme of saṃsāra,
(Leader) having the means to discipline all beings born sentient,
(Highest) who is greater than or equal to you? No one.
(Teacher of Gods and Men) You perform actions that teach the path of liberation to all.
Contemplate the meaning of each verse.
Like that the dharmakāya of all Buddhas,
continuing unchanged, having all virtues,
from the start liberated from all evils, the liberator
dwells eternally pervading all of saṃsāra-nirvāṇa.
Eternally inaccessible to all conceptual viewpoints,
in me this very dharmakāya of the conqueror dwells.
Just as a flower has a dance and a flower has a smell,
so also the two form bodies are not separate from self.
So saying, contemplate the meaning.
Many times contemplate such as has been objectified like so. In front of oneself, or at the
crown of the head, or in the heart, the one who has totally accomplished all the marks of
perfection, Buddha Bhagavan has come to dwell.
This very one is the holy root guru.
Radiant guru Buddha Bhagavan,
dharmakāya's singularity, equal in extent to space,
pray, give me your blessing.
This is the own-being of all dharmas, the original jñāna,
the radiant guru's best heart, the dharmakāya.
All buddhas same-tasting, non-dual,
to guru dharmakāya a prayer is sent.
Discriminations, machinations, and elaborations powerless,
the one who disciplines shows the body of Amitābha.
The form body arises in the shape of a holy kalyāṇamitra.
To you who are the vajra-holder's power, a prayer is sent.
Five families of conquerors, originally made en-masse, spontaneously present,
appear otherwise, by the five skandha mode, for the benefit of living beings.
Liberation that disciplines the skandha-forms, liberates all.
To you, best skandha other, a prayer is sent.
To dharmatā, primordially the tathāgata and
the sattva yabyum, the heroes and ḍākinīs,
to the discipline using the four elements, the senses etc,
and to the teacher of that discipline, a prayer is sent.
None other than the own-being of all, original jñāna,
free of concept, this dharmakāya is called “space-pervading.”
Dear dharma lord, to your heart,
your vajra-holder power, a prayer is sent.
Absolute truth is originally self-arising as the three levels of existence.
As the face of appearances to be tamed, that existence is all glowing appearance.
Not without truth, its taming makes for a perpetually blessed happiness.
To you whose activities are spontaneously present and done all-at-once, a prayer is sent.
Guru, you who are the own-being of the whole standing and moving world,
you are the reality of all the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times.
May you who dwell as the heart essence of all living beings
bless me with manifest understanding.
Thus instructions for Buddha's recollection and guru yoga are united.
This text by Jonang Jetsun Tāranātha was written at the request of the gelong Kunga
Delek, and was translated by Palden Lotsawa (James Rutke). May it be of benefit to all!
MAṆGALĀM
Source
Tāranātha. Sangs rgyas rjes dran dang bla ma’i rnal ‘byor gyi man ngag zung du ‘jug pa, vol. 1, 717. In Rje btsun tA ra nA tha’i Gsung ‘bum, ‘Dzam thang. © 2008, James Rutke. All Rights Reserved.
In Jonang Foundation’s Digital Library (www.jonangfoundation.org/library).
