By Erick Tsiknopoulos

Love: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all sentient beings had happiness and the causes of happiness? May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. I, myself, will cause all sentient beings to have happiness and the causes of happiness. I pray to all the Gurus, all the Buddhas, and all the Bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three times: Please help me to accomplish just that.

Shakyamuni Buddha’s Mantra:
OM MUNE MUNE MAHAMUNAYE SOHA (as many times as you like)

Compassion: Wouldn’t it wonderful if all sentient beings were free from suffering and the causes of suffering? May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. I, myself, will cause all sentient beings to be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. I pray to all the Gurus, all the Buddhas, and all the Bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three times: Please help me to accomplish just that.

OM MUNE MUNE MAHAMUNAYE SOHA

Sympathetic Rejoicing: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all sentient beings were never separate from sublime joy? May all sentient beings never be separate from sublime joy. I, myself, will cause all sentient beings to never be separate from sublime joy. I pray to all the Gurus, all the Buddhas, and all the Bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three times: Please help me to accomplish just that.

OM MUNE MUNE MAHAMUNAYE SOHA

Equanimity: Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all sentient beings were resting in boundless equanimity, free from bias, attachment, and aversion? May all sentient beings rest in boundless equanimity, free from bias, attachment, and aversion. I, myself, will cause all sentient beings to rest in boundless equanimity, free from bias, attachment, and aversion. I pray to all the Gurus, all the Buddhas, and all the Bodhisattvas of the ten directions and three times: Please help me to accomplish just that.

OM MUNE MUNE MAHAMUNAYE SOHA

Swift Rebirth Prayer for Dungsay Thinley Norbu Rinpoche by Khenchen Lama Pelgyepa Dorje Rinpoche

༄༅། ། གདུང་སྲས་འཇིགས་མེད་ཚེ་དབང་ཕྲིན་ལས་ནོར་བུའི་ཡང་སྲིད་ མྱུར་བྱོན་གསོལ་འདེབས། །

The Prayer for the Swift Rebirth

of Dungsay Jikme Tsewang Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

by Khenchen Lama Pelgyepa Dorje Rinpoche

ཨེ་མ་ཧོ། །

EMAHO! – How Marvelous!

ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ཀ་དག་གཉུག་མའི་གཞལ་ཡས་ནས། །

CHHÖ-YING KA-DAK NYUK-MAY ZHEL-YAY NAY

Within the immeasurable mansion of the primordially pure, on-going basic space of phenomena,

ངེས་དོན་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་རྒྱལ་བ་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཅན། །

NGEY-DÖN LHÜN-DRUB GYEL-WA T’UK-JE-CHEN

Is the compassionate Victor, spontaneously present as the definitive meaning:

འཇིགས་བྲལ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྒྱལ་པོ་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྐུའི། །

JIK-DREL CHHÖ KYI GYEL-PO YE-SHEY KU’I

To the son of the Dharma King Jikdrel’s wisdom form,

གདུང་སྲས་ཕྲིན་ལས་ནོར་བུ་གསོལ་བ་འདེབས། །

DUNG-SAY T’RIN-LAY NOR-BU SÖL-WA DEB

Dungsay Thinley Norbu, I pray.

སྣང་སྲིད་རྣམ་དག་དབྱིངས་ལས་མ་གཡོས་ཀྱང་། །

ཡང་སྲིད་རྩོད་བྲལ་ཟླ་གཞོན་སྤྲུལ་པའི་སྐུ། །

YANG-SRI TSÖ-DREL DA-ZHÖN TRÜL-PAY KU

And the youthful moon of your indisputable rebirth as a Nirmanakaya

སྙིགས་ལྔའི་མུན་ནག་བསལ་ཕྱིར་མྱུར་བྱོན་གསོལ། །

NYIK NGAY MÜN-NAK SEL CHHIR NYUR JÖN SÖL

Swiftly come, I pray.

རྒྱལ་ཀུན་སྤྱི་གཟུགས་པདྨ་ཀ་ར་ཡི། །

GYEL KÜN CHI-ZUK PAY-MA-KA-RA YI

Victorious regent of the universal form of all Conquerors, Padmakara,

རྒྱལ་བའི་རྒྱལ་ཚབ་དམ་པ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་རྗེ། །

GYEL-WAY GYEL-TS’AB DAM-PA CHHÖ KYI JE

Lord of the sublime Dharma,

འཇིགས་མེད་ཚེ་དབང་ཕྲིན་ལས་ནོར་བུ་ཉིད། །

JIK-MEY TS’E-WANG T’RIN-LAY NOR-BU NYI

Jikme Tsewang Thinley Norbu,

བདག་ཅག་ཞིང་གི་མགོན་དུ་མྱུར་བྱོན་གསོལ། །

DAK-CHAK ZHING GI GÖN DU NYUR JÖN SÖL

Swiftly come to guide us in our realm, I pray.

སྔ་འགྱུར་རིག་འཛིན་བརྒྱུད་པའི་བྱིན་རླབས་དང་། །

NGA-GYUR RIK-DZIN GYÜ-PAY JIN-LAB DANG

Through the blessings of the lineage of Early Translation School Vidyadharas,

དད་གུས་དམ་ཚིག་གཙང་མའི་བདེན་པ་དང་། །

DAY-GÜ DAM-TS’IK TSANG-MAY DEN-PA DANG

The truth of our pure faith, devotion, and sacred bonds,

རྟེན་འབྲེལ་བསླུ་བ་མེད་པའི་ནུས་མཐུ་ཡིས། །

LONG-CHHEN TEN-PAY DAK-PO NYUR JÖN SÖL

May the sovereign of Longchenpa’s teachings swiftly come, I pray.

མཁན་སློབ་ཆོས་རྒྱལ་དམ་པའི་བརྒྱུད་འཛིན་དང་། །

KHEN LOB CHHÖ-GYEL DAM-PAY GYÜ-DZIN DANG

May the holder of the sublime lineage of the Abbot, Acharya, and Dharma King,

སྙིང་ཐིག་སྙིང་པོའི་བསྟན་པ་སྐྱོང་བ་ལ། །

NYING-T’IK NYING-PO’I TEN-PA KYONG-WA LA

The guardian of the essential teaching of the Nyingt’ik,

ལུང་རྟོགས་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་སྤེལ་བའི་གདུང་སྲས་ཀྱི། །

LUNG-TOK SHAY-DRUB-PEL-WAY DUNG-SAY KYI

The clan son who explains, practices, and spreads transmission and realization,

ཡེ་ཤེས་བླ་མའི་རང་གཟུགས་མྱུར་བྱོན་གསོལ། །

YE-SHEY LA-MAY RANG-ZUK NYUR JÖN SÖL

The very embodiment of timeless awareness as the Guru, swiftly come, I pray!

ཞེས་པ་རབ་རྒྱན་ལྕགས་ཡོས་མགོ་ཟླའི་ཡར་ངོའི་ཚེས་པ་བཅུ་ཡི་ཉིན་བདེ་བ་རྡོ་རྗེ་དང་ནམ་མཁའ་རིག་འཛིན་སོགས་ཀྱིས་བསྐུལ་ངོར་གང་ཤར་དུ་སུ་ཁ་བཛྲའི་ཚོགས་གྲལ་ནས་གདུང་སྲས་དམ་པ་ལ་བཅོས་མིན་དད་གུས་ཅན་ཤྲཱི་ཨ་ནནྟ་བཛྲས་བྲིས་པ་དོན་དང་ལྡན་པར་གྱུར་ཅིག

And thus, in the year of Intense Adornment [the 17^th year of the Rabjung Cycle], the Iron Rabbit Year, on the 10^th day of the 11^th month during the phase of the waxing moon, in response to the requests of Dewa Dorje, Namkha Rikdzin, during a ganachakra offering sponsored by Sukhavajra, one who has uncontrived faith and devotion to the sublime Dungsay, Shrī Ananda Vajra [Khenchen Lama Pelgyepa Dorje Rinpoche] composed this, writing down whatever came to mind. May it be of benefit!

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos.

Prayer for the Swift Rebirth of Dungsay Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, by Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche 

Prayer for the Swift Rebirth of Dungsay Thinley Norbu Rinpoche

by the 10^th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche

Playful dance of the pristine awareness of all the Victors and their Heirs

In all directions and times, Vajra Thö T’reng Tsel:

Out of the expanse of indivisible, spontaneously present self-cognizant primal wisdom,

Consider me with love, and listen to this prayer.

With your three secrets of unobstructed affectionate love for all beings,

O dynamic awakened activity of the lord of the seven-horse sun,

O great gem illuminating the thick darkness of intense confusion:

Why have you departed from before the eyes of myself and others?

“Never to forsake compassion in any way whatsoever”:

Was this not the vow of primordial fearlessness that you yourself took?

If those infallible vajra words are true,

Then once again swiftly frolic in an emanation-display of magical illusion, I pray.

Since the faith, devotion, and sacred bonds of myself and others are not undermined,

Day and night, abandon the pretense of not hearing, not thinking about, and not looking

At our agonized words of longing,

And out of altruistic love, swiftly come, I pray.

May the youthful moon-face of the emanation of your three secrets,

Similar in every respect

To a vast healing vase full of auspicious abundance

And a wish-fulfilling jewel which grants desires, swiftly shine.

Thus, although Dungsay Thinley Norbu Rinpoche has now passed away with the enlightened intention to benefit others, in response to the requests of Lama Thrinlay Namgyel, Khenpo Shedub Tenzin, and Dawa Pelnjor, the one who holds the mere name of Sangye Nyenpa, entreating with supplications the truth of the Three Supreme Ones, with a clear mind set down this prayer requesting the display of his emanation to return once again.

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos and Mike Dickman. 

by Kardzey Gyurmey Rabten

For the sake of increasing the mind that guards the root vows,

Don’t be biased between Sakya, Geluk, Kagyu, and Nyingma!

Meditate on all living beings without exception as your mother:

If you seek the bodhichitta which exchanges self and other, how joyous!

For the sake of the mere differentiating concepts of refutation, presentation, and rejection,

Don’t be dazed by the contradictions of the dry words of texts!

Within the profound ocean of the Victor’s textual tradition,

If you seek the stainless jewel of the truth of emptiness, how joyous!

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos.  

A Biography of the Omniscient
Khunu Mahāsattva, Tenzin Gyeltsen
[Khunu Lama Rinpoche]

By Lamchen Gyalpo Rinpoche

Translated from Tibetan by Erick Tsiknopoulos and Mike Dickman

View the PDF by clicking on the link below:

Sunlight Blessings That Cure the Longing of Remembrance – PDF

Clearing Away the Darkness of Delusion

A Mañjushrī Sadhana by Khaydrub Raga Asya [Karma

Chakme] Conferred on Pema Thrinlay

[Refuge and Bodhichitta:]

ན་མོ།

NAMO

Homage!

དཀོན་མཆོག་གསུམ་འདུས་བླ་མ་འཇམ་དབྱངས་ལ།

KÖN-CHHOK SUM DÜ LA-MA JAM-PEL LA

In Guru Mañjushrī , embodiment of the Three Jewels,

དུས་རྣམས་རྟག་ཏུ་བདག་ནི་སྐྱབས་སུ་མཆི།

DÜ NAM TAK TU DAK NI KYAB SU CHHI

I constantly go for refuge at all times.

འགྲོ་བའི་དོན་དུ་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འཇམ་དཔལ་བསྒྲུབ།

DRO-WAY DÖN DU CHOM-DEN JAM-PEL DRUB

I shall practice the Conqueror Mañjushrī for the benefit of beings.

[The Practice:]

སྟོང་པའི་ངང་ལས་པདྨ་ཟླ་བ་དང།

TONG-PAY NGANG LAY PAY-MA DA-WA DANG

Out of the space of emptiness, upon a lotus, a moon,

སེངྒེ་སྔོན་པོའི་སྟེང་དུ་དྷཱིཿ་ཡིག་ལས།

SENG-GE NGÖN-PO’I TENG DU DHĪH YIK LAY

And a blue lion, there is the syllable DHĪH,

འོད་འཕྲོས་དོན་གཉིས་བྱས་ནས་ཚུར་འདུས་པས།

Ö’ THRÖ DÖN NYI JAY NAY TSHÜR DÜ PAY

From which light streams forth to realize the twofold benefit, and gathering back,

རང་ཉིད་འཇམ་དབྱངས་དམར་པོ་ཞལ་གཅིག་པ།

RANG-NYI’ JAM-YANG MAR-PO ZHEL CHIK-PA

I, myself, am red Mañjushrī, with one face,

རལ་གྲི་པུསྟི་འཛིན་ཅིང་སྐྱིལ་ཀྲུང་བཞུགས།

REL-DRI PU-TI DZIN CHING KYIL-TRUNG ZHUK

Holding a volume of texts and a sword and sitting in cross-legged position.

ཐུགས་ཀར་བྷྲཱུཾ་ལས་འཁོར་ལོ་རྩིབས་བཞི་དམར།

THUK-KAR BHRŪM LAY KHOR-LO TSIB ZHI MAR

From BHRŪM in the heart-center comes a red four–spoked wheel,

དེ་སྟེང་རལ་གྲི་སོར་བཞི་སྔགས་ཀྱིས་སྐོར།

DE TENG REL-DRI SOR ZHI NGAK KYII KOR

Upon which there is a four-fingered blade, surrounded by the mantra.

མདུན་དུཧྲཱིཿ་ལས་དབྱངས་ཅན་ལྷ་མོ་སྔོ།

DÜN DU HRĪH LAY YANG -CHEN LHA-MO NGO

In front of him, from HRĪH, arises the blue Goddess Sarasvati,

བཞེངས་སྟབས་རལ་གྲི་པུསྟི་ཕྱག་ན་འཛིན།

ZHENG-TAB REL-DRI PU-TI CHHAK NA DZIN

In standing position and holding a sword and scripture in her hands.

གཉིས་ཀ་དར་དང་རིན་ཆེན་དུ་མས་བརྒྱན།

NYI-KA DAR DANG RIN-CHHEN DU-MAY GYEN

They are both adorned by myriad silks and jewels.

ཡུམ་གྱི་ཐུགས་ཀར་པདྨ་འདབ་བཞིའི་སྟེང།

YUM GYI THUG-KAR PAY-MA DAB ZHI’I TENG

At the heart-center of the Mother, upon a four–petalled lotus,

རལ་གྲི་ཧྲཱིཿས་མཚན་སྔགས་ཀྱིས་སྐོར་བའོ།

REL-DRI HRĪH’S TSHEN NGAK KYII KOR-WA’O

There is a sword marked with the syllable HRĪH, around which the mantra revolves.

རང་འདྲའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་སྤྱན་དྲངས་རང་ལ་ཐིམ།

RANG DRAY YE-SHEY CHEN-DRANG RANG LA THIM

The wisdom being resembling myself is invited, and merges with  me.

ཐུགས་ལས་འོད་འཕྲོས་སང་རྒྱས་བྱང་སེམས་དང་།

THUK LAY Ö’ THRO SANG-GYAY JANG-SEM DANG

Light stream from my heart-center, and all the sublime insight

པཎྜི་ཏ་ཡི་ཤེས་རབ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་།

PAN-DI-TA YI SHEY-RAB THAM-CHAY’ DANG

Of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and panditas,

ཉན་རང་སོ་སྐྱེའི་ཤེས་རབ་ཐམས་ཅད་ནི།

NYEN-RANG SO-KYE’I SHEY-RAB THAM-CHAY NI

And the sublime insight of the shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and ordinary beings

འོད་ཀྱི་རྣམ་པར་བསྡུས་ནས་སྤྱི་བོར་ཐིམ།

Ö’ KYI NAM-PAR DÜ NAY CHI-WOR THIM

Gathers together in the form of light, and is absorbed into my crown.

སྡེ་སྣོད་གསུམ་དང་རྒྱུད་སྡེ་བཞི་པོ་ཡི།

DE-NÖ’ SUM DANG GYÜ’-DE ZHI-PO YI

The Dharma of the Three Baskets and the Four Classes of Tantra

ཆོས་རྣམས་བསྡུས་ནས་རང་གི་མགྲིན་པར་ཐིམ།

CHHÖ NAM DÜ NAY RANG GI DRIN-PAR THIM

Is gathered together, and dissolves into my throat.

ཉི་ཟླ་ནོར་བུ་འབྱུང་བ་བཞི་ཡི་བཅུད།

NYI DA NOR-BU JUNG-WA ZHI YI CHÜ

The vital essence of the sun, the moon, all precious substances, and the four elements

བསྡུས་ནས་རང་གི་སྙིང་གར་ཐིམ་པར་གྱུར།

DÜ NAY RANG GI NYING-GAR THIM-PAR GYUR

Is gathered together, and absorbs into my heart-center.

ཨོཾ་ཧྲཱིཿདྷཱིཿམ་མེ་དི་པཾ་མཉྗུ་ཤྲཱི་མུཾ་ཧྲཱིཿཔྲཛྙ་ཝརྡྷ་ནི་ཧྲཱིཿདྷཱིཿ་སྭཱ་ཧཱ།

OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑAVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHĀ

རང་ལས་སྤྲུལ་པའི་མཆོད་པའི་ལྷ་མོ་ནི།

RANG LAY TRUL-PAY CHHÖ’-PAY LHA-MO NI

Offering goddesses emanate from me

གནམ་མཁའ་གང་བར་སྤྲུལ་ཏེ་ལྷ་ལ་མཆོད།

NAM-KHA GANG-WAR TRUL TE LHA LA CHHÖ’

Filling the sky with their emanated forms and making offerings.

ཉེར་སྤྱོད་བདུན་དང་འདོད་པའི་ཡོན་ཏན་ལྔ།

NYER-CHÖ’ DÜN DANG DÖ’-PAY YÖN-TEN NGA

The seven enjoyments and five sense objects,

རྒྱལ་སྲིད་བདུན་དང་བཀྲ་ཤིས་རྫས་རྟགས་བརྒྱད།

GYEL-SRI’ DUN DANG TRA-SHI DZAY-TAK GYAY’

The seven emblems of sovereignty and eight symbols of auspiciousness,

རི་རབ་གླིང་བཞི་ལྷ་མིའི་ལོང་སྤྱོད་ཀུན།

RI-RAB LING ZHI LHA MI’I LONG-CHÖ’ KÜN

Mount Sumeru and the four continents, and all the resources of gods and humans:

བློ་ཡིས་བླངས་ཏེ་འཇམ་དཔལ་ཡབ་ཡུམ་མཆོད།

LO YII LANG TE JAM-PEL YAB-YUM CHHÖ’

Taking hold of them with my mind, I offer them to Mother-Father Mañjushrī.

བདག་ལ་བཀའ་དང་བསྟན་བཅོས་ཐམས་ཅད་ནི།

DAK LA KA DANG TEN-CHÖ THAM-CHAY NI

Please quickly bestow upon me perfect insight of unhindered knowledge

ཐོགས་མེད་མཁྱེན་པའི་ཤེས་རབ་མྱུར་དུ་གསོལ།

THOK-MEY KHYEN-PAY SHEY-RAB NYUR DU SOL

Of all scriptures and commentaries!

[The Homages:]

སེངྒེ་པདྨའི་གདན་སྟེང་དུ།

SENG-GE PAY-MAY DEN TENG DU

On a throne of a lion and lotus

རྒྱལ་བའི་སྲས་པོ་འཇམ་པའི་དབྱངས།

GYEL-WAY SRAY-PO JAM-PAY-YANG

Is Mañjushrī, son of the Conqueror,

གདོག་དམར་རལ་གྲི་པུསྟི་འཛིན།

DOK MAR REL-TRI PU-TI DZIN

Red in color and holding a sword and volume of scriptures:

སྨྲ་བའི་སེང་གེ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ།

MRA-WAY SENG-GE LA CHHAK TSAL

To the Lion of Speech, I bow down.

ཆུ་སྐྱེས་ཉི་ཟླའི་གདན་སྟེང་དུ།

CHU-KYEY NYI DAY DEN TENG DU

On a throne of an aquatic plant, sun, and moon

སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་སྐྱེད་པའི་ཡུམ།

SANG-GYAY THAM-CHAY KYEY-PAY YUM

Is the mother who gives birth to all buddhas,

གདོག་སྔོན་པུསྟི་རལ་གྲི་འཛིན།

DOK NGÖN PU-TI REL-DRI DZIN

Blue in color and holding a sword and volume of scriptures:

དབྱངས་ཅན་མ་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ།

YANG-CHEN-MA LA CHHAK TSAL LO

To Sarasvatī, I bow down.

[The Benefits of the Practice:]

The above [practice] should be recited continuously,

Along with a few hundred recitations of the mantra:

The continuous practice of this commitment is crucial.

According to the tantras and shastras, the benefits of this are that

With twenty–one or a hundred malas of the mantra

Unfailing memory will be attained,

With a thousand, expertise in all languages,

With ten thousand,

A thousand shlokas will be retained each day.

One will have unobstructed knowledge of all verbal expression,

Be able to compose treatises on scripture and commentaries,

Clairvoyance will shine forth,

And in the future one will attain lordship of the Levels.

If there is a karmic propensity,

He will be accomplished in a single day.

Middling practitioners will realize within two days.

Practicing for three days,

Even those with no karmic propensity will attain accomplishment.

If you dream of the sun and moon shining, gathering flowers,

Plowing fields, drinking ink,

Delight, writing letters.

Finding weapons and scriptures,

Have no doubt that sublime insight has increased.

Those words were the speech

Of the Indian pandita Kamalashila.

An old man from India

Ninety–nine years of age,

Who did not even understand letters,

Met the Mañjushrī of accomplishment in just one day.

Even his body became that of a youth of about eight years old,

And he understood the five sciences without obstruction,

Becoming a learned pandita.

The Sole Father Phadampa [Phadampa Sangye] requested [this transmission] from him,

And that lineage came by stages to Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje;

The empowerment is in Knowing One Liberates All [Chikshey Kündröl].

Of all the sadhanas of Mañjushrī,

None is as easy to accomplish as this.

The yogic applications of this, the pill of sublime insight,

I accomplished in previous times.

For the most part, whoever eats it will become learned.

And thus, this has now become the special practice

Of my heart–son, Pema Thrinlay.

Accumulate as much recitation of this mantra as possible.

You will automatically become a scholar.

May the one known as Gemo Lama,

One capable of holding the teachings and benefit beings,

Become extremely learned.

དགེ་འདིས་ཚེ་རབ་ཐམས་ཅད་དུ།

GE- DII TSHE-RAB THAM-CHAY’ DU

By this virtue, in all lifetimes

མི་བརྗེད་དྲན་པའི་གཟུངས་ཐོབ་ནས།

MI-JEY’-DREN-PAY ZUNG THOB NAY

Accomplishing unfailing memory,

འཆད་རྩོད་བརྩོམ་ལ་ཟླ་མེད་པའི།

CHAY TSÖ’ TSOM LA DA-MED-PAY

May I become the Lion of Speech himself,

སྨྲ་བའི་སེང་གེ་ཉིད་གྱུར་ཅིག།

MA-WAY SENG-GE NYID GYUR CHIK

Unmatched in exposition, debate, and composition.

སརྦ་མངྒ་ལཾ།

SARVA MANGALAM.

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos and Mike Dickman.

The Lamp of Pristine Wisdom:

A Commentary on the Mañjushrī Sadhana

‘Clearing Away the Darkness of Delusion’

By Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos and Mike Dickman

Sole embodiment of the treasure of qualities of the primordial awareness of all Victorious Ones,

Greatest of all miraculous displays,

Hero who slashes through the web of all-consuming misconceptions:

To Guru Mañjuvajra, I bow down.

                Thus, having first offered a praise and homage, I shall here give a short commentary on the sadhana of Mañjushrī the Lion of Speech [‘jam dpal smra ba’i seng ge] known as ‘Dispelling the Darkness of Ignorance’, composed by Khaydrub Raga Asya [Karma Chakme].

So why do we need to practice Mañjushrī? Because we have to generate the wisdom of listening, the wisdom of contemplation, and the wisdom of meditation. Mañjushrī is the essence of the sublime transcendent knowledge of all the Victorious Ones of the three times and their offspring, or to put it another way, the consummate embodiment of their wisdom.

Moreover, in regards to his form, while it is the very essence of appearance and the inherent nature of the basic dynamic of appearance, we base the spontaneously appearing physical form of Mañjughosha on paintings we see. Like good images or thangkas one can buy, the body of that known as “Mañjushrī” is orange in color, his right hand brandishing the sword of perfect insight, and the left holding an Utpala flower on which there is a volume of the Asthsahasrika Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, and he is riding a blue lion. Since this is the form we all know, it is the conventional, symbolically designated Mañjughosha, “Mañjushri”.

What is Mañjushrī in actuality? He is the ultimate non-dual primordial wisdom, that which constitutes the realization which, having actualized non-dual sublime insight, perfectly comprehends the unmistaken natural state of all phenomena. This is what is really known as Mañjushrī, and this is what we need to attain.

Now, why do we need to practice Mañjushrī? If we actually think that “what is called Mañjushrī is someone carrying a sword in his right hand, and an Utpala flower upon which is a volume of scriptures in his left hand, riding on top of a blue lion”, and practice while grasping at and fixating on a truly established Mañjushrī, then Mañjushrī will not be accomplished. Accomplishment will be a difficult thing. This is what is known as the ‘view of characteristics’, and it is a great fault.

In particular, in the context of Secret Mantra, it is taught that this grasping at characteristics is a great mistake. In the expositions on the generation stage practice of the deity, it is taught in several places that if you fixate on the deity as being truly established, fixate on the deity as having established characteristics, fixate on the deity as having a form, or fixate on the color and shape of the deity as having a truly established identity, then no matter how much the deity is practiced, there will be no accomplishment. Not only that, but it is also a great detriment.

Now, if one is able to see the identity of this kind of true mode of being, beyond color, beyond shape, beyond form, and beyond characteristics, that is, if one practices the Mañjushrī of suchness, then there will be accomplishment.

It should be understood that Mañjushrī is emptiness. It should be understood that Mañjushrī is selflessness. It should be understood that “what is called ‘Mañjushrī’ is the nature of my mind”. If you  understand that what is known as ‘non-dual sublime insight’ and what is known as ‘non-dual primordial wisdom’ are Mañjushrī, then the face of Mañjushrī will be encountered, and moreover, Mañjushrī will grant his blessings; Mañjushrī’s blessings will enter into us.

However, if I were to explain to those individuals generally referred to as ‘beginners’ how to immediately have a non-dual awareness of this nature, they would not be able to understand what I am talking about. When this is the case, since a beginner cannot even aspire to, let alone understand, this kind of realization of the natural state, what are the stages of method to be taught so that they can give rise to this kind of realization?

When the one known as Mañjushrī is taught to have an aspect of color, an aspect of form, and an aspect of characteristics, holding a sword in his right hand and an Utpala flower on top of which there is a book in the left, thinking “Now, this is Mañjushrī!”, beginners give rise to trust in that. Practicing the deity like this, as we gradually practice, in our minds we come to think “Oh, it really is true that the ultimate Mañjushrī is the mind’s true mode of abiding, and it is presented in this way simply as a method for realization”, and thus we understand the reason for it.

Now, following that, as the deity is gradually practiced, you get closer and closer to the actual natural state. Then, when you reach that which is beyond color, beyond form, and beyond characteristics, when you arrive at the pinnacle of true abiding nature, that which is beyond form and beyond characteristics appears.

Moreover, as it is said:

Continuum of the ground, profundity and luminosity inseparable: Mañjushrī.

Continuum of the integral unity of the path, method and wisdom: Mañjushrī.

The fruition, the kāyas and pristine awareness indivisible:

Homage to the Guru Majñuvajra.

That which is called “the indivisible Guru Majñuvajra”, associated with the ground, path, and fruition, is taught as the profound ultimate mode of being, and this being so, it is the true mode of abiding of profundity and luminosity inseparable. In the context of Mantra, this true mode of being of non-dual bliss and emptiness is Mañjushrī. Thus, this ‘artificial, constructed deity of the generation stage’ is nothing but a deity totally imputed by mind.

However, although the deity is actually not established as true, for beginners it is extremely essential that the reasons why you need to practice and aspire to realize be understood. Not understanding these reasons at all, and considering this “deity” as truly established, there will be no accomplishment if you practice. Moreover, it will be difficult.

Even though the direct generation of the wisdom realizing the way things are will not arise until the first [bodhisattva] level, one can trust that it will. A similar thing applies to the state of mind that imagines and creates [the artificial constructed deity].  Although in actuality “Manjushri” is absolutely not truly established whatsoever, one can think that these characteristics of shape, color, and form were taught as a means to encounter the true nature of being.  Nevertheless, this is incredibly important and of great benefit, for as is taught in the Four Hundred Verses of the Middle Way:

Even just entertaining hesitations about emptiness

Has the benefit of wearing away conditioned existence.

However, since it is like this, we have doubts about the real nature of the deity, but even though we doubt, if we understand just a little of the reasoning, it is of great benefit, and has something which can greatly move us.

So, since you need to practice this Mañjushrī, first you need to know how to really meditate on him. In whichever of the exalted teachings of the Mahāyāna one encounters, there are three stages: first one goes for refuge, then generates the mind of bodhichitta, and then engages in the main practice.

Of these three, the first is refuge:

Namo! In Mañjushrī, the emdodiment of the Three Jewels,

I constantly go for refuge at all times.

As for refuge there are two types: Mahāyāna refuge and Hīnayāna refuge. Of these two, this is Mahāyāna refuge. That which is called the Hīnayāna refuge is going for refuge without considering the thought of generating the aspiration of bodhichitta. If one goes for refuge in order to be freed from the fears of the general and particular sufferings of samsāra, that is called a Hīnayāna refuge. That referred to as the Mahāyāna refuge is the aspiration, “Not only for myself alone, but with all sentient beings as many as space is vast, I go for refuge from this moment forward until the level of unparalleled enlightenment is reached.”

Now, Namo in Sanskrit means “I bow” and “I prostrate”. What is being prostrated to? The Three Jewels. The body of Guru Mañjushrī is the Jewel of the Sangha Jewel, the speech of the Guru Mañjushrī is the Dharma Jewel, and the mind of Guru Mañjushrī is the Buddha Jewel. We consider this “continuously going for refuge” a very sacred thing. However, when we say “going for refuge”, we should definitely distinguish between the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha individually.

Also, when practicing things like the meditational deity and the Dharma protectors and guardians, it might seem as if the Three Jewels are not fully present here, and that you are going for refuge in something else which is called the “Three Jewels”. If you think that the yidams and their ilk each have their own individual refuge, then that is not authentic refuge.

Therefore, if you understand how to view the true mode of abiding in which enlightened body is the Sangha, enlightened speech is the sublime Dharma, and enlightened mind is the Buddha, then going for refuge is complete within this. All situations concerning “outer refuge” and “inner refuge” are like this. Since that is so, the Three Jewels are complete within one Mañjushrī.

The Three Jewels are complete within the practice of Jetsün Tara, too, and likewise when one meditates on Avalokiteshvara and so on, the Three Jewels are complete. This is because they have the identity of the Three Jewels. There is not even a single deity that does not have the identity of the Three Jewels. Thus, if one doesn’t think, there is a risk of it becoming like paying homage to worldly gods, and this is a grave fault.

With the method of non-attachment to things like worldly gods, one thinks of that deity as the consummate identity of the Three Jewels; the need to develop trust in this is important. In the context of Secret Mantra, what is known as “path-propelling devotion” is of great strength. It is taught that in that regard, the Secret Mantra has a special superiority over even the philosophical vehicle. Therefore, one should think “The deity is the consummate identity of the Jewels!”

Now, the body of this one known as Guru Mañjushrī is the Sangha, his speech is the sublime Dharma, and his mind is the Buddha. As one generates devotion that he is the identity of the Three Jewels, even if there is not the certain knowing of realization, the benefits of simply generating interest in this are great.

At all times, I go for refuge.

At all times means “from this moment forth until the level of unparalleled enlightenment is attained”. It doesn’t mean sometimes paying homage and sometimes not paying homage. It’s not a matter of whether or not you’re sleepy, as if you could say “forget about it!” when you’re feeling tired in the morning. At all times means regardless of whatever difficulties come up, big or small, I go for refuge always at all times. “With devotion of body, speech, and mind, I go for refuge” is the going for refuge.

Second, the Commitment or Generation of Bodhichitta:

I shall practice the Conqueror Mañjushrī for the benefit of beings.

I shall now practice Mañjushrī. For the sake of whom? Not for the sake of becoming extremely famous and learned and so on through increasing one’s wisdom. Since it says “For the benefit of beings”, it is a declaration of the Mahāyāna.

Generally speaking, concerning the explanation of going for refuge first, it is taught that for becoming exalted over incorrect paths there is refuge, and for becoming exalted over lesser paths there is generation of bodhichitta. Concerning “incorrect paths”, one who cultivates the incorrect view, incorrect conduct, and incorrect meditation of non-Buddhists is a non-Buddhist. In the context of referring to “the outsider Tīrthikas”, it does not necessarily mean someone wearing a rhoti and a kurta with dreadlocks on their head. Those who propound incorrect views and conduct, and incorrect views and meditation, are referred to as Tīrthikas. The teaching to first go for refuge in order to protect from mistaken paths, which consist of incorrect views, meditations, and actions, has the special quality of becoming exalted over incorrect paths, and the generation of bodhichitta has the special quality of becoming exalted over lesser paths.

Generally, how is the difference made between the Great and Lesser Vehicle? The difference between the Great and Lesser Vehicles is a matter of whether there is the generation of bodhichitta or not. Whoever does not have the going for refuge is not a Buddhist. Someone called a “Buddhist” must accept that the objects of refuge of the Three Jewels are the ultimate objects of refuge, and state that other than them there is no object of refuge. The words state that other than them there is no object of refuge are really excellent, because these words show that even when one practices Jetsün Tara, Mañjushrī, and so on, they have the consummate identity of the Jewels. If one proclaims “other than that, aside from them there is no other refuge”, and then the mistaken conception arises which thinks “Well then, what are Mañjushrī, Bernagchen [Black Robe Mahākala], Avalokiteshvara, and so on?”, in order to counteract that, “the being who embodies all Jewels” is taught, which leads one to the conviction that there is no other source of refuge other than the Three Jewels.

Therefore:

Not relying on the Three Jewels,

Even an excellent spiritual practitioner is a Tīrthika.

In accordance with this teaching, the going for refuge which exalts one above incorrect paths is definitely necessary. Without the going for refuge, one cannot travel within the Buddhadharma. No matter how much we might explain about the profound view, no matter much we might engage in excellent meditation, and no matter how much we might practice some deities, in this regard it becomes like a non-Buddhist god, because the causal words which make one a Buddhist have not been pronounced. This, then, is what is said to be the difference between non-Buddhists and Buddhists.

Generally, although there are many explanations of the distinguishing features of the four symbolic seals of practice of the established view and so on, it is taught that the distinguishing feature of going for refuge is this well-known main one: that a Buddhist is someone who goes for refuge in the objects of refuge of the Three Jewels and who affirms that there is no other source of refuge but them. Anyone who does not do so is a non-Buddhist.

Second, in regards to being exalted over lesser paths, what differentiates the Great from the Lesser Vehicle is the presence or absence of bodhichitta’s generation. Concerning what is referred to as “the generation of bodhichitta”, the Bodhicharyāvatara states that there is not so much as a single one among all the limitless sentient beings who has not been our parent. While acting as our parents, like our parents in this life, they had only great kindness so as to directly and indirectly assure our immediate benefit. Although what all of them want is happiness, they don’t understand that the cause of happiness is involvement with virtue, and thus suffering arises. Though what they don’t want is suffering, they naturally gravitate towards the causes of suffering, without needing to apply themselves. Therefore, one needs to have a compassionate mind which contemplates deep compassion towards all sentient beings involved in incorrect paths.

Towards them, giving rise to the thought “so that that all those sentient beings genuinely realize the natural state, realize the ultimate nature of all phenomena, and fully realize the unmistaken mode of abiding, I must practice Mañjushrī  for the benefit all sentient beings” is the generation of bodhichitta.

When it says For the benefit of beings, I shall practice the Conqueror Mañjushrī”, this shows that you have to abandon the self-cherishing mind which seeks your own welfare. Since what is implicit in that abandonment is the generation of an altruistic mind seeking the benefit of others, you need to have intense love towards other sentient beings, and accomplish their well-being.

Now, concerning the main practice, the meditation on the deity:

Out of the space of emptiness, upon a lotus, a moon,

And a blue lion, there is the syllable DHĪH,

The words out of the space of emptiness, which in Sanskrit are Om Shunyata Jnana Vajra Svabhava Atma Kony’ Ham, mean that you should understood that since not a single phenomenon is truly established, there is not one phenomenon that can be established as inherently existent, and that they are all emptiness.

First, all phenomena become emptiness. Out of the space of that emptiness, meditate on a lotus flower. What does this lotus flower represent? It suggests dwelling in conditioned existence without being stained by the faults of conditioned existence. As it is said:

Just as a lotus in water

Is born but not stained by that water,

So too, although one is born here, in the world,

One is not stained by the world.

This teaching means that the mental continua of all sentient beings are pervaded by the Matrix of the Bliss-Gone [sugatagarbha], replete with all qualities for the attainment of buddhahood. However, although all powerful causes for the enlightened qualities of Buddhahood are present, since the adventitious stains of discordant conditions and afflictive mental states of attachment which should be avoided are also present, one is thus obscured. This obscuration, however, is not one which is truly established, and if one clears it away through the power of its antidote, then, as is implicitly indicated [in the quotation], the stains will be cleansed, and one will be able to actualize those positive qualities.

Just as the flower of this lotus is not soiled by the stains of mud even though it is born from it, for us as well, no matter how much we are obscured by attachment and other such disturbing emotions, in actual fact, our essence is never obscured by distortions. We do have the positive quality of really being able to exhaust distortion, and actualize fruition, by correctly contemplating the necessity of relying on appropriate antidotes and so forth, through first recognizing the distortions, then setting about abandoning those distortions, and so on.

Actually, when reference is made to the ‘lotus’, what it signifies is sublime insight and emptiness, and with ‘moon on top of the lotus’, the moon is a reference to the nature of skillful means. What is this moon of skillful means on top of this empty insight-emptiness? It signifies the skillful techniques of great compassion. Not especially making manifest one’s own realization, since it is necessary to gradually accomplish the practice of the Mahāyāna Dharma for the sake of other sentient beings, the moon denotes the altruistic mind that cherishes others, great compassion.

   Out of the space of emptiness upon a lotus, a moon,

And a blue lion, there is the syllable DHĪH,

Upon this is a blue lion. The lion is the king of beasts, and can thus overcome adversaries, and since, like the lion, one cannot be overwhelmed by anything at all oneself, one is able externally to subdue incompatible factors such as ego-clinging, investing things with true existence, and all incorrect views, meditation, and conduct that is non-conducive to actualization of the wisdom recognizing the true mode of being and the wisdom that realizes selflessness, and, internally, one’s own insight into the true mode of being, just as it is, cannot be overpowered by incorrect views, meditation, and conduct, nor attacked by opponents.

Concerning the color blue, since generally the color of the sky is blue, it is called “sky blue”, but what does this imply? Because it is free from birth and cessation, coming and going, the sky is emptiness. Thus, since not even insight can be established as truly existent, that insight is said to be emptiness. Just as the sky is blue, as a symbol of its emptiness, it is figuratively represented as blue.

The saying And a blue lion, there is the syllable DHĪH, in the context of Mantra, refers to what is known as the Threefold Tier of Sattvas, the Samadhisattva [the being of meditative absorption] first; the Samayasattva [the conventional visualized being] second; and the Jñānasattva [the being of primordial awareness] third. During deity generation, this is a presentation of the generation stage that is extremely easy to understand. Generally, although a multitude of classifications were taught in the tradition of the old tantras, this Threefold Tier of Sattvas was the one most widely and openly taught.

First there is the so-called “causal meditative absorption”, known as “meditative absorption of the cause” or “being of meditative absorption”. The seed of Mañjushrī is the syllable DHĪH, and for this reason it is known as the “samadhisattva” or the “being of the causative meditative absorption”.

From which light streams forth to realize the twofold benefit, and gathering back,

This means that from the being of the causative meditative absorption, the orange syllable DHĪH, beams of light radiate out, and are offered as unsurpassed offerings to the Victorious Ones together with their bodhisattva offspring. Then all transmission, without exception, of the positive qualities and enlightened activity of the enlightened body, speech, and mind of all the Victorious Ones together with their bodhisattva offspring without exception, is gathered together in the form of light-rays, and dissolves back into the syllable DHĪH. This is the bringing together of blessings.

Since simply gathering blessings will not bring benefit, light streams forth from the syllable DHĪH once more, and touches all sentient beings of the six classes, purifying all the karma and afflictive emotions and their resultant suffering in their mental continua.

Generate conviction in the thought that all sentient beings have been established on the level of Mañjushrī.

Then, again, during the process of the streaming forth and the gathering back of light-rays, the absorption into the syllable DHĪH is referred to as the realization of the twofold benefit, and refers  to the making of offerings and purification of obscurations. What is referred to as the “twofold benefit” in this context is the accomplishment of benefit for oneself and benefit for others.

Furthermore, in this context, the two benefits are the gathering in of the blessings of all the Victorious Ones together with their bodhisattva offspring, and then their spreading out to influence all sentient beings of the six classes. Picture that, as all their karma and afflictive mental states along with their resultant suffering are purified, they are established on the level of Mañjushrī.

The second contemplation is to meditate and think that although they will only become Mañjushrī in the future, they now have the cause of becoming Mañjushrī.

The re-convergence of light rays is the action of the samadhisattva.

I, myself, am red Mañjushrī, with one face,

Holding a volume of texts and a sword and sitting in cross-legged position.

In a single moment, the DHĪH syllable completely transforms, changing into Mañjushrī, with a red colored body, the so-called yellowish-red color of sunrise. You have to meditate on the color of his body as being like the yellowish-red color of sunrise. What is reason for the color of his body being a yellowish-red in this case? In the same way that the light of the sun illuminates all the darkness, gloom, and all that is non-apparent in the universe, and expands its illumination until it is able to make visible all objects in the universe, you should understand this similarity to the color of the sun to symbolize sublime insight. Through this sublime insight that perfectly understands the true mode of being, through this sublime insight that fully distinguishes the true from the false, the deluded unawareness that is confused about the actual state of being is cleared away, and, since the radiance of the sublime insight which authentically, clearly, and distinctly perceives all phenomena encompassed within conventional reality and all phenomena encompassed within ultimate reality is expanded,  like the example of the sun, the color of his body is yellowish-red. Thus, in the context of Mantra, this is known as “mindfulness of the purity of the deity” or “mindfulness of the complete purity of the deity”. This is definitely necessary. Otherwise, if you meditate on the color of his body as a brilliant yellow, perfectly red, or completely white, there will be no benefit, because attachment to form, attachment to characteristics, attachment to color, and attachment to shape will occur, and the six faults of meditative concentration and so on will arise.

What does this one face symbolize? Although there are the Three Kāyas, ultimately, other than the Dharmakāya, there is no other Kāya.

As it is said:

The true mode of abiding is one, and is essential suchness.

There is only one true mode of being, essential suchness, and in regards to it, it is ultimately the basic space of phenomena [dharmadhatu], which is itself only one and has no discrete existence. On the basis of that one basic space of phenomena, that one Dharmakāya, there is one face.

In the right hand, there is a sword. What does this blade cut? Just as a knife cuts outer objects such as wood, this sword held in his right hand should be understood as non-dual insight, non-dual wisdom, or the insight that realizes selflessness. This insight that realizes selflessness cuts through ignorance, the root of conditioned existence. This ignorance, the chief, is the first of the twelve links of dependent arising, ignorance. Ignorance, this first of the twelve links of dependent arising, is grasping at true existence. In the context of the Middle Way philosophy [Madhyamaka], the triad of grasping at true existence, emotional obscurations, and ignorance are taught to be of the same meaning.

If ignorance, the root of conditioned existence, cannot be cut, then however much you employ direct methods to abandon the general negative emotions, it is possible and even likely that they will arise again. If you cut the branches of a tree without cutting the root, the branches will grow again.

Therefore, the root of conditioned existence is ignorance, or grasping at true existence. Grasping at true existence, too, is of two sorts: acquired grasping at true existence and instinctual grasping at true existence. Of these two, instinctual grasping at true existence is the difficult one to eliminate. Since the grasping at the “I” that has been in the mental continua of all us sentient beings from the very beginning, it does not need to be linked with conventional designations, does not need to be linked with philosophical tenets, does not to be linked with study, nor does it need to be based on external conditions. That so-called “I” is basic to the mental continua of all sentient beings that exist, and is always instinctually present.

Thus, just as ants are constantly running about, if something is not quite right with the “I”, it becomes frantic. All sentient beings, each and every bird, human and so on, are like this. Until omniscience is manifest, that is, up until the state of all-knowing is actualized, this accompanying “I” in our mental continua that is habitually clung to is the root of samsāra, referred to as ‘grasping at true existence’.

There is no way to cut through this aside from the insight realizing selflessness. It is not possible to overcome grasping at true existence through meditation on bodhichitta and meditation on compassion. What must be meditated on? Ultimate bodhichitta, the insight realizing emptiness, is the direct opponent of that which is known as ‘grasping at a self’: the grasping at true existence.

It is not possible for these two [the insight realizing emptiness and the grasping at true existence] to occur at the same time. In the presence of the mind of insight realizing selflessness, it is not possible for grasping at a self and true existence to simultaneously arise.

So, what does the sword represent? Just as a sword is able to cut external objects, the holding of the sword symbolizes the insight realizing selflessness, which cuts ignorance, the root of conditioned existence.

The Utpala flower with a volume of scriptures upon it in his left hand represents the following: the Utpala flower is primarily a symbol of love and compassion, and the volume of scriptures on top of it is primarily considered to be the transcendent knowledge which understands all phenomena non-erroneously and perfectly, especially the sublime knowing that realizes emptiness, or the sublime insight which comprehends all phenomena uniquely, clearly, vividly and distinctly. The volume of scriptures held symbolizes the wisdom in which not a single one out of all phenomena is unknown, understanding all phenomena included within relative truth and all phenomena included within ultimate truth, clearly and distinctly.

As for “sitting in cross–legged position”, his two legs are a symbol representing the two truths, and holding the position of the vajra–asana is the indivisible unity of those two truths. Furthermore, although they are a unification of what is primordially and timelessly an integral unity, initially they are two. They are not like a white string and a black string tied together; from the very beginning, the two truths are indivisible. It is not that there is the ultimate on one side when you abandon the conventional and the conventional on one side when you abandon the ultimate. Thus, as a symbol representing the indivisibility of the two truths, meditate that he is seated with his two legs in vajra posture. Whether you meditate on him as yourself or as in front of you is your own choice.

From BHRŪM in the heart-center comes a red four-spoked wheel,

Upon which there is a four-fingered blade, surrounded by the mantra.

Meditate that in the heart-center there is a syllable BHRŪM, from which there comes a red four-spoked wheel, marked with a HŪM syllable. Visualize the HŪM as transforming into a four-spoked wheel. Visualize that this four-spoked wheel is lying down flat. On top of it, in the middle of that four-spoked wheel is a totally spherical wheel, in which there is also a wheel. This smaller wheel is referred to as “the spherical bindu at the axis”. On top of that spherical bindu at the axis is a four-fingered blade. Visualize this small sword, this sword with four blades. Around that, when arranging the mantra of OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑĀVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHĀ, place them in a clockwise fashion, and when it spins, it spins counter-clockwise. Visualize the spinning mantra garland of OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑĀVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHĀ.

In front of him, from HRĪH arises the blue Goddess Sarasvatī,

In standing position and holding a sword and scripture in her hands.

They are both adorned by myriad silks and jewels.

You have to meditate that in front of yourself as the method, there is the Goddess Sarasvatī, the symbol representing sublime wisdom.

Concerning

“In front of him, from HRĪH”,

first meditate that in front of you is the causal samadhisattva, a blue syllable HRĪH. For this, it is said that although it is appropriate to perform the twofold benefit through the streaming forth and gathering in of light rays as before, it is also fine if you don’t.

The HRĪH transforms into the Goddess Sarasvatī, her body blue in color. She is standing in upright position, and, like Mañjushrī himself, she holds a sword and volume of scriptures.

“They are both adorned by myriad silks and jewels.”

The adornment with many silks and jewels should be understood to mean the completion of all qualities of the Mahāyāna without exception, and the perfection of all positive qualities without exception. It is a symbol of the completion of all the vast Mahāyāna practices and Mahāyāna trainings, such as generosity, ethical discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and so on. It’s not that it’s just mere ornamentation and getting dressed-up; it acts as a symbol: that they possess the total completion and perfection of the Mahāyāna teachings and trainings.

At the heart-center of the Mother, upon a four-petalled lotus,

Is a sword marked with HRĪH, around which the mantra revolves.

Meditate that in the heart center of the female consort is a lotus flower, and on it is a four-pronged sword, marked at its tip or center with a blue syllable HRĪH. Visualize OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑĀVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHA spinning around it.

This is what is known as the samayasattva, the conventional, visualized being. The samadhisattva, or being of profound meditative concentration, is both the syllable DHĪH and the syllable HRĪH.

Concerning the samayasattva, since both samayasattvas — the visualization of oneself as Mañjushrī and the Goddess Sarasvatī visualized in front of oneself — will not bring benefit simply by being there; they must also be consecrated. What does this mean? Since the wisdom being needs to be consecrated, one needs the jñānasattva, the being of primordial awareness, so one invites the jñānasattva and absorbs it into oneself.

When a lama confers or bestows an empowerment, or when we are receiving one, we always think that if we are hit hard on the head with the vase as we are receiving it, we have attained a powerful empowerment; and when the blessings are bestowed and we drink cleansing water, and when we get the long-life pills and long-life alcohol, we always think “I have attained the empowerment!”. However, the measure of whether we have really attained the empowerment or not is if, as the lama directly introduces us to the ultimate meaning of the empowerment and all the wisdom beings are invited, there is no trace of one’s ordinary three doors, the three avenues, and they are taken on, or regarded, as the three doors of the quintessential deity. So, when the blessings are granted, as the wisdom being invoked by the recitation of PHEM PHEM A BE SHA YA A A, and then absorbed, at that time, one’s own three doors are not ordinary, and in order to consecrate them as enlightened body, enlightened speech, and enlightened mind, since you need perfect understanding of the introduction, this is called the introduction to the true mode of being.  When that takes place is the criterion of having “received the empowerment”.

When you are introduced to awareness of the true meaning of the empowerment, there is attainment of the empowerment; conversely, if one does not encounter awareness of the true meaning of the empowerment, there is not attainment of the empowerment. In this context it also like this: mainly, the jñānasattva grants blessings, and if one can take on one’s three doors as the essence of the deity with nothing left over in the dimension of ordinariness, this is the authentic accomplishment of the deity. Furthermore, in the context of talking about “accomplishing the deity”, don’t imagine that it’s something like the face of a deity gazing up and down, saying, “Hey! What do you want?”

The wisdom being resembling myself is invited, and merges with me.

The deity being practiced, the wisdom being similar to oneself [as the deity] is invited, and absorbed into you. You invite countless jñānasattvas like yourself, the bigger ones as large as Mount Sumeru, the smaller ones as tiny as mustard seeds, and visualize that, like rain in an ocean, they touch and merge into you and all sentient beings.

Light streams from my heart-center, and all the sublime insight

Of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and panditas,

And the sublime insight of shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and ordinary beings

Gathers together in the form of light, and is absorbed into my crown.

At the time of completion, meditate that from your heart, white rays of light stream forth, and all the transcendent gnosis of all the buddhas, bodhisattvas, Indian panditas, and Tibetan translators, as well as the transcendent gnosis of the shravakas, the transcendent gnosis of the pratyekabuddhas, and the transcendent gnosis of ordinary beings is gathered together in the form of light, and absorbs gently into your crown. Then, meditate for about a minute within that.

The Dharma of the Three Baskets and the Four Classes of Tantra

Is gathered together, and dissolves into my throat.

Once more, red light streams out from one’s body, and touches the Three Baskets – the Vinaya Pitaka, the Sūtra Pitaka, and the Abhidharma Pitaka – and the Four Great Classes of Tantra – Kriya Tantra, Charya Tantra, Yoga Tantra, and Anuttarayoga Tantra – and their entire meanings are gathered together in the form of light, and absorb into your throat.

The vital essence of the sun, the moon, all precious substances, and the four elements

Is gathered together, and absorbs into my heart-center.

Blue light rays stream forth from your body again, and you should think that, as they touch everything  in the outer universe such as the sun, the moon, the wish-fulfilling gem, the wish-fulfilling tree, all the vital essence of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and air, all the kings, queens, ministers, famous people, great businesspeople and so on, in short, all the vital essence, potential, charisma, strength, influence, wealth, and resources there are in all of the famous people in the world, all of that is touched and gathered together in the form of light, and then absorbed into your heart.

Next, the recitation of familiarization and approach:

OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑĀVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHĀ

You should accumulate one hundred repetitions of this.

Offering goddesses emanate from me,

Filling the sky with their emanated forms and making offerings.

Now, from your heart center, immeasurable offering goddesses, white, yellow, red, blue, and green, the sixteen offering goddesses and so on, fill the sky with emanations, and make offerings to Father-Mother Mañjushrī.

The seven enjoyments and the five sense objects,

The seven emblems of sovereignty and the eights symbols of auspiciousness,

Mount Sumeru and the four continents, and all the resources of gods and humans:

Taking hold of them with my mind, I offer them to Father-Mother Mañjushrī.

Then, give rise to all offerings, the seven enjoyments, five sense objects, seven emblems of sovereignty, eight symbols of auspiciousness, Mount Sumeru and the four continents, and the resources of gods and humans, material offerings, mentally emanated offerings, ordinary offerings and extraordinary offerings and so on, and offer them to Father-Mother Mañjushrī.

Please quickly bestow upon me perfect insight of unhindered knowledge

Of all scriptures and commentaries!

Now, since the blessings must be granted, if you wonder what sort of blessings you should request, when it says upon me, pray that unhindered knowledge of all scriptures taught by the Transcendent and Accomplished Conqueror, the commentaries composed by all the accomplished scholars in the Noble Land of India and those who came to the Snowy Land of Tibet, and the sublime insight which is capable of realizing them perfectly, without confusion in regards to the words, without confusion in terms of the meaning, without confusion in relation to the subject, without confusion in relation to the object, without confusion about anything at all, be quickly and immediately bestowed upon you.

Concerning the prostrations:

On a throne of a lion and lotus,

Is Mañjushrī, son of the Conqueror,  

Red in color and holding a sword and volume of scriptures:

To the Lion of Speech, I bow down.

This is easy to understand as meaning “I prostrate to Mañjushrī mounted on a blue lion”.

On a throne of an aquatic plant, sun, and moon

Is the mother who gives birth to all buddhas,

Blue in color and holding a sword and volume of scriptures:

To Sarasvatī, I bow down.

When it says “On a throne of an aquatic plant, sun, and moon”, the aquatic plant is a lotus. The goddess who is the great mother who gives birth to all buddhas, with a blue-colored body, holding a sword in her right, and, in her left, a volume of scriptures, is Sarasvatī.

Concerning the essence of the Goddess Sarasvatī, known as the Goddess of Melody, it is taught that the triad of Jetsün Tara, Sarasvatī, and the Great Mother Prajñāpāramitā are of one essence. The Vajravarahis too are of one essence with them, and should also be understood as the Great Mother Prajñāpāramitā.

Is the mother who gives birth to all buddhas is not saying that she is a mere mom, but rather that just as a mother gives birth to children, she is known as “the mother who gives birth to all buddhas”. In regards to Prajñāpāramitā, when she is referred to as “the mother who gives birth to the four Aryas”, this means the mother who gives birth to the shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas – the Four Aryas, or noble beings, and given the similarities between these, it is by depending on the Great Mother of the True Mode of Being, Prajñāpāramitā, that one is able to generate all the qualities of a buddha, manifesting all qualities of the threefold ground, path, and fruition, and, ultimately, of “giving birth” to buddhahood. It is for this reason that she is referred to as “the Great Mother”.

To the Melodious Goddess who is just like this, Sarasvatī, I bow down.

Now the concluding dedication:

By this virtue, may I swiftly

Accomplish Father-Mother Mañjushrī,

And having done so, establish every single being without exception

On that very same level.

If dedication is not performed, the roots of virtue will be wasted, because if one does not embrace what is known as the Three Sublime Principles – the sublime generation of bodhichitta at the beginning, the sublime freedom from fixed reference points in the middle, and the sublime dedication at the end – then one’s practice is not that of Mahāyāna Dharma. Therefore, you definitely need to embrace your practice with these three.

The above [practice] should be recited continuously,

Along with a few hundred recitations of the mantra:

The continuous practice of this commitment is crucial.

What this is saying is that you should always recite this.

According to the tantras and shastras, the benefits of this are that

With twenty-one or a hundred malas of the mantra

Unfailing memory will be attained,

If you recite twenty-one to one hundred rosaries of this, you will attain a memory retention which does not forget anything.

With a thousand, expertise in all languages,

With ten thousand,  

A thousand shlokas will be retained each day.

One will have unobstructed knowledge of all verbal expression,

You will understand all forms of verbal expression without having to be taught. When you rise in the morning, speech will flow forth fluidly from your mouth.

Be able to compose treatises on scripture and commentaries,

You will be able to compose treatises to all the works elucidating the meaning of scripture.

Clairvoyance will shine forth,

The higher perception of knowing other’s thoughts and so on will be born in you.

And in the future, one will attain lordship of the Levels.

This is saying that you will attain the level of an Ārya, a noble being.

If there is a karmic propensity,

He will be accomplished in a single day.  

When there is a karmic propensity between Mañjushrī and the practitioner, he will be accomplished in one day, and they will immediately behold the face of Mañjushrī.

Middling practitioners will realize within two days.

What this means is that if there is only a middling karmic propensity, then the true mode of being will be realized in two days, and one will be able to meet Mañjushrī.

Practicing for three days,

Even those with no karmic propensity will attain accomplishment.

Even if there is absolutely no karmic propensity for Mañjushrī, he will definitely appear within three days, and you will behold his face.

Therefore, you need to constantly practice.

Concerning the signs and indications of accomplishing Mañjushrī in dreams:

If you dream of the sun and the moon shining, gathering flowers,

The shining of the sun and moon, the gathering of flowers…

Plowing fields, drinking ink,

The plowing of fields and the drinking of ink…

Delight, writing letters,

“Delight” is a happy state of mind; natural happiness after waking from sleep in the morning is referred to [here] as “delight”… having dreams of writing letters and reading letters…

Finding weapons and scriptures,

If you dream of finding knives and weapons in your hand, and discovering texts and volumes of scriptures and so on…

Have no doubt that sublime insight has increased.

However, although it is always possible to have dreams like this, there is nothing definite about them. Here, what it is saying is that if this happens while you are practicing Mañjushrī, then sublime insight has increased.

Those words were the speech

Of the Indian pandita Kamalashila.

An old man from India

Ninety-nine years of age,

There was an old Indian, ninety-nine years old,

Who did not even understand letters,

Who did not even know how to read at all,

Met the Mañjushrī of accomplishment in just one day.

In a single day, he encountered the face of Mañjushrī,

Even his body became that of a youth of about eight years old,

And he understood the five sciences without obstruction,

Becoming a learned pandita.

The Sole Father Phadampa [Phadampa Sangye] requested [this transmission] from him,  

And that lineage came by stages to Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje;

The empowerment is in Knowing One Liberates All [Chikshey Kündröl].

The empowerment is in the Chikshey Kündröl [Knowing One Liberates All].

Of all the sadhanas of Mañjushrī,

None is as easy to accomplish as this.

Amongst all the Mañjushrīs, the closest to sublime insight, this one that can attain profound sublime insight quickly, is the Lion of Speech Mañjushrī. From the Chanting the Names of Mañjushrī [Mañjushrī-nama-samghiti]:

The perfection of expression, the abode of excellence,

The Lion of Speech is invincible.

As it says:

The yogic applications of this, the pill of sublime insight,

I accomplished in previous times.

For the most part, whoever eats it will become learned.

Whoever eats this will become learned.

And thus, this has now become the special practice

Of my heart-son, Pema Thrinlay.

Accumulate as much recitation of this mantra as possible.

Since it says Accumulate as much recitation of this mantra as possible, and not “don’t accumulate more than a hundred a day”, what it means is “accumulate as much as possible”.

Instead of going through from the beginning to end, if you just go from reciting the mantra OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑĀVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHĀ, that’s fine.

It’s good if, instead of chanting it in a sing-song manner, you chant it slowly and with a melody.

It is saying here to accumulate as many recitations as you can, not just to recite a hundred.

If you accumulate while you are talkative, that is good, and if, instead of wasting your time as you are going about, you recite even just a few repetitions, your count will come to completion.

If you contend that “we absolutely must complete one hundred repetitions”, since this would lead to a situation of grasping at the true existence of numbers, there is a bit of fault in this. It gives rise to grasping at one’s claims that “I have accumulated one hundred, I have accumulated five thousand”. Therefore, by way of setting this number one hundred as a starting point, whenever you have free time or a break, if you accumulate the mantra OM HRĪH DHĪH MAME DIPAM MAÑJUSHRĪ MUM HRĪH PRAJÑĀVARDHANI HRĪH DHĪH SVĀHĀ, it is most excellent, and that being the case,

You will become automatically become a scholar.

This shows that, through the blessings of this mantra, you will naturally become erudite with qualities of learning.

May the one known as Gemo Lama,

One capable of holding the teachings and benefiting beings,

Become extremely learned.

Thus it is taught.

Since it is through the recollection of the purity of the generation stage that one reaches

The pinnacle of the secret vehicle of definitive certainty

And attains the supreme goal,

It is this that I have explained a little.

In the midst of Lama Yonten Pelzang, for all of the students of Benchen Nangten Samling, this was briefly explained before the start of the scheduled Dharma classes, and then later set down in writing in this way by the lowly one who merely presumes to claim to be the reincarnation of Nyenpa. It was composed on June 3^rd, 2008.

Virtue! Virtue! Virtue!

 Sarva Mangalam! – May Everything Be Auspicious!    

***

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos (Sherab Zangpo)

 and Mike Dickman.

Special thanks to Ven. Lozang Zopa for his extremely valuable and insightful translation assistance, to Kunzang for her translation review, to Karma Dekyi for her ever-present help, and to Serta Khenpo Choeying for his consultation on the text.

In a few cases, although we have not yet had the chance to review certain translations with others, we have posted them here because I sense a great need for them due to current circumstances in the world, such as long life prayers for His Holiness the Dalai Lama, prayers for the well-being of Tibet, and prayers to avert natural disasters.

Regarding the transliterations of mantras, some people have said that they should not be posted online due to being in the Secret Mantra class of teachings, and so they should not be made public. In response to this, there are two points to consider. One, many of these mantras are not from the tantras, but from the sutras, and thus fall within the sutra class of teaching. Two, these mantras are made available openly within the Tibetan tradition itself, in popular collections of mantras that are freely distributed to anyone, such as the Zungdu and other mantra collections, which are often kept in the average Tibetan family’s home.

In the past, there have been some concerns raised about some of the material on this site. While we do not presume that we are doing everything perfectly, our main aim with this site is to share the Dharma that we have translated.

In early 2010, we removed all of the translations that had not been reviewed with other translators and Tibetan Buddhist scholars. Some of these translations will be posted here again after we have completed this review.

If you have any concerns about the material on this site, please email us at emptyelephant@yahoo.com and we will address your question. We are constantly trying to improve the content of this site.

 LAUGHTER

A Clearly-Expressed Chronicle of the Sacred Site of Drakda Lamtso, the Life-Force Lake of Yeshe Tsogyal

by Kelzang Lhundrub

translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos (Sherab Zangpo)

༄། །སྒྲགས་མདའ་མཚོ་རྒྱལ་བླ་མཚོའི་གནས་ཀྱི་ལོ་རྒྱུས་གསལ་བར་བརྗོད་པ་དབྱངས་ཅན་དགྱེས་པའི་བཞད་སྒྲ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ།

Drakda Tsogyal Lamtso’i Nay kyi Logyü Selwar Jöpa Yangchhen Gyeypa’i Zhaydra Zheyjawa

CONTENTS

One: The Way that this Life-Force Lake Was at the Time of the Jetsünma’s Birth

Two: The Way that the Sacred Site and its Holy Objects Were in the Past

Three: The Way that the Sacred Site and its Holy Objects are in the Present, and an Inclusion of a Final Summary as a Concluding Composition

Translator’s Acknowledgements and Thanks:

Special thanks for the the diligent translation assistance of Justin Kirkwood, as well as the informative clarifications by the Tibetan Buddhist scholar-monks of the Nyingma School, Khenpo Chöying, of Serthar Monastery, and Lobpön Sönam Gyaltsen, of Namdröling Monastery.

I would also like to thank Sangye Döndrub, of Kokonor Lake in Amdo, and Meyseb Norbu, of Meyseb Village in Amdo, for their insights on certain sections of the text.

I also pray that the instructions, example, and symbolism of Yeshe Tsogyal become an ever-encouraging source of inspiration to women who need powerful female spiritual role-models, and for both women and men wishing to deepen their experience of awakened female energy. Yeshe Tsogyal, as both individual and principle, has much to teach the modern world.

Any faults and mistakes are my own. I pray that the hosts of Dakinis will be patient!

By the merit of this work, may all beings caught in dualistic fixation come to release within the true nature of their own minds: the luminous expanse of the Mother Tsogyal!

-Erick Tsiknopoulos (Sherab Zangpo)

Melodious and Delightful Laughter:

A Clearly-Expressed Chronicle of the Sacred Site of Drakda Lamtso,

the Life-Force Lake of Yeshe Tsogyal

NAMO GURU JÑANAVARAYE!

The Queen of the All-Good Dharmakaya, Samantabhadri,

The Light-Giving Sun of the Spontaneously Accomplished Sambhogakaya, the Melodious Goddess Sarasvati,

Inseparable from them, the Sole Mother of the Land of Snows is the Princess of Kharchen:

To the exalted feet of Yeshe Tsogyal, from the heart I bow.

THROUGH THE THREE SECRETS’ PLAY OF MAGICAL ILLUSION, in the beginning, She was born, and the lake greatly expanded. This was the creation of this sacred site of Lamtso, the Life-force Lake of Tsogyal. Free from exaggeration, I shall express this honestly.

A little over 2000 human years ago, there came the arrival of the one known as the Great Master Padmasambhava, who on the three planes was free from opponents. He was one who waved his banner of fame and renown from the pinnacle of conditioned existence. He was a holder of the mantras of intrinsic awareness.

One of his primary consorts, the sole mother of all Victorious Ones, Vajravarahi, directly arrived as the one known as Yeshe Tsogyal. Her youthful beauty was ravishing, and she became possessed of uncontrived love and compassion towards all sentient beings. She came to know all of the subjects of the various fields of knowledge and science without effort. In this Land of Snows as well, for 211 years she brought peace and nurtured the happy way of life. For us, all of the people of the Tibetan race, she is our Mother, whose kindness is hard to measure.

Thus, it is her very Life-force Lake, Lamtso, which this chronicle will extensively recount.

There are three sections:

The Beginning: The Way that this Life-force Lake Was at the Time of the Jetsünma’s Birth

The Middle: The Way that the Sacred Site and its Holy Objects Were in the Past

The End: The Way that the Sacred Site and its Holy Objects are in the Present, and an Inclusion of a Final Summary as a Concluding Composition

From among those three, comes the first:

One: The Way that this Life-force Lake Was at the Time of the Jetsünma’s Birth

The Lord Manjushri, arriving in the form of a human, came as the 38th in the dynasty of Tibetan kings, the Dharma King Trisong Deutsen. He invited the great Indian master Maha-Acharya Padmasambhava himself to Tibet, in order to subdue the evil gods and demons of that country. In particular, so that he could listen to the ambrosial nectar of the Secret Mantra, he sent translator envoys and so on to India, and after manifold hardships, they made a formal request of invitation to the Great Master.

Although the Master eliminated the evil gods and demons, for the activity of spreading the Secret Mantra, he needed a spiritual consort of exalted form, endowed with the specific characteristics, who could be distinguished via the indications: one for whom the pristine cognition of great emptiness and great bliss was an experience of vivid clarity, and one for whom bliss and emptiness was an equality.

Seeing that in this country of Tibet, there was not a qualified spiritual consort who possessed all of those kinds of characteristics, the Great Master from Oddiyana searched in hundreds of nirmanakaya realms of experience for seven years, until finally, with a vajra song, he exhorted the Melodious Goddess, the bestower of all that is desired, the daughter of Brahma, Sarasvati herself. Through this, positive indications were attained that there was indeed one with the auspicious marks of perfection: the Great Jetsünmo of Unmatched Kindness herself, who had come to dispel the darkness of ignorance of this dark land of a shadowy primitive border country that was our Land of Snows.

Furthermore, as for the Jetsünmo Yeshe Tsogyal herself: in the middle of the Yo District, one of the four great districts of the land of Tibet, in a place close and to the right of the monastery of Samye, in the heights of the azure sky around Mount Lady Turquoise, the Goddess Turquoise Lamp without idleness drew the boundaries between good and bad in the Land of Turquoise .

To the left, on the utter peak of the pinnacle height of Mount King of Power, which is equal in blessing-power to the glorious mountain of Shri Parvata in India, the Greatly Accomplished One Vajravarahi and others displayed the dynamic power of their attainments. At the base of the mountain, there is a natural hot spring, which, like the ambrosial nectar of the Ganges River, clears away sickness and negative energies.

In brief, in the upper regions of the area known as Yorudrak, in the center of the land which had the wondrous Mountain of the Victorious Ones of the Three Lineages (in modern times, in the land of Tibet’s Lhokha region, in Dranang District’s Drakda County, this is known as Tsogyal Ling), which was akin to the location of Bedar in South India — it was here that there was the land of Kharchenpa, one of the Seven Vassal Kingdoms.

In this place where red and white sandalwood trees grew, as well as groves of aloe-wood flowers and others. In this splendid, colorful place of abundance and prosperity, the Father of the Kharchenpas, the Tibetan Lord Namri Songtsen, established a large center for the Bön religion.

His son was Kharchen the Younger, whose own son was Kharchen Dorje Gön, whose own son was Kharchen Pelgyi Wangchuk (who is also known by his other famous name, Namkha Yeshe Kyang), who was the father of the Jetsün herself.

Having been born there, when he came to the age of 15, he married a wisdom dakini named Getso, a lady from the Nub clan. Not long after having taken up all the responsibilities of his father, Dorje Gön, his father passed into peace.

Kharchen Pelgyi Wangchuk was inclined towards the Dharma, and although he previously was an upholder of the Bön religion, in accordance with the command of the World-King, “All those under my dominion must enter the Buddha-Dharma!”, he placed all of his subjects in the splendorous endowment of perfect bliss and happiness.

Gradually, the royal couple also had daughters: the eldest, Dechen Tso; and the middle, Nyima Tso.

After these two were born, finally, one evening, the father, Kharchen Pel Gyal, who had reached the age of 25, and his queen were playing together blissfully. At that time, in the Queen’s field of vision, from the east there came golden bees which were streaming from a lute and making a pleasing sound. They dissolved into the crown of the King’s head. The queen appeared as having three eyes to the visual perception of the King. An eight-year old girl holding a lute appeared next to him, saying:

AH AAH, I II, U UU, RI RII, LI LII, E EE, O OO, OM AH!

HRIH HRIH HRIH HRIH HRIH!

And saying it like that, she disappeared without a trace. At that very moment, the earth shook, there were rays of light, thunder and clamorous noise, and the spring that was next to the castle transformed into a divine lake.

Although that vision disappeared, they both received inconceivable auspicious omens. The next day, with the rise of dawn, a white girl they had never seen before, who looked like the daughter of a god, arrived at the palace, and said:

“In the palace of the Father King, the Buddha has arrived.

The Dharma has arrived.

The Sangha has arrived.

A LA LA!”

And saying this, she vanished without a trace.

Then, nine months later, a clear tone of vowel sounds, the mantra HRIH GURU PADMA VAJRA AH, and the tantras of the Secret Mantra resounded, mostly in Sanskrit. As was spoken from the mouth of the Jetsün herself:

In the Year of the Wooden Bird, Tsogyal was born.

In the Year of the Fire Female Bird, she met the Lord.

She spoke it in that way.

In the year 805 C.E. by foreign reckoning, the year of the Wooden Bird by Tibetan calculation, on the tenth day of the Monkey Month at sunrise, the Queen gave birth without any pain or problems whatsoever.

At that time as well, there were earth-quakes, the roars of thunder, a rain of falling flowers, and the divine Lake greatly expanded and overflowed.

At the edge of the Lake, unimaginable varieties of flowers appeared, all speckled with red and white. A dense web of five-colored rainbow light amassed around the palace, and innumerable other auspicious signs occurred.

As soon as the Jetsün herself was born, she recited the alphabet, and said, “Orgyen! Think of me!”, as she sat in half-lotus, with her knees planted on the ground.

The expression on her face looked vividly wakeful. Her exalted form not being tarnished by the stains of the womb, she was endowed with a reddish white complexion, and had a full set of teeth, white the color of conch-shell. She had deep blue hair which reached down to her waist.

Because of these things, the King said, “Since this daughter of mine is superior to others, she will either become an accomplished master in the Dharma or Bön traditions, or the wife of the World-King. Since when she was born the lake expanded, she shall have either the name “Tsogyay”, or “Tsogyal”. He spoke thus.

And so, the story of this Lake is not just mere exaggeration or a tall tale, as it is clearly stated in the Jetsün’s life-and-liberation story .

Although the Divine Lake only has a history of a mere 1,200 years, in the span of those mere 1,200 years, since it is a sacred place of worship and a place to be visited, holy people who abide in uprightness and the many multitudes of faithful ones have made pilgrimage to this place with intense devotion and respect, considering it to be precious.

As an aside, it is difficult to fathom the kindness of this Mother, who collected the unfathomably numerous Dharma-methods of Sutra and Tantra from our two teachers, and then concealed them in mountains and rocks. Still now, we can easily meet these with our own eyes. Just the kindness of this alone is hard to comprehend.

Particularly, the spread of the Secret Mantra teaching called Dzogchen in this snowy land of Tibet is the result of the kindness of just this Mother. This teaching, which does not require great effort or many eons of austere practice, shreds the root of conditioned existence just by hearing it. If cultivated, this profound Dharma, which can make the psycho-physical aggregates disappear without remainder, is greater than the wish-fulfilling gem or the udumvara flower .

This Mother, unable to tolerate how the protectorless and powerless of the Land of Snows were thrown into the swamp of suffering, gave clothes to those who desired clothes, fame to those desiring fame, reproach to those desiring reproach, eyes to those desiring eyes, legs to those desiring legs, and in brief, for 211 years, she continued to enact various deeds that were difficult to undertake.

Also, in later times, she arose in the form of Dakmèma, the wife of Marpa the Protector of Beings, the great translator, teacher of the Kagyu, and mind-emanation of Guru Padmasambava. She also arose as Machik Labdröl , Nangsa Ödbum, Padma Tsokyi, and others, and thus liberated all the protectorless of the Land of Snows from suffering. She also sent emanations to every land. In brief, as was stated directly from her exalted mouth:

“…a billion emanations will work for the benefit of beings.”

Now as well, in this dark time of the spreading of the five degenerations, out of the great love of her awakened mind she beholds all of us, the people of the Land of the Snows, and through various emanations, bestows the splendor of happiness and joy.

Two: The Way that the Sacred Site and its Holy Objects Were in the Past

In times past, the palace of glorious Kharchen’s king was extremely beautiful, colorful, like an excellent celestial palace, amazing, beautiful by way of its marvelous and particularly superior arrangement, abundant in riches, glory, and power. But in the middle period, due to the natural ways of conditioned existence, it was left as a mere name.

Later, though a small temple at the Life-Force Lake remained, as there was no good caretaker, the time came when the respect for the temple became poor. At that time, with great care from the government, a four-pillared temple, an outer wall, buildings and statues, thangkas, and so on were built. A new caretaker was placed at Jangchub Ling, and thereupon there arose an auspicious abundance of respect and veneration.

At that time, on the northwest side of the temple, there was a statue of the venerable goddess Mandarava, and on the left there was a standing Yeshe Tsogyal statue, holding a long life vase and a bandha. In the middle of the temple there was Oddiyana Who Overwhelms the World of Appearances and Possibilities. To the right, there was the Supreme Noble One, Natural Liberation from Suffering. To the left, there was a statue of the Supreme Bliss-Queen Tsogyal, the Honorable Lady, in standing position. Each one was beautified by their own symbolic attributes and adornments.

There was a statue of the Maha-Achyara, and to the left and right there were the Two Dakinis in half-lotus position. On the east and west sides there were two thousand well-made Amitabha and Vajrasattva cast statues.

When the Jetsün herself was born, a sandalwood tree grew in the place where the blood had fallen from the cutting of the umbilical cord. The naga king, Nanda, offered them a pillar of sandalwood from that very tree, which he had nurtured with the milk of the white lioness that is produced from a hundred kinds of distilled essences and the milk of the wish-fulfilling cow.

At the age of eight, she left a footprint. When the Jetsün herself had reached the mere age of ten, many kingdoms were competing for her, as her complexion and clear sense faculties had become like the daughter of a god.

Although Kharchupa won [the contest for her marriage], as the Jetsün herself did not want to go with him, she held tightly to a boulder, and she stayed stuck to the stone, unable to be pulled away. Then, the demonic minister Shantipa (this very demonic minister was later born in the Hell of Ceaseless Torment, and experienced inexhaustible suffering. The Jetsün herself, knowing this, out of the great compassion of her awakened mind, came to that land of an intolerable hell, staying there primarily for him, and led out all of the sentient beings without exception), hit her with a chain of iron thorns, and it was hard to endure; almost unbearable.

Relying on faith, she stuck to the rock, and on that boulder she made impressions, like feet stomping in mud, and hands mashing dough.

Not only that, but there was also the foot-print of a wisdom dakini which was brought from Drakrong Bagkar by Trulshik Shata. There was also a custom of offering the water of the Life-Force Lake in front of the temple.

From Je Gang’s biography:

….”The decoding of the symbolic script of the Dakini Queen of Supreme Bliss also occurred at the Life-Force Lake of Tsogyal.”

Later, the Omniscient Jigme Lingpa offered a jeweled-wheel and a white silk scarf to the Lake, and focused his awakened mind. From the heart of the Self-Arising Dakini of Basic Space shone forth ungraspable termas, in the form of indicative symbolic script. These symbols were marked with the seal of secrecy within the expanse of his awakened mind for five days.

Later, when he was in the Fortress and The Crystal Cave, its meaning was definitively ascertained. These instructions, known as the Longchen Nyingtik and the Solitary Vajrayogini Sadhana, have now spread to all worthy vessels in every land of upper and lower Tibet.

The way the dakinis’ symbolic writing appeared from the Life-Force Lake is clearly shown in the spiritual biographies of the Lord’s guru, Lama Zungkar, Terchen Orgyen Drimey Lingpa, his son Dawe Özer, and our own lord and protector, fourth in the patriarchal line from Je Gang, master of the five sciences without exception, the Great Mahapandita Jampa Lodrö Zangpo.

As for the prophecies of the happiness and suffering that has come and is yet to come to the Land of Snows, which appeared to many of those with pure karma, they are only straightforward and honest utterances.

Also, at the bank of the Life-Force Lake, there is the Dakini’s Life-Force Tree, and an impression of Jigme Lingpa’s fist. Outside the wall to the southwest, in the middle of the meadow, is a boulder. On the northwest side of the boulder are the hand and footprints of the Dakini.

If you go a bit to the west, there is the Secret Stream of the Dakini’s Breast. Its water is cool in the summer, warm in the winter, and ever-flowing. Just by tasting it, your temporary sicknesses, negative energies, destructive actions, and obscurations are cleared away, and ultimately, there being no need to go to the lower realms, you attain omniscience.

In brief, it is a marvelous, incredible, supreme stream, with water endowed with the eight qualities of pure water.

Furthermore, as the Master Scholar of Definitive Meaning, the Lord and Protector Jampa Lodrö illustrates in his Naturally True Praises of the Holy Sites:

The Secret Stream of the Dakini’s Breast flows,

Cool in summer, warm in winter, endowed with the eight qualities,

And unceasing: a greatly beneficial and joyful thing for beings to behold.

E MA! The sky-blue Divine Lake splishes and splashes,

The Divine Tree’s trunk extends like a lotus, extensively,

With hand-prints and foot-prints are the Divine Rocks fuller than full,

The Dakini of Unexcelled Accomplishment’s profound Dharma pervades and pervades…

A HO! Such a place is Drakda…!

That was how he expressed it.

Three: The Way that the Sacred Site and its Holy Objects are in the Present, and an Inclusion of a Final Summary as a Concluding Composition

Furthermore, similar to what has been stated above, at the Abode of the Wisdom Dakinis, this Life-Force Lake itself, there arose an auspicious abundance of respect and veneration, after the government’s order to place a caretaker at Jangchub Ling. But due to the barbaric actions of the Cultural Revolution, like the severe losses that occurred nationwide, the Life-Force Lake too fell into great decline.

The subjects of this land were forced to destroy the temple and all of its representations of enlightened form, which they threw into the Life-Force Lake. Then, for more than ten years, the lake was like a cesspool.

Then, once again, the sun-rays of the all-benefiting Sacred Dharma shone from behind the clouds, and renovations began at the monastery, which had been mostly destroyed. A great many of the citizens of the area have faith in the Dharma, and remembering her actions, they are extremely devoted to this Mother of Great Kindness in particular. Since this was the case, they were all in accord, without debate, in their wish to restore this holy place.

This restoration coincided with the arrival to the Land of Drak of the great holder of the Ngagyur Nyingma teachings, Tulku Sang-ngak, who was coming on pilgrimage. Rinpoche himself and others offered as much support as they were able. They built anew the temple and the statues of the Triad of the Guru and His Two Consorts, and cleaned the lake.

Following this, in the year 1992 by the Western calendar, the magical emanation of the great Supreme Lady Jetsünmo Yeshe Tsogyal, Tare Lhamo, from the region of the Blue Lake of Kokonor in Amdo, whose great enlightened deeds pervaded the lands of China, Kham, Tibet and others, dissolved finally into minute particles within the Rainbow Body.

This Dakini that I am writing about, in connection with her pilgrimage in Ü-Tsang and elsewhere which was based on indications from scripture, came to the Life-Force Lake of Tsogyal, together with many attendants, and stayed here for seven days.

At that time, a five-colored tent of rainbow light appeared, and so on, and in the vision of the Venerable Lady Tare Lhamo, the eyes of the statue of Yeshe Tsogyal moved, the expression on her face changed, and other events occurred. The people of that area in their entirety received many Dharma teachings, long life and Vajrayogini empowerments, and others [from her]. Her two main students, Dorje La and Arga La, both respectfully followed her order to restore the monastery. The two of them invited five religious painters from Samye monastery, who made the finely produced statues and so on of Natural Liberation from Suffering, Vajravarahi, and Vajrayogini.

In brief, the way that the sacred site and its holy objects are in the present time is as follows:

In the middle of the assembly hall, to the right of Oddiyana who Overwhelms the World of Appearances and Possibilities, there is the Divine Lady Mandarava and Natural Liberation from Suffering. The impressions which she left on the boulder, like feet stamping in mud and hands kneading dough, are still there. There are now 500 well-made cast statues of Vajrasattva. To the left, there is the Queen Mother of Supreme Bliss, the Noble Lady Tsogyal, and Vajravarahi. There is the pillar made from the sandalwood tree that was nurtured with milk. There is the torma box of the Three Roots , the foot-print of the Wisdom Dakini, and the Stupa of Enlightenment. There are the supports for enlightened speech: the complete Kangyur of the Victorious One, and the extensive, medium, and condensed Prajña-paramita Sutras. Also, there are wall paintings of the Nyingma Forefathers: the Abbot Shantarakshita, the Acharya Padmasambhava, and the Dharma King Trisong Deusten; the Father and Two Sons of the Ganden Tradition ; the Three Founders of the Kagyu: Marpa, Milarepa, and Gampopa; the form of Yeshe Tsogyal known as Ting Öd Barma in the four colors of white, yellow, red, and green; the Teacher and his Main Disciples ; and the Protectors of the Three Lineages: the entire divine host of Dharma protectors and guardians. All these were made by the aforementioned Dorje La.

Next to the door, to the left, there is an enlightenment stupa which wasn’t there before, that was funded by the Gowang and built by Tselseb Tulku, Gyurme Jangchub Dorje. Near there, the Life-Force Lake’s Divine Tree and the impression from Jigme Lingpa’s fist remain undamaged. Not only that, but the Secret Stream of the Dakini remains, intact.

And although it was said that the hand- and foot-prints on the northwest side of the boulder were extremely clear, during the time of the Cultural Revolution, some people who were staying in the area set off some explosives on top of it, and so now, they are not so clearly visible.

In the monastery, first Ngödrub, and then the Powerful Lord of Realization, Penpa La, acted as the shrine-keeper. Now, a nun, who is one of the five kinds of dakinis, acts as the manager of the monastery. They perform the rituals of the tenth and twenty-fifth days of the month, and in continuation of the tradition, they study The Words of My Perfect Teacher, Patrul Rinpoche’s teachings on the preliminary practices, The Thirty-Seven Bodhisattva Practices, and others, as well. They also perform the five hundred-thousand accumulations and purifications of the ngöndro practices.

Monastic rooms were also built at first by the Dakini Tare Lhamo, as well as an assembly hall. Later, through the money collected from the nuns’ begging, there are presently six rooms, together with a four-pillared cooling-house. Although previously the wall wasn’t very extensive, it is currently quite vast, and the area inside the wall is bright with many different kinds of flowers, pure in substance and magnificent, like the excellent abodes of the god-realms.

In brief, in the present time as well, there are the extremely precious and ancient religious supports of previous times: the foot-prints left by the Wisdom Dakini when she reached the age of eight, the mark where the sandalwood tree grown with milk stood, the prints which were left in the boulder like the kneading of dough and the stomping of mud, together with the Secret Stream of the Dakini.

We presently have the meritorious and fortunate opportunity to be able to encounter these extremely precious things, which have not become degenerate in more than 1,200 years.

Many great beings of the Ngagyur Nyingma tradition have graced this Life-Force Lake of Lamtso. In particular, in this, the final times of the degenerate age, the regent of Padmasambhava, Dilgo Khyentse, the Supreme One Gone to Bliss, who greatly revived the complete teachings of the Victorious One, and in particular the dying embers of the Early Translation School’s teachings of Secret Mantra, visited here one time before the Cultural Revolution.

After that, in accordance with the earnest command of our Supreme Refuge and Protector, Rigdzin Yidzhin Norbu of Dordrak, who in 1991 said, “Please look after and take of this Life-Force Lake!”, after the Supreme Refuge and Protector came to the Lake in 1995, out of the broad and bold sublime vision of his awakened intellect he arranged for the placement of a new shrine-keeper, and performed a consecration ceremony and other rituals.

Furthermore, it is said that all of the Refuge and Protectors’ students, as well as the devoted lady by the name of Sönam, the one by the name of Gen Sangye, and others, acted as sponsors for the new wall, thoroughly cleaned the Lake well, and built mani-wheels around the circumference of the Lake.

Within this small country known as Drak, there is the solitary retreat place of the Great Master from Oddiyana, Drak Yangdzong. The Great Master from Oddiyana stayed there, engaged in the three year, three month, and three day retreat. Because of its stunning placement, it is extremely beautiful. If you visit this place three times, then if even if you are a person of great negativity, you will attain a human rebirth. This was said directly from the exalted mouth of Padmasambhava himself.

Close to there, the 4th Dordrak Rigdzin, the Powerful Lord of the Supreme Vehicle, Lobzang Pema Thrinley, through his magical emanation as a white vulture, opened the way to a new sacred site.

Not only that, but there is also an excellent place covered by one hundred-thousand enlightened forms, a wondrous array, in numbers difficult-to-fathom, of uncountable self-arisen forms of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. This place is known as Dzong Ku Bum, the Fortress of the One-Hundred Thousand Enlightened Forms.

If you visit this excellent place three times, it is like circumambulating Tsa Ri one time. The Great Master from Oddiyana lived here for one year, as well.

Since I was fifteen, I have been able to visit many rare-to-encounter wondrous places, like Dzong Padma Tse, a place discovered by the Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal after transforming into a marmot, and I have gone to many areas in Tibet such as Lhoka, Kongpo, Tsang, Nakchu, and Chamdo, the blue lake of Kokonor, Szechuan, and many areas of China. I’ve had the experience of going on pilgrimage for five years, but until now I haven’t had the good fortune to visit this wondrous and excellent place of great blessings.

They say that usually, when those with faith in the Great Master from Oddiyana leave this place, on the basis of their strong devotion, they feel that Guru Rinpoche really is Buddha. When those without faith leave this excellent place too, they are powerless but to generate faith. This was just a little extra story on the side.

As for one specific thing I need to say here, although some ignorant and deluded people name various locations as Mother Tsogyal’s birthplace, The Middle-Length Life and Liberation, a treasure-text revealed by Samten Lingpa; the various treasure-texts of Dorje Lingpa; Yeshe Tsogyal’s Life and Liberation, a treasure text received from Taksham Dorje, and scripture and reasoning all accord that only this is the place.

Also, the foundation of the palace is clearly visible, and moreover, the Secret Stream is clearly there as an object of one’s direct eye-perception. So I humbly request: please don’t foolishly and insistently deny this!

REVIEW

In the beginning, this was an excellent abode finely ornamented by beautiful trees. The King and Queen of powerful and elegant lineage, and the magnificent and massive palace, as well captivated the Lady Sarasvati, the daughter of Brahma. She turned her back on of the Field of Great Bliss, the source of all that is desired, and placed an aspiration in her heart to come to this excellent abode [of Drakda Lamtso].

In the middle time, the magical dance of Samantabhadri, the sole mother of the Victorious Ones of the three times, Sarasvati the Melodious Goddess entered the womb as the Mother Tsogyal herself. The earth quaked, a rain of flowers fell, and rainbow-colored light completely enveloped the area. Because of these signs, the Naga King found great faith in the Supreme Lady, and came to this land from the Naga Kingdom.

In the end, fortunate people of great merit, not only from Tibet, but also China, India, Nepal, and others from many different lands, upon hearing of the good qualities of this place, out of a faith of intense devotion and yearning, completely disregard their own weariness, and are overjoyed and delighted when they receive the fortunate chance to visit this excellent place, which liberates upon seeing. E MA HO!

Our Supreme Teacher, The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel , once said:

“Offering to me and offering to my likeness: these two are of equal merit, and equal result.”

Those of intelligence who circumambulate these excellent and important sacred sites will thoroughly collect the positive potential of the two accumulations, without toil, and will go to great enlightenment: the Dominion of Dharmakaya.

And so, O diligent and determined ones, you must go!

With a totally pure and altruistic attitude, I, just a little boy, not just a few times, but again and again for a hundred aeons supplicate! Without thoughts of praise, fame, respect, or material gain, but through extreme devotion to this Kind Mother, I composed this to heal my vajra brothers and sisters of similar fortune.

Although the composition of this text was done with joy, faith, and enthusiasm, in this final time of the spreading of the five degenerations, the pale green light of the Scholars and Siddhas is trapped in the clouds. In this time, when the masses of mixed-up foxes pose as lions, could just writing this be of even a little benefit?

However, I composed this to accomplish the wish of my Vajra Sister who requested it. This text is not tainted by the fault of self-fabrication. By the virtue of this honest composition, may we all swiftly encounter the beautiful face of the Incredibly Loving Supreme Lady, the Mother Tsogyal!

The manager of this place beautified by excellent virtuous behavior, the honorable Sister Samten, said that many interested pilgrims were saying that they needed a guidebook for this sacred site, and also that no one has come forth who can tell the clear history of this supreme place of benefit, with all the facts gathered together.

Therefore, since you asked me to please write a book like this, and time and time again gave me many polite requests, I couldn’t refuse. By means of the texts of praise to this Life-Force Lake composed by some past scholars, and through my own actually going there, asking some of the elders who know the history, and detailed examination of how these holy objects are in the present, this composition is not even minutely tainted by the fault of self-fabrication.

This text was written in the year 2003, on the 15th day of the 17th cycle of the Tibetan calendar, the Water-Sheep Year, by the ignorant and deluded mere reflection of a Dharma practitioner, Kunzang Drodül, commonly called Kelzang Lhundrub. May this be of some small benefit to all destitute and downtrodden beings like myself!

A Condensed Commentary on the Avalokiteshvara Sadhana

‘For the Benefit of Beings Pervading Space’

By Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche the 10th

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos and Mike Dickman

Vastly loving enlightened mind of the Victorious Ones of all directions and times,

Arising in symbolic manifestation, you are Avalokiteshvara who tames beings,

The very identity of the infinite array of enlightened activity, wish-fulfilling enlightened form:

To the venerable lord protector, indivisible, I deeply bow.

I shall casually compose a few notes of commentary on

Tibet’s Siddha Lord Thangtong Gyalpo’s short lineage of

Meditation-recitation on the Noble Great Compassionate One

Renowned as ‘For the Benefit of Beings Pervading Space’.

Concerning this, there are:

1)           At the Outset, the Preparation of Refuge and Bodhichitta.

2)           The Actual Practice, the Meditation on the Deity.

3)           The Recitation of the Mantra.

4)           The Post-meditation Technique of Carrying the Practice onto the Path.

5)           The Dedication of the Virtuous Roots for the Benefit of Others.

6)           The Teaching on the Benefits of this Practice.

First, at the Outset, the Preparation of Refuge and Bodhichitta:

In the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly,

I go for refuge until enlightenment.

This constitutes going for refuge.

In the space in front of you is the essence of the root guru, Arya Avalokiteshvara, inseparable from the Three Jewels. In the midst of an assembly of living beings composed of yourself and others, your friends, enemies, and neutral persons, one goes for refuge until one is permanently liberated from the causality of samsara and reaches the state of omniscient enlightenment, out of a faith that comes from unshakeable trust, a yearning that longs for protection, and a genuine threefold confidence in their assistance.

Through the merit of my practice of meditation-recitation,

May I accomplish Buddhahood in order to benefit beings.

This is the generation of the mind of bodhichitta.

The object is sentient beings, who have been one’s parents. One makes a sincere commitment, thinking:

“Although they want only happiness and do not want suffering, due to their aversion, attachment, and wrong practices they are without any protection that gives freedom from the intensely stressful suffering of negative states of existence. It is for their sake that, through the merit of undertaking the practice of the meditation-recitation on the Noble One, I shall establish them, through every means possible, in the temporary benefit of the happy fruition of gods and humans, and ultimately in the state of omniscience.”

Second, the Main Practice, the Meditation on the Deity:

Above the crown of my head and those of all others, all sentient beings pervading space,

Upon a white lotus and a moon,

Around oneself, in one’s ordinary form, are the objects of compassion, all sentient beings of the six classes, pervading all of space. Above each of the crowns of their heads is a fully blossomed white lotus flower, with eight petals and anthers, in the heart of which is a full moon disc, utterly devoid of all stain. And upon this…

From HRĪH comes Arya Avalokiteshvara,

Brilliant white and streaming with five-colored rays of light;

Beautifully smiling, he gazes with eyes of great compassion.

The HRĪH syllable, like the color of a pearl, is extremely white, and from it rays of light uninterruptedly dazzle forth. Meditate on it as the consummate identity of the power, strength and blessings of all the Victorious Ones of the ten directions without exception.

From this HRĪH, light, like moon-beams, issues forth. This is offered as unsurpassable offerings to all the mandalas without exception of the vast array of Victorious Ones, thus pleasing their enlightened body, speech, and mind. Their blessings, power, and abilities are gathered together as light, and this light is reabsorbed into the HRĪH.

Once again, from the HRĪH, light issues forth. As these light rays touch oneself and others, all sentient beings, sickness, harmful energies, negativity, obscurations, and suffering, together with their causes and origins, disturbing mental states and karma, are purified and cleared away, and all are established in happiness.

Then again, as a consequence of the rays of light dissolving into each of the HRĪH syllables on the crowns, in a single moment, Avalokiteshvara, the Supreme Noble One, manifests, the color of his body like snow glistening in sunlight, extremely white and brilliant. He radiates five-colored light, which touches the pure fields of the vast array of Victorious Ones, inspiring those Victorious Ones to work for the benefit of beings.

Again, the light rays fill the abodes of the six classes of beings, clearing away their respective sufferings along with their causes, and uniting them with bliss and positivity.

As Avalokiteshvara’s awakened heart is utterly delighted by all sentient beings, oneself and others, he has a beautiful expression. Like the love that a mother has for her only child, he ceaselessly looks upon all beings with his two all-seeing eyes that are imbued with the smiling glow of affection and caring.

He has four arms: the first pair joined together at the palms,

The lower two hold a crystal rosary and a white lotus.

He is adorned with ornaments of silk and jewels,

And over his shoulder is the hide of deer.

From among his four hands, the first two are joined together at the heart, palms together; the lower left holds a crystal rosary, and the one on the lower right holds a white lotus with eight petals and a stem. He is beautified by white silk covered in brilliant gold designs and hanging from his shoulders.

He has as lower garment of red silk. All the parts of his body are elegantly adorned by a myriad of various kinds of ornaments, such as a jeweled crown ornament and so on. The hide of the Krishna deer, golden in color, covers his left breast.

With a crest ornament of Amitabha,

He is seated with his two legs in vajra posture,

And a stainless moon supports his back.

He is the consummate essence of all sources of refuge.

At his crown he has a crest ornament at the peak of his ushnisha, upon which is the Lord of the Family, the Buddha Amitabha, in nirmanakaya garb. His two legs are in the vajra-asana, and his body is supported by a back-rest of a moon, devoid of all blemishes and vast.

Vividly meditate upon him as the presence of the unchanging embodied essence of all the Precious Supreme Ones, the sources of refuge that are the Victorious Ones of all directions and times.

Third, the Recitation of the Mantra:

For this there are two points:

1)           Invoking the enlightened mind-stream of the Noble One through prayer.

2)           Engaging in the deity yoga of the three doors by means of the sending forth and re-convergence of light.

First, invoking the enlightened mind-stream of the Noble One through prayer:

Lord unstained by faults, your body white in color,

Your head is adorned by a perfect Buddha;

With your eyes of great compassion, you gaze upon beings:

I pay homage to Avalokiteshvara.

Since the Guru Avalokiteshvara is the supreme guide of infinite beings, he is called “Lord”.

This is a prayer which says:

“Since, from the very root, you have overcome the all-consuming afflictive mental states together with the suffering generated by them, the color of your body is perfectly white. Your head is adorned with Buddha Amitabha, the Lord of the Family. With your two compassionate all-seeing eyes, throughout the three times you attentively watch over the beings of the six classes. Protector, Embodiment of All Deities in One, Arya Avalokiteshvara, with single-pointed trust in you and an unwavering confidence that whatever happens, you know, I beseech that you liberate all beings in the abyss of the six realms from their suffering, and establish them on the level of omniscience.”

Here, it is also good to add any other appropriate blessing-imbued prayers.

Second, the practice of the deity yoga of the three doors by means of the sending forth and re-convergence of light:

Thus, through my single-pointed supplication,

Light radiates from the form of the Noble One.

Impure karmic appearances and confused perceptions are purified.

The outer universe is the pure land of Sukhavati.

The body, speech, and mind of the inner inhabitants

Are the enlightened body, speech, and mind of Avalokiteshvara.

Appearance, sound, and awareness are inseparable from emptiness.

Praying with single-pointed trust and the faith that “Whatever happens, you know!” as before, the enlightened mind-stream of the Noble One is invoked. Through this, extremely luminous five-colored lights stream forth, immeasurably, from all the parts of the enlightened form of the Noble One at the crown of one’s head. These light rays, simply by touching yourself and the beings of the six classes, in that very instant, like sunlight touching frost, purify the karma of the impure three doors accumulated since beginningless time by the three poisons and the innumerable collection of faults.

Likewise, the habitual tendencies of subject-object fixation grasping at the dualistic perception of “self” and “other”, as well as the cognitive obscurations, are purified. Everything is blessed as the dynamic mandala inseparable from the enlightened body, speech and mind of the Noble One, and form becomes inseparable appearance-emptiness, like a rainbow.

Again, limitless light rays fill all the abodes of the six classes of beings, and, through this, all worlds of the outer universe are purified and become the pure land of Sukhavati. The bodies of all beings, the inner inhabitants, immediately become the enlightened body of the Noble One; all sounds, apprehended and non-apprehended, become the self-resounding roar of the Six-Syllable Mantra’s speech; and the deluded aspects of ordinary thought processes and mistaken cognition are purified and manifest as enlightened mind, the profound cognizance of the wisdom of awareness and emptiness inseparable. Meditate in this way.

Then, for the main practice of the session, accumulate OM MANI PADME HŪM as much as possible.

OM is the syllable subsuming the primordial wisdom of the Noble One’s five kayas.

MANI means “jewel”.

PADME is a name of the Noble One meaning, “Endowed with a Lotus” or “Endowed with a Jewel and Lotus”.

HŪM is the mantra of enlightened activity which protects from the suffering of the six classes.

Praying with the thought, “Quintessence of the five kayas and the five wisdoms, endowed with a jewel and a lotus, grant protection from the suffering of the six classes, I pray”, recite the Six Syllables as much as possible.

Through the power of recitation in this way, you attain the power to pacify the suffering of the six classes within your own mental continuum, actualize the six transcendent perfections and six wisdoms, and attain the fruition of the level of the six Victorious Ones.

Then, fourth, the Post-meditation Technique of Carrying the Practice onto the Path:

The bodies of myself and others and appearances are the enlightened form of the Noble One,

The resonance of sound is the melody of the Six Syllables,

And thoughts and concepts are the expanse of vast pristine awareness.

Finally, through the radiance of the Guru’s form at one’s crown, the universe and its inhabitants, all of appearance and existence without exception, manifests as the Potala Pureland and the enlightened form of the Noble One. Dissolving into light, it all merges with the Guru upon your crown. He, too, also melts into light and dissolves into you.

As you also melt into light, appearance, sound and awareness are luminous emptiness, apprehended as the deity, mantra, and dharmakaya, beyond all reference towards the three spheres [of agent, action, and object of action].

One must abandon all fabricated attributes of visualization, whatever they may be, and sustain for as long as possible the enlightened mind of the Guru, the all-embracing and non-compounded nature of clarity and emptiness inseparable: the vast resting into the continuity of non-meditation.

When you arise from the above mentioned meditative equipoise, remain in the meditation that all dualistic phenomenal appearances, purified, are the enlightened body of the Noble One; all sounds, apprehended and non-apprehended, purified, are the enlightened speech of the Noble One, the melody of the Six Syllable Mantra; and all thoughts and concepts, purified, are the enlightened mind of the Noble One, the authentic unity of awareness and emptiness, the ultimate natural condition.

Having rid yourself of the wrong conceptions of grasping at coarse and subtle ordinary activity in all its forms, embrace them with the threefold adoption of the true mode of abiding [of form, sound and awareness as deity, mantra, and wisdom].

Fifth, the Dedication of the Roots of Virtue to Enlightenment and Prayers of Aspiration:

By this virtue, may I swiftly

Accomplish Lord Avalokiteshvara,

And may all beings without a single exception

Be established in that state!

This is a prayer of vast dedication, saying:

“Thus, by the virtue exemplified by engaging in this meditation-recitation, through all the masses of virtue existing in the mental continuums of myself and others, by means of this unparalleled gathering of merit impartially dedicated to infinite beings, may I very quickly attain the unsurpassed level of equality with the Sovereign Arya Avalokiteshvara, and may all beings without exception, who have been my mothers, attain the power enabling them to become established in sublime unexcelled complete enlightenment inseparable from the level of the Noble Great Compassionate One!”.

Sixth, the Benefits:

It is taught in The Root Tantra of the Lotus Web that if one meditates upon and contemplates again and again the embodiment of all the Victorious Ones of the three times without exception, the exalted form of the Noble One, then even extremely serious karmas of immediate retribution can be purified.

Even just to hear this heart-essence of the Dharma, the supreme speech of the Six Syllables, and to recite it, to bring it to mind and so forth closes the doors to rebirth in the six classes of being, propels one on the paths and levels of the six transcendent perfections, and through it, the stains of karma, disturbing mental states, and habitual tendencies are purified, as well.

Supreme Noble One, may the power of your immeasurably vast compassion

Transfer the mind-streams of the hosts of beings undergoing unbearable suffering

To Potala Mountain, actualizing inseparability with you, the Supreme Noble One yourself:

Stir up samsara from its depths!

Thus, in the Taiwanese city of Taipei, in response to the request of the honorable Lama Jangchub, a holder of the treasury of the three trainings from the Dharma center Drodön Kunkhyab (For the Benefit of Beings Pervading Space), the one who holds the tulku title of Sangye Nyenpa the 10^th, in the year 2006, on the first day of the first Tibetan month, wrote this with prayers to the Supreme Noble One, the Great Compassionate One.

Translated by Erick Tsiknopoulos (Sherab Zangpo)

and Mike Dickman.