Venerable Lobsang Drakpa
Homage
to the foremost Lama.
1, I will
explain as well as I can
The
essential meaning of all
scriptures of the Buddha,
The
path praised by the excellent Bodhisattvas,
The
doorway for the fortunate ones longing for liberation.
2, Whoever
is not attached to the pleasures
of mundane existence,
Whoever
strives in order to make
leisure and fortune
worthwhile,
Whoever
is inclined to the path admired by the Buddha,
Those
fortunate ones
should listen with
a pure mind.
3, Without a completely pure
renunciation
There
is no way to stop seeking pleasurable effects in the ocean
of existence.
Also,
craving cyclic existence thoroughly binds the embodied beings.
Therefore,
in the beginning renunciation should be sought.
4, Leisure
and fortune are difficult to find and life has no duration,
Through
familiarity with this, emphasis
on the appearance of this life
is reversed.
If
you think again and again about karma
and its inevitable
effects And
the sufferings of samsara,
The
emphasis on the
appearances of future lives
will be reversed.
5, If, having
meditated thus, you do not generate admiration
Even
for the prosperity of cyclic
existence,
and
if an attitude seeking
liberation arises
day and night,
Then
renunciation
has been generated.
6, Also,
if this renunciation
is not combined with the generation of
a complete
aspiration to highest Enlightenment,
It
does not become a cause of the marvellous bliss of unsurpassed
Awaken State.
Thus,
the wise should generate supreme Bodhicitta.
7, Samsaric
beings are carried by the continuum of the four
powerful currents.
Are
tied with the tight bonds of karma
difficult to
oppose,
Have
entered into the iron cage of the self
grasping attitude
Are
completely obscured by the thick darkness of ignorance,
8, Are born
into limitless samsara, and in their births
Are
tortured ceaselessly by the three
sufferings.
Thinking
thus of the condition of mothers
who have come to
such a state,
Generate
the supreme altruistic
intention to become Awaken one.
9, If
you do not have the wisdom
realizing the way
things are,
Even
though you have developed renunciation and Bodhicitta,
The
root of samsara
cannot be cut.
Therefore
work on the means of realising dependent
arising.
10, Whoever
sees reality of cause and effect of all phenomena
in
samsara
and nirvana
as infallible,
Thoroughly
destroys the mode of misapprehension of
those
objects and has entered the path that is admired by the Buddhas.
11, As
long as the two realisations of
appearances, The
infallibility of dependent arising
And
the realization of emptiness,
the non-assertion,
Seem
to be separate, there is still no realisation
Of
the thought of
Shakyamuni Buddha.
12, When the
two realisations exist simultaneously, without alternation,
And
the view of infallibility of dependent
arising will
entirely cease,
The
mode of apprehension of the conception,
Then
the analysis of the view
is complete.
13, Further,
the extreme of
existence is
excluded by
appearance,
And
the extreme of
non-existence is
excluded by
Emptiness.
If
within Emptiness
the appearance
of cause and effect is known,
You
will not be captivated by extreme
views.
14, When you
have realised thus just as they are
The essentials of the
three principle aspects of the path,
Resort to solitude and generate the
power of enthusiastic
perseverance.
Accomplish quickly your final
aim, my son.
(Colophon: This is taught by the learned monk Lobsang
Drakpa Pal (Tsongkhapa) to Gyalrong Tsa Kho Vonpo Ngawang Drakpa)
Glossary:
Lama
(Tib., Skt. guru):
A spiritual guide
or teacher. Literally: rich of spiritual quality
Scriptures
of the Buddha (Tib. Gyal wai sung rab, Kagyur, Tengyur and Sungbum):
Buddhist
canon, classical Buddhist literature of Indian and Tibetan masters
Bodhisattva
(Skt.): One
who possesses Bodhicitta
Liberation
(Skt. Mokya):
Destruction of all
afflictive emotions or delusions, attainment of the state of an
Arhat, path of no more learning of the sarvakabuddha and the
pratikabuddha
Pleasure of mundane existence:
Pleasure directed
by attachment to sensual pleasures
Leisure
and fortune:
Having good
facilities and conditions to practice Dharma
Fortunate
ones: Those
who have met the Dharma and are able to practice
Renunciation:
Authentic intention to leave samsara and reach nirvana
Ocean of existence: (Skt. Samsara, Tib. Khor wa)
Emphasis
on appearance of this life:
Being concerned
with aspects regarding our present life only
Samsara
(Skt.):
Contaminated aggregates of a sentient being, which since
beginningless times have lead to the recurrence of the cycle of death
and rebirth under the control of delusion and karma, and have lead
sentient beings to be fraught by the sufferings of the six
physical/spiritual realms
Emphasis on appearance of future
lives: Concern
with the aspects regarding future lives in samsara
Aspiration
to highest Enlightenment: (Skt. Bodhicitta, Tib. jang chub kyi sem )
Unsurpassable Awaken State:
Buddhahood
Bodhicitta (Skt.):
Authentic aspiration to reach complete Enlightenment in order to
bring all sentient beings to the state of complete
Enlightenment
Four
powerful currents:
rebirth, aging,
sickness and death
Actions (Skt. Karma, Tib. Les):
A subtle imprint on
the mind stream coming from
previous experiences, giving impulses for mental and
physical actions
Apprehending
self (Tib. Dag zin):
Mistaken view which grasps at a self or an I as being inherently
existing
Three sufferings:
Suffering of pain,
suffering of change, suffering of condition
Mothers:
All sentient
beings, the most dear ones, those who have benefited us the most
An altruistic intention to become
Awaken one:
Refers to
(Skt. Bodhicitta)
in this context
Wisdom:
Realisation of
Emptiness
Way things are:
Empty of existing
inherently, ultimate mode of existence of things
Root of Samsara:
Ignorance of not
seeing the truth, opposite to wisdom
Dependent
arising (Tib. ten byung):
Mode of being of things and events, existing interdependently
Nirvana:
Beyond suffering,
end of suffering
Appearance,
the infallibility of dependent arising:
Conventional reality or conventional truth
Emptiness, the non-assertion:
Ultimate reality or ultimate truth
Thought of Buddha Shakyamuni:
Non-dual nature of
the two truths
View:
Ultimate reality
Extreme existence: A
view of things exist only inherently or from it’s own side.
Extreme
of non-existence:
View of things not
exist, if not inherently exist.
Emptiness:
Suchness of
non-inherently existing phenomena
Appearances:
Common vision
Extreme views:
Nihilistic view and
eternality view
The three principle aspects of the
paths:
Renunciation,
Bodhicitta and Wisdom
Enthusiastic perseverance:
Joyous effort in
the practise of Dharma
Final goal:
Complete
Enlightenment, Buddhahood
My
son: Directly
referred to Tsakhowa Ngawang Dakpa, indirectly to all his disciples.
(Translated
and added the glossary by Geshe Gedun Tharchin)
