The Syllable by Syllable Commentary Explaining the Benefits and Advantages of the Vajra Guru Mantra

By the great tertön Karma Lingpa (14th century)

The Vajra Guru Mantra is the mantra associated with Guru Rinpoche, also known as Padmasambhava. This is a draft translation of a treasure text which explains the Vajra Guru Mantra. It was originally concealed during the time of Padmasambhava in Tibet and later rediscovered by Karma Lingpa (14th century) who brought it forth from its place of concealment and copied it down on reams of gold. It is simply known as “The Syllable by Syllable Commentary Explaining the Benefits of the Vajra Guru Mantra.” It begins with an invocation and then goes into a dialogue between Yeshe Tsogyal, the spiritual consort of Padmasambhava, and Padmasambhava himself.
And so, Yeshe Tsogyal begins:

I, the woman Yeshe Tsogyal, having offered to you the inner and outer mandala on a vast scale, have the following request. Oh great teacher, Pema Jungne, you have been extremely kind to us, the Tibetan people, leaving for us a legacy that will benefit us now and in future lives. Your kindness is so great that we have never experienced anything like this before, nor will we ever experience anything like this in the future. In particular, so that now even though I am a humble person, I have no doubt that I will attain enlightenment.

In the future, sentient beings will have very short attention spans and a great many things will clutter and occupy their minds. Their characters will be rough and difficult to tame. They will develop many wrong views towards the sacred Dharma. In particular, a time will come when people will cast dispersions on the Secret Mantra teaching of the unsurpassable levels of tantra. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Patrul Rinpoche

by Patrul Rinpoche (1808-1887)

Vajrasattva, sole deity, Master,
You sit on a full-moon lotus-cushion of white light
In the hundred-petalled full bloom of youth.

Think of me, Vajrasattva,
You who remain unmoved within the manifest display
That is Mahamudra, pure bliss-emptiness.

Listen up, old bad-karma Patrul,
You dweller-in-distraction.

For ages now you’ve been
Beguiled, entranced, and fooled by appearances.
Are you aware of that? Are you?
Right this very instant, when you’re
Under the spell of mistaken perception
You’ve got to watch out.
Don’t let yourself get carried away by this fake and empty life.

Your mind is spinning around
About carrying out a lot of useless projects:
It’s a waste! Give it up!
Thinking about the hundred plans you want to accomplish,
With never enough time to finish them,
Just weighs down your mind.
You’re completely distracted
By all these projects, which never come to an end,
But keep spreading out more, like ripples in water.
Don’t be a fool: for once, just sit tight. Read the rest of this entry »

of the Mahasiddha Saraha

Homage to Sri Vajradakini.
Homage to innate union of Gnosis and Great Bliss.

This exposition is in three parts: The Mahamudra of ground, of path, and of the result.

Part One: The Ground of Mahamudra

A. Establishing an understanding of Reality

Being and non-being, appearance and emptiness, the moving and the abiding, the substantial and insubstantial embracing the whole of time and space, never departs from the sky-like original nature.

In referring to Ultimate Reality (dharmata) as the sky-like original nature, understand that to be sky-like is to have no intrinsic nature at all. It is completely beyond objectification and beyond all concepts such as “is” or “is not;” both “is” or “is not” or something other that “is” or “is not.” Between “sky”,”mind” and “Ultimate Reality” no distinction should be made. All these terms should be taken as mere designations and concepts. Everything is one’s own mind. Not so much as an atom exists outside of mind. Whoever realizes that from the very beginning there has been nothing other than mind, has acquired the realization of all the Buddhas of the three times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maitripa

Sanskrit title: Mahamudra-sanca[ya]-mitha
Tibetan title: Phyag-rgya chen-po tshig-bsdus-pa

Homage to Great Bliss!

Mahamudra is knowing that
all things are one’s own mind.
Seeing objects as external is just noetic projection.
The whole of “appearance” is as empty as a dream.

The mind as such is merely a flow of awareness,
without self-nature, moving where it will like the wind.
Empty of an identity, it is like space.
All phenomena, like space, are the same.

That which is termed Mahamudra,
Is not a “thing” that can be pointed to.
It is the mind’s own nature
that is Mahamudra [i.e., the Absolute State].

It is not something to be perfected or transformed.
Thus, to realize this, is to realize
that the whole world of appearance is Mahamudra.
This is the absolute all-inclusive Dharmakaya [i.e.,the Ultimate Embodiment of Buddhahood]. Read the rest of this entry »

Maitripa

To innermost bliss, I pay homage!

Were I to explain Mahamudra, I would say —

All phenomena? Your own mind!

If you look outside for meaning, you’ll get confused.

Phenomena are like a dream, empty of true nature,

And mind is merely the flux of awareness,

No self nature: just energy flow.

No true nature: just like the sky.

All phenomena are alike, sky-like.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lama Zopa Rinpoche: "Ogni essere senziente ha la natura di Buddha. Persino una zanzara può raggiungere l’illuminazione e la liberazione dall’oceano della sofferenza samsarica se pratica il Dharma".

Lo scopo di un centro di meditazione e’ di prendersi cura delle menti degli altri, di mantenere la mente nella virtù quanto più possibile. Questo significa mantenere la vostra stessa mente nella virtù. Dovete provare. E’ veramente ottimo provare. Se non potete farlo, non potete aiutare gli altri. La vostra motivazione dovrebbe essere quella di usare il vostro corpo, parola e mente al fine di creare anche  la più piccola felicità negli altri. Molte persone nel mondo sprecano le loro vite. La gente cerca di scalare le montagne, non importa a quale rischio espongano la propria vita. Alcuni usano sé stessi come proiettili, vengono lanciati da cannoni, e così via, cose incredibili, mettendo a repentaglio le loro esistenze per ottenere una felicità insignificante in questa vita. La cosa più importante per la felicità di questa vita, specialmente per gli esseri senzienti che incontrate, e’ avere il pensiero: “Sono il servitore ed essi sono il maestro, sono il servitore e loro sono i re, sono i maestri e io sono come il cane. Gli esseri senzienti sono coloro dai quali ho ricevuto tutta la mia felicità. Sono i più cari e gentili. Sono coloro dai quali provengono tutte le opportunità, in relazione ai quali ho l’opportunità’ di purificare tutto il mio karma negativo, creare tutti i meriti e ottenere l’illuminazione. In questo modo essi sono i più gentili tra tutti. Dovrei usare il mio corpo, parola e mente per servire gli altri, specie le persone del centro, così come gli animali e gli insetti.” Questo e’ anche l’atteggiamento che si dovrebbe tenere con la propria famiglia, o se siete un insegnante o il direttore di un azienda, etc.    LEGGI TUTTO … Read the rest of this entry »

Je Tzong Khapa, chiamato familiarmente Je Rinpoche, nacque nel 1357 nella regione di Amdo, nella parte orientale del Tibet allora vicina al confine cinese.

Verso la fine del XIV secolo, in Tibet si potevano distinguere quattro correnti buddhiste principali, formatesi durante le due prime fasi di sviluppo del buddhismo e tutte collegate direttamente con alcuni famosi maestri indiani: la Nyngma con Padmasambhava e Shantirakshita, la Sakya con Dharmapala e Virupa, la Kagyu con Naropa e Maitripa, la Kadam con Atisha. Vi erano anche numerose sottoscuole e, nella pratica individuale, intrecci di differenti lignaggi.

In quel periodo visse il grande Lama Tzong Khapa, guru del primo Dalai Lama. Je Tzong Khapa, chiamato familiarmente Je Rinpoche, nacque nel 1357 nella regione di Amdo, nella parte orientale del Tibet allora vicina al confine cinese. Servendosi della scienza interpretativa dei sogni e mettendo insieme elementi di varie visioni che avevano avuto, i suoi genitori giunsero alla conclusione che il nascituro dovesse essere un’incarnazione di Manjushri, personificazione della saggezza illuminata. Altri segni indicavano che il bambino avrebbe avuto le qualità di Avalokiteshvara e Vajrapani: compassione infinita ed energia spirituale. LEGGI TUTTO … Read the rest of this entry »