The Source of All Attainments: The Yoga of the Inseparability of the Guru and Avalokiteshvara

The Source of All Attainments: The Yoga of the Inseparability of the Guru and Avalokiteshvara


༄༅། །བླ་མ་དང་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབྱེར་མེད་ཀྱི་རྣལ་འབྱོར་དངོས་གྲུབ་ཀུན་འབྱུང་ཞེས་བྱ ་བ་བཞུགས་སོ། །


By His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso


Translated by Joona Repo


FPMT

Education Services

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, Inc.


No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or developed, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Text not presented in bold or with no indentation is likewise not for recitation. Words in square brackets have been added by the translator for clarification. For example:

This is how to correctly follow the virtuous friend, the root of the path to full enlightenment.

A Guide to Pronouncing Sanskrit

The following six points will enable you to learn the pronunciation of most transliterated Sanskrit mantras found in FPMT practice texts:
1.
ŚH and ṢH are pronounced similar to the “sh” in “shoe.”
2.
CH is pronounced similar to the “ch” in “chat.” CHH is also similar but is more heavily aspirated.
3.
Ṭ, ṬH, Ḍ, ḌH, Ṇ are retroflex letters and have no exact equivalent in English. These sounds are made by curling the tongue to the palate and correspond roughly to the sounds “tra” (Ṭ), aspirated “tra” (ṬH), “dra” (Ḍ), aspirated “dra” (ḌH), and “nra” (Ṇ).
4.
All consonants followed by an H are aspirated: KH, GH, CH, JH, TH, DH, PH, BH. Note that TH is pronounced like the “t” in “target” (not like the “th” in “the”) and PH is pronounced like the “p” in “partial” (not like the “ph” in “pharaoh”).
5.
Vowels with a dash above—Ā, Ī, Ū, ṜI, and ḸI—are elongated to approximately double the amount of time it takes to pronounce their nonelongated counterparts: A, I, U, ṚI, and ḶI.
6.
Ṃ indicates a nasal sound. At the end of a word it is generally pronounced as an “m.” Ḥ indicates an “h”-sounding aspiration. ṚI is pronounced similar to the “ree” in “reed.” ṄG is pronounced similar to the “ng” in “king.”
To facilitate correct pronunciation, FPMT practice texts use a slightly modified version of the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST). For more information, please consult the FPMT Translation Services’ A Guide to Sanskrit Transliteration and Pronunciation, available online: http://fpmt.org/wp-content/uploads/education/translation/A-Guide-to-Sanskrit-Transliteration-and-Pronunciation.pdf
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His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama


The Source of All Attainments: The Yoga of the Inseparability of the Guru and Avalokiteshvara

Having respectfully paid homage to Guru Avalokiteshvara—

The essence of the compassion of all the victorious ones,

A perfect full moon1 possessing the white nectar light of blessings—

I will compose the ritual of his profound yoga.

Reliance on the guru has been praised numerous times in many sutras and tantras as the root of all blessings and attainments. Similarly, seeing that the guru who shows one the path nonerroneously is inseparable from the supreme deity, making requests to him is in itself the essential and sole basis of the ultimate aim [of enlightenment].

Furthermore, although one can think that the guru is of one essence with any deity in whom one has faith, as it is said that love, compassion, and the precious mind of bodhichitta are like the sole life-essence of the Mahayana path and that great compassion is of the utmost importance at the beginning, middle, and end, yogis who wish to engage in the practice of the yoga of unifying one’s own root guru and the supreme deity of compassion—Arya Avalokiteshvara—should gather offerings and other ritual articles at a pleasant location. Sit on a comfortable seat and then, from the state of a special virtuous mind, first engage in the meditations of refuge, bodhichitta, and the four immeasurables.


Taking Refuge and Generating Bodhichitta
Sang gyä chhö dang tshog kyi chhog nam la
Jang chhub bar du dag ni kyab su chhi
Dag gi jin sog gyi päi tshog nam kyi
Dro la phän chhir sang gyä drub par shog (3x)


I take refuge until I am enlightened
In the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Supreme Assembly.
By my accumulations of generosity and so forth,
May I become a buddha to benefit living beings. (3x)


Four Immeasurables


Sem chän tham chä de wa dang de wäi gyu dang dän par gyur chig / sem chän tham chä dug ngäl dang dug ngäl gyi gyu dang dräl war gyur chig / sem chän tham chä dug ngäl me päi de wa dang mi dräl war gyur chig / sem chän tham chä nye ring chhag dang nyi dang dräl wäi tang nyom la nä par gyur chig
May all sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings never be separated from the happiness that knows no suffering. May all sentient beings abide in equanimity, free of attachment and hatred for those held close and distant.


Purifying the Place
Tham chä du ni sa zhi dag
Seg ma la sog me pa dang
Lag thil tar nyam bäi dur yäi
Rang zhin jam por nä gyur chig
Everywhere may the ground be pure,
Free of pebbles and so forth,
As level as the palm of the hand,
In the nature of vaidurya, and soft.

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Blessing, Multiplying, and Presenting the Offerings

Lha dang mi yi chhö päi dzä

Ngö su sham dang yi kyi trül

Kün zang chhö trin la na me

Nam khäi kham kün khyab gyur chig


May divine and human offerings,
Both actually arranged and mentally emanated,
Become clouds of the finest Samantabhadra offerings,
Filling the entire realm of space.


OṂ NAMO BHAGAVATE VAJRA SĀRA PRAMARDANE /

TATHĀGATĀYA / ARHATE SAMYAK SAṂBUDDHĀYA / TADYATHĀ / OṂ VAJRA VAJRE / MAHĀ VAJRE / MAHĀ TEJA VAJRE / MAHĀ VIDYĀ VAJRE / MAHĀ BODHICHITTA VAJRE
/
MAHĀ BODHI MAṆḌOPA SAṂKRAMAṆA VAJRE / SARVA KARMA AVARAṆA VIŚHODHANA VAJRE SVĀHĀ (3x)

Kön chhog sum gyi den pa dang / sang gyä dang jang chhub sem pa tham chä kyi jin gyi lab dang / tshog nyi yong su dzog päi nga thang chhen po dang / chhö kyi ying nam par dag ching sam gyi mi khyab päi tob kyi de zhin du gyur chig


By the power of truth of the Three Jewels, the blessings of all the buddhas and bodhisattvas, the great wealth of the completed two accumulations, and the force of the pure and inconceivable dharmadhatu, may these offerings become suchness.


Visualization


De chhen lhün drub chhö küi kha ying su
Na tshog kün zang chhö trin thrig päi ü
Seng ge teg päi ö bar nor büi thrir
Chhu kye nyi da gyä päi dän teng du


In the spacious expanse of the spontaneous great bliss dharmakaya,
At the center of heaps of clouds of various Samantabhadra offerings,
Is a throne of radiant jewels supported by lions
On which is a seat of a lotus, sun, and full moon.


Nying jei ter chhen phag chhog jig ten wang
Nam pa ngur mig chhang wäi dö gar chän
Tsa wäi la ma sum dän dor je dzin
Je tsün lo zang tän dzin gya tshöi päl


On this is the supreme Arya Lokeshvara, great treasury
of compassion,

Manifesting in the form of a saffron-robed monk—
My root guru, the vajra-holder possessing the three kindnesses,
The glorious Jetsun Lozang Tenzin Gyatso.

Kar mar dang säl gye päi dzum zhäl chän
Chhag yä thug kar chhö chhä chhag gya yi
Leg bam räl dri tshän päi pä kar dang
Yön pa nyam zhag tsib tong khor lo nam
Gur kum dang dän chhö gö nam sum dang
Tso mäi ser dog pän zha dze par söl


With a radiant pink complexion, pleased and smiling,
Your right hand is at the heart in the mudra of expounding the Dharma
And holds a white lotus marked by a volume of scripture
and a sword


While your left hand is in the mudra of meditative equipoise and holds a thousand-spoked wheel.
You elegantly wear the three Dharma robes of lustrous saffron
And a pandit’s hat, the color of refined gold.


Phung kham kye chhe yül dang yän lag nam
Rig nga yab yum sem pa sem ma dang
Thro wöi rang zhin kyil khor khor lor dzog


Your aggregates, constituents, sense-spheres, and their objects as well as your limbs
Are in nature the complete mandala circle of the fathers and mothers of the five families,
The male and female bodhisattvas, and the wrathful protectors.


Na ngäi ö threng thrig päi gur khyim ü
Zhab nyi mi chhe dor je kyil trung tshül
Gang dül gyu thrül dra wäi trin phung gye


At the center of a sphere of assembled garlands of five-colored lights,
Your two legs are in the indestructible vajra posture
And you send forth heaps of clouds of magical nets for
the sake of those to be subdued.

Thug kar ye she sem pa chän rä zig
Zhäl chig chhag zhii dang zung thäl mo jar
Og mä shel threng pä ma kar po nam
Rin chhen gyän dang dar gyi na sa dze


At your heart is the exalted wisdom being, Avalokiteshvara,
With one face and four arms—one pair with the palms
joined together

And the lower pair holding a crystal mala and white lotus.
He is beautifully adorned with precious ornaments and
silken robes.



Ri dag pag pä nu ma yön pa kab
Da wäi lang tsho pä dar kyil trung zhug
De yi thug kar ting dzin sem pa ni
Hrih yig kar säl ö zer chhog chur thro


His left breast is covered with the skin of an antelope
And he is in the fullness of youth, sitting cross-legged on
a lotus and moon.
At his heart is the concentration being, the radiant white letter HRĪḤ,
From which light rays radiate to the ten directions.


La mai nä sum dor je sum gyi tshän
Thug käi hum yig lä thrö ö zer gyi
Rab jam chhog sum ma lü chän drang te
Thim pä kyab nä kün dü ngo wor gyur


My guru’s three places are marked with the three vajras.3
Light rays radiate from the letter HŪṂ at his heart
And invite all the countless forms of the Three Jewels.
By them dissolving into my guru, he becomes, in nature,
the embodiment of all objects of refuge.


Thus, visualize the guru—the triple-stacked being4—according to the “all-encompassing jewel” tradition.

The Seven-Limb Prayer

Prostrating

Säl dzog tshän pe dze päi thong dröl ku
Nyän jeb drug chüi yang dän gag me sung
Zab yang khyen tse pag par ka wäi thug
Sang sum gyän gyi khor lor gü chhag tshäl


Your body, beautified by the radiant and complete marks and signs, liberates on sight;

Your unceasing speech possesses the melody of the sixty harmonious sounds;
And your mind of vast and profound wisdom and compassion is difficult to fathom—
To this ornamental wheel of your three secrets, I respectfully prostrate.


Offerings


Dag pö zung dang ma zung chhö päi dzä
Ngö sham yi trül lü dang long chö dang
Dü sum sag päi nam kar ge tshog kün
Kün zang chhö trin gya tshor mig nä bül


Owned and unowned offering substances;
Actually arranged and mentally emanated; my body and enjoyments;
And all the collections of thoroughly pure virtue that I have accumulated in the three times,
I offer to you, imagining them as an ocean of clouds of Samantabhadra offerings.


Confessing


Ma rig thib pöi mag gi yi nön pä
Chä rang kha na ma thöi dig tung sog
Log par chhän päi nong pa chi chhi pa
Gyö dom drag pö mig me ngang du shag


Because of my mind being suppressed by the veiling darkness of ignorance,

I have committed negative actions and downfalls—both natural and proscribed misdeeds.

Whatever faults of wandering astray that I have committed,

I confess in a state of nonreferentiality with strong regret and a firm vow to refrain from them in the future.

Rejoicing


Päl dän la mäi nam par thar pa dang
Theg sum kye phag rang zhän tham chä kyi
Dü sum nam kar ge wäi phung po la
Nying nä sam pa thag pä je yi rang


In the heaps of the thoroughly pure virtue accumulated in
the three times

By the complete liberation of the glorious gurus,
By ordinary beings and aryas of the three vehicles, and by myself and all others—
I sincerely rejoice from my heart.


Requesting


Na tshog dül jäi kham kyi je song wäi
Dam chhö kab sum lha yi röl möi dra
Zab zhii yang su thröl wä yi chän kün
She nyön drib päi nyi lä long du söl


By playing the profound and peaceful melody of the divine music of sacred Dharma
Appropriate to the disposition of the different beings to be subdued,
I request that you awaken all sentient beings
From the sleep of the obstructions to omniscience and
the afflictive obstructions.


Entreating


Si zhii mu tha dräl wäi ngön tog la
Dro kün de wäi ug jin ma thob bar
Zhab sung e vam mi shig kyil mo trung
Zhom me dor jei thri la tän par zhug


Until all living beings have attained the breath of blissful release
Of the realization of being free from the extremes of cyclic existence and peace,

With your two legs in the indestructible EVAṂ cross-legged posture,
Please remain firmly on the vajra throne forever.


Dedication


Nam kar leg jä gyi dang gyi gyur kün
Je tsün la mä dräl me je dzin ching
Kün zang chö chhog mön lam yong drub nä
Dro kün dön du dzog jang thob chhir ngo


Having accomplished the prayers of the supreme actions of Samantabhadra,
I dedicate all the thoroughly pure virtuous actions that
I have done, am doing, or will do

So that I may be inseparably protected by my venerable guru
And attain complete enlightenment for the sake of all living beings.


The Mandala Offering


Sa zhi pö kyi jug shing me tog tram
Ri rab ling zhi nyi dä gyän pa di
Sang gyä zhing du mig te ül wa yi
Dro kün nam dag zhing la chö par shog


This ground, anointed with perfume, strewn with flowers,
Adorned with Mount Meru, the four continents, the sun, and the moon,
I imagine as a buddha land and offer it.
May all living beings enjoy this pure land.


Dag zhän lü ngag yi sum long chö dü sum ge tshog dang
Rin chhen man dal zang po kün zang chhö päi tshog dang chä
Lo yi lang nä la ma yi dam kön chhog sum la bül
Thug jei wang gi zhe nä dag la jin gyi lab tu söl



The body, speech, and mind of myself and others as well as our wealth and collections of virtue of the three times,
An excellent and precious mandala together with a mass of Samantabhadra offerings,
I visualize and offer it to the guru, yidam, and the Three Jewels.
Through the force of your compassion, please accept them and grant me blessings.


IDAṂ GURU RATNA MAṆḌALAKAṂ NIRYĀTAYĀMI


Thus, offer the seven limbs and the mandala.

The Blessing by the Guru


Je tsün la mäi thug käi hrih yig lä
Dü tsi ö zer na ngäi gyün bab te
Rang gi chi wo nä zhug dig drib jang
Chhog thün ngö drub ma lü thob par gyur


From the syllable HRĪḤ at the heart of my venerable guru,
Nectars and light rays of the five colors descend,
Enter through my crown, and purify all negativities and obstructions.

All supreme and common attainments are attained without exception.
Saying and thinking that, recite the name mantra as many times as possible:


OṂ ĀḤ GURU VAJRADHARA BHAṬṬĀRAKA MAÑJŪŚHRĪ VĀGINDRA SUMATI JÑĀNA ŚHĀSANA DHARA SAMUDRA ŚHRĪ BHADRA SARVA SIDDHI HŪṂ HŪṂ6


Then, make requests for the fulfillment of one’s wishes:

The Prayer of the Graduated Path


Thräl dang yün gyi de wa ma lü päi
Zhir gyur ma nor lam tön drin chän je
Rab jam kyab kyi phung por nge nye nä
Sam jor dag pä ten par jin gyi lob


My kind lord and guide on the unerring path,
You are the basis of all temporary and long-term happiness.
Having found certainty that you are a mass of countless refuges,
Please bless me to devote myself to you through pure thoughts and actions.


Nor chhog je wä drün min däl jor ten
Thob kyang mi tän nam dor chha me pä
Di nang ja wä nam yang mi yeng war
Dam chhö chö pä da war jin gyi lob


This human life of leisure and fortune cannot be produced by even tens of millions of supremely precious jewels.
Once obtained, it is transitory and when it will be lost is uncertain.
Please bless me to never be distracted by the activities and appearances of this life,
And to spend my time practicing the sacred Dharma.


Zö ka ngän dröi jig lä kyob päi phül
Chhog sum tän gyi kyab su leg sung te
Kar nag lä drä ji zhin sem pa yi
Dig pong ge drub nü par jin gyi lob


The supreme protection from the terrors of the lower
rebirths that are so difficult to bear
Is holding strongly onto the ultimate refuge of the Three Jewels.


Thus, by bringing to mind the causes and effects of positive and negative actions,
Please bless me with the strength to abandon negative actions and accomplish virtuous deeds.


Sin möi lu dri ji zhin lha wang gi
Phün tshog kün kyang lu wäi chhö chän du
Thong wäi nge jung drag pö gyü kül nä
Lab sum nyam len je par jin gyi lob


Having seen that all the wonders of Ishvara are deceptive—
Just like the seductions of a rakshasi—
And propelled by fierce renunciation,
Please bless me to practice the three trainings.


Thog me dü nä drin gyi leg kyang päi
Si zhii gü pä nar wäi mar gyur dröi
Ngang tshül sam nä sem chhog rab kye de
Chö pa gya tshor lob par jin gyi lob


Having considered that mother living beings,
Who have kindly cared for me since beginningless time,
Are suffering through the troubles of cyclic existence and peace,
Please bless me to generate the supreme mind of enlightenment and train in an ocean of bodhisattva activities.


Rab dang yo me nyam zhag me long ngog
Tha dräl dö nä tong päi ngo tshar bum
Gog me tra wäi zhi lhag zung drel gyi
Näl jor gyü la kye war jin gyi lob


Please bless me to generate in my mind
The yoga uniting calm abiding and special insight, beautified by noncessation8—


A hundred thousand marvels of primordial emptiness,
free from extremes,
Reflected on the face of the mirror of my very clear and unwavering meditative equipoise.


Tshän dän dor je dzin päi she nyen gyi
Drin lä chhe zab ngag kyi gor zhug nä
Ngö drub tsa wa dam tshig dom pa nam
Tshül zhin sung war nü par jin gyi lob


Having entered the gate of very profound mantra
Through the kindness of my virtuous friend, the qualified vajra-holder,
Please bless me with the strength to guard properly
My vows and commitments—the roots of attainments.


Nyi me de tong ye she tshön nön gyi
Kün je lä lung gyu wa rab chä nä
Ku thug zung jug de chhen chhag gya chhe
Tshe dir ngön du gyur war jin gyi lob



Having completely cut the flow of the all-creating karmic wind
With the sharp sword of the exalted wisdom of nondual bliss and emptiness,
Please bless me to realize in this very life
The mahamudra of great bliss—the union of body and mind.

After having made the requests to generate the complete path of sutra and mantra in your mental continuum, and having done a glance meditation on this, recite the six syllables together with the guru entering your heart as follows:



Absorption

Recite and think:


De tar söl wa tab pä la ma chhog
Gye zhin jön te rang gi tshang bug gyü
Dab gyä nying ü mi shig thig ler thim
De nyi lar yang pä dar la mäi ku


Having thus requested, my supreme guru
Joyfully approaches, descends through my Brahma aperture,
And dissolves into the indestructible drop at the center of my eight-petaled heart.9
Again, he arises in the form of my guru on a lotus and moon.



Sem pa sum tseg ngar zhin säl wa yi
Thug käi hrih thar yig drug ngag threng gi
Kor lä dü tsii gyün bab nä dön dang
Dig drib kün jang lung tog yön tän gyä
Sä chä gyäl wäi jin lab ma lü thob


At the heart of the triple-stacked being, visualized as before,
Is a HRĪḤ encircled by the six-syllable mantra garland.
A stream of nectar descends from them,

Cleansing away all illnesses, spirits, negativities, and obstructions
And increasing all good qualities of scripture and realization.
All the blessings of the victorious ones and their children are received.


Lar yang ö thrö nö chü kyön jang te
Nang drag rig sum phag päi sang sum du
Khyer wäi näl jor chhog la nä pa gyur


Again, light radiates, cleansing away the faults of
the environment and its inhabitants.

I rest in the supreme yoga in which appearances, sounds, and thoughts
Are held as the Arya’s three secrets.



Mantra Recitation


Recite the six-syllable mantra as many times as possible.


OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ


At the end, stabilize the practice with the recitation of the hundred-syllable mantra.


OṂ PADMASATVA SAMAYA / MANUPĀLAYA / PADMASATVA TVENOPATIṢHṬHA / DṚIḌHO ME BHAVA / SUTOṢHYO ME BHAVA / SUPOṢHYO ME BHAVA / ANURAKTO ME BHAVA / SARVA SIDDHIM ME PRAYACCHHA / SARVA KARMASU CHA ME / CHITTAṂ ŚHRĪYAṂ KURU HŪṂ / HA HA HA HA HOḤ / BHAGAVAN SARVA TATHĀGATA / PADMA MA ME MUÑCHA / PADMA BHAVA / MAHĀ SAMAYASATVA ĀḤ


Make the dedications:

Dedication


Di tshön leg jä da zhön bum gyi zi
Lo ter gyäl wäi chhö tshül kün däi tshäl
Shä drub ge sar gö pä sa chhen khyön
Shi pa drub pä si thar dze gyur chig


Through the splendor of a hundred thousand full moons of excellent deeds such as this,
May the smiling blossoms of teaching and practice
In the kunda garden of the Dharma tradition of
the Victorious One, the Treasury of Wisdom,
Beautify the whole world until the end of cyclic existence by making everything auspicious.



Phün tshog ge leg je wä rab ji päi
Gan dän chhab si nor büi gyäl tshän chhe
Mi nub si sum la na dreng wa yi
Phän dei dö pa bum du jo gyur chig


May the great jeweled victory banner of Ganden’s governance,
Resplendent with tens of millions of perfect virtues and excellences,
Never be lowered but be raised high over the three worlds,
Satisfying hundreds of thousands of desires for benefit and happiness.


Gya chhen yig dzin geg möi khyön yang por
Dü kyi gü päi mün tshog thag sing nä
De kyi nang wa dar wäi ge tshän chher
Yi chän nam par tsen pä nyem gyur chig


Having cast far the darkness of the degenerations of
the times

That is spread across the vast expanse of the beautiful earth,
With the great propitious signs of the increasing splendor of happiness,
May sentient beings, free of care, become self-assured.



Dor na kye wäi threng war gön khyö kyi
Dräl me nye zhin je su zung wäi thü
Kün gyi wang chhug zung jug gyäl sa chher
Bä me de lag nyi du sön gyur chig


In brief, by the force of being inseparably and joyfully
Cared for by you, protector,

Throughout my successive lives,
May I easily and quickly arrive in the Lord of All’s great capital of union.
To end, recite King of Prayers and other dedication prayers.


Beautify the end with auspicious prayers:


Sä chä gyäl wäi mä jung thug jei thü
Chhog dü kün tu mi thün gü tshog zhi
Si zhii ge leg yar ngöi da wa tar
Phel gyä ge tshän dar wäi tra shi shog


Through the force of the marvelous compassion of
the victorious ones and their children,

May all masses of discord and difficulty be pacified at all times and in all directions,
May the excellent virtues of cyclic existence and peace spread and increase like the waxing moon,
And may there be the auspiciousness of the flourishing of propitious signs.


Colophon:


Original Colophon:


Due to the power of his faith, the supremely virtuous Assistant Kalon Shenkawa Gyurme Sonam Tobgyal presented offerings and made entreaties, saying that he needed a brief yet complete glance meditation of the entire path of the guru yoga of the inseparability of myself and Avalokiteshvara, with the recitation of the name mantra and six syllables as well as complete instructions on what should be done, in a way that was easy to practice. Although it is unreasonable for me to write a guru yoga text such as this, focusing on myself, if one has faith, then just like the dog’s tooth turned into a ringsel-relic, if disciples truly have faith and respect, they will receive the blessing of the buddha even from an ordinary being. Thinking that it may be of benefit to some devotees I, the one with the name of “Holder of the White Lotus,” Shakyai Gejong Jampal Ngawang Lozang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, composed this.


Publisher’s Colophon:


Translated by Joona Repo, FPMT Translation Services, April 2020, from rgyal ba bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho, bla ma dang spyan ras gzigs dbyer med kyi rnal 'byor dngos grub kun 'byung zhe bja wa bzhugs so in la ma'i nal 'bjor dang yi dam khag gi bdag bskyed sogs zhal 'don gces btus bzhugs so, Sherig Pharkhang: Delhi, 2007, 154–164. Translation reviewed by Ven. Steve Carlier and edited by Ven. Tenzin Tsomo, FPMT Education Services, June 2020.



Notes


1 The “perfect full moon” is a metaphor for bodhichitta.

2 This is the name of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

3 The “three vajras” refer to the syllables OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ.

4 This refers to the guru himself—the commitment being; the deity, Avalokiteshvara—the exalted wisdom being; and the seed syllable, HRĪH—the concentration being.


5 According to this method, all the objects of refuge are visualized in the form of one single enlightened being.

6 This version of the name mantra was taught by His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself. It supersedes the original version: OṂ ĀḤ GURU VAJRADHARA VĀGINDRA SUMATI ŚHĀSANA DHARA SAMUDRA ŚHRĪ BHADRA SARVA SIDDHI HŪṂ HŪṂ.


7 A rakshasi is a blood-thirsty female demon.


8 Tib. 'gog med. According to Geshe Ngawang Sangye, this term in the context of the Vajrayana refers to the great compassion that prevents the practitioner from attaining the cessation of the Hearer Vehicle.

9 The eight petals are the eight channels that branch out from the heart chakra.

10 Tib. blo gter. This is an epithet of Manjushri.

11 Shakyai Gejong (Tib. shAkya'i dge sbyong) essentially means “Buddhist monk.”


Care of Dharma Materials


Dharma materials contain the teachings of the Buddha and thus protect against lower rebirth and reveal the path to enlightenment. Therefore, they should be treated with respect.

Printed Dharma materials, as well as phones, tablets, laptops, and hard drives containing Dharma, should be kept off the floor, beds, chairs, meditation cushions, and all other places where people sit or walk. Dharma materials should not be stepped over or put in places where the feet or buttocks will point at them. They should be covered or protected for transporting and kept in a high, clean place separate from more mundane materials. Other objects, including statues, stupas, ritual implements, malas, reading glasses, and so forth, should not be placed on top of Dharma books and devices containing Dharma materials. Avoid licking the fingers to turn the pages of Dharma texts.


If it is necessary to dispose of printed Dharma materials, they should be burned rather than thrown in the trash. When burning Dharma texts, visualize that the letters transform into an A (ཨ) and the A absorbs into your heart. Imagine burning blank paper. As the paper burns, recite OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ or the Heart Sutra, while meditating on emptiness.

Lama Zopa Rinpoche recommends that images of holy beings, deities, and holy objects not be burned. Ideally, if undamaged, they should be put in a stupa. Otherwise, put them high up in a tree inside a well-sealed structure, something like a bird house, so that the images are protected from the weather and do not end up on the ground.

Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition