DHARMADHATU

Trimsatika (Thirty Verses) of Vasubandhu

1

Everything that is taken as a self;
Everything that is taken as other:
These are simply changing forms of consciousness.

2

Pure consciousness transforms itself
Into three modes: Store consciousness,
Thought consciousness, and active consciousness. 

3

The store consciousness holds the seeds of all past experience.
Within it are the forms of grasping
And the dwelling places of the unknown.
It always arises with touch, awareness, recognition, concept, and desire.

4

The store consciousness is clear and undefinable.
Like a great river, it is always changing.
Neither pleasant nor unpleasant, when one becomes fully realized, it ceases to exist.

5

The second transformation of consciousness is called thinking consciousness.
It evolves by taking the store consciousness as object and support.
Its essential nature is to generate thoughts.

6

The thinking consciousness
Is always obscured by four defilements:
Self-regard, self-delusion, self-pride, and self-love.

7

The thinking consciousness also arises with the mental factors
Of touch, awareness, recognition, concept, and desire.
This consciousness ceases when one becomes realized.
It also falls away when consciousness is impaired,
And when one is fully present.
8

The third transformation of consciousness
Is the active perception of sense objects.
These can be good, bad, or indifferent in character.

9

This active consciousness arises with three kinds of mental functions: Those that are universal, those that are specific, and those that are beneficial.
It is also associated with primary and secondary defilements
And the three kinds of feeling.

10

The universal factors are touch, awareness, recognition, concept, and desire.
The specific factors are intention, resolve, memory, concentration, and knowledge.
The beneficial factors are faith, modesty, respect, distance, courage, composure, equanimity, alertness, and compassion.
11

The primary defilements are:
Passion, aggression, ignorance,
Pride, intolerance, and doubt.

12

The secondary defilements are:
Anger, hatred, jealousy,
Envy, spite, hypocrisy, deceit…

13

Dishonesty, arrogance, harmfulness,
Immodesty, lack of integrity, sluggishness,
Restlessness, lack of faith, laziness, idleness,
Forgetfulness, carelessness, and distraction.

14

Remorse, sleepiness, reasoning, and analysis
Are factors which can be either defiled or undefiled.

15

The five sense consciousnesses arise in the store consciousness
Together or separately, depending on causes and conditions,
Just like waves arise in water.

16

Thought consciousness manifests at all times,
Except for those born in the realms of beings without thought,
Those in the formless trances, and those who are unconscious.

17

These three transformations of consciousness
Are just the distinction of subject and object, self and other–
They do not really exist.
All things are nothing but forms of consciousness.

18

Since the storehouse consciousness contains all seeds,
These transformations of consciousness arise
And proceed based upon mutual influence.
On account of this, discrimination of self and other arises,

19

All actions leave traces,
And because of grasping at self and other,
Once one seed has been exhausted, another arises.

20

That which is differentiated
In terms of self and other,
Or by whatever sort of discrimination,
That is just mental projection:
It does not exist at all

21

Appearances themselves
Which arise dependently through causes and conditions
Exist, but only in a partial and dependent way.

22

Ultimately, perfect nature, the fully real, arises
When there is an absence of mental projection onto appearances.
For that reason, the fully real is neither the same nor different from appearances.
If the perfected nature is not seen, the dependent nature is not seen either.

23

Corresponding to the threefold nature,
There is a threefold absence of self-nature.
This absence of self-nature of all dharmas
Is the secret essence of the Buddha’s teachings.

24

Projections are without self-nature by definition.
Appearances too are without self-nature because they are not
self-existent.
Perfect nature is without any differentiation whatsoever. 

25

The true nature of consciousness only
Is the true nature of all dharmas.
Remaining as it is at all times, it is Suchness.

26

As long as consciousness does not see
That subject-object distinctions are simply forms of consciousness
Attachment to twofold grasping will never cease

27

By merely thinking
The objects one perceives are forms of consciousness
One does not realize consciousness only

28

One realizes consciousness only
When the mind no longer seizes on any object
When there is nothing to be grasped, there is no grasping
Then one knows - everything is consciousness only.

29

That is the supreme, world-transcending knowledge
Where one has no mind that knows
And no object that is known
Abandoning twofold grasping
The storehouse consciousness is emptied

30

That alone is the pure, primordial reality
Beyond thought, auspicious, unchanging
It is the blissful body of liberation
The dharmakaya nature of the enlightened ones

Adapted from English translations of the Sanskrit original

Mulamadhyamakakarika

Mulamadhyamakakarika
By Nagarjuna  1

Translated by Jay L. Garfield 2

Based on the Selection and arrangement by Rev. Yin Shun 3

1. I prostrate to the Perfect Buddha,
The best of teachers, who taught that
Whatever is dependently arisen4 is
Unceasing, unborn,
2. Unannihilated, not permanent,
Not coming, not going,
Without distinction, without identity,
And free from conceptual construction5.
…
3. If all of this is empty,
Neither arising nor ceasing,
Then for you, it follows that
The Four Noble Truths6 do not exist.
4. If the Four Noble Truths do not exist,
Then knowledge, abandonment,
Meditation and manifestation
Will be completely impossible.
5. If these things do not exist,
The four fruits7 will not arise.
Without the four fruits, there will be no attainers of the fruits.
Nor will there be the faithful.
6. If so, the spiritual community will not exist,
Nor will the eight kinds of person.
If the Four Noble Truths do not exist,
There will be no true Dharma8.
7. If there is no doctrine and spiritual community,
How can there be a Buddha?
If emptiness is conceived in this way,
The three jewels9 are contradicted.
8. Hence you assert that there are no real fruits.
And no Dharma. The Dharma itself
And the conventional truth10
Will be contradicted.
…
9. The Buddha’s teaching of the Dharma
Is based on two truths:
A truth of worldly convention
And an ultimate truth.
10. Those who do not understand
The distinction drawn between these two truths
Do not understand
The Buddha’s profound truth.
11. Without a foundation in the conventional truth,
The significance of the ultimate cannot be taught.
Without understanding the significance of the ultimate,
Liberation is not achieved.
12. By a misperception of emptiness
A person of little intelligence is destroyed.
Like a snake incorrectly seized
Or like a spell incorrectly cast.
13. For that reason—that the Dharma is
Deep and difficult to understand and to learn—
The Buddha’s mind despaired of
Being able to teach it.
…
14. Whatever is dependently co-arisen
That is explained to be emptiness.
That, being a dependent designation,
Is itself the middle way.
15. Something that is not dependently arisen,
Such a thing does not exist.
Therefore a nonempty thing
Does not exist.
…
16. For him to whom emptiness is clear,
Everything becomes clear.
For him to whom emptiness is not clear,
Nothing becomes clear.
…
17. If there is essence11, the whole world
Will be unarising, unceasing,
And static. The entire phenomenal world
Would be immutable.
18. If it (the world) were not empty,
Then action would be without profit,
The act of ending suffering and
Abandoning misery and defilement12 would not exist.
19. Whoever sees dependent arising
Also sees suffering
And its arising
And its cessation as well as the path.
…
20. Essence arising from
Causes and conditions makes no sense.
If essence came from causes and conditions,
Then it would be fabricated.
21. How could it be appropriate
For fabricated essence to come to be?
Essence itself is not artificial
And does not depend on another.
22. If there is no essence,
How can there be difference in entities?
The essence of difference in entities
Entities are established
23. Without having essence or otherness essence,
How can there be entities?
If there are essences and entities,
Entities are established.
24. If the entity is not established,
A nonentity is not established.
An entity that has become different
Is a nonentity, people say.
25. Those who see essence and essential difference
And entities and nonentities,
They do not see
The truth taught by the Buddha.
26. The Victorious One, through knowledge
Of reality and unreality,
In the Discourse to Katyayana13,
Refuted both “it is” and “it is not”.
…
27. The Victorious Conqueror has said that whatever
Is deceptive is false.
Compounded phenomena14 are all deceptive.
Therefore they are all false.
28. If whatever is deceptive is false,
What deceives?
The Victorious Conqueror has said about this
That emptiness is completely true.
…
29. If there were even a trifle nonempty,
Emptiness itself would be but a trifle.
But not even a trifle is nonempty,
How could emptiness be an entity?
30. The victorious ones have said
That emptiness is the relinquishing of all views.
For whomever emptiness is a view,
That one will accomplish nothing.
…
31. Desire, hatred and confusion all
Arise from thought, it is said.
They all depend on
The pleasant, the unpleasant, and errors.
32. Since whatever depends on the pleasant and the unpleasant
Does not exist through an essence,
The defilements
Do not really exist.
33. The self’s existence or nonexistence
Has in no way been established.
Without that, how could the defilements’
Existence or nonexistence be established?
34. The defilements are somebody’s.
But that one has not been established.
Without that possessor,
The defilements are nobody’s
35. View the defilements as you view your self:
They are not in the defiled in the fivefold way15.
View the defiled as you view your self:
It is not in the defilements in the fivefold way.
…
36. Thus, through the cessation of error
Ignorance ceases.
When ignorance ceases
The compounded phenomena, etc., cease.
37. If someone‘s defilements
Existed through his essence,
How could they be relinquished?
Who could relinquish the existent?
38. If someone’s defilements
Did not exist through his essence,
How could they be relinquished?
Who could relinquish the nonexistent?
…
39. While this action has affliction16 as its nature
This affliction is not real in itself.
If affliction is not real in itself,
How can action be real in itself?
…
40. Action depends upon the agent17.
The agent itself depends on action.
One cannot see any way
To establish them differently.
…
41. Emptiness and non-annihilation;
Cyclic existence and non-permanence:
That action is non-expiring18
Is taught by the Buddha.
…
42. When asked about the beginning,
The Great Sage said that nothing is known of it.
Cyclic existence is without end and beginning.
So there is no beginning or end.
43. Where there is no beginning or end,
How could there be a middle?
It follows that thinking about this in terms of
Prior, posterior, and simultaneous is not appropriate.
…
44. Some say suffering is self-produced,
Or produced from another or from both.
Or that it arises without a cause.
It is not the kind of thing to be produced.
45. If suffering came from itself,
Then it would not arise dependently.
For those aggregates19
Arise in dependence on these aggregates.
46. If those were different from these,
Or if these were different from those,
Suffering could arise from another.
These would arise from those others.
…
47. If suffering were caused by each,
Suffering could be caused by both.
Not caused by self or by other,
How could suffering be uncaused?
…
48. If the self were the aggregates,
It would have arising and ceasing (as properties).
If it were different from the aggregates,
It would not have the characteristics of the aggregates.
49. If there were no self,
Where would the self’s (properties) be?
From the pacification of the self and what belongs to it,
One abstains from grasping onto “I” and “mine”.
50. One who does not grasp onto “I” and “mine”,
That one does not exist.
One who does not grasp onto “I” and “mine”,
He does not perceive.
51. When views of “I” and “mine” are extinguished,
Whether with respect to the internal or external,
The appropriator ceases.
This having ceased, birth ceases.
52. Action and misery having ceased, there is nirvana.
Action and misery come from conceptual thought.
This comes from mental fabrication.
Fabrication ceases through emptiness.
53. That there is a self has been taught,
And the doctrine of no-self,
By the buddhas, as well as the
Doctrine of neither self nor non-self.
54. What language expresses is nonexistent.
The sphere of thought is nonexistent.
Un-arisen and un-ceased, like nirvana
Is the nature of things.
55. Everything is real and is not real,
Both real and not real,
Neither real nor not real.
This is Lord Buddha’s teaching.
56. Not dependent on another, peaceful and
Not fabricated by mental fabrication,
Not thought, without distinctions,
That is the character of reality (that-ness).
57. Whatever comes into being dependent on another
Is not identical to that thing.
Nor is it different from it.
Therefore it is neither nonexistent in time nor permanent.
58. By the buddhas, patrons of the world,
This immortal truth is taught:
Without identity, without distinction;
Not nonexistent in time, not permanent.
…
59. That which comes and goes
Is dependent and changing.
That, when it is not dependent and changing,
Is taught to be nirvana.
60. The teacher has spoken of relinquishing
Becoming and dissolution.
Therefore, it makes sense that
Nirvana is neither existent nor nonexistent.
…
61. Nirvana is said to be
Neither existent nor non-existent.
If the existent and the nonexistent were established,
This would be established.
…
62. Having passed into nirvana, the Victorious Conqueror
Is neither said to be existent
Nor said to be nonexistent.
Neither both nor neither are said.
63. So, when the victorious one abides, he
Is neither said to be existent
Nor said to be nonexistent.
Neither both nor neither are said.
64. There is not the slightest difference
Between cyclic existence and nirvana.
There is not the slightest difference
Between nirvana and cyclic existence.
…
65. Neither the aggregates, nor different from the aggregates,
The aggregates are not in him, nor is he in the aggregates.
The Tathagata21 does not possess the aggregates.
What is the Tathagata?
…
66. One who grasps the view that the Tathagata exists,
Having seized the Buddha,
Constructs conceptual fabrications
About one who has achieved nirvana.
67. Since he is by nature empty,
The thought that the Buddha
Exists or does not exist
After nirvana is not appropriate.
68. Those who develop mental fabrications with regard to the Buddha,
Who has gone beyond all fabrications,
As a consequence of those cognitive fabrications,
Fail to see the Tathagata.
69. Whatever is the essence of the Tathagata,
That is the essence of the world.
The Tathagata has no essence.
The world is without essence.
…
70. I prostrate to Gautama
Who through compassion
Taught the true doctrine,
Which leads to the relinquishing of all views.

Notes:
1. Nagarjuna lived in India during the 2nd century A.D. He is generally regarded as the founding
father of Mahajana Buddhism. Mulamadhymakakarika, the Middle View Stanzas, his
representative work on the idea of emptiness, was translated by Kumaraja into Chinese in the 5th
century A.D..
2. Jay L. Garfield translated the Mulamadhymakakarika from Tibetan into English. The seventy
translated stanzas are from his book: “The Fundamental Wisdom of The Middle Way:
Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhymakakarika”, published by Oxford University Press, 1995. The Sanskrit
version of Mulamadhymakakarika was probably introduced to Tibet during the 8th century A.D.
3. Rev. Yin Shun gave a month long seminar when he was in Hong Kong in 1949, to introduce the
Mulamadhymakakarika. He selected seventy stanzas out of the original 446 stanzas in the
Chinese translation. Fifty years later, following his footsteps, his disciple, Mr. Kar Shu Wong
gave a yearlong seminar based on the same selection. Later, notes from his seminar became a
book: “Introduction to the Fundamental Principles of Mulamadhymakakarika”, published in
Chinese in 2000.
4. Dependently arisen is translated from the Sanskrit “Pratityasamutpada” to denote the interrelation
of everything in the world. “This arises because that arose; this ceases because that
ceased.”
5. Conceptual construction refers to the different views about the nature of the universe. For
example, God created our world.
6. Four Noble Truths refer to the awareness of suffering, how suffering comes about, how it can be
eliminated, and the practice of such elimination.
7. Four fruits refer to the different stages of enlightenment achieved by Buddhist practitioners.
8. Dharma refers to the teachings of the Buddha, including the four noble truths preached by the
Buddha when he first achieved total enlightenment. Even more so, it refers to
‘Pratityasamutpada’ or ‘dependently arisen’ and the equivalent concept of ‘Sunyata’, or
‘emptiness’.
9. Three jewels refer to Buddha, Dharma, and Buddhist monks.
10. Conventional truth is the worldly truths that everyone agrees on.
11. Essence refers to the inherent properties of a thing, which are permanent, unchangeable, and
pre-existing.
12. Defilement can be translated to mean troubles.
13. The Discourse to Katyayana is found in the Diverse Agama Sutra:
Katyayana was Buddha’s disciple noted for his debating skills. He asked Buddha: “What is the
side of existence? What is the side of non-existence?” Buddha said to him: “Generally speaking,
when people see the appearance of a thing, they assume that it is an objective existence, so they
fall onto the side of existence; when they see the disappearance of a thing, they assume that it is
objectively non-existent, then they fall onto the side of non-existence. A learned Buddhist will not
react this way. When he observes the coming about of something in the world, he understands
that everything can make its appearance under the appropriate conditions, so he does not harbor
a view of non-existence. When he observes the destruction of something in the world, he
understands that there is no objective existence for anything, because if something exists
objectively, it will be impossible to relinquish or to destroy. Thus a Buddhist will leave the side of
existence, as well as the side of non-existence, leading to sunyata, or emptiness. The middle
path is built on this “Pratityasamutpada” or “dependently arisen”, “Because this existed, therefore
that exists; because this arose, therefore that arises.”--- Rev. Yin Shun [Mulamadhymakakarika
Lecture Notes, p. 257]
14. Compounded phenomena refers to all things that result from transitory actions including all
activities of the internal mind.
15. Fivefold way refer to the five erroneous ways that people identity the “self” with the five
aggregates19: 1) There is a self aside from the aggregates, like the existence of a soul. 2) The
self is situated within the aggregates. 3) The aggregates are within the self. 4) The aggregates
belong to me. The self is the master. The aggregates are its subordinates. 5) The aggregates
are identical with the self. – Kar Shu Wong, [Introduction to the Fundamental Principles of
Mulamadhymakakarika, pp. 207-210]
16. Affliction can be translated to mean troubles.
17. The agent refers to the one who carries out the action.
18. Non-expiring refers to the karmic relationship of every action which will generate a reaction, in
spite of the long lapses of time between action and reaction.
19. Aggregates refer to matter, feelings, thoughts, actions, and consciousness. They are what
constitute the external and internal world of every sentient being.
20. Fourfold ways refer to the four different ways that anything can come into existence: by itself, by
something else, by itself and something else, or without any cause at all.
21. Tathagata can be translated as Buddha.

Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa

Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa
             in Twenty Eight Verses

Homage to the Eighty Four Mahasiddhas!
Homage to Mahamudra!
Homage to the Vajra Dakini!

Mahamudra cannot be taught. But most intelligent Naropa,
Since you have undergone rigorous austerity,
With forbearance in suffering and with devotion to your Guru,
Blessed One, take this secret instruction to heart.

Is space anywhere supported? Upon what does it rest?
Like space, Mahamudra is dependant upon nothing;
Relax and settle in the continuum of unalloyed purity,
And, your bonds loosening, release is certain.

Gazing intently into the empty sky, vision ceases;
Likewise, when mind gazes into mind itself,
The train of discursive and conceptual thought ends
And supreme enlightenment is gained.

Like the morning mist that dissolves into thin air,
Going nowhere but ceasing to be,
Waves of conceptualization, all the mind's creation, dissolve,
When you behold your mind's true nature.

Pure space has neither colour nor shape
And it cannot be stained either black or white;
So also, mind's essence is beyond both colour and shape
And it cannot be sullied by black or white deeds.

The darkness of a thousand aeons is powerless
To dim the crystal clarity of the sun's heart;
And likewise, aeons of samsara have no power
To veil the clear light of the mind's essence.

Although space has been designated "empty",
In reality it is inexpressible;
Although the nature of mind is called "clear light",
Its every ascription is baseless verbal fiction.

The mind's original nature is like space;
It pervades and embraces all things under the sun.

Be still and stay relaxed in genuine ease,
Be quiet and let sound reverberate as an echo,
Keep your mind silent and watch the ending of all worlds.

The body is essentially empty like the stem of a reed,
And the mind, like pure space, utterly transcends
       the world of thought:
Relax into your intrinsic nature with neither abandon nor control -
Mind with no objective is Mahamudra -
And, with practice perfected, supreme enlightenment is gained.

The clear light of Mahamudra cannot be revealed
By the canonical scriptures or metaphysical treatises
Of the Mantravada, the Paramitas or the Tripitaka;
The clear light is veiled by concepts and ideals.

By harbouring rigid precepts the true samaya is impaired,
But with cessation of mental activity all fixed notions subside;
When the swell of the ocean is at one with its peaceful depths,
When mind never strays from indeterminate, non-conceptual truth,
The unbroken samaya is a lamp lit in spiritual darkness.

Free of intellectual conceits, disavowing dogmatic principles,
The truth of every school and scripture is revealed.

Absorbed in Mahamudra, you are free from the prison of samsara;
Poised in Mahamudra, guilt and negativity are consumed;
And as master of Mahamudra you are the light of the Doctrine.

The fool in his ignorance, disdaining Mahamudra,
Knows nothing but struggle in the flood of samsara.
Have compassion for those who suffer constant anxiety!
Sick of unrelenting pain and desiring release, adhere to a master,
For when his blessing touches your heart, the mind is liberated.

KYE HO! Listen with joy!
Investment in samsara is futile; it is the cause of every anxiety.
Since worldly involvement is pointless, seek the heart of reality!

In the transcending of mind's dualities is Supreme vision;
In a still and silent mind is Supreme Meditation;
In spontaneity is Supreme Activity;
And when all hopes and fears have died, the Goal is reached.

Beyond all mental images the mind is naturally clear:
Follow no path to follow the path of the Buddhas;
Employ no technique to gain supreme enlightenment.

KYE MA! Listen with sympathy!
With insight into your sorry worldly predicament,
Realising that nothing can last, that all is as dreamlike illusion,
Meaningless illusion provoking frustration and boredom,
Turn around and abandon your mundane pursuits.

Cut away involvement with your homeland and friends
And meditate alone in a forest or mountain retreat;
Exist there in a state of non-meditation
And attaining no-attainment, you attain Mahamudra.

A tree spreads its branches and puts forth leaves,
But when its root is cut its foliage withers;
So too, when the root of the mind is severed,
The branches of the tree of samsara die.

A single lamp dispels the darkness of a thousand aeons;
Likewise, a single flash of the mind's clear light
Erases aeons of karmic conditioning and spiritual blindness.

KYE HO! Listen with joy!
The truth beyond mind cannot be grasped by any faculty of mind;
The meaning of non-action cannot be understood in compulsive activity;
To realise the meaning of non-action and beyond mind,
Cut the mind at its root and rest in naked awareness.

Allow the muddy waters of mental activity to clear;
Refrain from both positive and negative projection -
leave appearances alone:
The phenomenal world, without addition or subtraction, is Mahamudra.

The unborn omnipresent base dissolves your impulsions and delusions:
Do not be conceited or calculating but rest in the unborn essence
And let all conceptions of yourself and the universe melt away.

The highest vision opens every gate;
The highest meditation plumbs the infinite depths;
The highest activity is ungoverned yet decisive;
And the highest goal is ordinary being devoid of hope and fear.

At first your karma is like a river falling through a gorge;
In mid-course it flows like a gently meandering River Ganga;
And finally, as a river becomes one with the ocean,
It ends in consummation like the meeting of mother and son.

If the mind is dull and you are unable to practice these instructions,
Retaining essential breath and expelling the sap of awareness,
Practising fixed gazes - methods of focussing the mind,
Discipline yourself until the state of total awareness abides.

When serving a karmamudra, the pure awareness
      of bliss and emptiness will arise:
Composed in a blessed union of insight and means,
Slowly send down, retain and draw back up the bodhichitta,
And conducting it to the source, saturate the entire body.
But only if lust and attachment are absent will that awareness arise.

Then gaining long-life and eternal youth, waxing like the moon,
Radiant and clear, with the strength of a lion,
You will quickly gain mundane power and suprem enlightenment.

May this pith instruction in Mahamudra

Remain in the hearts of fortunate beings.

                          

 

Colophon
Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa in twenty Eight Verses was transmitted by the Great Guru and Mahasiddha Tilopa to the Kashmiri Pandit, Sage and Siddha, Naropa, near the banks of the River Ganga upon the completion of his Twelve Austerities. Naropa transmitted the teaching in Sanskrit in the form of twenty eight verses to the great Tibetan translator Mar pa Chos kyi blos gros, who made a free translation of it at his village of Pulahari on the Tibet - Bhutan border.

   This text is contained in the collection of Mahamudra instruction called the Do ha mdzod brgyad ces bya ba Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag gsal bar ston pa'i gzhung, which is printed at the Gyalwa Karmapa's monastery at Rumtek, Sikkim. The Tibetan title is Phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag, or Phyag rgya chen po rdo rje'i tsig rkang nyi shu rtsa brgyad pa.

50 VERSES ON GURU DEVOTION

   50 VERSES ON GURU DEVOTION

 

By Indian Master Ashvagosha

Note: these practices are specifically part of the Tantric path as practiced in Tibetan Buddhism.

1. Bowing in the proper way to the lotus feet of my Guru, who is the cause for me to attain the state of a glorious Vajrasattva, I shall condense and explain in brief what has been said in many stainless tantric texts about Guru-devotion.(Therefore) listen with respect.

2. All the Buddhas of the past, present and future, residing in every land in the ten directions, have paid homage to the Tantric Masters from   whom they have received the highest initiations. (Is there need to mention that   you should too?)

3. Three times each day, with supreme faith, you must show your respect to your Guru who teaches you (the tantric path), by pressing your palms together, offering a mandala as well as flowers and prostrating (touching) your head to his feet.

4. Those who hold ordination vows, if (your Guru) is a layman   or your junior, prostrate (in public) while facing such things as his scriptural   texts in order to avoid worldly scorn. But in your mind (prostrate to your Guru).

5. As for serving (your Guru) and showing him respect, such as obeying what he says, standing up (when he comes) and showing him to his seat - these should be done even by those with ordination vows (whose Gurus are laymen   or their juniors). But (in public), avoid prostrating and unorthodox actions (such as washing his feet).

6. In order for the words of honour of neither the Guru nor the disciple to degenerate, there must be a mutual examination beforehand (to determine   if each can) brave a Guru-disciple relationship.

7. A disciple with sense should not accept as his Guru someone who lacks compassion or who is angersome, vicious or arrogant, possessive, undisciplined or boasts of his knowledge.

8. (A Guru should be) stable (in his actions), cultivated (in his speech), wise, patient and honest. He should neither conceal his shortcomings,   nor pretend to possess qualities he lacks. He should be an expert in the meanings   (of tantra) and in its ritual procedures (of medicine and turning back obstacles).   Also he should have loving compassion and a complete knowledge of the scriptures.

9. He should have full experience in both ten fields, skill in the drawing of mandalas, full knowledge of how to explain the tantras, supreme   faith and his senses fully under control.

10. Having become the disciple of such a protecting (Guru), should you then despise him from your heart, you will reap continual suffering as if   you had disparaged all the Buddhas.

11. If you are so foolish as to despise you Guru, you will contract contagious diseases and those caused by harmful spirits. You will die (a horrible   death) caused by demons, plagues or poison.

12. You will be killed by (wicked) kings or fire, by poisonous snakes, water, witches or bandits, by harmful spirits or savages, and then be reborn in a hell.

13. Never disturb you Guru's mind. Should you be foolish and happen to do this, you will surely boil in hell.

14. Whatever fearful hells have been taught, such as Avici, the Hell of Uninterrupted pain, it is clearly explained that those who disparage   their Gurus will have to remain there (a very long time).

15. Therefore, exert yourself whole-heartedly never to belittle your Tantric Master who makes no display of his great wisdom and virtues.

16. (If from a lack of awareness you have shown disrespect) to your Guru, reverently present an offering to him and seek his forgiveness. Then   in the future such harms and plagues will not befall you.

17. It has been taught that for the Guru to whom you have pledged your word of honour (to visualize as one with your meditational deity), you   should willingly sacrifice your wife, children and even your life, although   these are not (easy) to give away. Is there need to mention your fleeting wealth?

18. (Such practice of offering) can confer even Buddhahood on a zealous (disciple) in his very lifetime, which otherwise might be difficult to attain even in countless millions of eons.

19. Always keep your word of honour. Always make offerings to  the Enlightened Ones. Always make offerings also to your Guru, for he is the same as all the Buddhas.

20. Those who wish (to attain) the inexhaustible (state of a Buddha's   Wisdom Body) should give to their Guru whatever they themselves find pleasing, from the most trifling objects to those of best quality.

21. Giving (to your Guru) is the same as making continual offerings to all the Buddhas. From such giving, much merit is gathered. From such collection comes the supreme powerful attainment (of Buddhahood).

22. Therefore, a disciple with the good qualities of compassion, generosity, moral self-control and patience should never regard his Guru and  the Buddha Vajradhara as different.

23. If you should never tread even on (your Guru's) shadow, because the fearsome consequences are the same as destroying a stupa, is there need to mention never stepping on or over his shoes or seat, (sitting in his place or riding) his mount?

24. (A disciple) having great sense should obey the words of his Guru joyfully and with enthousiasm, If you lack the knowledge or ability (to   do what he says), explain in (polite) words why you cannot (comply).

25. It is from your Guru that powerfull attainments, higher rebirth and happiness come. Therefore, make a whole-hearted effort never to transgress   your Guru's advice.

26. (Guard) your Guru's belongings as you would your own life.Treat even your Guru's beloved (family) with the same (respect you show for   him). (Have affectionate regard for) those closely around him as if they were   your own dearest kin. Single-mindedly think (in this way) at all times.

27. Never sit on the (same) bed or seat (as your Guru), nor walk ahead of him. (At teachings do not) wear your hair in a top-knot, (a hat, shoes   or any weapons). Never touch a seat (before he sits down, or if he happens to sits on the ground. Do not) place your hands (proudly) on your hips or wring   them (before him).

28. Never sit or recline while your Guru is standing (nor lie while he is sitting). Always be ready to stand up and serve him skilfully in an excellent manner.

29. In the presence of your Guru, never do such things as spit, (cough or sneeze without covering your head). Never strech out your legs when at your seat, nor walk back and forth (without reason before him, and never) argue.

30. Never massage or rub your limbs. Do not sing, dance or play musical instruments (for other than religious purposes). And never chatter idly or speak in excess (or too loudly) within the range of (your Guru's) hearing.

31. (When your Guru enters the room) get up from your seat and bow your head slightly. Sit (in his presence) respectfully. At night, at rivers or on dangerous paths, with (your Guru's) permission, you may walk before him.

32. In the direct sight of his Guru, (a disciple) with sense should not (sit) with his body twisted around, nor lean (casually) against pillars and such. Never crack your knuckles, (play with your fingers or clean your nails).

33. When washing (your Guru's) feet or his body, drying, massaging (or shaving) him, precede such actions with (three) prostrations and at their conclusion do the same. Then attend (to yourself) as much as you like.

34. Should you need to address (your Guru) by his name, add the title "Your Presence" after it. To generate respect for him in others, further honorifics may also be used.

35. When asking for your Guru's advice, (first announce why you have come). With palms pressed together at your heart, listen to what he tells you, without (letting your mind) wander about, Then (when he has spoken), you should reply, "I shall do exactly as you have said."

36. After doing (what your Guru has told you), report (what has happened) in polite, gentle words. Should you yawn or cough, (clear your throat or laugh in his presence), cover your mouth with your hand.

37. If you wish to receive a certain teaching, request three times with your palms pressed together, while before him on your (right) knee. (Then at his discourse), sit humbly and with respect, wearing appropriate clothing that is neat (and clean, without ornaments, jewelery or cosmetics).

38. Whatever you do to serve (your Guru) or show him respect, should never be done with an arrogant mind. Instead you should be like a newly-wed bride, timid, bashful and very subdued.

39. In the presence of (the Guru) who teaches you (the Path), stop acting in a conceited, coquettish manner. As for boasting to others what you have done (for your Guru), examine (your conscience) and discard all such acts.

40. If you are (requested) to perform a consecration, (an initiation into) a mandala, a fire puja or to gather disciples and deliver a discourse, you may not do so if your Guru resides in that area, unless you receive his prior permission.

41. Whatever offerings you receive from performing such rites as (the consecration known as) "Opening the Eyes", you should present all these to your Guru. Once he has taken a token portion, you may use the rest for whatever you like.

42. In the presence of his Guru, a disciple should not act (as a Guru) to his own disciples and they should not act towards him as their Guru.Therefore (before your own Guru), stop (your disciples) from showing you respect such as rising (when you come) and making prostrations.

43. Whenever you make an offering to your Guru, or whenever your Guru presents you with something, a disciple with sense will (present and) receive this, using both hands and with his head slightly bent.

44. Be diligent in all your actions, (alert and) mindful never to forget (your word of honour). If fellow-disciples transgress (what is proper) in their behaviour, correct each other in a friendly manner.

45. If because of sickness you are physically (unable) to bow to your Guru and must do what normally would be prohibited, even without (his explicit) permission, there will be no unfortunate consequences if you have   a virtuous mind.

46. What need is there to say much more. Do whatever pleases your Guru and avoid doing anything he would not like. Be diligent in both of these.

47. "Powerful attainments follow from (doing what) your Guru (likes)." This has been said by (the Buddha) Vajradhara himself. Knowing this, try to please your Guru fully with all the actions (of your body, speech and mind).

48. After a disciple has taken refuge in the Triple Gem and developed a pure (Enlightened) motive, he should be given this (text) to take to his heart (how to abandon his own arrogant self-will and) follow in his Guru's footsteps   (along the Graded Path to Enlightenment).

49. (By studying the prerequisite trainings of Guru-devotion and the Graded Path, common to both the Sutra and Tantra,) you will become a (suitable) vessel (to hold) the pure Dharma. You may then be given such teachings as Tantra.(After receiving the proper initiations,) recite out loud the fourteen root vows and take them sincerely to your heart.

50. As I have not made the mistake (of adding my personal interpretation) when writing this work, may this be of infinite benefit to all disciples who would follow their Guru. By the limitless merit I have gathered in this way, may all sentient beings quickly attain Buddhahood.

IN PRAISE OF THE DHARMADHATU

IN PRAISE OF THE DHARMADHATU Arya Nagarjuna Translated by Jim Scott

1. There is something which as long as left unknown Results in life's three planes of vicious circle. Beyond all doubt, it dwells in every being. To the dharmadhatu I devoutly bow. 2. When that which forms the cause for all samsara Is purified along the stages of the path, This purity itself is nirvana; Precisely this, the dharmakaya, too. 3. As butter, though inherent in the milk, Is mixed with it and hence does not appear, Just so the dharmadhatu is not seen As long as it is mixed together with afflictions. 4. And just as the inherent butter essence When the milk is purified is no more disguised, When afflictions have been completely purified, The dharmadhatu will be without any stain at all. 5. As a butter lamp that burns inside a vase Would not even be slightly visible, As long as left inside afflictions' vase, The dharmadhatu is not visible. 6. If one perforates the surface of the vase, Whatever holes are made in whichever directions, Through those and in precisely those directions Light will shine, as is its nature to. 7. At the moment when the vajra-like samadhi Is able to obliterate the vase, At that very moment the light burning inside Will shine throughout the reaches of all space. 8. The dharmadhatu was never born, Nor will it ever cease. At all times it is free of all afflictions; At the beginning, middle, and end, free from stain. 9. As sapphire, the precious gem, Shines with brilliant light all the time, But when confined within a grosser stone, We do not see its bright light shine, 10. Just so, although obscured behind afflictions, The dharmadhatu has no trace of flaw. While samsara blocks its light, it does not illuminate; Nirvana gained, its light will brilliantly shine. 11. If the fundamental element is present, Work will yield the sight of purest gold; If the fundamental element were lacking, The labor would produce no fruit but woe. 12. As kernels are not considered to be rice As long as they are enveloped in their husks, Just so the name of "buddha" is not given To all of those whom afflictions still enfold. 13. And just as when loosened from the husk, The rice itself is what appears, Just so the dharmakaya itself, When loosened from afflictions, freely shines. 14. It is said, "Banana trees are void of pith." One uses this example in the world. But the fruit of such a tree has pith indeed; When eaten, it is sweet upon the tongue. 15. Just so, samsara has no pith, And if beings can remove affliction's peel, The fruit within is buddhahood itself, The nectar for all corporal beings to taste. 16. And just as from a given kind of seed A fruit results resembling its cause, Who with common sense would seek to prove A fruit exists without its specific seed as cause? 17. The basic element which serves as seed Is seen as the support of all great qualities. Through gradual refinement, step by step, The stage of buddhahood will be attained. 18. Although the sun and moon are unstained, Five veils exist which manage to obscure them. These consist of clouds and fog and smoke, The face of Rahu and dust as well. 19. And so it is, as well, for mind's clear light. Five obscurations manage to obscure it: Desire, laziness, and ill intent, And agitation too, as well as doubt. 20. And just as fire can clean a soiled cloth Miscolored with various marks and stains, And just as when submerged within the fire The marks are burnt away but not the cloth, 21. In just this way the mind, which is radiant clarity, Is soiled by desire and the other stains, But the fire of primordial awareness burns up these afflictions, Without, however, burning away the radiant clarity. 22. In the sutras of the Teacher, In whatever ways the Victor described emptiness, All of these ways can rectify afflictions; None can diminish the potential. 23. Just as water deep inside the earth Lies untouched and perfectly clean, Just so can primordial awareness rest within affliction And remain completely free of any flaw. 24. The dharmadhatu is not the self. It is neither man nor woman either; And being beyond everything perceivable, Just how could it be thought of as oneself? 25. Within phenomena, all free of passion, Male and female cannot be seen. For the sake of taming those that desire blinds, Terms like male and female are taught. 26. "Impermanent" and "suffering" and "empty": Three designations purifying mind; But what refines the mind unto its utmost Is the teaching that nothing has any self-nature. 27. As a child in a pregnant woman's womb Is there and yet is not yet visible, Likewise when covered by afflictions, The dharmadhatu is not visible. 28. From thinking "I" and "mine," And from thinking of names and grounds for these, Four conceptual patterns come to be— Due to elements and compounds too. 29. The buddhas do not perceive Any characteristics of their aspiration prayers, Because the buddhas are of the nature of self-awareness And have their own permanently pure being. 30. Just as the horns on rabbits' heads Do not exist except in the imagination, Phenomena are all precisely like that, Merely imagined, having no existence. 31. Because they are not made of solid atoms The horns of oxen cannot be seen, either. Since not even tiny atoms exist, How could one imagine that something made of atoms exists? 32. Since arising is a dependent occurrence And cessation is a dependent occurrence, There is not one single thing that exists— How could the naive believe that there is? 33. Using examples like rabbits' and oxen's horns, The Thus Gone One has proven That all phenomena are nothing other than the Middle Way. 34. Just as one sees The forms of the sun, moon, and stars Reflected in vessels of perfectly clear water, So is the consummation of signs and characteristics. 35. That which is virtuous in the beginning, middle, and end Is undeceiving and is marked by constancy, And is free from self in this very way. How could that be thought of as "I" or "mine"? 36. Just as water, during the summertime, Is spoken of as being something warm, And the very same water, throughout the winter season, Is spoken of as being something cold, 37. Those ensnared in the net of the afflictions Are referred to by the label, "sentient beings"; The very same when freed of states afflicted As "buddhas" are revered. 38. When eye and form assume their right relation, Appearances appear without a blur. Since these neither arise nor cease, They are the dharmadhatu, though they are imagined to be otherwise. 39. When sound and ear assume their right relation, A consciousness free of thought occurs. These three are in essence the dharmadhatu, free of other characteristics, But they become "hearing" when thought of conceptually. 40. Dependent upon the nose and an odor, one smells. And as with the example of form there is neither arising nor cessation, But in dependence upon the nose-consciousness's experience, The dharmadhatu is thought to be smell.   41. The tongue's nature is emptiness. The sphere of taste is voidness as well. These are in essence the dharmadhatu And are not the causes of the taste consciousness. 42. The pure body's essence, The characteristics of the object touched, The tactile consciousness free of conditions— These are called the dharmadhatu. 43. The phenomena that appear to the mental consciousness, the chief of them all, Are conceptualized and then superimposed. When this activity is abandoned, phenomena's lack of self-essence is known. Knowing this, meditate on the dharmadhatu. 44. And so is all that is seen or heard or smelled, Tasted, touched, and imagined, When yogis [and yoginis]* understand these in this manner, All their wonderful qualities are brought to consummation. 45. Perception's doors in eyes and ears and nose, In tongue and body and the mental gate— All these six are utterly pure. These consciousnesses' purity itself is suchness' defining characteristic. 46. See how the mind has two aspects: It can be worldly, it can transcend the world. From clinging to a self comes samsara; When there is self-awareness, there is suchness. 47. The ceasing of desire is nirvana, As is stupidity's and anger's end. For these to cease is buddhahood itself, The refuge of ennobled beings. 48. One either proceeds with knowledge or proceeds without— Samsara and nirvana both have their source in the body. Either you are bound by your own thinking, Or, if you know the true nature, you are free. 49. Enlightenment is neither near nor far. It does not go away nor come to you. Right there within the cage of your afflictions, Either you will see it or you will not. 50. Abiding in the lamp of prajna Will lead to peace, the most sublime there is; Examining for self is the way to abide. This is taught in scores of sutra texts. 51. The strengths, all ten, assist the immature With a blessing force like that of the full moon. But as long as they are caught up in afflictions, Beings will fail to see the Thus Gone Ones. 52. Just as those in hungry spirit realms See the sea as dry before their eyes, Just so with those in ignorance's grip Who think the buddhas don't exist. 53. For lesser beings and those with lesser merit, No matter what transcendent conquerors do, It is like placing a precious jewel In the hands of someone never known to see. 54. For beings who have amassed sufficient merit The signs are radiant with shining light. All thirty-two ablaze with brilliant glory— Beings like these in buddhas' presence dwell. 55. The protectors inhabit forms of bodily dimension For many kalpas, and many yet to come; However, in order to tame disciples They demonstrate different activities in the expanse that tames. 56. On definitely targeting its goal Consciousness engages in its object, Within the purity of self-awareness The bodhisattvas' grounds all inherently abide. 57. The mighty lords' magnificent abode, The beautiful domain of Akanistha, And consciousness, the three of these together Can be blended into one, I dare to say. 58. For the immature it renders total knowledge, For noble ones affords variety, To the mighty gods it grants long life, It is the cause for life spanning kalpas' long march. 59. It is that which guards the outer realm of beings, And preserves their lives as well through countless kalpas, It is that which makes it possible for life To persevere within all living beings; 60. This the very cause that knows no end; The results of such a cause are endless too; When imperceptibility is realized, Prajna becomes the condition for nirvana's dawning. 61. Enlightenment should not be thought far off Nor should it be considered close at hand; When objects, six in kind, do not appear, The genuine is known just as it is. 62. Just as milk and water mixed together Are present in the very same container But a crane would drink the milk and not the water, The case of transformation is like this: 63. There is primordial awareness, there are covering afflictions, Where both are found together in one body. But the primordial awareness is what yogis [and yoginis] choose to take And leave the ignorance behind. 64. For as long as "I" and "mine" are held to exist And the outside is imagined as well; When both forms of selflessness are seen The seed of existence is destroyed; 65. The dharmadhatu is the ground For buddhahood, nirvana, purity, and permanence; The immature impute the two kinds of self, And yogis [and yoginis] abide without these two. 66. In giving one endures a range of hardships, And ethics gathers in the benefit of beings, Through patience one performs the good of all, These three will cause the potential to unfold. 67. Through being diligent in all the teachings And steeping mind in meditative samadhi, Through thorough reliance on prajna, Enlightenment will grow and flourish. 68. Prajna endowed with skillful means, Prayers of aspiration that purify, The mastery of strengths, and thereby wisdom, These four will cause the potential to unfold. 69. "Do not commit yourselves to bodhicitta"; There are some who speak such dire word. But were there no bodhisattvas to develop, The dharmakaya would be out of reach. 70. One who throws away the seed of sugarcane But wants to taste the sweetness its fruit yields Will, without the seed, Have no sugar at all. 71. When someone values seed from sugarcane, Maintains them well, and works to make them grow, A crop of sweetest sugar can be harvested. And just as what has come about like this, 72. Through valuing the bodhicitta fully, Maintaining it, and working with it well, The arhats and pratyeka-buddhas arise As so the perfectly enlightened buddhas. 73. Just as seeds of rice and other plants Are treated by the farmer with great care, Aspirants who wish to make the greatest journey Are treated by their guides with greatest care. 74. Just as on the fourteenth day of waning, The moon is barely visible at all, For aspirants who wish to make the greatest journey The kayas are but barely visible. 75. Just as the moon when it is new Visibly grows larger bit by bit, Those who have reached the bhumis See the dharmakaya more and more. 76. Just as on the fifteenth day of waxing The moon has reached completion and is full, Just so for those who've reached the bhumis' end point The dharmakaya shines complete and clear. 77. The bodhicitta, perfectly engendered, Through stable and consistent dedication To the buddha, to the dharma, and to the sangha Does not decrease, and develops more and more. 78. When the four meaner deeds have been relinquished, And the four better deeds have been embraced, Just then is thatness definitely realized. This is what "the joyful" thoroughly signifies. 79. "The stained" are those whom shifting patterns mark With the constant stains of desire and the rest; Whoever has grown free of flaw is pure, And this is what "the stainless" signifies. 80. Once afflictions' net is rent asunder, A flawless wisdom shines, and with its light Purifies all darkness past all limit, Removing it, and hence "illuminates." 81. It shines with light that is always pure; Primordial awareness, which eliminates diversion, Is steeped in light which shines on every side. This bhumi hence is known as "radiant." 82. Since awareness, feats, and crafts are mastered here, The range of meditative concentrations themselves, And kleshas difficult to purify completely have been vanquished, So "difficult to overcome" is its name. 83. With enlightenment of all three types included, And everything perfected and complete, With birth no more, disintegration finished, This level is "directly manifest." 84. Since the bodhisattvas' web of brilliant light with its display Reaches every point in their surroundings, And since they have crossed samsara's swampy ocean, They are called "the ones who reach far." 85. Definitively guided by the buddhas, In contact with primordial awareness's sea, Spontaneous and free of any effort, "Unshaken" by the maras' echelons. 86. Since yogis [and yoginis] at this level have perfected The dialectics used to teach all points Connected with precise correct awareness, It takes the name, "select intelligence." 87. The body at this point is made of primordial awareness, Is equal to an unpolluted sky; The vigilance afforded by the buddhas Forms the "cloud of dharma" everywhere. 88. The ground of the qualities of buddhas, The fruits of training fully held in hand, The transformation, when perfectly completed, Is given "dharmakaya" as its name. 89. Samsara's tendencies are ponderable, Freedom from tendencies is not; You are completely inconceivable. Who could ever have the power to know you? 90. Beyond the pale of speech entirely, And not an object senses' powers grasp, Realizing you takes the mind's awareness. I bow in praise of all that you embrace. 91. The illustrious heirs of the buddhas, By following the path step by step, With the primordial awareness that attends the "cloud of dharma," Can see emptiness, the pure mode of being. 92. As soon as mind has utterly been cleansed, Samsara's caged confinement broken through, These will then assume their rightful place, Upon a wondrous lotus flower seat, 93. Utterly surrounded on all sides By lotus flowers, many tens of millions, Each endowed with tantalizing anthers, Their leaves alight with many precious gems. 94. The buddhas with ten powers are replete. Their fearlessness sets others' minds at ease. Their qualities are inconceivable. From simplicity's domain they never fall. 95. Through excellently practicing all paths, They've gathered merit, garnered wisdom full. So they are like the harvest moon on high Surrounded by its court, the clustered stars. 96. With a hand like the sun, Buddha holds a flawless gem with light ablaze. With this the Enlightened One empowers the most senior heirs, This abhisheka greatest of them all. 97. The mighty yogis [and yoginis] living on this plane Look with god-like eyes on worldly beings, Inferior because of mental blindness, Whom suffering can frighten and distract. 98. And having seen them, light rays from their bodies Shine, without the slightest strain at all, And open up what gates there are for all Who wander in their own confusion's dark. 99. Those who have reached nirvana with remainder Believe they have reached nirvana that's without; The nirvana that is reached in this tradition Is a freeing of the mind of any flaw. 100. Sentient beings' essence free of substance Is the sphere that is encountered on this plane. Seeing this is the royal bodhicitta, The dharmakaya free of every flaw. 101. When the dharmakaya is seen in all its purity This is transformation, wisdom's sea, And from its depths a wealth of precious jewels Fulfill beings' needs as they have always wished. In Praise of the Dharmadhatu composed by the great Acharya Nagarjuna is hereby completed. In cooperation with the Indian Khenpo, Krishna Pandita, it was translated (from Sanskrit to Tibetan) by Lotsawa Tsultrim Gyalwa. Based on teachings given by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it has been translated from Tibetan into English by Jim Scott, April 1997, and edited by Ari Goldfield, September 1998.

SHANTIDEVAS' BODHISATTVA VOWS

(Bodhicaryavatara chapter 3) 

In the spiritual energy that relieves

The anguish of beings in misery and

Places depressed beings in eternal joy

I lift up my heart and rejoice.

In the goodness producing illumination

I lift up my heart and rejoice.

I rejoice in the beings who have gained

Eternal liberation from suffering.

And I rejoice in those attained to Buddhahood

As well as in their offspring, the noble Bodhisattvas.

In the ocean-like virtue of the Bodhimind

That brings joy to all beings

And in accomplishing the well-being of others,

I lift up my heart and rejoice.

To the Buddhas of the ten directions

I join my hands in respect

Let blaze the light of Dharmas truth

For the beings lost in darkness

To the Buddhas considering parinirvarna

I join my hands in prayer

Do not abandon the beings in sorrow

But remain and teach for countless ages.

May any spiritual energy thus generated

By my devotion to the enlightened ones

Be dedicated to dispelling the misery

Of living beings without exception.

As long as diseases afflict living beings

May I be the doctor, the medicine

And also the nurse

Who restores them to health.

May I fall as rain to increase

The harvests that must feed living beings

And in ages of dire famine

May I myself serve as food and drink.

May I be an unending treasury

For those desperate and forlorn.

May I manifest as what they require

And wish to have near them.

My body, every possession

And all goodness, past, present and future

Without remorse I dedicate

To the well-being of the world

Suffering is transcended by total surrender

And the mind attains to nirvana.

As one day all must be given up,

Why not dedicate it now to universal happiness?

My bodily powers I dedicate

To the well-being of all that lives.

Should anyone wish to kill, abuse or beat me,

The responsibility is purely their own.

Should anyone wish to ridicule me

And make me an object of jest and scorn

Why should I possibly care

If I have dedicated myself to others?

Let them do as they wish with me

So long as it does not harm them.

May no one who encounters me

Ever have an insignificant contact.

Regardless whether those whom I meet

Respond towards me with anger or faith,

May the mere fact of our meeting

Contribute to the fulfilment of their wishes.

May the slander, harm

And all forms of abuse

That anyone should direct towards me

Act as a cause of their enlightenment.

May I be a protector to the helpless,

A guide to those travelling the path,

A boat to those wishing to cross over;

Or a bridge or a raft.

May I be land for those requiring it,

A lamp for those in darkness,

May I be a home for the homeless,

And a servant for the world.

In order to fulfil the needs of beings

May I be as a magic gem,

An inexhaustible vase, a mystic spell,

A cure-all medicine, and a wish granting tree.

May I act as the mighty earth

Or like the free and open skies

To support and provide the space

Whereby I and all others may grow.

Until every being afflicted by pain

Has reached nirvanas shores,

May I serve only as a condition

That encourages progress and joy.

Just as all previous Buddhas

First gave rise to the precious Bodhimind

And just as then carefully followed

The stages of the Bodhisattva disciplines.

Likewise for the sake of sentient beings

Do I now myself generate the Bodhimind,

And likewise will I train myself

In the disciplines of a Bodhisattva.

They who out of wisdom

Have seized the supreme Bodhimind

Praise, glorify and rejoice in it,

That it may grow to fulfilment.

From today I will reap the fruit of life;

Having well won the state of man,

Today I am born in the Buddha-family

And am now a child of the Buddhas.

Thus in future I should make every effort

To live in accord with the Bodhisattva Ways,

And never should I act as would bring shame

To this noble faultless family.

Like a blind man fumbling in garbage

Happens to find a rare and precious gem,

Likewise I have discovered

The jewel of the precious Bodhimind.

Thus was found this supreme ambrosia to dispel

The Lord of death, destroyer of life;

An inexhaustible treasure able to cure

The poverty of all sentient beings.

It is the highest of medicines

To quell the ills of the living,

And it is a tree giving shade

To those wandering on the paths of life.

It is a strong and mighty bridge

By which beings can cross from misery,

And it is a moon to shine in the mind

To clear away the pains of delusion.

The Bodhimind is a great radiant sun

To disperse the darkness of unknowing,

And it is the very essence of butters

Gained from churning the milks of Dharma.

For all guests on the roads of life

Who would take the very substance of joy,

Here is the actual seat of true happiness,

A veritable feast to satiate the world.

Thus today in the presence of all awakened Ones

I invite every living being to this festival

Giving both immediate and lasting joy.

May the gods and all others rejoice.

 

Tags van Technorati: buddhism,shantideva,buddha,tibet,india,dharma

Heart Sutra

Heart Sutra - Sanskrit-English   
Translated by Zuio H. Inagaki   
   

 

Namah sarvajnaaya   
-Adoration to the Omniscient!   
Aaryaavalokiteshvara-bodhisattvo gambhiiraayaam prajnaapaaramitaayaam caryaam caramaano vyavalokayati sma: panca skandhaah; taamshca svabhaava-shuunyaan pashyati sma.   
-When Holy Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva performed the deep practice in the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom, he contemplated that there were five aggregates but observed that they were devoid of essential nature.   
Iha Shaariputra ruupam shuunyataa shuunyataiva ruupam, ruupaan na prithak shuunyataa, shuunyataayaa na prithag ruupam, yad ruupam saa shuunyataa, yaa shuunyataa tad ruupam.   
-In this case, Shaariputra, form is voidness and voidness is itself form; voidness is not different from form, and form is not different from voidness; that which is form is voidness, and that which is voidness is form.   
Evem eva vedanaa-samjnaa-samskaara-vijnaanaani.   
-So it is for perception, conception, volition and consciousness.   
Iha Shaariputra sarva-dharmaah shuunyataa-lakshanaa, anutpannaa, aniruddhaa, amalaa, na vimalaa, nonaa, na paripuurnaah.   
-In this case, Shaariputra, all things have the characteristics of voidness; they neither arise nor perish; they are neither defiled nor pure, neither deficient nor complete.   
Tasmaac Chaariputra shuunyaayaam na ruupam na vedanaa na samjnaa na samskaaraa na vijnaanaani.   
-Therefore, Shaariputra, within the voidness, there is no form, no perception, no conception, no volition, nor consciousness.   
Na cakshuh-shrotra-ghraana-jihvaa-kaaya-man aamsi.   
-Neither is there eye, ear, nose, tongue, body or mind.   
Na ruupa-shabda-gandha-rasa-sprashtavya-dha rmaah.   
-Neither is there form, sound, smell, taste, touch nor concepts.   
Na cakshurdhaatur yaavan na mano-vijnaana-dhaatuh.   
-Neither is there realm of sight, etc., until we come to the non-existence of realm of consciousness.   
Na vidyaa, naavidyaa, na vidyaa-kshayo, naavidyaa-kshayo, yaavan na jaraa-maranam na jaraamarana-kshayo, na duhkha-samudaya-nirodha-maargaa, na jnaanam, na praaptir apraaptitvena.   
-Neither is there wisdom, nor ignorance, nor extinction of wisdom, nor extinction of ignorance, etc., until we come to the non-existence of old age and death and the non-extinction of old age and death. Neither is there suffering, cause of suffering, extinction of suffering, nor the path leading to extinction of suffering. Neither is there wisdom nor acquisition because there is no grasping.   
Bodhisattvasya prajnaapaaramitaam aashritya viharaty acittaavaranah. Cittaavarana-naastitvaad atrasto, viparyaasaatikraanto nishtha-nirvaanah.   
-Depending on the bodhisattva's Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom, one dwells without any mental hindrance. Because of the absence of mental hindrance, one is fearless; freed from delusory thoughts, one will reach Nirvana.   
Tryadhva-vyavasthitaah sarvabuddhaah prajnaapaaramitaam aashrityaanuttaraam samyaksambodhim abhisambuddhaah.   
-All Buddhas dwelling in the three periods realize the highest, perfect enlightenment depending on the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom.   
Tasmaaj jnaatavyo prajnaapaaramitaa-mahaamantro mahaavidyaa-mantro 'nuttara-mantro 'samasama-mantrah, sarvadukha-prashamanah, satyam amithyatvaat, prajnaapaaramitaayaam ukto mantrah.   
-For this reason, know that the Great Mantra of the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom is the Great Wisdom Mantra, the Unsurpassed Mantra, and the Unequaled Mantra. It extinguishes all suffering, and is true and real because it is not false. It is the Mantra proclaimed in the Perfection of Transcendent Wisdom.   
Tad yathaa gate gate paaragate paarasamgate bodhi svaaha.   
-Namely, "Gone, gone, gone to the other shore;    
Gone completely to the other shore.   
Svaha."   
Iti prajnaapaaramitaa-hridayam samaaptam.   
-Thus ends the Essence of the Transcendent Wisdom Sutra.

 

 

 

Tags van Technorati: Heart Sutra,buddhism,emptiness,wisdom

Great Ancient Masters

The wisdom teachings of the Mahayana are contained in three primary sets of writings. The first and oldest of these are the Prajnaparamita texts, which date to the beginning of the current era. These wisdom texts go beyond conventional understanding and speak directly to one’s innate enlightened nature. They are the first pointing out texts –transmitting the transcendent wisdom that sees the emptiness of all conceptualized views of reality.

Later, Nargarjuna applied the insights of the Prajnaparamita to classical Indian philosophy and through his articulation of the nature of emptiness beautifully and impeccably dismantled prevailing scholastic views on the nature of reality, establishing the primacy of the inexpressible as the heart of the Buddhist path. In the Mahayana tradition Nargarjuna is seen as the primary spokesperson of the Pranjaparamita literature.

These teachings were united with the meditative and devotional traditions of Mahayana by a brilliant set of teachers from Gandhara, Asanga and Vasubandu, whose works are the culmination of the early Mahayana movement. The school that held this transmission tradition was Yogacara, which became the leading philosophical school in India during the 3rd to 5th centuries, at the same time that Neoplatonism was the leading philosophical school in the Classical Western World. Yogacara teachings still form the philosophical core of the great Buddhist contemplative lineages such as Zen, Mahamudra and Dzogchen. In a similar manner Neoplatonism underlines Western contemplative lineages.

Yogacara translates as “practitioners of yoga” emphasizing the school’s commitment to meditation as the essential nature of the Buddhist path. It is also known as the Consciousness Only School for their central teaching that all reality is a display of consciousness.

Asanga 

According to the Tibetan tradition, Asanga was born in Purusapura, the capital of Gandhara, of a Brahmin woman who was herself a considerable adept in the teachings of Buddhism and who taught him the “eighteen sciences” which he mastered easily. He became a monk and for five years applied himself diligently, memorizing one hundred thousand verses of dharma each year and correctly understanding their meaning.

He then left the monastery to practice the Arya Maitreya Sadhana in a cave at the foot of a mountain. For three years, not a single good sign appeared, and he became depressed and decided to leave his retreat. Emerging from his cave he noticed a bird’s nest by the mountain where the rock had become worn just by the brushing of the bird’s wing as it flew back and forth. Realizing his perseverance was weak, he returned to his cave to practice. For three more years he meditated, but again not a single good sign appeared. He became discouraged and left again. This time he saw a rock beside the road that was slowly disintegrating because of the trickle of single drops of water. Inspired by this, he returned and practiced another three years.

When again no signs appeared, he left his retreat a third time. He encountered an old man who was rubbing a piece of iron with a smooth cotton cloth. “I am just finishing this needle,” the man said to Asanga. “I have already made those over there” and pointed to small pile of needles lying nearby. Asanga thought, “If such effort is put into a mundane task such as this, my effort so far has been merely a trifle.”

He returned and meditated for another three years. Although he had by now meditated for 12 years on Maitreya, he still had no signs of favor. He became extremely despondent and walked away from his cave. After awhile he came across a half-dead dog lying beside the road, infested with maggots, crying out in pain. Asanga thought, “This dog will die if these worms are not removed, but if I try to lift them out with my hand, I will crush them.” So using his tongue so as not to hurt them, and cutting off some of his own flesh for them to live in, he bent down to remove them. At that moment the dog vanished and Maitreya appeared, showering cascades of light in all directions.

Asanga burst into tears and cried, “Ah, my sole teacher and refuge, all those years I made so much effort in my practice, exerting myself in a hundred different ways, but I saw nothing. Why has the rain and the might of the ocean come only now when tormented by pain, I am no longer thirsting?” Maitreya replied, “In truth, I was in your presence constantly, yet because of karmic obscuration you were unable to see me. However, your practice has purified your karma and removed your obstacles. Now by the force of your great compassion you are able to meet me. To test my words, put me on you shoulders for others to see and carry me across the city.”

Asanga was overjoyed. Lifting Maitreya onto his shoulders carried him into town, yet no one saw Maitreya. One old woman saw Asanga was carrying a dead dog and that brought her endless good fortune. A faithful servant saw Maitreya’s feet and found himself in a state of samadhi which granted him all the siddhis. Asanga himself realized the samadhi called “Continuum of Reality”. “What is your desire now?” Maitreya asked him. “To revive the teachings of the Mahayana,” Asanga replied. “Well then, hold onto the end of my robe.” Asanga did this and together they ascended to the pure land of Tushita where they stayed for fifty years. Here Asanga mastered the teachings of the Mahayana and received the famous Five Texts of Maitreya, each of which opens a different door of samadhi.

Dedicated to actualizing these teachings, Asanga returned to the earth and built a small temple in a forest. At first only a few students came to learn teachings from him, but gradually the fame of his doctrine spread and the Yogacara School was established. He became the abbot of Nalanda and lived to be well over 100, but always had a youthful look, with no gray hair or wrinkles.

He compiled many important Mahayana works including what has come to be known as The Five Texts of Maitreya. These include the Abhisamayalamkara (Ornament of Clear Comprehension), the  Mahanaya Sutralankara (Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras),  the Madhyanta-vibhanga (Discourse on the Middle between the Extremes), the Dharma-dharmata-vibhaga, and the Uttaratantra (The Peerless Continuum). His Mahayana-samparigraha (Compendium of the Mahayana), Abhidarma-samuccaya (Compendium of Higher Doctrine), and Yogacharabhumi-shastra (Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice) are also famous.

According to the Tibetan historian Taranatha, Tantric teachings were handed down in secret through the Yogacara lineage from the time of Asanga. In the Tibetan canon are several Tantric works ascribed to Asanga including a Maitreya Sadhana and a Prajna-Paramita Sadhana.

Vasubandu

The cofounder of Yogacara, Vasubandu, is traditionally said to be the younger brother of Asanga. He was also born in Purusapura in Gandhara and became a monk of the Sarvastivadin school. He went to Kashmir to study their teachings including their renown Abhidharma works. He also was said to possess a complete understanding of the Tripitaka and the tenets of all the Hinayana schools.

Vasubandu wrote Seven Branches of Metaphysics, an encyclopedic work clarifying the main points of teachings of the early Arhats, The Four Oral Traditions of Vinaya on Buddhist discipline, and the most famous compendium of Abhidharma teachings in the Buddhist tradition, the Abhidharma-kosa and a commentary to it called the Abhidharma-kosa-Bhayasa. The Kosa describes the Buddhist path to enlightenment by categorizing and analyzing the basic factors of experience called dharmas.

Already famous for his intellectual understanding of Buddhism, Vasubandu came to Nalanda University and was converted to the Mahayana by Asanga. According to a traditional account, Asanga summoned Vasubandu under the pretext that he was dying. When Vasubandu arrived and asked the cause of his illness, Asanga replied, “I have a serious disease of the heart which arose on account of you.” Vasubandu asked, “How did it arise on account of me?” Asanga replied, “Because you do not believe in the Mahayana and are forever attacking and criticizing it. For this wickedness you will be reborn in a miserable existence. Grieving for you has brought me close to death.” Vasubandu was surprised at this and asked Asanga to expound the Mahayana to him. Upon doing so he became convinced of the truth of the Mahayana and asked his brother what he could do to overcome the negative karma he had accumulated. Asanga answered, “Since your skillful and eloquent speech against the Mahayana earned you this negative karma, you must now use your skillful and eloquent speech to propound the Mahayana.”

Vasubandu went on to write many works which systematized the Consciousness Only teachings including On the Three Natures, the Twenty Verses, and the Thirty Verses, perhaps the most famous of the Consciousness Only texts. He also wrote devotional hymns and commentaries on Mahayana texts, including works of Asanga. He is also credited with being the founder of Pure Land Buddhism.

According to one Tibetan account,

Vasubandu was in the habit of reciting daily the Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Verses. Once a year he would sit in an iron cauldron filled with sesame oil and for fifteen consecutive days and nights would recite five hundred Hinayana sutras and five hundred Mahayana sutras. After Asanga passed away, he became abbot of Nalanda. Every day he taught 20 classes on various Mahayana Sutras and constantly met in debate and defeated the false views of other teachers. For over 100 years he traveled in India and Nepal establishing the dharma and teaching the Mahayana doctrine.

Many of his debates were with Samyka teachers, a school like Yogacara based on yogic experience that flourished at that time. Other debates were with proponents of yoga as reflected in Patanjali’s famous sutras.

After a long life, Vasubandu eventually left this world to reside in the Tushita heaven with Maitreya.

Stirmati

Stirmati was one of the famous disciples of Vasubandu. He was born in the southern Indian city of Dandakaranya of low caste parents, and studied with Vasubandu from age seven. He wrote commentaries on Abhidharma and the works of Vasubandu, including the Trimsikabhasya (Commentary on The Thirty Verses).

Dinaga

Dignaga, another disciple of Vasubandu, was one of the most respected Indian philosophers. Born in the southern Indian city of Simhavakta to a Brahmin family, he became a monk with a Hinayana teacher, but dissatisfied with the Hinayana teachings went in search of further instruction and met Vasubandu.

Every day he would recite 500 Mahayana sutras. From a tantric master who was an emanation of Heruka he received the empowerment and the “Method of Actualization” of Manjushri. By practicing this, he received a vision of Manjushri, and from then on received teachings from Manjushri whenever he wished.

Dignaga is known as the founder of Buddhist logic. He wrote over a hundred works on logic and other matters including Arya Prajnaparamita -samgraha-karika (A Verse Compendium of the Noble Perfection of Wisdom), and the Pramanasamuccaya (The Synthesis of All Reasoning). The later was such a profound and timely text that according to the Tibetans when Dignaga wrote the salutation to the work, “Homage to him who is Logic personified…”, the earth shook, thunder and lightning flashed, and the legs of all the heretical teachers in the vicinity became as stiff as wood. Using his skills at logic, he became famous as a debater. He was also famous for his miracles and had many disciples. He traveled throughout India establishing Mahayana, and spent many years in Kashmir. He completed his life meditating in a remote cave in the jungles of Odivisha.

Gunaprabha

Gunaprabha, one of Vasubandu’s closest disciples, is famous for his mastery of Vinaya. He was born in Mathura of a Brahmin family. He studied the Vedic teachings, and the Hinayana teachings in addition to receiving Mahayana teachings from Vasubandu.

According to the Tibetan accounts, he recited the Hundred Thousand Vinayas daily and resided in a monastery in Mathura called Adrapuri that had 5000 monks, all of whom kept the Vinaya rules perfectly.

He composed the Vinaya-Sutra, Basic Teachings of the Vinaya and One Hundred Actions. His Aphorisms of Discipline are one of the “five great books” that form the basis for the twenty year study program in Tibetan monastic colleges.

Vimuktasena

Vimuktasena was another close disciple of Vasubandu. He is famous for his mastery of the Prajna-Paramita sutras. He was born in Jvala-guha in south-central India. He was a devotee of Maitreya and received both advice and teachings from the celestial Buddha.

He wrote a text called Twenty Thousand Lights on the Prajna-Paramitas. Towards the end of his life he became the spiritual guide of a king in South India and supervised twenty-four temples where he widely taught the Prajna-Paramita Sutras.

Dharmapala

A disciple of Dinaga, Dharmapala became the head of Nalanda after his teacher died. After that he went to Bodhgaya and became abbot of the Mahabodhi Monastery. He died at the age of 32. He wrote a number of original works and commentaries most of which have been lost.

Dharmakirti

Dharmakirti was born in the southern Indian town of Cudamani to a Brahmin family. At an early age he became learned in the arts, the teachings of the vedas, medicine, grammar, and the tenets of the various sages. Then becoming inspired by the teachings of Buddha and the lineage of Pure Consciousness, he took ordination as a monk from Ararya Dharmpala and studied the Tripitaka from beginning to end. Every day he recited 500 different sutras and mantras.

He became a great adept at logic, equal to the master Dignaga himself, and wrote a famous commentary on Dignaga’s Synthesis of All Reasoning. He also wrote Seven Treatises of Logic. His works became the basis for debate training in the Tibetan monasteries. He himself was said to be such an excellent debater that the population of Indian sages of other schools was quite depleted by his efforts, since after losing they had to convert to Buddhism or throw themselves into the Ganges.

Silabhadra

A disciple of Dharmapala, Silabhadra was born to a royal Brahmin family in the East Indian city of Samatata. He was conversant with the teachings of all sects, famous for his mastery of Buddhist sutras and commentaries, and became head of Nalanda where 104 years old, he taught the Chinese Master, Hsuan-Tsang, the Consciousness Only doctrine through his exposition of Asanga’s Treatise on the Stages of Yoga Practice.

Paramartha

Paramartha was one of the great translators of Buddhist texts into Chinese, Paramartha was already a master in India when he traveled to China in 546 at the age of 47. At the request of the emperor of China, he settled in the capital and began the translation of texts. Political instability in China forced him to move quite often, but he was still able to translate the important works of the Yogacara lineage into Chinese including the Abhidharmakosa, the Mahayana-Samparigraha, and various works of Vasubandu. He is also famous for his translation of the Diamond Sutra. All together, Paramartha translated sixty-four works in 278 volumes. His translations made the later success of Yogacara possible in China and inspired Hsuan-Tsang several generations later to travel to India for additional texts and commentaries.

Hsuan-Tsang

Hsuan-Tsang was a remarkable spiritual pilgrim who became one of the most famous Chinese Masters. The son of a poor Chinese official, he left home at the age of 13 to study Buddhism. According to a traditional account,

During those early years of study, if there was a Dharma Master lecturing on a Buddhist text, no matter who the Dharma Master was or how far away the lecture was being held, he went, whether it was a Sutra lecture, a Shastra lecture or a Vinaya lecture. He listened to them all. Wind and rain couldn’t keep him away from lectures on the Tripitaka, to the point that he even forgot to be hungry. He just took the Buddhadharma as his food and drink. He did this for five years and then took the Complete Precepts.

In 629 at the age of 27, having been a monk for fifteen years, he secretly left China and made the dangerous journey across the silk road to India. Sixteen years later, having learned Sanskrit and studied with the best Indian teachers, he returned with an incredible collection of 657 Indian texts, a number of statues of the Buddha and various relics. He was acclaimed by the Emperor who supported him the remainder of his life so he could translate the texts and convey the Mahayana teachings to China. On his deathbed he dedicated his merit so that all present would be born again among the inner circle of Maitreya in Tushita Heaven

His Cheng Wei Shih Lun (Treatise on the Attainment of Consciousness Only), a compendium outlining Yogacara doctrine, became the standard text for the Consciousness Only schools of China and Japan.

He translated many other Sanskrit texts into Chinese including the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, which filled 600 volumes, Asanga’s Treatise on the States of Yoga Practice, the Master of Lapis Lazuli Radiance Tathagata which established the practice of the Medicine Buddha in China and the Far East.

Yogacara Masters After Hsuan-Tsang

Kuei-Chi (638-682 A.D.) was Hsuan-Tsang’s most prominent Chinese student. He systematized the Yogacara teaching and established Yogacara as a distinct school in China, called Fa-hsiang. He also wrote commentaries to Hsuan-Tsang’s Yogacara works including the Fa-yuan-i-lin-chang and the Wei-shih-shu-chi.

Hsuan-Tsang also had several notable Japanese and Korean students. Dosho (628-700) studied with Hsuan-Tsang for ten years sharing a room with Kuei-Chi. When he left to go back to Japan he was given sutras, treatises and Yogacara commentaries to help him establish Yogacara there which he did, teaching at Bwangoji monastery. His most famous student is Gyogi (667-748). A Korean student Chiho studied with Hsuan-Tsang and also went to Japan to teach. His pupil Gembo went back to China in 716 and was instructed by Chih-Chou, a pupil of Kuei-Chi. Another early Japanese student who studied with Hsuan-Tsang was Chitsu. “Thus,” as Junjiro Takakusu wrote in his Essentials of Buddhist Philosophy in 1947, “Japan received the orthodox teaching sacrosanct from first-hand authorities of the Indian and Chinese Yogacara School and with the Japanese even now it is the chief subject of Buddhist learning.”

Hosso, the Japanese name for Yogacara, thrived during the Nara period and today several prominent ancient temples are still functioning. Yogacara proper in India and China did not fare so well. The Yogacara School in India became part of a Yogacara-Madhyamika School which thrived in the last centuries before Buddhism disappeared in India under Islamic persecution. This school became influential in Tibet through Santaraksita, one of the first Buddhist Masters to teach in Tibet, and today all Tibetan sects have a strong Yogacara component. This is especially visible in the more contemplative Kagyu and Nyingma practice traditions. Several Kagyu teachers have supervised English translations of Asanga’s works in recent years.

An example of the respect Tibetan teachers have for Yogacara is this appreciation taken from a dharma talk by the Venerable Traleg Rinpoche,

People have generally ignored how Yogacara philosophy influenced Buddhist tantra and its development. Even though it’s quite patent in the writings of Buddhist tantra… Yogacara philosophy itself developed as a reaction against too much theorization. It came to emphasize individual experience and practice,hence the name Yogacara, meaning practitioners of yoga… You could not theorize about Yogacara philosophy without meditating. In fact, you could not be a Yogacara philosopher unless you meditate. When we look at the writings of Yogacara philosophy, we discover many tantric concepts mentioned.

The Fa-hsiang School suffered under the general persecution of Buddhism in China during the middle of the 9th century and gradually disappeared. However, its works are still preserved, and it was revived in the 20th century by several Masters including Ou-Yang Ching-Wu (1871-1943), Abbot Taiuhso (1889-1947, and Hsin Shih-Li (1883-1968), who wrote A New Doctrine of Consciousness Only in 1944. This revival led to the Hsuan-Tsang’s Cheng Wei Shih Lun being translated into English for the first time in 1973 by Wei Tat, a member of a Hong Kong Yogacara group.

Perhaps the greatest success of the Yogacara teachings was in Gandhara where it Third Turning was revealed. There Yogacara became the foundation for Dzogchen which flourishes today in Tibet as the summit of Buddhist philosophy. That is no small honor for the remarkable work the early Yogacara Masters accomplished in clarifying the essence of the Mahayana path.

A Biography of Acarya Nagarjuna

By Sera sMad Geshe Lobsang Tharchin

Acarya Nagarjuna, as is widely known, founded the Madhyamika tradition of Buddhism. His appearance was prophesied in many sutras, among them the Lankavatara, Manjusrimulakalpa, Mahamegha, and Mahabheri.

Four hundreds years after the nirvana of the Buddha Sakyamuni, there was living in the southern India in a land called Vidarbha (literally, the " Land of Palms"), a prosperous Brahman who had no sons. A sign appeared to him in a dream, indicating that he would receive a son if he paid homage to 100 Brahmans. He did so, praying earnestly that his deeply-held wish might be fulfilled, and 10 months later a son was born.

The newly-born child was taken to a soothsayer, who said that although the infant did indeed have the signs of an exceptional person, he would live only seven days. The anxious parents asked whether something couldn't be done to avert the fate. The soothsayer replied that if they gave food to 100 persons, the boy would live for seven days and that --- if they made offerings to 100 monks --- he would live for seven years. Nothing beyond that could be done. As the end of the seven years approached they sent the young boy, in the company of several attendants, on an excursion, for they would not have been able to bear the sight of their son's corpse.

While traveling, the boy experienced a vision of the god Khasarpana (a particular manifestation of Arya Lokesvara). Soon afterwards, the party reached the great monastery of Nalanda. While they were standing near the dwelling of one Brahman Saraha, the boy uttered several verses of poetry. The Brahman heard the lines and invited the party inside. He asked them about their journey and of how they had come to reach Nalanda. One of the attendants related the boy's history and told of his imminent death. Saraha replied to this that if the boy were to abandon the worldly life by taking a vow of renunciation, there was a way to avoid the plight. The boy agreed to do so and was first initiated into the "Mandala of Amitabha which Conquers the Lord of Death". Afterwards he was instructed to recite dharani mantras. On the eve of his seventh birthday in particular he recited mantras through the night and thus overcame this encounter with the Lord of Death.

Upon reaching the age of eight, the boy took the vow of renunciation and began studies of the traditional sciences. He studied as well scriptural texts of each of the major schools of Buddhist thought. Sometime afterwards he again met his parents, and later requested the very same Brahman Saraha to instruct him in the esoteric teachings of Sri Guhya Samaja. He was taught the appropriate tantras, together with their complete oral instruction. Next, after submitting a formal request to the monastery's abbot, he took the full ordination of a monk and became known as Bhiksu Srimanta.

Being of those who are watched over by Manjusri in all their lives, the monk found opportunities for hearing, in its entirely, the Dharma of both sutras and tantras from the Bodhisattva teacher Ratna Mati, who was a manifestation of Manjusri in his "divine youth" aspect. In this way Srimanta came to be a consummate master of the Dharma.

At a later time a great famine arose, leaving the sangha of Nalanda with no means of subsistence. The abbot, Sthavira Rahula Bhadra, appointed Bhiksu Srimanta the sangha's steward. Although the famine lasted 12 years and greatly reduced the population of the surrounding land of Magadha, the bhiksu was able to sustain the sangha by utilizing his knowledge of alchemical science. He had acquired this knowledge from a Brahman versed in alchemy, in the following way. The bhiksu first prepared two sandalwood leaves as charms for the Siddhi of Swiftfootedness. Carrying one leaf in his hand and the other concealed in the sole of his sole, he then proceeded to the distant land where the Brahman lived and asked to be given the instruction of the "elixir which transforms common metals to gold".

The Brahman thought to himself that the stranger must have had some special charm allowing him to come to the isle. Desirous of acquiring it, he said to the bhiksu: "Knowledge must be exchanged for knowledge, or compensated in gold." "Well, then," replied Bhiksu Srimanta, "we must exchange knowledge," and he gave the Brahman the charm he had been carrying his hand. Thinking that the visitor could no longer leave the island, the Brahman gave him the instruction. Using the leaf he had kept in the sole of his shoe, the bhiksu then returned to Magadha. He was thus able to provide Nalanda's sangha amply with all their essential needs, through transmuting great quantities of iron to gold with the alchemical elixir.

Some time after this, Bhiksu Srimanta served as the abbot of Nalanda. He paid great tribute to those members of the sangha who observed the Three Trainings properly and expelled those bhiksus and sramanas who were morally corrupt. He is reputed to have banished as many as 8,000 monks.

It was during this period as well that one Bhiksu Samkara composed a scripture entitled The Ornament of Knowledge. It was written in 12,000 verses and represented an attempt to discredit the Mahayana doctrine. By means of logic, the Bhiksu Srimanta was able to refuge the argument completely. He also disproved many other scriptures denying the validity of the Mahayana. On one occasion, in a place called Jatasamghata, he defeated 500 non-Buddhist scholars in debate and converted them to the Buddhist religion by overcoming their false views.

During that time when the Acarya was teaching the Dharma of the Tripitaka widely to many followers, two youths who were actually emanations of nagas came to him seeking the Dharma. With their presence the entire area became filled with the fragrance of sandalwood. Upon their departure it disappeared and when they returned the fragrance reappeared as well. The Acarya asked them the reason for this, and the youths replied that they were sons of the naga king Taksala. They had anointed themselves with essence of sandalwood as immunization against human impurities.

The Acarya then asked them to give him some of the sandalwood for an image of Tara and to assist him in constructing temples as well. The youths answered that they would have to ask their father, and then left. They returned after two days to tell the Acarya that only if he himself came to the Land of the Nagas could they do as he bade. Aware of the benefit to all beings that would result from his going, the Acarya journeyed to the Land of the Nagas, where King Taksala and other righteous-minded nagas presented him with innumerable offerings. The mahatma preached the Dharma to the nagas in compliance with their every supplication, bringing them so much satisfaction that they entreated him to remain among them permanently. He answered: "Because I have come here for the purpose of securing the sutra of Prajnaparamita in 100,000 verses and 'naga clay' --- which is needed for the construction of temples and stupas --- I have no opportunity now to stay. I shall perhaps be able to return in the future."

When he had acquired the expanded version of the Mother of the Jinas, several shorter texts of the Prajnaparamita, and great quantities of naga clay, the Acarya prepared to return to our world of the Jambudvipa. It is said that in order to ensure the Acarya's return to their land, the nagas kept from him a small portion at the end of the 100,000 verses. The missing portion --- the last two chapters of the unabridged Sutra on the Prajnaparamita --- was therefore replaced by the corresponding chapters of the Prajnaparamita Sutra in 8,000 verses. This is why the final two chapters of each Sutra are identical.

After securing the Prajnaparamita sutras, the Acarya greatly advanced the influence of the Mahayana tradition. When he preached the Dharma in the monastery park, the nagas performed acts of reverence such as six of the serpents forming a parasol to shade him from the sun. Having thus become the Lord of the Nagas, the Acarya was named "The Naga". Because his skill at spreading the Mahayana Dharma resembled the shooting speed and mastery of the famed archer Arjuna, he became known as well as "The Arjuna". It is otherwise explained that he was called "Nagarjuna" because, by practising the sadhanas of the goddess Kurukulla, he gained authority over such nagas as King Taksaka and others.

Nagarjuna later traveled to the area of Pundravardhana where, utilizing the practice of alchemy, he performed many acts of great generosity. In particular, he bestowed great quantities of gold upon an elderly Brahman couple and thus instilled them with great faith. The Brahman elder served Nagarjuna and listened to the Dharma from him, and after his death he was reborn as the Master Bodhinaga.

Nagarjuna also constructed many temples. Once, when he was preparing to transform a large, bell-shaped boulder into gold, an emanation of Tara with the form of an old woman appeared and said to him: "Instead of doing this, you should go to the Mountain of Splendour and practice the Dharma." Later he did go there to practice the sadhanas of Tara.

On another occasion, where he had accomplished the sadhana for invoking the goddess Candika, the goddess herself carried the Acarya into the sky and attempted to take him to the celestial realms. "I have not exerted myself in order to travel to the celestial realms," he said to her. "I have invoked you in order to provide support for the Mahayana sangha, for as long as the Buddha's teaching remains." They returned, and the goddess established herself to the near west of Nalanda, manifesting herself in the form of a noblewoman of the royal caste. Nagarjuna instructed her, saying: "A great stake of khadira wood, so large that a man can barely lift it, has been driven into the wall of a stone temple dedicated to Manjusri. Until that stake turns to ashes, you must provide subsistence for the temple's sangha."

With articles of every sort, the noblewoman made offerings to the sangha for 12 years. During this time the steward of the monastery, a sramanera of evil nature, made continual promiscuous advances to her. The noblewoman made no replies, until one day she finally said: "If the khadira-wood stake ever turns to ashes, we could be united." The wicked sramanera therefore set the stake afire. When it had become ashes, the goddess herself vanished.

There was another time when a number of elephants were threatening to damage the Bodhi tree at Vajrasana (present-day Bodhgaya). Nagarjuna erected two stone columns behind the sacred tree which provided protection for many years. When the elephants later returned, the Acarya erected two images of Mahakala astride a lion, wielding a club. This was also effective but the danger nonetheless reappeared and a stone fence was built around the tree. Outside the enclosure, the Acarya constructed 108 stupas. The stupas were huge and each one was crowned by a smaller stupa containing sacred bone-relics of the Buddha.

The Acarya further constructed many temples and stupas in the six major cities of Magadha - Sravasta, Saketa, Campaka, Varanasi, Rajagrha and Vaisali - and provided preachers of the Dharma with adequate subsistence.

Above all, Nagarjuna knew that virtually no one understood the true meaning of the Prajnaparamita basket of Sutra. He also knew that without having realized this unerringly there was no means for achieving liberation. He thus widely proclaimed the Middle Path, which asserts that sunyata (the essential meaning of Dependent Origination, that all things are totally void of self-existent nature) is totally consistent with principles expressing an infallible relation between "black" and "white" karma and its consequences. By means of his five-part collection of works on logic the Acarya clearly expounded the ultimate meaning of the Buddha's wisdom. This collection consists of the major treatise, the Mulamadhyamika Karika and its four limbs: the Yukti Sastika, Sunyata Saptati, Vaidalya Sutra, and Vigraha Vyavarttani.

After this period, Acarya Nagarjuna stayed for six months on Mount Usira, to the north. He was accompanied by 1,000 disciples and sustained each one with a daily tablet of a quicksilver rasayana he had prepared. One day a disciple, Siddha Singkhi, respectfully touched the pill to his head but did not eat it. The Acarya asked why, and his follower answered: "I have no need of the pill. If it pleases you, Acarya, please prepare a number of vessels by filling them with water." Thus, 1,000 large containers were filled with water and placed there, in the forest. The siddha then added a drop of urine to each of the vessels, which transformed all the liquid into "elixir for gold". The Acarya took all the vessels and concealed them in a secluded, inaccessible cave, uttering a prayer that they might serve to benefit beings of the future.

This Siddha Singkhi had not always been so adept. When he first met the Acarya, he was so dull-witted that he could not learn even a single verse over a period of many days. The Acarya then told him, in a jesting tone, to meditate that a horn had grown on top of his head. The disciple did so, maintaining his object of meditation so sharply that he achieved the tangible and visible sign of having grown a horn. He was therefore unable to leave the cave in which he was meditating, for the horn got caught on the walls. The siddha was then instructed to meditate that the horn was no longer present, and it subsequently disappeared.

Realizing that his disciple's mental faculties had now become sharply developed, the Acarya taught him several profound meanings of the secret mantras. Nagarjuna then instructed him to meditate once more, and the follower ultimately attained the siddhi of the Mahamudra.

Later the Acarya traveled to the northern continent of Kurava. Along the way, in a city named Salamana, he encountered several children playing in the road. Nagarjuna read the palm of one of them, a boy named Jetaka, and prophesied that he would become king. On the return journey, following the accomplishment of his goal in Kurava, the Acarya met the former youth, who had since become the king. For three years Nagarjuna remained with the king, who bestowed upon the Acarya many jewels. In return he composed for the king a jewel of the Dharma: namely, the Ratnavali.

It was then that he traveled south, as he had been advised by the emanation of Tara, to practice meditation at the Mountain of Splendour. Here Nagarjuna also turned the Wheel of the Dharma, that of both sutras and tantras, extensively - and it was at this time that he composed, in particular, the scripture Dharmadhatu Stava.

In general, the Acarya's compositions are divided into three collections:

1. The Collection of Discourses - including such works as the Ratnavali, Suhrllekha, Prajna Sataka, Prajna Danda, and Janaposana Bindu;

2. The Collection of Tributes - the Dharmadhatu Stava, Lokatita Stava, Acintya Stava, and Paramartha Stava; and

3. The Collection of Logic Writings - the aforementioned Mulamadhyamika Karika, etc.

In addition to these, he wrote other important treatises explaining the meanings of both sutras and tantras and, indeed, performed activities as though the Buddha had returned again.

It is said that Nagarjuna made three "great proclamations of the Dharma". The first was upholding the Vinaya discipline in Nalanda, as previously explained. This was like the first turning of the Wheel of the Dharma by the Bhagavan. The second was his clear exposition of the Pure Middle View, through the composition of the collection of logic treatises and others. This was similar to the Bhagavan's second turning of the Wheel. The third great proclamation constituted the Acarya's activities upon the Mount of Splendour in the south, where he composed such works as the Dharmadhatu Stava. This was akin to the final turning of the Wheel of the Dharma by the Bhagavan.

Such extensive works on behalf of the Dharma and living beings aroused great displeasure in Mara and the forces of evil. A boy, Kumara Saktiman, had earlier been born to the queen of King Udayibhadra. Years later, the mother was presenting her son with a rare, fine garment when the boy told her: "Put this away for me. I shall wear it when it is time for me to rule the kingdom." "You shall never rule," replied his mother, "for the Acarya Nagarjuna has brought it about that your father and he will not die unless the Acarya does." The boy was so overcome with grief that his mother continued: "Don't cry so! The Acarya is a Bodhisattva, and if you ask him for his head he will not refuse. With that, your father will also die --- and you shall acquire the kingdom."

The child followed his mother's suggestion and Nagarjuna did indeed agree to give his head. Yet however much effort the boy used, his sword could not cut Nagarjuna's neck. The Acarya told the boy: "Long ago, while cutting some grass, I happened to kill an insect. The force of that misdeed remains with me still, and you can thus sever my head by using a blade of kusa grass." This the boy did, and so was able to cut off Nagarjuna's head. The blood which flowed from the wound turned to milk, and the following words issued from the dismembered head: "From here I depart to Sukhavati heaven. In the future, I shall enter this body again."

The wicked prince cast the head away at several leagues' distance, fearing that it would once more join the body. Since the Acarya had attained the practice of rasayana, however, his head and body became stone-hard. The two are said to be coming nearer and nearer, one to the other, every year, in the end to be joined once more. Nagarjuna will then again perform great works for the benefit of the teaching and all living beings.

As is written in the Manjusrimulakalpa, the Acarya Nagarjuna lived for a total of 600 years:

'After I, the Tathagata, have passed away
And 400 years have elapsed,
A bhiksu, "The Naga", shall appear, of Great faith and benefit to the teaching.
He shall achieve the stage of Great Joy
And for 600 years remain living.'

The Bodhisambhara Shastra

The Treatise on the Provisions Essential to Enlightenment
The Bodhisambhara Shastra

By Arya Nagarjuna

Translated into Chinese by the Great Sui Dynasty's
South Indian Tripitaka Master Dharmagupta (550?-619 ce)

English Translation by Bhikshu Dharmamitra

001
Now, in the presence of all the Buddhas,
With palms pressed together, I bow down my head in reverence.
I shall, in accordance with the teachings, explain
The provisions essential for the bodhi of the Buddhas.

002
How would one be able to describe without omission
All of the provisions for the realization of bodhi?
This could only be accomplished by the Buddhas themselves,
For they, exclusively, have realized the boundless enlightenment.

003
As for the boundless meritorious qualities of a buddha's body,
The provisions for enlightenment constitute their very root.
Therefore the provisions for enlightenment
Themselves have no bounds.

004
I shall then explain but a lesser portion of them.
I respectfully offer reverence to the Buddhas and the Bodhisattvas.
All such bodhisattvas as these—
They, after the Buddhas, should be given one's offerings.

005
Since it is the mother of the Bodhisattvas,
It is also the mother of the Buddhas:
The Prajñaparamita :
Is the foremost among the provisions for enlightenment.

006
Giving, moral virtue, patience, vigor, and meditative discipline
As well as that which extends beyond these five—
In every case, because they arise from the perfection of wisdom,
They are subsumed within this prajnaparamita;.

007
These six paramita's
Encompass the provisions for bodhi,
They are comparable in this to empty space,
Which entirely envelopes all things.

008
There is in addition the opinion of another master
That, as for the provisions for enlightenment,
Truth, relinquishment , quiescent cessation, and wisdom—
These four bases subsume them all.

009
The great compassion penetrates even the marrow of one's bones.
Thus one becomes for all beings one on whom they can rely.
One's regard for them is like that of a father towards his only son.
Thus loving-kindness then extends to everyone.

010
If one brings to mind the meritorious qualities of a buddha
Or hears of a buddha's spiritual transformations,
One may be purified through one's affection and joyfulness.
This is what qualifies as the great sympathetic joy.

011
As regards his relations with beings, the bodhisattva
Should not, on realizing equanimity, simply forsake them.
In accordance with whatever abilities his powers enable,
He should always strive to draw them in.

012
The bodhisattva, even from that time when his efforts begin,
Should, as befits the power of his abilities,
Employ skillful means to transform beings,
Thus causing them to enter the Great Vehicle.

013
If one transformed through teachings a Ganges' sands of beings,
Causing them all to gain the fruit of arhatship,
Still, transforming a single person so he enters the Great Vehicle—
The merit from this is superior to the former.

014
Instructing through resort to the Hearer Vehicle
Or through resort to the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle
Is undertaken where, on account of lesser abilities,
Beings are unable to accept instruction in the Great Vehicle.

015
Where, even by utilizing the Hearer and Pratyekabuddha Vehicles
In addition to drawing on the Great Vehicle,
There are those who still cannot accept transformative teaching—
One should establish them in merit-creating circumstances.

016
If there be persons who are unable to accept
Transformative teachings conducing to the heavens or liberation,
One should employ the means of bestowing present-life benefits
And, as one's powers dictate, one should draw them in.

017
Where a bodhisattva with respect to particular beings
Has no basis through which to teach and transform them,
He should raise forth great loving-kindness and compassion
And should not then simply cast them aside and forsake them.

018
Drawing in through giving, or through explaining Dharma,
Or through listening in return to others speaking about Dharma,
Or also through endeavors beneficial to them—
These are skillful means by which one may draw them in.

019
In that which is done for the benefit of beings,
One should not become either weary or negligent.
One should bring forth vows for the sake of bodhi.
Benefiting the world is just benefiting oneself.

020
Entering the extremely profound state of the Dharma realm,
One extinguishes and abandons discriminations.
They all become devoid of any useful function.
Thus, in every circumstance, one naturally abides in equanimity.

021
Personal gain, reputation, praise, and happiness—
In every case, one refrains from attachment to these four points.
Moreover, even their opposites present no obstacle.
Conduct of this sort constitutes the practice of equanimity.

022
In the bodhisattva's striving for bodhi,
So long as he has not yet gained irreversibility,
He acts as urgently as the person whose turban has caught fire.
Thus one should take up just such intensely diligent practice.

023
Thus it is that those bodhisattvas,
When striving for the realization of bodhi,
Should not rest in their practice of vigor,
For they have shouldered such a heavy burden.

024
So long as he has not generated great compassion or the patiences,
Even though he may have gained an irreversibility,
The bodhisattva is still subject to a form of "dying"
Which occurs through allowing negligence to arise.

025
The grounds of the Hearers or the Pratyekabuddhas
If entered, become for him the same as dying.
Because he would thereby sever the bodhisattva's
Roots of understanding and awareness.

026
Even at the prospect of falling into the hell-realms,
The bodhisattva would not be struck with fright.
The grounds of the Hearers and the Pratyekabuddhas, however,
Do provoke a great terror in him.

027
It is not the case that falling into the hell realms
Would bring about an ultimate obstacle to his bodhi.
The grounds of the Hearers and the Pratyekabuddhas, however,
Do create just such an ultimate obstacle.

028
Just as is said of he who loves long life,
That he becomes fearful at the prospect of his own beheading,
So, too, the grounds of the Hearers and Pratyekabuddhas
Should bring about a fearfulness of just this sort.

029
Not produced and not destroyed—
Neither unproduced nor undestroyed—
Nor is it the case that one posits "both" or "neither"—
As for "emptiness" and "non-emptiness"—it is the same for them.

030
No matter which among all dharmas one encounters,
In their midst, one remains unmoving in one's contemplation.
Those who achieve this abide in the unproduced-dharmas patience
On account of having cut off all forms of discrimination.

031
Once one has succeeded in gaining this patience,
One immediately receives the prediction:
"You will definitely become a buddha."
It is then that one succeeds in achieving irreversibility.

032
Those bodhisattvas already dwelling at the stage of immovability
Have gained irreversible knowledge of dharmas as they really are.
Their knowledge is invincible to those of the Two Vehicles.
Hence this stage alone is designated "irreversible."

033
Up until the bodhisattva has gained
The ground of all Buddhas' present manifestation
Along with its durably-solid samadhis,
He should not allow any negligence to arise.

034
The ground of all buddhas' present manifestation
With its durably-solid samadhis—
This constitutes the bodhisattva's father
While the great compassion and the patiences serve as his mother.

035
As for the perfection of wisdom serving as his mother
And skillful means serving as his father,
It is on account of the one's giving birth and the other's support.
Thus those are also claimed as the bodhisattva's father and mother.

036
With but a lesser accumulation of merit
One remains unable to realize bodhi.
Merit the measure of a hundred Mount Sumerus—
Only an accumulation exceeding that would enable its realization.

037
Although one may perform but a minor meritorious deed,
Even in this, one possesses a skillful means:
Taking all beings as the object of this act,
One in all cases brings about transformation of the conditions.

038
As for he who reflects, "Whatever actions I undertake,
They will always be for the sake of benefiting beings"—
With a mind which courses on in this way—
Who could be able to measure his merit?

039
When he is not cherishing of even his relatives, his retinue,
Or of his own body, life, or wealth—
When he does not covet the "sovereign-independence" happiness,
The Brahma-world heavens, or any other heavens—

040
When he does not covet even nirvana,
This because his actions are undertaken for the sake of beings—
When in this way, he bears in mind only other beings—
Who could be able to measure his merit?

041
When for those of the world without refuge or protection,
He rescues and protects them from their bitter afflictions—
When he raises forth such thought and actions as these—
Who could be able to measure his merit?

042
If he were to act in accord with the perfection of wisdom
Only for the moment of tugging cow's milk, it would then be so.
If he did so for a month or for many more months—
Who could be able to measure his merit?

043
When, taking up those profound sutras praised by buddhas,
One recites them to himself, teaches them to others,
Or provides analysis and explanation for their sakes—
It is this which generates the accumulation of merit.

044
When one causes countless beings
To generate the mind resolved on bodhi,
That treasury of merit becomes even more supreme.
One thus becomes bound to gain the ground of immovability.

045
When one follows along in turning what the Buddha turned,
The wheel of the most supreme Dharma,
Bringing to quiescent cessation all of the evil piercings—
It is this which establishes the bodhisattva's treasury of merit.

046
For the sake of bringing benefit and happiness to beings,
One would endure even the great sufferings of the hells,
How much the more so the other lesser sufferings.
In such a case, bodhi resides in one's own right hand.

047
When in initiating actions, it is not for one's own sake,
But rather solely to bring benefit and happiness to beings—
Because in all cases this arises from the great compassion,
Bodhi resides in one's own right hand.

048
When one's wisdom abandons frivolous discourse—
When one's vigor abandons indolence—
When one's giving abandons miserliness—
Bodhi resides in one's own right hand.

049
When meditative concentration is free of dependence or ideation—
When moral precepts are perfectly fulfilled and unadulterated—
When one has gained the unproduced-dharmas patience—
Bodhi resides in one's own right hand.

050
Those now abiding in the ten directions—
All of those who have gained the right enlightenment—
I, in the presence of them all, directly before them,
Lay forth and describe those unwholesome deeds I have done.

051
In those realms throughout the ten directions,
If there be buddhas who have gained realization of bodhi
And yet have not proclaimed and expounded the Dharma—
I request of them that they turn the wheel of Dharma.

052
In the present era, throughout the ten-directions' realms,
Among all those possessed of the right enlightenment—
If there be those about to relinquish their lives and practices,
I prostrate in reverence, exhorting and requesting them to remain.

053
Wherever there are any beings who,
By their physical, verbal, or mental deeds,
Generate merit through giving, moral virtue,
And so forth, on through to the cultivation of meditation—

054
Whether it be that of aryas or common persons,
And whether it be created in the past, present, or future—
All of their accumulated merit—
In every case, I am moved to accord with and rejoice in it.

055
If all of the merit which I have created
Could be formed into a single ball,
I would bestow it on all beings through transference
For the sake of causing them to realize the right enlightenment.

056
My acting in this manner in repentance of transgressions,
Exhortation, requesting, accordant rejoicing in others' merit,
And the transference through dedication to bodhi—
One should realize these accord with the acts of all Buddhas.

057
That confession and repentance of the evils of my karmic offenses,
The requesting of the Buddha, the accordant rejoicing in merit,
And the transference through dedication to bodhi—
These accord with the instructions of the most supreme ones.

058
Kneeling down with the right knee touching the ground,
And the upper robe arranged, baring the one shoulder—
Three times each day and three times each night,
One places the palms together and proceeds in this manner.

059
The merit created in even a single instance of this,
If it were allowed to manifest in material form,
Even a Ganges' sands number of great chiliocosms
Could not be able to contain it.

060
After the initial generation of resolve,
In relating to bodhisattvas of lesser standing,
One should bring forth for them a veneration and cherishing
Comparable to that reserved for one's own guru and parents.

061
Although a bodhisattva may have committed transgressions,
Even so, one still should not speak about them.
How much the less might one do so where no actual case exists.
One should then engage only in praises which accord with truth.

062
In an instance where a person has vowed to become a buddha
And one wishes to influence him to achieve irreversibility,
Make matters manifestly apparent, cause him to blaze full of fire,
And also inspire in him the happiness of sympathetic joy.

063
When one has not yet understood extremely profound scriptures,
One must not claim they were not spoken by a buddha.
If one makes statements of this sort,
One undergoes the most intense suffering in retribution for evil.

064
As for karmic offenses generating "nonintermittent" retributions—
If one were to form them all into a single ball
And compare them to the two karmic offenses described above,
They would not amount even to the smallest fraction thereof.

065
As regards the three gates to liberation,
One should skillfully cultivate them:
The first is emptiness, the next is signlessness,
And the third is wishlessness.

066
Because they have no self-existent nature, phenomena are empty.
If already empty, how could one establish any characteristic signs?
Since all characteristic signs abide in a state of quiescent cessation,
What could there be that the wise might wish for?

067
When cultivating and bearing these in mind,
One goes toward and draws close to the nirvana path.
Do not bear in mind anything not resulting in a buddha's body
And, in that matter, one must not allow any negligence.

068
"In this matter of nirvana, I
Should not immediately bring about its realization."
One ought to generate a resolve of this sort,
And then should bring to ripeness the perfection of wisdom.

069
Just as an archer might shoot his arrows upwards,
Causing each in succession to strike the one before,
Each holding up the other so none are allowed to fall—
Just so it is with the great bodhisattva.

070
Into the emptiness of the gates to liberation,
He skillfully releases the arrows of the mind.
Through artful skillful means, arrows are continuously held aloft,
So none are allowed to fall back down into nirvana.

071
"I refuse to forsake beings
And so continue on for the sake of benefiting beings."
One first brings forth just such resolve as this,
And thence, forever after, one's practice accords with that.

072
There are those who've attached to existence of beings and the like
Throughout time's long night and in present actions as well.
They retain inverted views regarding characteristic signs.
This is due in every case to confusion wrought by delusion.

073
For those attached to marks who retain inverted views,
One resolves to proclaim Dharma that they might be severed.
One first generates just such a mind as this.
And thence, forever after, one's practice accords with that.

074
The bodhisattva strives on for the benefit of beings
And yet does not perceive the existence of any being.
This in itself is the most difficult among endeavors
And is such a rarity, it transcends one's powers of conception.

075
Although one may have entered "the right and definite position,"
And one's practice may accord with the gates to liberation,
Because one has not yet fulfilled one's original vows,
One refrains from proceeding to the realization of nirvana.

076
Where one has not yet reached the "definite" position,
One holds oneself back through the power of skillful means.
Because one has not yet fulfilled one's original vows,
In this case, too, one refrains from opting for realization of nirvana.

077
Equipped with the most ultimate renunciation of cyclic existence,
One nonetheless still confronts cyclic existence directly.
While maintaining faith and happiness in nirvana,
One still turns one's back on taking up the realization of nirvana.

078
Although one should maintain a dread of afflictions,
One still should not bring afflictions to their final end.
One should proceed to accumulate the many forms of goodness,
Employing blocking techniques to block off the afflictions.

079
For the bodhisattva, afflictions fit with his very nature.
He is not one for whom nirvana is the basis of his very nature.
It is not the case that the burning up of the afflictions
Can bring about the generation of the bodhi seed.

080
As for the predictions accorded to those other beings,
These predictions involved their own causes and conditions.
They were only a function of the Buddha's excellent skillfulness,
And were expedient means to facilitate reaching the far shore.

081
The comparisons involve "empty space," "lotus flowers,"
"Precipitous cliffs," and "a deep abyss."
Just so, their realms. Analogies cite "non-virility" and "klecamani,"
With an additional comparison made to "seeds which are burned."

082
All of the treatises as well as artisan's skills,
The esoteric skills of higher clarity, all of the sorts of livelihoods—
Because they bring benefit to the world,
One brings them forth and establishes them.

083
Adapting to beings amenable to transformative teaching,
To their realms, paths, and birth circumstances,
As befits one's reflections, one proceeds forthwith to them,
And, through power of vows, takes birth among them.

084
In the midst of all sorts of circumstances rife with evil
And in the midst of beings prone to guileful flattery and deceit,
One should put to use one's sturdy armor
And so must not yield to loathing and must not become fearful.

085
One equips oneself with the supremely pure mind,
Does not resort to guileful flattery or deception,
Reveals all of the evils of one's karmic offenses,
And keeps concealed his many good deeds.

086
One purifies the karma of body and mouth
And also purifies the karma of the mind,
Cultivating observance of all passages in the moral-code training.
One must not allow any omissions or diminishment in this.

087
One establishes himself in right mindfulness,
Focuses on objective conditions, and meditates in solitary silence.
Having put mindfulness to use to serve as a guard,
The mind becomes free of any obstructive thoughts.

088
When bringing forth discriminations,
One should realize which are good and which are not.
One should forsake any which are not good
And extensively cultivate those which are good.

089
If the mind trained on the objective sphere becomes scattered,
One should focus one's mindful awareness,
Return it to that objective sphere,
And, whenever movement occurs, immediately cause it to halt.

090
One should not indulge any laxness, any grasping at what is bad,
Nor any intense cultivation of such things.
Since one is prevented thereby from maintaining concentration,
One should therefore constantly cultivate accordingly.

091
Even if one were to take up the vehicle of the Hearers
Or the vehicle of the Pratyekabuddhas,
And hence practiced solely for one's own self benefit,
Still, one would not relinquish the enduring practice of vigor.

092
How much the less could it be that a great man,
One committed to liberate himself and liberate others,
Might somehow not generate
A measure of vigor a thousand kotis times greater?

093
It may be that one tries to carry on a separate practice half the time,
Thus practicing some other path of cultivation simultaneously.
In cultivating meditative concentration, one should not do this.
One should rather focus only on a single objective phenomenon.

094
One must not indulge any covetousness regarding the body
And must not cherish even one's very life.
Even if one allowed a protectiveness towards this body,
In the end, it is but a dharma bound to rot and destruction.

095
Offerings, reverence from others, or fame—
One must never develop a covetous attachment to them.
In the manner of one whose turban has caught fire, one should
Act with diligence, striving to accomplish what one has vowed.

096
Acting resolutely and immediately, pull forth the supreme benefit.
In this, one cannot wait for tomorrow.
Tomorrow is too distant a time,
For how can one ensure survival even for the blink of an eye?

097
Establishing oneself in right mindfulness,
When eating, it is as if consuming the flesh of one's cherished son.
With respect to that food which one takes to eat,
One must not indulge affection for it or disapproval of it.

098
For what purpose has one left the home life?
Have I finished what is to be done or not?
Reflect now on whether or not one is accomplishing the endeavor,
Doing so as described in the Ten Dharmas Sutra.

099
One should contemplate conditioned things as impermanent
As devoid of self, and as devoid of anything belonging to a self.
As for all forms of demonic karmic actions—
One should become aware of them and abandon them.

100
The roots, powers, limbs of enlightenment,
Bases of spiritual powers, right efforts and severances, the Path,
As well as the four stations of mindfulness—
One generates energetic diligence for the sake of cultivating these.

101
In beneficial and happiness-creating acts of goodness, the mind
Serves as the source for their continuously-repeated generation.
It also acts as the root of all manner of evil and turbidity.
One should make it the focus of skillful analytic contemplation.

102
"In my relationship to good dharmas—
What sort of daily increase is occurring in them?
And, again, what sort of reduction?"
Those should be the contemplations of utmost concern.

103
When one observes another gain increasing measure
Of offerings, of reverences, and of fame,
Even the most subtle thoughts of stinginess and jealously
Are in all cases not to be indulged.

104
One should not cherish any aspect of the objective realms,
But rather should act as if dull-witted, blind, mute, and deaf.
Still, when timely, one should respond by roaring "the lion's roar,"
Frightening off the non-Buddhist "deer."

105
In welcoming them on arrival and escorting them off as they go,
One should be reverential towards those worthy of veneration.
In all endeavors associated with the Dharma,
One should follow along, participate and contribute assistance.

106
One rescues and liberates beings bound to be killed,
Naturally increasing and never decreasing such works.
One cultivates well those karmic deeds requiring clarity and skill,
Training in them oneself while also teaching them to others.

107
Regarding all of the supremely good dharmas,
One adopts them through enduring and solid practice.
One cultivates the four means of attraction,
Making gifts of clothing as well as food and drink.

108
One does not turn away from those who beg for alms,
Brings together in harmony all who are related,
Does not allow his retinue to drift into estrangement,
And provides them with dwellings as well as material wealth.

109
As for one's father, mother, relatives, and friends,
One provides circumstances for them befitting their station
And, wherever they are provided such fitting circumstances,
One treats them as supreme and independent sovereigns.

110
Although there are yet others who act as one's servants,
One speaks to them with goodness and also, in effect, adopts them.
One should accord them the highest esteem,
Providing them with medicines and treatment for any illnesses.

111
Being the first to act, one becomes foremost in good karmic deeds,
Speaks with smooth and marvelously sublime words,
Is skillful in discourse guided by right intention,
And has none above or below to whom he does not proffer gifts.

112
One avoids any harm to the retinue of another,
Regards beings with the eye of loving-kindness,
Does not course in disapproving thoughts,
And treats all as one would close relatives or friends.

113
One should accord with the words he speaks,
Immediately following them with concordant actions.
If one immediately acts in accordance with his words,
Other people will then be caused to develop faith.

114
One should support and protect the Dharma,
Being aware of and looking into instances of neglectfulness,
Going so far as to create even a canopy of gold and jewels
Which spreads over and covers a caitya.

115
For those who wish to find a maiden mate,
Once adorned, one may see to her presentation,
And also discourse to them on Buddha's meritorious qualities,
Presenting them with prayer beads gleaming in varying hues.

116
One creates images of the Buddha
Which sit upright on supreme lotus blossoms.
And, in the six dharmas of monastic harmony,
One cultivates them, thus creating common delight and happiness.

117
Of those who may be given offerings, none are not given offerings.
Even for the sake of preserving one's life, one still does not slander
The Dharma spoken by the Buddha
Or the person who expounds the Dharma.

118
Gold and jewels are distributed among teaching masters
And also among the caityas of teaching masters.
If there are those who forget what is to be recited,
One assists their remembrance, enabling them to stay free of error.

119
When one has not yet reflected on what should be done,
One must not be impulsive and must not simply emulate others.
As for the non-Buddhists, gods, dragons, and spirits—
In every case, one must not invest one's faith in them.

120
One's mind should be like vajra,
Able to penetrate all dharmas.
One's mind should also be like a mountain,
Remaining unmoved by any circumstance.

121
One finds delight and happiness in world-transcending discourse,
But must not derive pleasure from words based on the worldly.
Having adopted all manner of meritorious qualities oneself,
One should influence others to adopt them as well.

122
One cultivates the five bases of liberation,
And also cultivates the ten reflections on impurity.
The eight realizations of the great men
Should also be the focus of analytic contemplation and cultivation.

123
The heavenly ear, the heavenly eye,
The bases of spiritual powers, the cognition of others' thoughts,
And the cognition of past lives and abodes—
One should cultivate purification of these five spiritual abilities.

124
The four bases of spiritual powers constitute the root.
They are zeal, vigor, mental focus, and contemplative reflection.
The four immeasurables control and sustain them.
They are kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.

125
The four elements are like poisonous serpents,
The six sense faculties are like an empty village
The five aggregates are like assassins.
One should contemplate them in this way.

126
One esteems the Dharma as well as the masters of Dharma
And also relinquishes any stinginess with the Dharma.
The instructing masters must not be tight-fisted or secretive
And those listening must not be mentally scattered or confused.

127
Free of arrogance and free of any particular hopes,
One resorts only to the mind motivated by compassion and pity.
With intentions imbued with veneration and reverence,
One expounds the Dharma for the sake of the assembly.

128
In learning, one never becomes weary or sated,
And having heard, in every case, one then recites and retains it.
One does not deceive any among the venerable fields of merit,
And, additionally, causes the teacher to be delighted.

129
One should not pay visits to the houses of others,
With a mind cherishing hopes for reverence or offerings.
One must not, for the sake of debating challenging topics,
Take up study and recitation of worldly texts.

130
One must not, on account of hatefulness or anger,
Defame anyone who is a bodhisattva.
With respect to dharmas not yet received or learned,
In those cases, too, one must not initiate slanders.

131
In order to cut off and get rid of arrogance and pride,
One should abide in the four lineage bases of the arya.
One must not course in disapproval of others
And must not allow oneself to become conceited.

132
Whether someone has actually committed a transgression or not,
One must not bring their cases to the attention of others.
Do not seek out the errors and faults of anyone else.
As for one's own errors, one should become aware of them.

133
As for the Buddha and the Dharma of all Buddhas,
One should not course in discriminations and doubts about them.
Even though a dharma may be extremely difficult to believe,
One should still maintain one's faith in it.

134
Even though one might be put to death for speaking the truth
Or be forced to abdicate the throne of wheel-turning king,
Or even that of a king of the gods,
One should still engage only in truthful speech.

135
Even if beaten, cursed, terrorized, slain, or bound up,
One must never subject others to enmity or castigation.
Think, "This is all the product of my own karmic offenses.
It is on account of karmic retribution that this has manifested."

136
One should, with the most ultimate respect and affection,
Provide offerings in support of one's father and mother,
Also supplying the needs of and serving the upādhyāyas,
While extending one's reverence to the ācāryas as well.

137
When, for the sake of those who believe in the Hearer Vehicle
Or those who resort to the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle,
One discourses on the most profound of dharmas,
This, for a bodhisattva, is an error.

138
When, for believers in the profound Great-Vehicle teachings,
One discourses to those beings
On the Hearer or Pratyekabuddha vehicles,
This, too, is an error for him.

139
So, too, where some eminent personage comes seeking the Dharma
And one delays this, thus failing to speak Dharma for him,
And then, on the contrary, one draws in and accepts what is evil—
So, too, if one appoints the unfaithful to positions of responsibility.

140
One should depart far from the errors herein described.
As for such herein-described meritorious practices as the dhūtas,
One should bear them in mind, come to know them,
And also draw close to them all in one's practice.

141
Regard all equally in one's thoughts, speak equally to all,
Be uniformly equal in skillfully establishing others,
And also in influencing others to accord with what is right.
Thus, in relating to beings, one remains free of discrimination.

142
One acts for the sake of Dharma and not for the sake of benefit,
Acts for the sake of what is meritorious, not for the sake of fame.
One aspires to liberate beings from suffering,
And does not wish simply to bring about one's own happiness.

143
With purposes kept to oneself, one seeks fruition in one's works.
When the results of one's merit-generating endeavors come forth,
Even then, one applies them to the ripening of the many.
Thus, in this, one relinquishes and abandons one's own concerns.

144
One should grow close to good spiritual friends (kalyānamitra).
This refers to the masters of Dharma, to the Buddhas,
To those who encourage one to leave the home life,
And to that class of persons which comes begging for alms.

145
Those who ground themselves in worldly treatises,
Those who exclusively seek worldly wealth,
Those with faith and awareness in the Pratyekabuddha Vehicle,
And those who are devoted to the Hearer Vehicle—

146
As for these four types of unwholesome spiritual friends,
The bodhisattva should be aware of them.
There are moreover those things which one should strive to gain.
This refers specifically to four great treasuries:

147
The emergence of Buddhas; hearing the perfections explained;
Being able where a Dharma master dwells,
To behold him with unobstructed mind;
And being able to abide happily in a place of solitude.

148
Earth, water, fire, wind, empty space—
One should abide in a manner comparable to them.
In all places, one should remain uniformly equal to all
And bestow one's benefit to all beings.

149
One should skillfully reflect upon the meanings
And should be diligent in generation of the dhāraṇīs.
In relating to those who listen to Dharma, one must not
Manifest any sort of obstruction of them.

150
In the midst of afflictions, one should be able to overcome them.
In minor matters, one is able to relinquish them without a trace.
In the eight circumstances involving indolence,
One should also in all cases cast it aside and cut it off.

151
One must not engage in covetousness for what is not one's lot,
Unprincipled covetousness will not bring satisfaction.
The estranged should be influenced to come together
Regardless of whether or not they are one's relations.

152
As for trying to get at emptiness itself in what is empty,
Those who are wise must not base their practice on that.
In the case of one determined to get at emptiness itself,
That wrong is even more extreme than viewing the body as a self.

153
From sweeping and maintaining floors to setting up adornments—
This as well as providing many sorts of drums and music—
Offering fragrances, flower garlands, and other sorts of offerings—
One should bestow all such sorts of offerings on the caityas.

154
One should create all sorts of lantern wheels
To make as offerings to the caityas and their buildings.
Provide then canopies as well as sandals,
Horse-drawn carriages, sedan chairs, and the like.

155
One should especially find delight and happiness in the Dharma
And be happy realizing what is gained through faith in Buddha.
One finds delight and enjoyment supplying and serving Sangha,
While also being pleased by listening to right Dharma.

156
They do not arise in the past.
They do not abide in the present.
They do not extend forward, thus arriving into the future.
One should contemplate dharmas in this way.

157
As for those things which are fine, one bestows them on beings
And does not seek that they will proffer fine rewards in return.
One should act so that only oneself is bound to endure suffering
And not favor oneself in the partaking of happiness.

158
Although one has become complete in rewards from great merit,
One's mind is not raised up by it nor should one feel delighted.
Although one may be as poverty-stricken as a hungry ghost,
Still, one does not become dejected or overcome with distress.

159
If there be one already accomplished in study,
One should accord him the most ultimate honorific esteem.
Those who've not yet studied, one should cause to take up study.
One should not generate towards them any slighting or disdain.

160
To those perfect in moral prohibitions, one should be reverential.
Those who break precepts, one should cause to adopt precepts.
To those equipped with wisdom, one should draw close.
Those who act foolishly, one should influence to abide in wisdom.

161
The sufferings of cyclic existence are of many kinds,
Involving birth, aging, death, and the wretched destinies.
One should not be frightened by their fearsomeness,
But rather should overcome demons and knowledge rooted in evil.

162
In the lands of all the Buddhas,
One amasses every form of merit.
So that all will reach one of them for themselves,
One generates vows and proceeds with vigor.

163
In the midst of all dharmas, one is constant
In not seizing on them, thus coursing along in equanimity.
Proceeding in this manner, for the sake of all beings,
One accepts the burden, wishing to carry it on forth.

164
One abides in the right contemplation of all dharmas
Wherein there is no self and nothing belonging to a self.
Even so, one must not relinquish the great compassion
And must also avail oneself of the great loving-kindness.

165
As for that which is superior even to using every sort of gift
In making offerings to the Buddha, the World Honored One,
What sort of action might that be?
This refers specifically to making offerings of Dharma.

166
If one upholds the Bodhisattva Canon,
Even to the point of gaining realization of the dhāranīs—
If one enters into and reaches the bottom of Dharma's source—
This is what constitutes the offering of Dharma.

167
One should rely upon the meaning.
One must not cherish only the various flavors.
In the Path of the profound Dharma
One enters skillfully and does not fall prey to negligence.

168
It is in this manner that one cultivates these provisions
Across the course of kalpas as numerous as the Ganges' sands,
Doing so as a monastic as well as in the role of a householder,
Thus becoming bound to gain fulfillment of right enlightenment.

End of Nagarjuna's Root Text

Translation © 2005 by Bhikshu Dharmamitra
www.kalavinka.org

THE ROYAL SONG OF SARAHA

translated by Herbert V. Guenther

I bow down to noble Manjushri
I bow down to Him who has conquered the finite.
1
As calm water lashed by wind
Turns into waves and rollers,
So the king thinks of Saraha
In many ways, although one man.
2
To a fool who squints
One lamp is as two;
Where seen and seer are not two, ah! the mind
Works on the thingness of them both.
3
Though the house-lamps have been lit,
The blind live on in the dark.
Though spontaneity is all-encompassing and close,
To the deluded it remains always far away.
4
Though there may be many rivers, they are one in the sea,
Though there may be many lies, one truth will conquer all.
When one sun appears, the dark
However deep will vanish.
5
As a cloud that rises from the sea
Absorbing rain the earth embraces,
So, like the sky, the sea remains
Without increasing or decreasing.
6
So from spontaneity that's unique,
Replete with the Buddha's perfections,
Are all sentient beings born and in it come
To rest. But it is neither concrete nor abstract.
7
They walk other paths and so forsake true bliss,
Seeking the delights that stimulants produce.
The honey in their mouths and to them so near
Will vanish if at once they do not drink it.
8
Beasts do not understand the world
To be a sorry place. Not so the wise
Who the heavenly nectar drink
While beasts hunger for the sensual.
9.
To a fly that likes the smell of putrid
Meat the fragrance of sandalwood is foul.
Beings who discard Nirvana
Covet coarse Samsara's realm.
10
An ox's footprints filled with water
Will soon dry up; so with a mind that's firm
But full of qualities that are not perfect;
These imperfections will in time dry up.
11
Like salt sea water that turns
Sweet when drunk up by the clouds,
So a firm mind that works for others turns
The poison of sense-objects into nectar.
12
If ineffable, never is one unsatisfied,
If unimaginable, it must be bliss itself.
Though from a cloud one fears the thunderclap,
The crops ripen when from it pours the rain.
13
It is in the beginning, in the middle, and
The end; yet end and beginning are nowhere else.
All those with minds deluded by interpretative thoughts are in
Two minds and so discuss nothingness and compassion as two things.
14
Bees know that in flowers
Honey can be found.
That Samsara and Nirvana are not two
How will the deluded ever understand?
15
When the deluded in a mirror look
They see a face, not a reflection.
So the mind that has truth denied
Relies on that which is not true.
16
Though the fragrance of a flower cannot be touched,
'Tis all pervasive and at once perceptible.
So by unpatterned being-in-itself
Recognize the round of mystic circles.
17
When in winter still water by the wind is stirred,
It takes as ice the shape and texture of a rock.
When the deluded are disturbed by interpretative thoughts,
That which is as yet unpatterned turns very hard and solid.
18
Mind immaculate in its very being can never be
Polluted by Samsara's or Nirvana's impurities.
A precious jewel deep in mud
Will not shine, though it has luster.
19
Knowledge shines not in the dark, but when the darkness
Is illumined, suffering disappears at once.
Shoots grow from the seed
And leaves from the shoots.
20
He who thinks of the mind in terms of one
Or many casts away the light and enters the world.
Into a raging fire he walks with open eyes--
Who could be more deserving of compassion?
21
For the delights of kissing the deluded crave
Declaring it to be the ultimately real--
Like a man who leaves his house and standing at the door
Asks a woman for reports of sensual delights.
22
The stirring of biotic forces in the house of nothingness
Has given artificial rise to pleasures in so many ways.
Such yogis from affliction faint for they have fallen
From celestial space, inveigled into vice.
23
As a Brahman, who with rice and butter
Makes a burnt offering in blazing fire
Creating a vessel for nectar from celestial space,
Takes this through wishful thinking as the ultimate.
24
Some people who have kindled the inner heat and raised it to the fontanelle
Stroke the uvula with the tongue in a sort of coition and confuse
That which fetters with what gives release,
In pride will call themselves yogis.
25
As higher awareness they teach what they experience
Within. What fetters them they will call liberation.
A glass trinket colored green to them is a priceless emerald;
Deluded, they know not a gem from what they think it should be.
26
They take copper to be gold. Bound by discursive thought
They think these thoughts to be ultimate reality.
They long for the pleasures experienced in dreams. They call
The perishable body-mind eternal bliss supreme.
27
By the symbol EVAM they think self-clearness is achieved,
By the different situations that demand four seals
They call what they have fancied spontaneity,
But this is looking at reflections in a mirror.
28
As under delusion's power a herd of deer will rush
For the water in a mirage which is not recognized,
So also the deluded quench not their thirst, are bound by chains
And find pleasure in them, saying that all is ultimately real.
29
Nonmemory is convention's truth
And mind which has become no-mind is ultimate truth.
This is fulfillment, this the highest good.
Friends, of this highest good become aware.
30
In nonmemory is mind absorbed; just this
Is emotionality perfect and pure.
It is unpolluted by the good or bad of worldliness
Like a lotus unaffected by the mud from which it grows.
31
Yet with certainty must all things be viewed as if they were a magic spell.
If without distinction you can accept or reject Samsara
Or Nirvana, steadfast is your mind, free from the shroud of darkness.
In you will be self-being, beyond thought and self-originated.
32
This world of appearance has from its radiant beginning
Never come to be; unpatterned it has discarded patterning.
As such it is continuous and unique meditation;
It is nonmentation, stainless contemplation, and nonmind.
33
Mind, intellect, and the formed contents of that mind are It,
So too are the world and all that seems from It to differ,
All things that can be sensed and the perceiver,
Also dullness, aversion, desire, and enlightenment.
34
Like a lamp that shines in the darkness of spiritual
Unknowing, It removes obscurations of a mind
As far as the fragmentations of intellect obtain.
Who can imagine the self-being of desirelessness?
35
There's nothing to be negated, nothing to be
Affirmed or grasped; for It can never be conceived.
By the fragmentations of the intellect are the deluded
Fettered; undivided and pure remains spontaneity.
36
If you question ultimacy with the postulates of the many and the one,
Oneness is not given, for by transcending knowledge are sentient beings freed.
The radiant is potency latent in the intellect, and this
Is shown to be meditation; unswerving mind is our true essence.
38
The buds of joy and pleasure
And the leaves of glory grow.
If nothing flows out anywhere
The bliss unspeakable will fruit.
39
What has been done and where and what in itself it will become
Is nothing; yet thereby it has been useful for this and that.
Whether passionate or not
The pattern is nothingness.
40
If I am like a pig that covets worldly mire
You must tell me what fault lies in a stainless mind.
By what does not affect one
How can one now be fettered