Mipham Rinpoche Collection

Mipham Rinpoche Series
1
Advice for Beginners
by Mipham Rinpoche
Kyeho! All activities within saṃsāra are pointless and hollow—

Unreliable and fleeting, like lightning's streaking dance,
And there is no certainty as to when death will strike.
Still, since death is certain, limit idle plans and speculations,
Allow the teacher's instructions to hit home and strike a chord,
And, single-pointedly, in solitude, seek perfect certainty of mind.
Mind, which is like lightning, a breeze, or passing clouds,
Is coloured by its various thoughts of everything under the sun,
But when examined thoroughly is found to lack a basis or origin.
Just like a mirage on the horizon, it is devoid of essential nature.
While being empty, it appears; and while appearing, it is empty.
Left to settle, naturally, by itself, mind arrives at a genuine state of ease,
And, when familiarity grows stable, mind's natural condition is seen.
If devotion to the teacher grows vast, blessings will enter and inspire the mind,
And when accumulations are gathered and obscurations purified, realization will
dawn—
So take this practice to heart, carefully and with constant effort!
When some beginners asked me for advice on practice, I, the one called Mipham, wrote
this for their instruction. May virtue abound!
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2012.
2
Advice to the Dodrup Incarnation, Jigme Tenpe
Nyima
by Mipham Rinpoche
With your sword you cut through the four māras' hearts,
And your youthfulness is that of the freshest flower,
The thought of you brings bliss, O deity of wisdom speech,
Be a protector now to this one who has good fortune!
Without knowing one's own situation, how can one speak of another's?
And yet, like a foolish father
Telling his son whatever comes to mind,
Lovingly, I say this: may you consider it always!
The tradition of the lineage is like the banks of a divine river,

Kept to by those of fortune, as they avoid the routes
Suggested by the misleading words of the deceiving masses:
Hold to your own place and position, and cast away conceit!
When cherished philosophical ideas enter your mind,

They are hard to undermine, and you'll hold yourself in high regard.
Eventually, with no result, you and others too will be like children1 roaming in a
desert.
You might boast, but all will be clear in the faces of those you meet.2
If the blazing fire is not extinguished by the wind,

At thirty-five hindrances will clear, and you'll uphold your own lineage tradition.3
Let go of various thoughts and adopt the discipline of a mendicant,
Following in the footsteps of the vidyādharas.
Let go of all reliance upon tired intellectual speculation,

From the scriptural traditions of your own and others' explanations.
And for five years meditate on instructions from the Expanse Class.
Then hindrances will clear and the sun of mental bliss will dawn.
Let the light of spontaneous activity blaze forth,

And let there be positive conviction in the secret of your mind,
Theory would only invite further impurity, so look through instruction's eyes,
And without relying upon anyone else, be utterly decisive.
3
Rely upon the blissful deliverance that the king of horses brings,
Don't settle for confused philosophical notions of what is or is not,
Born aloft at first by the noisy winds of fame and reputation.
Let the domain of wisdom be what you seek.
To take a stance and cling to a position, thinking “This is it!”

Might seem bright enough, but is like a fire of damp wood,
It doesn't develop into the resolution of a great mind,
But only stifles intelligence, without shedding much light.
The moon itself is pure, but can be as dim as the distant stars.
All these statements come from the churning of thought.
Leave behind the analogies of foolish minds and modes of speech,
And look instead into the mind for which there can be no analogy.
When arriving at a firm decision from within,

A hundred rainbow patterns appear effortlessly in the sky,
Unconfused and precisely distinguished.
Mañjuśrī held in thought is conceptual, confused.

But rest in a state of non-thought and Mañjuśrī you'll meet.
Now is the time to adopt the discipline of not speaking.

Do not speak, and a hundred doors to speech will open.
Say a lot and you'll be trapped in the den of malicious talk.
Not advancing your own system and not refuting those of others,
With the discipline of an old shepherd bereft of sheep,
Let go for a time and clarity will emerge.
Be uninhibited and free, as in a simpleton's soliloquy.
When you find yourself feeling confident about some lauded statement,
It might yield a hundred empty explanations of supposed certainty,
But when the great gateway opens in the dawning of naked wisdom,
It is unstoppable, even if you try, and pours forth from within.
Don't tell anyone of this—that is a sacred pledge, a samaya.

O child born as a follower of the lineage of vidyādharas!
Even though you possess the treasury of the wisdom essence,

If you take a position wherein consciousness rides the karmic winds,
It will create internal strife and struggle, and in the end
You'll be without accomplishment, weary, and ensnared by Māra's emissaries.
4
But if you gain the warmth of bliss and awareness-wisdom,
You'll be like the Lord of gods, victorious over all,
Surveying your domain with a thousand eyes, and clear in speech.
At that time, teaching, debating and composing, and acting on behalf of the teachings
and beings,
Will be effortless, spontaneously accomplished, with no difficulty at all.
Rely on the reverend Tārā and Kīlaya

To liberate temporary obstacles, hindrances and dangers.
The horse's neigh of the mighty [Hayagrīva] will suppress opposition.
And the quintessence of the peaceful and wrathful Mañjuśrī will dissolve into your
heart.
Certainly you should rely too on Sitachattra.4
Wishes will be fulfilled and you'll accomplish the twofold aim.
Do not show this to anyone else. Maṅgalam.
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016. With many thanks to Alak Zenkar Rinpoche and Tulku Thondup
Rinpoche for their kind assistance.
Bibliography
Primary source
"Kun mkhyen mi pham rin po ches rdo grub sprul sku 'jigs med bstan pa'i nyi mar
zhal gdams bslab bya gnang ba" in Mi pham gsung ’bum. 27 vols. Paro: Lama
Ngodrup and Sherab Drimey, 1984–1993, vol. 27: 281–284.
Secondary Sources
bSod nams nyi ma. 2002. Grub rje sku phreng rim par byon pa'i rnam par thar pa 'dod
'byung nor bu'i phreng ba. Gangtok: Pema Thinley.
Tulku Thondup. Masters of Meditation and Miracles: The Longchen Nyingthig Lineage
of Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Shambhala.
Notes
1. Read byes as byis (AZR). ↩
5
2. The translation of this line is tentative. ↩
3. These two lines appear in Thondup 1996: 241 ↩
4. Sita tshattraṃ, presumably a Tibetan transcription of the Sanskrit Sitachattra,

meaning 'white parasol', an alternative name for the deity Sitātapatrā. ↩
6
Essence of the 84000 Approaches to the Dharma
by Mipham Rinpoche
All 84,000 approaches to the Dharma

Are included within Atiyoga, the Great Perfection.
The crucial points of the Atiyoga path
Boil down to naturally arising wisdom.
The primordially unborn nature of mind
Is unceasing, self-radiant and unfabricated.
Wisdom is to recognize one’s own nature
On the basis of the lama's instructions.
The unique sphere, the dharmadhātu,
Which is the nature of all phenomena,
Is the unsurpassable wisdom of non-duality,
The supreme, most splendid form of Mañjuśrī.
Mañjuśrīvajra composed this on the ninth day of the fourth month in the year of the
Fire Monkey. Virtue.
| Translated by Abraham Ta Quan and Adam Pearcey, 2019.
7
How to Cultivate Concentration
by Mipham Rinpoche
་གནས་བད་ི་འང་འདོད་ན། །
ི་་འ་འ་ན་ཐག་མ་བཅད་ན། །
ནང་་མ་གངས་ོག་ཐབས་ད། །
ནང་་མ་གངས་ན་ཐག་ད། །
You might wish to drink the nectar of calm abiding,

But unless you interrupt the stream of external activity,
There's no way to prevent internal distraction.
And you must eradicate this wandering within.
མ་གངས་ན་ཐག་མ་བཅད་ན། །
ེ་གག་གནས་པ་བས་་ེད། །
ན་པས་་ལོན་བར་ད་བིགས། །
ང་ཟད་ོད་ནས་ས་བན་བེན། །
Unless you stem the flow of mental distraction,

You'll never arrive at single-pointed concentration.
Build a secure dam, therefore, with mindfulness.
And apply vigilance whenever you rest for a while.
ངས་ད་ངང་ལ་ན་ཆགས་། །
་གནས་ན་བིང་བོན་པ་བེད། །
མས་པ་ཆགས་ནས་ར་ཡང་ིམ། །
འོག་འ་ད་མས་གནས་ཆ་བེད། །
Return continually to the state of non-distraction,

And strive to extend the duration of the experience.
When it becomes familiar, apply yourself further.
Conquer the enemy, undercurrent thoughts, and generate calm.
བན་ནས་་ིད་ོལ་ད་། །
འག་ང་་ལས་ན་ངས་ི། །
་གནས་དས་་མ་བ་པར། །
བར་ད་བོན་ག་ཐང་ོད་ས། །
When you gain stability,

Continue until the practice is effortless and you achieve pliancy
8
And genuine śamatha—calm abiding.
Apply yourself uninterruptedly, balancing tension and repose.
ན་ང་འོང་དཀའ་མ་ིད་པས། །
དང་པོ་བན་གས་བོན་པ་ེལ། །
བར་་ན་ཆགས་བར་ད་འབད། །
ཐ་མ་ོབས་ེད་དགའ་འས་ོང་། །
་ར་འབད་ན་དོན་བཟང་འང་། །
Prolonged training in what is difficult can be discouraging,

So begin by strengthening your determination and diligence.
Then, in the middle, strive continually without interruption.
In the end, you'll gain strength and savour the fruits of joy.
This is how your efforts will yield their excellent reward.
Composed on the seventh day of the sixth month.
9
Satirical Advice for the Four Schools
by Mipham Rinpoche
Namo mañjuśrīye!
Through the enlightened activity of the victorious buddhas,

And the skilful means of their bodhisattva heirs,
May the four schools of Buddhist teachings, old and new,
Successfully transmit their perfect methods of awakening!
The transmission of sūtras has fallen to the Gendenpa,

The transmission of mantra has fallen to the Nyingmapa,
The transmission of exposition has fallen to the Sakyapa,
And the transmission of practice has fallen to the Kagyüpa.
The Sakyapa are masters of learning,

The Gendenpa are masters of discourse,
The Kagyüpa are masters of realization,
And the Nyingmapa, masters of spiritual power.
There are four marvellous transmissions:

The view beyond all extremes among the Nyingmapa,
Perseverance in meditation among the Kagyüpa,
Perfect conduct among the Gendenpa,
And regular approach and accomplishment practice among the Sakyapa.
Although for them all everything is complete,
Each school emphasizes a particular discipline.
The Nyingmapa chant through their noses,

The Sakyapa intone with their lips,
The Gendenpa sing mainly through the throat,
And the Kagyüpa chant strongly from within.
The Gendenpa are like the body of the teachings, with the path of scriptural study
complete.
The Sakyapa are like the eyes of the teachings, uniting the two elements of sūtra and
mantra.
The Kagyüpa are like the heart of the teachings, bringing devotion into the practice.
And the Nyingmapa are like the life-force of the teachings, holding the profound key
instructions for the tantras and sādhanas.
Now for a few words in jest:
The Nyingmapa claim to have a path for accomplishing the level of Vajradhara
10
through the practice of clear light Dzogpachenpo, without the need to rely upon an
external activity-mudrā (consort). And yet the lamas say they must take a wife to
increase their longevity, improve the clarity of their vision, maintain good health,
and benefit beings through the revelation of terma. They don’t say that for the sake
of the teachings they should teach and practise! That taking a wife could be a way to
benefit the teachings and beings, and a substitute for teaching and practice, and at
the same time improve clarity of vision and the like is, I think, incredible!
The Gendenpa assert that the antidote to all the pains of existence is the wisdom that
realizes selflessness. And yet they say that when approaching the realization of no-
self there can be such a fear of letting go of this sense of identity that it becomes
difficult to sit still upon the cushion. In the past it was said that the attainment of the
path of seeing and the clear experience of selflessness that precedes it are marked by
special feelings of joy, so I wonder if this is might be a symptom of the current
degenerate age!
The Sakyapa accept the Highest Yoga tantras which affirm that inner wisdom is
primary, without regard to conduct. And yet when they recite the Path Stage
sādhana, they maintain the discipline of never leaving their seats, because to do so
would transgress their vow. It seems that if they do ever need to get up and do
something, they must crawl along dragging their seat behind, which might bring
about some temporary physical purification and liberation. Still, I wonder what
would happen if they ever stood up!
The Kagyüpa assert that the Great Seal (Mahāmudrā) is the primordial wisdom that
pervades all saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, and yet they explain the word ‘mudrā’ by referring
to a hand. Yet what would such an enormous hand be like? I think it would be
marvellous to see one.
Ha ha! That was all said in jest.
There is great significance to the sayings of the great masters of the past, And there
are key points to the intentions of each school, old and new.
What is more, most followers of the Nyingma school shun the taking of life but
presume there is no need to give up women. If they are a genuine yogins, I take
refuge in them! But, in general, this ordinary sexual desire is harmful to the Nyingma
teachings, so take care, I pray!
Most followers of the Kagyü school dislike classical exposition and logic, preferring
to consider only the mind. If they are those in whom realization and liberation are
simultaneous, I take refuge! But, in general, such a closed-minded attitude is harmful
to the Kagyü teachings and must therefore be abandoned!
11
Most followers of the Genden school shun alcohol and the like, making them
exemplary models of the teaching. Still, most see no faults in those who seek to kill
and maim. But such hostility is a great enemy, so take care, I pray!
Most followers of the Sakya school regard as supreme only those empowerments and
instructions they themselves have received and the branch to which they belong —
whether Sakya, Ngor or another. But this strong prejudice and dogmatism is harmful
to the Sakya teachings, so it must be abandoned!
Generally, even if we are attached to our own tradition, it is important that we have
no antipathy towards other traditions. Considering our own tradition, given that we
are all followers of the Buddha, we can have a close affection for one another. Then,
concerning the different systems of teaching, they began from the time of Khenpo
Śāntarakṣita, Guru Rinpoche and King Trisong Detsen. As a legacy of that excellent
past, all of us here in Tibet accept the four seals which are the hallmark of the
Buddhist teachings. We are all equal in this respect, and, what is more, we all assert
the great śūnyatā free from conceptual elaboration. Not only that, we all accept the
mantrayāna with its inseparable unity of bliss and emptiness. This means that, with
our similar views and tenets, we are extremely close.
Other traditions, non-Buddhist outsiders and barbarians, who differ from us even in
outer signs and dress, are as numerous as the stars in the night sky. Compared to
them, we Buddhists are as rare as stars in broad daylight. Now, when the Buddhist
teachings are on the verge of extinction, all who seek to ensure their survival must
view one another as the closest of allies. Any feelings of hostility will bring great
ruin, so instead we must regard each other with joy, like a mother seeing her only
child, or a beggar discovering a priceless treasure.
Having become followers of one teacher,

May all students of these same teachings,
Abandon hostility and prejudiced views,
And work together with a sense of joy!
Whatever falls outside the scope of the teachings,

Whether it appears in ourselves or others, we must abandon.
Whatever is in accord with the teachings,
Whether it belongs to us or others, we must cultivate.
Through the power of this, here within the Land of Snows,

May the four great lineages of practice, methods of victorious Buddhahood,
Blaze with the beauty of a wealth of Dharma teachings,
And meet with complete and universal success!
Mati, who knows the nature of all four schools — Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyü and Gelug
— wrote this in jest for a friend. Maṅgalam!
12
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2005, with the invaluable assistance of Khenpo Dorje. Revised 2016 with
the kind assistance of Ringu Tulku Rinpoche.
13
The Four Dharma Traditions of the Land of Tibet
by Mipham Rinpoche
Nyingma followers of Secret Mantra emphasize the actual tantra.1

They pursue the highest view and delight in conduct that is stable.
Many reach the vidyādhara levels and attain accomplishment,
And many are mantrins, whose power is greater than others.
Kagyü followers, the protectors of beings, emphasize devotion.

Many find that receiving the lineage's blessings is sufficient.
And many gain accomplishment through perseverance in the practice
They are similar to, and mix together with, the Nyingmapas.
The Riwo Gendenpas2 emphasize the ways of the learned.

They are fond of analytical meditation and delight in debate.
And they impress all with their elegant, exemplary conduct.
They are popular, prosperous, and put effort into learning.
The glorious Sakyapas emphasize approach and accomplishment.

Many are blessed through the power of recitation and visualisation,
They value their own ways and their regular practice is excellent.
When compared to any other school, they have something of them all.
Ema! All four dharma traditions of this land of Tibet

Have but one real source, even if they arose individually.
Whichever one you follow, if you practise it properly
It can bring the qualities of learning and accomplishment.
So, like children of the same father and same mother,

Cultivate mutual accord, devotion, and pure perception,
And, while focusing on your own tradition, avoid belittling others.
If you act in this way you will also be of service to the teachings.
I, Mipham, wrote this on the thirtieth day of the first month of the fire-monkey year
(1896). Maṅgalam!
Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016
1. i.e., the meaning rather than the words, the actual tantra (or continua) of
ground, path and fruition, rather than the written tantras. (AZR) ↩
2. i.e., the Gelugpas. ↩
14
The Perfect Equality of the Dharmadhātu
by Mipham Rinpoche
Namo Mañjuśrīye!
A key point to understand in both sūtra and mantra vehicles

Is the perfect equality of the dharmadhātu.
And when realising this perfect equality,
Realisation of the view of entities is crucial.
Through familiarity with the key points of

The view of the Middle Way beyond concepts
And co-emergent great bliss on the path of mantra,
You'll come to understand non-conceptual simplicity,
And self-arising wisdom beyond the mind will dawn.
When your familiarity with this becomes stable,

All the phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are perfectly equal.
And the dharmakāya, the single all-encompassing sphere,
Dawns unobstructedly in your being.
All phenomena are perfectly equal.

And in perfect equality there's no acceptance or rejection.
When you are confident about perfect equality,
Realisation is said to 'reach its limit'.
When reaching the limit of realisation,

Saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,
Pleasure and pain, self and other,
Are all liberated in perfect equality.
This is fearlesness, universal victory.
One who has gained such universal victory,

Passes through the stages of
Vidyādhara, vīra and buddhas' heir,
And comes to train living beings,
Their every connection being meaningful.
Thus, having realised the authentic view,

Through the instructions of the lineage,
And gained stability with supreme familiarity,
One will finally become a victorious vidyādhara.
15
When this advice has matured
In the minds of those of excellent fortune,
And they see the genuine path, may they
Seize the stronghold of the vidyādhara's realisation.
I, Mipham, quickly wrote this down at Shedzong Tashi Chöling, on the twenty-sixth day
of the twelfth month of the Iron-rat year (i.e., 1901).
16
༄༅། །་འར་བན་པ་ས་པ་ོན་ལམ་ས་ལ་དེས་པ་ཞལ་ང་ས་་བ་
བགས་སོ། །
A Prayer of Aspiration for the Flourishing and Spread of the Ancient Translation
Tradition entitled “Words to Delight the Sovereigns of the Dharma”
by Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche
་ཡང་ས་ི་ཐ་མར་་གམ་་་གས་ད་བལ་ནས་བན་པ་ིང་པོ་ན་པོ་་ས་པར་ར་ག་མ་་ལན་
ག་ཙམ་མོས་པ་ཡང་བསོད་ནམས་ཚད་ད་པ་དང་ན་ང༌། ལ་བ་ས་ི་ོན་ལམ་ཡོངས་་ོགས་ནས་ེ་བ་ན་
་ལ་བ་ས་དང་ས་ི་ིང་པོ་ཟབ་མོ་ག་པ་དང་འད་ནས་འན་ོང་ེལ་བས་ར་་མ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་མེན་
པ་་ས་ལ་ག་པར་འར་བ་དས་པ་ཡོད་པས། ལ་བཟང་མས་ིས་ས་ས་དང༌། ད་པར་ཚོགས་མང་་
བས་་འ་ར་ོན་ལམ་གདབ་པར་་ེ།
During this final era at the end of time, whenever you can invoke the gurus, devas and ḍākinīs and then wish, even
just once, “May the jewel-like heart essence of the buddhas’ teachings flourish and spread!” you will accrue merit
that is beyond all measure. Not only that, but you will naturally be fulfilling the aspirations of the bodhisattvas,
and so in every one of your lives you will encounter the Buddhadharma and especially its quintessence, the most
profound vehicle of all. Then, by holding, safeguarding and spreading these teachings, you will quickly approach
the wisdom of omniscience. This is why fortunate men and women ought to recite this aspiration prayer as often as
possible, and particularly on the occasion of great gatherings of practitioners.
Invoking the Three Jewels and Three Roots
ན་མོ། ོགས་བ་བ་བར་གགས་པ་ས་དང་བཅས། །
namo, chok chü dewar shekpa sé dangché
Homage to you, sugatas in every direction, along with all your heirs,
ད་པར་མཉམ་ད་་ལ་པོ་དང༌། །
khyepar nyammé shakyé gyalpo dang
And especially to you, the one and only King of the Śākyas,
ལ་ས་བད་དང་གནས་བན་འཕགས་པ་ཚོགས། །
gyalsé gyé dang neten pakpé tsok
With the Eight Great Bodhisattvas and the exalted assembly of arhats.
མེན་བེ་བདག་ད་མག་མས་དངས་་གསོལ། །
khyentsé daknyi chok nam gong su sol
Sublime embodiments all of wisdom and compassion: turn your loving gaze toward us!
ཕན་བ་འང་གནས་བན་པ་ན་པོ་། ། 17
ཕན་བ་འང་གནས་བན་པ་ན་པོ་། །
pendé jungné tenpa rinpoche
This precious teaching, source of all benefit, happiness and bliss,
ོན་དང་མས་དཔའ་འཕགས་པ་མག་མས་ིས། །
tön dang sempa pakpa chok nam kyi
Is the truth for which our teacher, Lord Buddha, and all the supreme bodhisattvas
ཡང་ཡང་དཀའ་བས་བཙལ་ང་བག་པ་དོན། །
yangyang kawé tsal shying nakpé dön
Searched and strove, again and again, through hardship of every kind:
མཚོ་ེས་ལ་བ་བན་པ་ས་ར་ག །
tsokyé gyalwé tenpa gyé gyur chik
So may this teaching of the lotus-born buddha flourish and spread!
མཁན་ོབ་ས་ལ་ལ་པ་ལོ་པཎ་དང༌། །
khen lob chögyal trulpé lo pen dang
Khenpo Śāntarakṣita, great master Padmasambhava, Dharma king Trisongdetsen,
incarnate translators and paṇḍitas,
བཀའ་གར་ག་འན་བད་པ་་དམ་། །
kater rigdzin gyüpa yidam lha
Vidyādharas who hold kama and terma lineages, yidam deities,
མ་མན་གཟའ་ོར་ད་གམ་ེགས་པ་ཚོགས། །
magön za dor gyü sum drekpé tsok
Ekajaṭī, Mahākāla, Za Rāhula, Dorje Lekpa and the proud protectors, male, female and
diverse:
་འར་་གམ་་ཚོགས་དངས་་གསོལ། །
ngagyur tsa sum lhatsok gong su sol
All of you sources of blessing, attainment and activity in the Early Translations, turn your
minds toward us!
བ་བན་མདོ་དང་གས་ི་ལ་མཐའ་དག །
tubten do dang ngak kyi tsul tadak
You were the ones who, with all of your love and care,
གངས་ཅན་ོངས་་བེ་བས་ངས་ར་པ། ། 18
གངས་ཅན་ོངས་་བེ་བས་ངས་ར་པ། །
gangchen jong su tsewé drang gyurpa
Brought the Buddha’s teaching and its countless Dharma systems of sūtra and tantra to
the Land of Snows.
ས་ར་ེལ་བ་ོ་ེ་དམ་དངས་ནས། །
ché cher pelwé dorjé dam gong né
So now remember your vajra promise to make them grow from strength to strength,
And let this teaching of the lotus-born buddha flourish and spread!
The Greatness of the Translators & Scholars
ོགས་ས་ལ་བ་་གང་གས་ོ་ེ། །
chok dü gyalwé ku sung tuk dorjé
The vajra body, speech and mind of buddhas throughout all of space and time,
གས་གམ་མས་དཔ་་འལ་རོལ་མོ་ས། །
rik sum sempé gyutrul rolmo yi
Emanated as forms of Avalokiteśvara, Vajrapāṇi, and Mañjuśrī, whose magical display
གངས་ཅན་ཕན་བ་་མ་གསལ་བར་མཛད། །
gangchen pendé nyima salwar dzé
Caused a sun of happiness to fill the Land of Snows with light.
This teaching of the lotus-born buddha: may it flourish and spread!
ལ་དང་ལ་ས་འཕགས་པ་ན་པོ་ཚོགས། །
gyal dang gyalsé pakpa chenpö tsok
Then buddhas and sublime great bodhisattvas chose
བསམ་བན་ལ་པ་ོས་གར་ར་བང་ནས། །
samshyin trulpé dögar nyer zung né
To emanate and be born there as lotsawas and scholars,
ི་ད་ལ་བན་ནོར་་ལ་མཚན་ེང༌། །
drimé gyalten norbü gyaltsen dreng
To raise high the victory-banner with its jewel, the untarnished teachings of Buddha:
མཚོ་ེས་ལ་བ་བན་པ་ས་ར་ག ། 19
So may this teaching of the lotus-born buddha flourish and spread!
ན་མོང་ན་ན་གང་ན་རང་དབང་ས། །
tünmong tünmin shyung kün rangwang gi
It was they alone who translated, without error, the common sciences and all the
extraordinary scriptures,
མ་ནོར་བར་ས་གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་པ་ས། །
manor gyur shyü ten la pabpa yi
They who checked them and finalized them,
གངས་ོངས་ང་བ་ོ་ན་ཐོག་མར་ེས། །
gangjong nangwé go chen tokmar ché
So for the first time a great door was flung open, flooding the Land of Snows with the
light of Dharma.
May this teaching of the lotus-born buddha flourish and spread!
The Greatness of the Translations: Buddha’s Words and the Commentaries
ལ་བཟང་གལ་ས་མདོ་དང་གས་ི་ལ། །
kalzang duljé do dang ngak kyi tsul
Fortunate disciples taking up the practice of
ཉམས་་ན་ལ་གཞན་ིང་་འག་པར། །
nyam su len la shyen dring mijokpar
The sūtras and tantras have no need to look elsewhere,
བཀའ་དང་དངས་པ་འེལ་བ་གང་ན་ོགས། །
ka dang gongpa drelwé shyung kün dzok
For within the Buddha’s words and the commentaries on his vision, everything is
complete.
These teachings of the lotus-born buddha: may they flourish and spread!
20
Kama and Terma, Sūtra and Mantra
བན་གང་བཀའ་་་མཚོ་ན་པོ་ལ། །
den sung ka yi gyatso chenpo la
The truth the Buddha taught—the kama transmission is vast and immeasurable,
ཟབ་མོ་ས་གར་ནོར་ས་མན་པར་མས། །
zabmö chö ter norbü ngönpar dzé
Its full beauty brought out by the jewels of the profound termas
མདོ་དང་གས་ི་ལམ་བཟང་ང་་འེལ། །
do dang ngak kyi lam zang zung du drel
To form a sublime path that unites both sūtra and mantra.
View and Conduct
ད་ང་ཟ་ཧོར་མཁན་པོ་ོད་པ་དང༌། །
mejung zahor khenpö chöpa dang
The action of Śāntarakṣita, exquisite scholar of Zahor,
མངས་ད་དཔལ་ན་་་་བ་གས། །
tsungmé palden lu yi tawa nyi
And the view of the unequalled, glorious Nāgārjuna
ང་འེལ་བད་པ་བཀའ་ོལ་ག་ས་བཏབ། །
zung drel gyüpé ka sol chakgyé tab
Integrated as one, seal the tradition of this lineage:
The Greatness of the Profound Essence: the Vast Tantras
ཟབ་མོ་ནང་ད་ེ་གམ་དངས་པ་བད། །
zabmö nanggyü dé sum gongpé chü
The quintessence of the three profound inner tantras lies in
ན་ན་མན་ངག་གསང་བ་ལམ་མག་ནས། ། 21
ན་ན་མན་ངག་གསང་བ་ལམ་མག་ནས། །
tünmin mengak sangwé lamchok né
The uncommon pith instructions; their supreme and secret path leads
འཇའ་ས་ས་ར་གགས་པ་་མཚར་འབར། །
jalü chökur shekpé ngotsar bar
To the radiant wonder of entering the dharmakāya in a body of rainbow light:
The Profound Sādhanas
རབ་འམས་་ོ་བ་བདག་བ་ེ་བད། །
rabjam shyitrö khyabdak drubdé gyé
The eight sādhanas of the infinite peaceful and wrathful deities
བཀའ་བབ་ག་འན་སོ་སོ་དངས་བད་དང༌། །
kabab rigdzin sosö gong chü dang
Were transmitted to each of the eight vidyādharas. The essence of their realization
ན་འས་པ་བཀའ་ོལ་གག་་འིལ། །
kündü pemé kasol chik tu khyil
And Padmasambhava’s tradition which combines them all are woven into one
In this teaching of the lotus-born buddha: may it flourish and spread!
The Greatness of the Purity of the Teachings: their Words
་དང་འས་་གསང་གས་ག་པ་། །
gyu dang drebu sang ngak tekpa ché
The great causal vehicle and resultant secret mantra vehicle,
ཚང་ལ་མ་ནོར་ག་འན་བད་པ་ང༌། །
tsang la manor rigdzin gyüpé lung
Complete and unmistaken, with the original words of the vidyādhara lineage masters
ི་ཞལ་ི་ོད་ངས་ཐོ་་བ། །
daki shyal gyi drö lang tolewa
And the hot breath of the ḍākinīs, straight from their lips —
22
Such is the teaching of the lotus-born Buddha: may it flourish and spread!
Their Meaning
ོ་ེ་འཆང་་དངས་དོན་བད་ི་བད། །
dorjé chang gi gongdön dütsi chü
Vajradhara’s wisdom mind, its quintessential nectar,
མཁས་བ་ེ་བ་ཞལ་ནས་ན་་བད། །
khedrub jewé shyal né nyen du gyü
Is transmitted from mouth to ear by millions of learned and realized beings,
ོག་་ངན་པ་རང་བཟོས་མ་བད་པར། །
tokgé ngenpé rang zö malepar
Untainted by the inventions of wrong-headed intellectuals:
Their Uniqueness
གར་ང་ནོར་་ས་པ་ཡོན་ིས་ང༌། །
ser shying norbü trepé yön gyi kyang
Even by offering continents made of gold, covered with jewels,
་འགས་དིངས་ི་མཁའ་འོ་གས་མཛོད་ས། །
miguk ying kyi khandrö tuk dzö chö
Teachings from the space ḍākinīs’ wisdom mind treasury can never be acquired,
བེ་བས་ེས་འག་ལ་པ་་ནར་བམ། །
tsewé jejuk kalpa khonar tram
For they are bestowed only out of love, and to worthy, fortunate disciples:
The Greatness of Dzogpachenpo: Establishing the Ground
་བོ་ཀ་ནས་དག་པ་་ས་ལ། ། 23
་བོ་ཀ་ནས་དག་པ་་ས་ལ། །
ngowo kané dakpé yeshe la
In the wisdom of the essence, primordially pure,
རང་བན་ན་ིས་བ་པ་གདངས་ཤར་བས། །
rangshyin lhün gyi drubpé dang sharwé
The radiance of its nature spontaneously shines out.
ན་ོམ་མས་ལས་འདས་པ་ོགས་པ་། །
lün gom sem lé depé dzokpa ché
So Great Perfection is utterly beyond the conceptual minds of dull meditators:
Practising the Path
ཡོད་ད་ོགས་ར་ན་པ་དགས་གཏད་ག །
yömé chokrer shyenpé mikté shyik
Where rigid concepts clinging to one side or another, existence or non-existence, naturally
collapse,
མཐར་འན་་བ་འན་ངས་ང་ནས་ང༌། །
tardzin tawé dzintang drung né chung
And habitual grasping to extreme views is uprooted,
ག་ལམ་འས་་ང་ོང་ང་་འག །
shyi lam drebu nangtong zung du juk
Ground, Path and Fruition are the union of appearance and emptiness:
Resolving the Fruition
ས་གམ་ལ་བ་དངས་པ་མཐར་ག་དོན། །
dü sum gyalwé gongpa tartuk dön
The final meaning of all buddhas’ realization, past, present and future,
ཟབ་་ོས་ལ་འོད་གསལ་འས་མ་ས། ། 24
ཟབ་་ོས་ལ་འོད་གསལ་འས་མ་ས། །
zab shyi trödral ösal dümajé
“Profound, peace, natural simplicity, clear light, uncompounded”,
ག་ོང་་གས་ོ་ེ་བ་པ་མཐའ། །
riktong mishik dorjé drubpé ta
Is the indestructible vajra viewpoint of inseparable awareness and emptiness:
Practising and Upholding the Teachings of Transmission
མང་་ཐོས་པ་ང་་ིན་འིགས་ང༌། །
mangdu töpa lung gi trin trik shing
Anyone who has studied many teachings can draw on a teeming cloud of scriptural
sources,
ཕ་རོལ་ོལ་འམས་ག་པ་ོག་ེང་འབར། །
parol gol jom rigpé lok treng bar
And so defeat opponents with a reasoning that scorches like bolts of lightning,
མན་ངག་གནད་ི་བད་ི་ིང་ལ་མ། །
mengak né kyi dütsi nying la sim
While the nectar of the crucial points of the experiential pith-instructions seeps into their
hearts:
Practising and Upholding the Teachings of Realization
ད་ང་ཨ་་ཡོ་ག་གང་ལམ་ནས། །
mejung atiyogé seng lam né
By following this swift and secret path, the sublime Atiyoga,
མ་ས་ལ་བ་ན་ི་་ས་། །
malü gyalwa kün gyi yeshe ku
The wisdom body of all of the buddhas,
བ་བདག་འཇམ་དཔལ་ོ་ེར་རབ་བབས་པ། ། 25
བ་བདག་འཇམ་དཔལ་ོ་ེར་རབ་བབས་པ། །
khyabdak jampal dorjer rab drubpa
The universal lord, Mañjuśrī the Indestructible, is actually and perfectly realized:
Spreading the Dharma of Transmission
ཡང་དག་ཚད་མ་གམ་ི་ང་རོ་ས། །
yangdak tsema sum gyi ngaro yi
The lion’s roar, the three authentic teachings of scripture, reasoning and pith instruction,
་དམན་་གས་ཚོགས་མས་ག་མཛད་པ། །
ta men ridak tsok nam trakdzepa
Strikes terror among all other animals, the holders of lesser views.
ག་མག་ང་་་དངས་ས་གམ་བ། །
tek chok sengé drayang sa sum khyab
Just like the call of the lion, so too may the sound of Atiyoga, the supreme vehicle, fill the
entire earth, above, below and in between,
And this teaching of the lotus-born buddha flourish and spread!
Spreading the Dharma of Realization
ལ་བན་ཡོངས་་ོགས་པ་ས་བཟང་ེར། །
gyalten yongsu dzokpé gö zang tser
The Buddha’s teachings, so complete, are like the folds of exquisite silk in a banner of
victory,
འོད་གསལ་ོ་ེ་ིང་པོ་ཏོག་མས་པ། །
ösal dorjé nyingpö tok dzepa
And the Clear Light Vajra Essence of Dzogpachenpo, akin to the beautiful crowning jewel
at its tip.
ོགས་ལས་མ་པར་ལ་བ་ལ་མཚན་མཐོ། །
chok lé nampar gyalwé gyaltsen to
So raise this all-conquering banner high into the sky
མཚོ་ེས་ལ་བ་བན་པ་ས་ར་ག ། 26
And let this teaching of the lotus-born buddha flourish and spread for ages to come!
How We Will Hold the Teaching
བདག་སོགས་ང་ནས་འོ་བ་་ིད་། །
dak sok deng né drowa jisi du
From this day on, and as long as living beings remain,
བན་དང་བན་པ་ིང་པོ་ཡོངས་ོགས་པ། །
ten dang tenpé nyingpo yongdzokpa
I and others will hold, protect and spread the teachings of Buddha in their entirety, and
especially their Heart Essence,
མཁའ་བ་ང་་འན་ོང་ེལ་བ་ས། །
khakhyab shying du dzin kyong pelwa yi
In buddha realms reaching through the whole of space,
And so let us cause this teaching of the lotus-born buddha to flourish and to spread!
How Others will Hold the Teachings
མདོར་ན་མཁས་བན་བ་པ་མ་ཐར་ིས། །
dorna khé tsün drubpé namtar gyi
Finally, by emulating the learned, disciplined and realized practitioners,
ལ་བན་ེལ་བ་ིན་ལས་མཁའ་བ་པ། །
gyalten pelwé trinlé khakhyabpé
Let true holders of the teachings spread the Buddhadharma, and their enlightening actions
stretch throughout the universe.
བན་འན་དམ་པས་ས་ེང་ཡོངས་གང་ནས། །
tendzin dampé sateng yong gang né
Let them appear everywhere on Earth, and thereby
27
དཔལ་ན་་མ་་་རབ་བན་ང༌། །
palden lamé kutsé rabten ching
Let the lives of the glorious masters be forever secure and firm,
བན་པ་ིན་བདག་མངའ་ཐང་དར་བ་ས། །
tenpé jindak ngatang darwa yi
Let the prosperity, power and standing of the sponsors of the teachings grow,
ས་ིད་་བ་ནོར་་ལ་མཚན་བེངས། །
chösi minub norbü gyaltsen dreng
Let the resources of the Dharma and of our world never wane, and may this jewelled
victory banner fly forever,
So the teaching of the lotus-born buddha spreads far and wide, and remains for ages to
come!
ས་ལ་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་ི་་བོ་དཔལ་ན་སངས་ས་པ་ེས་འ་ད་མཚོར་འངས་ལ་བ་བན་པ་་འར་ིང་
མ་ས་གས་པ་འ་་ལ་བན་ཡོངས་་ོགས་པ་ི་མོ་ན་ང་ཟབ་གནད་་བ་་མ་ད་ས་དང༌། ་ོམ་
མ་པར་དག་པ་ལ་བ་དེས་པ་ལམ་བཟང་མ་ནོར་བ་ན་པ་འ་་ས་ནས་ནོར་་ན་པོ་་ི་དོར་ས་་ལ་
མཚན་ི་ེ་ལ་མད་པ་བན་་གང་ཟག་ལ་པ་དང་ན་པ་མས་ིས་འཆད་ོད་ོམ་གམ་ི་ིན་ལས་བས་པོ་
ས་ོགས་ཐམས་ཅད་་དར་ང་ས་པར་མཛད་པ་གས་ར་བས་པ་དང༌། ་་་བད་པ་ད་བན་་
འབ་པ་ེན་འེལ་ོན་ག་་ིང་བན་ལ་ག་བསམ་མ་པར་དཀར་བ་་ཕམ་འཇམ་དངས་མ་ལ་་མཚོས་
གནས་ས་ེན་འེལ་ད་བར་ང་ན་ལ་ཤར་མར་ིས་པ་ད་གས་འལ།། །།
The embodiment of all the victorious buddhas is the awe-inspiring enlightened Lotus-born Guru, who has
transcended death and was born on the Lake Dhanakośa. The teaching of this second buddha, renowned as ‘the
Early Translation Tradition of the Ancient Ones, the Nyingmapas’, represents the source of the complete teachings
of the Buddha and, being a unique Dharma with copious extraordinary and profound crucial points, and a View
and Meditation that are completely pure, it constitutes an exquisite path, devoid of any error, that delights the
buddhas. Being fully aware of this, just as when the wish-fulfilling jewel, once polished and set atop the victory
banner, grants everyone’s wishes, so beings with fortunate karma should personally take responsibility for making
certain that these teachings flourish and spread in all directions, through teaching, through defending them in
debate and through written composition, in a great burst of enlightened endeavour.
As an auspicious tendrel to bring about this wish by means of an aspiration prayer, one with the very purest
intentions regarding the ancient Nyingma teachings, Mipham Jamyang Namgyal Gyatso, wrote down just
whatever came into his mind in the midday session, when the place, time, and so on were all exceptionally
auspicious. May goodness abound!
| © Rigpa Translations, 2016. Translated with reference to Shechen Gyaltsab Pema Namgyal’s commentary ‘Banner
of Victory in Every Direction’, with precious clarifications by Zenkar Rinpoche. First published on Lotsawa House,
with permission, 2018.
28
༄༅། །མར་་ོན་ལམ་བགས་སོ།།
Light Offering Prayer

by Mipham Rinpoche
ག་པ་ཀ་དག་ང་གསལ་མར་་འ། །
rigpa kadak nangsal marmé di
This brightly shining lamp of primordial pure awareness
ག་འན་དིལ་འར་པད་འང་་ལ་འལ། །
rigdzin kyilkhor pejung lha la bul
We offer to Padmākara and the deities of the maṇḍala of vidyādharas
ག་པས་གར་བ་མ་ར་འོ་བ་མས། །
rigpé gar khyab magyur drowa nam
Wherever awareness pervades, may all mother-like sentient beings,
ག་ོང་ས་་་འཕང་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །
riktong chökü gopang tobpar shok
Realize the dharmakāya – unity of awareness and emptiness.
་ཕམ་པས་སོ། །
Written by Mipham.
| Pema Jungne Translations, 2018.
29
༄༅། །བ་ན་ང་་ོན་ལམ་བགས་སོ།།
Sukhāvatī Aspiration
by Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche
བ་བ་ཅན་་ེ་བར་འདོད་པ་མས་ིས། བ་བ་ཅན་་ེ་བ་་བ་དོན་ཉམས་ན་། སངས་ས་འོད་དཔག་

ད་ི་་ལ་ེ་གག་་དགས་། ན་ར་མཚན་ལན་བན་སོགས་བོད་ནས།
For those who wish to be reborn in the blissful pure land, there is a practice that incorporates the four causes of
rebirth in Sukhāvatī. For this, you should focus one-pointedly on the form of Buddha Amitābha, recite his name at
least seven times each day, and perform the following:
འེན་པ་འོད་དཔག་ད་པ་དངས་་གསོལ། །
drenpa öpak mépa gong su sol
Guide of Limitless Light—Amitābha—turn your enlightened attention towards me!
ལ་བ་ེད་ི་གས་བེད་་བན་། །
gyalwa khyé kyi tukkyé ji shyin du
Just as you, a victorious one, generated the mind of bodhicitta,
་ད་ང་བ་མག་་མས་བེད་། །
lamé chang chub chok tu sem kyé dé
I too now set my mind on unsurpassable, supreme awakening,
ད་བ་་བ་་ེད་བིས་པ་མས། །
gewé tsawa ji nyé gyipa nam
And whatever sources of virtue I have created, I dedicate
བ་ོགས་བ་བ་ཅན་ི་ང་ཁམས་། །
nub chok dewachen gyi shying kham su
So that I may be reborn in your presence, supreme victorious one,
ལ་མག་ེད་ི་ང་་ེས་ནས་ང་། །
gyal chok khyé kyi drung du kyé né kyang
Within the western pure land of Sukhāvatī,
བས་ན་ལ་བ་ས་ི་ོད་པ་ན། །
lapchen gyalwé sé kyi chöpa kun
There to perfect entirely all the beneficial activity
ཡོངས་་ོགས་པ་ད་་བོ་བིད་ན། །
yong su dzokpé lé du ngo gyi na
Of an heir to the victorious ones.
་འ་འཕོས་མ་ཐག་་དག་པ་ང་། ། 30
་འ་འཕོས་མ་ཐག་་དག་པ་ང་། །
tsé di pö ma tak tu dakpé shying
As soon as I depart from this life,
བ་བ་ཅན་་བས་་ེ་བ་དང་། །
dewachen du dzü té kyewa dang
May I miraculously take birth in that pure realm of Sukhāvatī,
འེན་པ་འོད་དཔག་ད་ིས་ང་བན་ནས། །
drenpa öpakmé kyi lung ten né
And having received a prophecy from the Guide of Limitless Light,
ོགས་ོན་ང་བ་མཐའ་་ིན་པར་ཤོག །
dzok min jangwa ta ru chinpar shok
May I bring perfecting, maturing and purifying to completion!
སངས་ས་འོད་དཔག་ད་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འབས། །
sangyé opakmé la solwa dep
Amitābha, Buddha of Limitless Light, to you I pray!
བདག་ས་་ད་ང་བ་མས་བེད་ནས། །
dak gi lamé chang chub sem kyé né
Having set my mind on the attainment of supreme awakening,
ད་་མཐའ་དག་བ་ན་ང་མག་། །
gé tsa tadak dechen shying chok tu
As I dedicate all my sources of virtue towards rebirth in that supreme land of great bliss,
ེ་ིར་བོ་ན་འབ་པར་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
kyé chir ngo na drubpar ching gyi lop
Grant your blessings so that this aspiration may be fulfilled!
ི་ང་པས་སོ།། །།
By the one named Dhīḥ.
31
༄༅། །གཡང་འགས་་ས་གས་་བགས།
Summoning the Spirit of Abundance
The Hook of Divine Substance

by Mipham Rinpoche
ྃ། ་ང་གཟའ་ར་ས་བཟང་ལ། །
hung, dering zakar tsé zang la
Hung! Today, when the stars and planets are auspiciously aligned,
་ཆ་གཡང་་ས་བམ་ེ། །
cha cha yang gi dzé tram té
The materials for attracting prosperity and good fortune are all laid out.
་གཡང་འགས་པ་ལས་ེད་ན། །
cha yangguk pé lejé na
As we perform this practice for summoning the spirit of abundance and prosperity,
དངས་་གསོལ་ལོ་་མན་ཚོགས། །
gong su sollo lha gön tsok
Turn your attention towards us, all you deities and protectors!
དན་མག་གམ་ི་བན་པ་དང། །
könchok sum gyi denpa dang
Through the truth of the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha,
་གམ་ང་མ་ིན་བས་ིས། །
tsa sum sungmé jinlab kyi
And the blessings of the gurus, devas, dakinis, and guardians,
མཐོན་པོ་མཐོ་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
tönpö to yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of high status possessed by all the influential!
ན་པོ་་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
chenpö ché yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of greatness possessed by all the prominent!
དར་བོ་དར་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
darwö dar yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of vigour possessed by all the youthful!
བཙན་པོ་བཙན་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག ། 32
བཙན་པོ་བཙན་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
tsenpö tsen yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of potency possessed by all the powerful!
ག་པོ་ག་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
chukpö chuk yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of wealth possessed by all the prosperous!
འན་པོ་འན་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
penpö pen yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of allure possessed by all the charismatic!
མཁས་པ་མཁས་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
khepé khé yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of wisdom possessed by all the learned!
བན་པ་བན་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
tsünpé tsün yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of discipline possessed by all the ethical!
བ་པ་བ་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
drubpé drub yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of attainment possessed by all the accomplished!
བ་བ་བ་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
dewé dé yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of wellbeing possessed by all the blissful!
ིད་པ་ིད་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
kyipé kyi yang né dir khuk
We summon now spirit of happiness possessed by all the joyous!
བཟང་བ་བཟང་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
zangwé zang yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of excellence possessed by all the good!
དཔའ་བ་དཔའ་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
pawé pa yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of courage possessed by all the brave!
མས་པ་མས་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
dzepé dzé yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of attraction possessed by all the beautiful!
མན་པ་མན་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག ། 33
མན་པ་མན་གཡང་གནས་འར་ག །
tünpé tün yang né dir khuk
We summon now the spirit of agreement possessed by all in harmony!
ོགས་ལས་མ་ལ་་གཡང་ག །
chok lé namgyal cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance for perfect victory and success!
བསམ་དོན་འབ་པ་་གཡང་ག །
samdön drubpé cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance for accomplishing all our aims!
འདོད་ད་འལ་བ་་གཡང་ག །
dögu pelwé cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance for increasing all that is desirable!
་ང་ནད་ད་་གཡང་ག །
tsering nemé cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance for longevity and perfect health!
མངའ་ཐང་ན་གས་་གཡང་ག །
ngatang nyendrak cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance for power and renown!
བ་ས་ད་མཚན་་གཡང་ག །
tashi getsen cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance for auspiciousness and positivity!
་བོ་ེ་ནས་་གཡང་ག །
riwö tsé né cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance from the peaks of mountains!
་མཚོ་གང་ནས་་གཡང་ག །
gyatsö tingné cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance from the oceans' depths!
ོགས་བ་གནས་ནས་་གཡང་ག །
chok shyi né né cha yang khuk
We summon prosperity and abundance from the lands in all directions!
་གཡང་ིན་བན་བས་་བ། །
lha yang trin shyin tib sé tib
Let the devas’ spirit of abundance amass like billowing clouds!
་གཡང་་མཚོ་་་། ། 34
་གཡང་་མཚོ་་་། །
lu yang gyatso mé ré ré
Let the nagas’ spirit of abundance swirl like the swelling ocean!
་གཡང་ད་ཞགས་ེམས་་ེམ། །
mi yang mu shyak dem sé dem
Let the humans’ spirit of abundance radiate with heavenly lustre!
་མ་བན་་ི་་། །
nyima shyindu kyi li li
Shining brightly like the sun,
་བ་བན་་་ར་ར། །
dawa shyindu ga ra ra
Glowing vividly like the moon,
ར་ཚོགས་བན་་ལམས་་ལམ། །
kar tsok shyindu lam sé lam
Sparkling lucidly like the stars,
ན་ན་བན་་བས་་བ། །
nabün shyindu tib sé tib
Gathering thickly like mist,
་ང་བན་་འ་་། །
chulung shyindu du ru ru
Merging and flowing like a river,
ང་ཆར་བན་་་་། །
drang char shyindu si li li
And showering down upon us like rain!
་་་་གཡང་གས་སོ། །
khu yé khu yé yang khuk so
Khuyé khuyé! Let the spirit of abundance be summoned!
་་་་གཡང་འས་སོ། །
hu yé hu yé yang dü so
Huyé huyé! Let the spirit of abundance be gathered!
་་་ན་གཡང་ཆགས་སོ། །
hu yé huden yang chak so
Huyé huden! Let the spirit of abundance be brought forth!
་་་མཚོ་་་། ། 35
་་་མཚོ་་་། །
cha yi gyatso mé ré ré
An ocean of prosperity swells and churns,
གཡང་་ད་ཞགས་ི་་། །
yang gi mu shyak kyi li yi
The spirit of abundance glistens and sparkles with heavenly lustre,
དཔལ་ི་ན་ན་བས་་བ། །
pal gyi nabün tib sé tib
And magnificence gathers and swirls like densest fog!
་འ་་ལ་མ་ོས་ལ། །
cha di ri la ma drö la
Let not this prosperity escape into the mountains!
གཡང་འ་ོ་ལ་མ་ཉམས་ག །
yang di go la ma nyam shik
Let not the spirit of abundance pass beyond the threshold!
དཔལ་འ་གཞན་་མ་གལ་ག །
pal di shyendu ma yel chik
Let not this magnificence wander elsewhere!
ར་བར་གཡང་འལ་གས་ིས་གང༌། །
rawar yang pel chuk kyi gang
Let the spirit of abundance increase in our enclosures, filling them with livestock!
བང་མཛོད་གཡང་འལ་འ་ས་གང༌། །
bangdzö yang pel dru yi gang
Let the the spirit of abundance increase in our stores, filling them with grain!
ིམ་ལ་གཡང་འལ་་ས་གང༌། །
khyim la yang pel mi yi gang
Let the spirit of abundance increase in our homes, filling them with progeny!
བད་ན་ཟས་ི་་མཚོ་བིལ། །
chü chen zé kyi gyatso kyil
Let stocks of nutritious food swell like the ocean!
གཡང་ན་ནོར་ི་་བོ་ངས། །
yang chen nor gyi riwo pung
Let wealth and resources pile up like mountains!
བིད་ན་ས་ི་ཆར་ན་ཕོབས། ། 36
བིད་ན་ས་ི་ཆར་ན་ཕོབས། །
ji chen gö kyi char gyün pob
Let splendid clothing shower down like rain!
ག་་་དང་དཔལ་གནས་ང༌། །
taktu lha dang pal né shing
With the divine and the glorious remaining forever,
་མ་བང་མཛོད་ནམ་མཁའ་མཉམ། །
gyumé bangdzö namkha nyam
And magical treasuries as vast as space itself,
འཛད་ད་དཔལ་འོར་དས་བ་ོལ། །
dzemé paljor ngödrub tsol
Grant us the siddhis of inexhaustible wealth!
ོགས་བ་ནམ་མཁ་མཐར་ག་ནས། །
chok chu namkhé tartuk né
From every direction throughout the whole of space,
་དང་གཡང་་བད་འས་། །
cha dang yang gi chü dü té
Gather now the essence of prosperity and abundance,
བདག་དང་བ་པ་ེན་ལ་མ། །
dak dang drubpé ten la tim
And let it be absorbed into us and the supports of our practice,
་བ་ལ་མཚན་བན་་བན། །
mi nub gyaltsen shyindu ten
Remaining forever stable like the banner of victory, never waning,
་གས་ོ་ེ་་ར་ག །
mishik dorjé tabur tak
Forever present like the vajra, indestructible,
་འར་གང་ང་བན་་འིལ། །
mingyur yungdrung shyindu khyil
And forever immutable like the yungdrung, never changing.
་་བན་་གསལ་ར་ག །
nyida shyindu sal gyur chik
Let this essence be as splendid as the sun and moon!
ིན་ན་བན་་ས་ར་ག ། 37
ིན་ན་བན་་ས་ར་ག །
trin chen shyindu gyé gyur chik
Let it expand like vast, billowing clouds!
འས་བཟང་བན་་འལ་ར་ག །
dré zang shyindu pel gyur chik
And let it multiply like fine, bountiful harvests!
གང་འདོད་ན་མ་ཚོགས་པ་། །
gang dö pünsum tsokpa yi
Perfectly bestowing whatever we desire,
་དང་གཡང་་དས་བ་ས། །
cha dang yang gi ngödrub gyé
Let the attainments of prosperity and abundance unfold!
ད་བན་ནོར་་དཔག་བསམ་ང༌། །
yishyin norbu paksam shing
Like a wish-granting jewel, a wish-fulfilling tree,
གར་ི་མ་པ་བཟང་པོ་བན། །
ter gyi bumpa zangpo shyin
Or an excellent vase of treasure,
་བསམ་ན་ིས་འབ་པ་། །
chi sam lhün gyi drubpa yi
Let all that we wish for be spontaneously accomplished—
བ་ས་བ་གས་ང་འར་ོལ། །
tashi delek deng dir tsol
Grant us, here and now, this auspiciousness, happiness and wellbeing!
ག་ང་བན་་་གས་པ། །བ་་བད་་བཏོན་བིས་ན། །་མ་ཐག་་་དང་གཡང༌། །ག་པ་ད་མཚན་

མན་མ་མཐོང༌། །
Should you recite these seventy-two lines a hundred and eight times, positive signs of summoning the spirit of
abundance and prosperity will appear immediately.
རབ་ས་་ེལ་་་ས་ར་་ལ། །འ་ད་མག་བ་ིང་་། །འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པ་ོ་ེ་ས། །ད་ི་

མཚོ་ལས་ང་བ་དཔལ། །
On the 25th day of the fifth month of the Fire Monkey year (1896), in Chimé Chokdrup Ling, this arose in the lake-
like mind of Jampal Gyépé Dorje.
ས་མ་། ། ་ཿ
Samaya! Gya! Ithi!
38
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2013. With many thanks to Alak Zenkar Rinpoche who kindly granted the
transmission and clarified several difficult points.
39
༄༅། །འཕགས་པ་བ་ས་བད་པ་གས་་བཅད་པ་བགས་སོ། །
The Verses of the Eight Noble Auspicious Ones

by Mipham Rinpoche
ལས་གང་ག་ོམ་པ་ན་ཐོག་མར་འ་ཚར་གག་བོད་ན་བ་པ་བ་བ་ད་བན་་ེད་པར་འར་བས་་ནས་ད་
ལ་འོ། །
It is very important to recite this through once before starting on any activity; whatever the project, it will work out
exactly as you wish.
ༀ། ང་ིད་མ་དག་རང་བན་ན་བ་པ། །
om, nangsi namdak rangshyin lhündrubpé
Oṃ! Homage to the Buddha, Dharma and Noble Saṅgha—
བ་ས་ོགས་བ་ང་ན་བགས་པ་། །
tashi chok chü shying na shyukpa yi
All that dwell in the auspicious realms of the ten directions,
སངས་ས་ས་དང་ད་འན་འཕགས་པ་ཚོགས། །
sangye chö dang gendün pakpé tsok
Where appearance and existence is completely pure, its nature spontaneously perfect,
ན་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བདག་ཅག་བ་ས་ཤོག །
kün la chaktsal dakchak tashi shok
May everything be auspicious for us all!
ོན་་ལ་པོ་ལ་བན་དོན་བ་དངས། །
drönmé gyalpo tsalten döndrup gong
Drönmé Gyalpo, Tsalten Döndrup Gong,
མས་པ་ན་དཔལ་ད་གས་དཔལ་དམ་པ། །
jampé gyen pal gedrak paldampa
Jampé Gyen Pal, Gedrak Paldampa,
ན་ལ་དངས་པ་་ར་གས་པ་ཅན། །
künla gongpa gyacher drakpa chen
Künla Gongpa Gyacher Drakpa Chen,
ན་པོ་ར་འཕགས་ལ་གས་དཔལ་དང་། །
lhünpo tar paktsal drakpal dang ni
Lhünpo Tar Paktsal Drakpal,
མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་དངས་གས་པ་དཔལ། ། 40
མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་དངས་གས་པ་དཔལ། །
semchen tamchela gong drakpé pal
Semchen Tamchela Gong Drakpé Pal,
ད་མ་མཛད་པ་ལ་རབ་གས་དཔལ་། །
yitsim dzepa tsal rab drakpal té
Yitsim Dzepa Tsal Rap Drakpal—
མཚན་ཙམ་ཐོས་པས་བ་ས་དཔལ་འལ་བ། །
tsen tsam töpé tashi pal pelwa
Homage to you, the Eight Sugatas, 1
བ་བར་གགས་པ་བད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
dewar shekpa gyé la chaktsal lo
Merely hearing your names increases auspiciousness and success!
འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་་དཔལ་ན་ོ་ེ་འན། །
jampal shyönnu palden dorjé dzin
Youthful Mañjuśrī, glorious Vajrapāṇi,
ན་རས་གགས་དབང་མན་པོ་མས་པ་དཔལ། །
chenrezik wang gönpo jampé pal
Lord Avalokiteśvara, protector Maitreya,
ས་་ིང་པོ་ིབ་པ་མ་པར་ལ། །
sa yi nyingpo dribpa nampar sel
Kṣitigarbha, Sarvanīvaraṇaviṣkambhin,
ནམ་མཁ་ིང་པོ་འཕགས་མག་ན་་བཟང་། །
namkhé nyingpo pakchok kuntuzang
Ākāśagarbha, and Samantabhadra noblest of all—
ལ་ོ་ེ་པད་དཀར་་ང་དང་། །
utpal dorjé pekar lushing dang
Utpala flower, vajra, white lotus, nāga-tree,
ནོར་་་བ་རལ་ི་་མ་། །
norbu dawa raldri nyima yi
Jewel, moon, sword and sun—
ག་མཚན་གས་བམས་བ་ས་དཔལ་ི་མག །
chaktsen lek nam tashi pal gyi chok
Gracefully holding your emblems, and supreme in granting auspiciousness and success,
ང་བ་མས་དཔའ་བད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། ། 41
ང་བ་མས་དཔའ་བད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
changchub sempa gyé la chaktsal lo
Homage to you, the Eight Bodhisattvas!
ན་ན་གགས་མག་བ་ས་གར་ི་ཉ། །
rinchen duk chok tashi ser gyi nya
The most precious umbrella, the auspicious golden fishes,
འདོད་འང་མ་བཟང་ད་འོང་ཀ་མ་ལ། །
dö jung bum zang yi ong kamala
The wish-fulfilling vase of goodness, the exquisite kamala flower,
ན་གས་ང་དང་ན་ཚོགས་དཔལ་། །
nyendrak dung dang püntsok pal be'u
The conch of fame and glory, the glorious knot of prosperity,
་བ་ལ་མཚན་དབང་བར་འར་ལོ་ེ། །
minub gyaltsen wanggyur khorlo té
The eternal banner of victory and the all-powerful wheel:
ན་ན་གས་མག་བད་ི་ག་མཚན་ཅན། །
rinchen tak chok gyé kyi chaktsen chen
Holding these eight most precious emblems
ོགས་ས་ལ་བ་མད་ང་དེས་བེད་མ། །
chok dü gyalwa chö ching gyé kyema
Are the creators of delight, making offerings to the buddhas of all directions and times.
ེག་སོགས་་བོ་ན་པས་དཔལ་ེལ་བ། །
gek sok ngowo drenpé pal pelwé
Homage to you, the Eight Auspicious Goddesses—Beauty, Garlands, Song, Dance, Flowers,
Incense, Light and Perfume—
བ་ས་་མོ་བད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
tashi lhamo gyé la chaktsal lo
Merely thinking of you makes success grow more and more!
ཚངས་པ་ན་པོ་བ་འང་ེད་ད་། །
tsangpa chenpo dejung semebu
Mighty Brahmā, Śiva2 and Viṣṇu,
ག་ོང་ན་དང་ལ་པོ་ལ་འར་ང་། ། 42
ག་ོང་ན་དང་ལ་པོ་ལ་འར་ང་། །
mik tong den dang gyalpo yulkhor sung
Indra the thousand-eyed, the kings Dhṛtarāṣṭra,
འཕགས་ེས་པོ་དང་་དབང་ག་་བཟང་། །
pak kyepo dang luwang mikmizang
Virūdhaka, Virūpakṣa the lord of nāgas,
མ་ཐོས་ས་་་ས་འར་ལོ་དང་། །
namtösé té lhadzé khorlo dang
And Vaiśravaṇa—each one holding your divine emblem:
ི་་ལ་དང་མང་ང་ོ་ེ་ཅན། །
trishula dang dungtung dorjé chen
Wheel, trident, lance, vajra,
་་རལ་ི་མད་ེན་ལ་མཚན་འན། །
piwam raldri chöten gyaltsen dzin
Vīṇā, sword, stūpa and banner of victory—
ས་གམ་གནས་་ད་གས་བ་ས་ེལ། །
sa sum né su gelek tashi pel
Homage to you, the Eight Guardians of the World,
འག་ེན་ོང་བ་བད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
jikten kyongwa gyé la chaktsal lo
Who make auspiciousness and positivity grow in the three realms!
བདག་ཅག་ང་འར་་བ་ོམ་པ་ལ། །
dakchak deng dir jawa tsompa la
With all obstacles and harmful influences pacified,
གས་དང་་བར་འ་བ་ན་་ནས། །
gek dang nyewar tsewa kün shyi né
May the work we are now about to begin
འདོད་དོན་དཔལ་འལ་བསམ་དོན་ད་བན་འབ། །
dödön pal pel samdön yishyin drub
Meet with ever-growing fulfilment and success, and
བ་ས་བ་གས་ན་མ་ཚོགས་པར་ཤོག །
tashi delek pünsum tsokpar shok
Bring good fortune, prosperity, happiness and peace!
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ང་་བོད་ན་་ན་དོན་ན་འབ། །ཉལ་་བོད་ན་ི་ལམ་བཟང་པོ་མཐོང༌། །གལ་་འག་་བོད་ན་ོགས་
ལས་ལ། །་བ་ོམ་ས་བོད་ན་འདོད་དོན་འལ། །ན་་བོད་ན་་དཔལ་གས་འོར་ས། །བ་གས་ན་
ཚོགས་བསམ་དོན་ད་བན་འབ། །ིག་ིབ་ན་ང་མན་མཐོ་ས་གས་ི། །དོན་ན་འབ་པ་ལ་བ་མག་
ས་གངས། །
“Recite this prayer when you wake up, and you will accomplish all your aims for the day. Recite it when you go to
sleep, and you will have good dreams. Recite it before a conflict, and you will be completely victorious. Recite it
when you embark on any project, and you will be successful. If you recite this prayer every day, the length of your
life, your splendour, renown, and wealth will all increase, you will find perfect happiness, you will accomplish your
aims exactly as you wish, all harmful actions and obscurations will be purified and all your wishes for higher
realms, liberation and omniscience will be fulfilled.” These are the words of the Buddha himself.
རབ་ས་་ེལ་་བ་གམ་པ་ས་གམ་གཟའ་་མ་དང་་ར་ལ་ི་ས་བཟང་པོ་ཆ་ལ་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་
པ་ོ་ེ་ད་མཚོ་ལས་ང་བ་ནོར་་དོ་ཤལ་ན་པོའོ། །
This prayer arose from the lake of Jampal Gyepé Dorjé’s mind on the third day of the third month of the Fire
Monkey year (1896), an auspicious time according to the configuration of planets, sun and constellations.
| Rigpa Translations
1. ↑ King of Lamps, Steadfast and Powerful One Whose Vision Fulfils All Aims, Glorious Ornament of
Love, Sacred Splendour Renowned for Virtue, The One Whose Concern for All Brings Him Universal
Renown, Glorious One as Renowned as Mount Meru in Eminence and Might, Glorious One Renowned
as Caring for All Sentient Beings, and Glorious One Renowned as Most Powerful in Satisfying Wishes.
2. ↑ In this verse, Śiva is given the name Śambhu and Viṣṇu is called Nārāyaṇa.
44
༄༅། །་ནག་ག་ོག་བས་པ་བགས་སོ།།
A Brief Version of the 'Chinese' Practice of Averting Periodic Obstacles1

by Mipham Rinpoche
་བ་ེས་བདག་ད་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
mawé sengé dak gyü chin gyi lop
Lion of Speech,2 inspire us with your blessings!
ི་ག་ཐན་ས་ངན་པ་བར་་གསོལ། །
si kek ten té ngenpa gyur du sol
We request you: transform si demons, periodic obstacles,3 bad signs and evil omens!
ལ་པོ་ཆད་པ་ཕས་ི་འགས་པ་སོགས། །
gyalpö chépa pé kyi jikpa sok
And avert all punishment by decree, fear of adversaries,
མཚང་འ་ོད་དང་ོལ་བ་བོག་་གསོལ། །
tsang dru tsö dang gölwa dok tu sol
Exposure of faults, disagreement and dispute, we pray!
1. ↑ There is some disagreement about why this practice is referred to as Chinese. In its fuller form it
makes use of the Chinese astrological system (nag rtsis). It has also been suggested that the name
derives from the fact that the fuller dhāraṇī was originally translated into Chinese.
2. ↑ A form of Mañjuśrī.
3. ↑ That is, obstacles associated with a particular period of time.
45
Ascertaining the Two Kinds of Selflessness
by Mipham Rinpoche
Homage to Mañjuśrī!
The mind that thinks “I am” in reference to the five aggregates (skandha) of its own
psycho-physical continuum is clinging to that “I”. In other words, the referent object
(zhen yul) of such clinging is the self of the individual (pudgalātman) or the “I”. As
long as we don't investigate or analyse it, we have a sense that this self exists,
whereas, in fact, it has never existed, just as there has never been a snake in a length
of coloured rope. The five aggregates, which are the basis upon which the self is
projected, are themselves multiple and impermanent. We might think that there is a
self which endures, in the sense that it came out of the past and will pass into the
next phase, and that this self is somehow unitary. Yet such ideas are simply
projections, made on the basis of the gathering of the aggregates; and they have no
foundation in reality.
The subject, which is the mind that thinks “I am”, is therefore self-clinging. And its
referent object is what we call the “self”. Rather like mistaking a length of coloured
rope for a snake, we simply project the idea of a self onto the aggregates, while the
self in fact has no real existence. Understanding this is the view of selflessness.
All conditioned and unconditioned things other than the "I" or the self are
“phenomena” (dharma). As long as we don't subject our naive assumptions to
investigation, we believe that these phenomena exist. Yet if we do examine them
using logical reasoning, such as the argument of “neither one nor many”, we come to
understand that no entity, whether coarse or subtle, can be said to be real. And that
understanding of how things lack any basis or origin is what we call the realization
of the 'selflessness' (or 'identitylessness') of phenomena (dharmanairātmya).
The self of the individual and the 'self' (or identity) of phenomena are therefore
objects of negation: naturally, truly existent individuals and phenomena such as
vases. Although we perceive these two kinds of self as a result of our mental
delusion, when we analyse them we find that they lack even the slightest hint of
reality—and this absence is the selflessness of the individual and of phenomena. The
mind that understands the absence of self in this way is said to realize selflessness.
There are thus two forms of perceived self, and correspondingly two types of subject,
or self-clinging. In order to eradicate both forms of self-clinging, it is necessary to
arrive at certainty through logical reasoning, by considering how these two types of
object, or types of self, lack true existence, and thereby generating realization of
selflessness within the mind, as the 'subject' perceiving twofold selflessness.
In short, clinging to an “I” is the source of all mental afflictions (kleśa), which are the
46
root of saṃsāra. Its antidote is the realization of individual selflessness, which is like
the root of the path to liberation. And the full view of emptiness, through which we
understand how all phenomena lack true existence, overcomes cognitive
obscurations in their entirety—and is thus the root of the Mahāyāna path. Until we
arrive at a deep, stable certainty concerning the great equality that is the
inexpressible dharmadhātu, in which emptiness and dependent origination are
indivisible, we must continue to refine our view.
Mere conceptual understanding based on an unqualified negation (med dgag)—i.e.,

refuting an object of negation—is the 'categorizable ultimate' (rnam grangs pa'i don
dam), which is merely a gateway to true, ultimate reality, not the ultimate nature
itself.
The Middle Way of unlimited unity, or the 'uncategorizable ultimate' (rnam grangs
ma yin pa'i don dam), is the natural state of the indivisibility of the two truths, which
is understood through self-knowing awareness, and is characterised by pacification
of web-like conceptual elaboration.
In short, conceptual understanding born of analysis brings genuine certainty and the
decisive understanding that all the phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa appear while
lacking even so much as an atom's worth of true existence—as is made clear when we
subject them to investigation and analysis. Moreover, there is no conflict between
the appearance of all these entities and their lack of true existence, just as in the
examples of the reflection of the moon in water, a dream, or an illusion. Conviction
at this stage is equivalent to the certainty regarding illusoriness that is experienced
during post-meditation. Although it represents a positive intellectual grasp of
Madhyamaka, by itself it does not qualify as seeing the true dharmadhātu, the great
Middle Way beyond conceptual elaboration, which must be understood through self-
knowing awareness. We must therefore engender a special form of certainty within
the space-like freedom from conceptual elaboration that results from directly seeing
the actual state of inexpressible unity. Then we must practise the meditative
equipoise in which all philosophical standpoints based on thoughts of refutation or
proof have faded away entirely. This is said to mark the point at which an analytical
view developed through study and reflection is perfected. Still, the dharmadhātu,
which is an object of self-knowing awareness, can only be seen through the complete
transcendence of ordinary mental processes, and not through any outwardly
directed, language-based analysis which fails to strike the crucial point. Moreover,
those who are adept at settling the mind as a result of their guru's pith instructions,
find it easy to develop certainty. We must therefore understand the key points of the
path without error.
By Mipham.
Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016
47
Four Great Logical Arguments of the Middle Way
by Mipham Rinpoche and Khenpo Nüden
The four great logical arguments of the Middle Way are:

1. The investigation of the cause: the Diamond Splinters
2. The investigation of the result: refuting existent or non-existent results
3. The investigation of the essential identity: ‘neither one nor many’
4. The investigation of all: the Great Interdependence
1. The Investigation of the Cause: the Diamond Splinters
i. Refutation of Production from Four Extremes
Production from Self

On a mere conventional level, it is indeed true that an effect is produced from a
cause, but, if investigated on the ultimate level, production cannot be observed. If
production capable of withstanding logical analysis did exist, it must necessarily be a
production by means of one of the following four extremes: self, other, both or
neither (or causeless). But these are unreasonable.
As it is said in the Root Verses of the Middle Way:
Not from self, not from other,

Not from both and not from neither—
Not for any entity at all anywhere,
Is there ever any production.
Why? For a thing to be produced from itself is illogical, because once something
exists with its own particular identity, it is pointless for it to arise once again. It is
like a child that has already been born and is not born again. If a seed, for example,
were produced over again, it would be produced again and again without end. There
would be no opportunity for the development of the other stages, such as the sprout,
the stalk and so on.
According to the Saṃkhyas who assert self-production, in the same way that
different manifestations, such as vases, can be created from the single nature of clay,
seeds and so on are of a single nature, and abandon their seed-like manifestation as
they are transformed into the manifestation of a sprout. If it is claimed that the
various stages such as those of the seed and sprout are one, in spite of the fact that
they have distinctions in terms of existing or not existing presently, colour, shape
and so on, then that is open to invalidation by consequential reasoning, since it
would follow that fire and water, or virtue and evil, must also be one.
48
You might think that a seed and sprout are not equivalent to fire and water because
they belong to the same continuum. Yet a “continuum” is merely an imputation
based on the uninterrupted resemblance of momentary phenomena, and does not
really exist.
As it says in the Introduction to the Middle Way:
If one supposes that what has already been produced is re-produced,

Then the actual arising of a sprout and so on will never be discovered.
The seed would go on reproducing itself until the end of the world.
For you, there can be no difference between the seed as the active cause
And the sprout in terms of shape, colour, flavour, capacity or ripening.
If this seed of yours is no different from the sprout,

Then whilst the seed exists, there is nothing one might call ‘sprout’,
Or else, since they are identical, whilst the sprout exists
How could that [i.e. the seed] be apprehended? It is untenable.
And:
Only once the cause has disappeared does one see the effect,
So the claim that they’re the same is rejected even by the world.
It is not only according to treatises, but also the direct experience of worldly beings
that the effect follows the disappearance of the cause, and so since even they would
not accept the cause to be the same as the effect, self-production does not exist on
either of the two levels of truth.
Production from Other

You might agree that production from self is illogical, and think that just as a child is
born from its mother and a sprout is produced from its seed, production can only
occur from something ‘other.’ It is indeed true that cause and effect are labelled as
‘other’, but this is not a self-production that can be proven logically.
If the cause were proven to be inherently different from the effect, then the effect
would not need to depend on the cause, and both would be equal in terms of their
capacity. While something exists, it is unnecessary for it to be produced from
something else, just as two people who have already been born are not dependent
upon one another.
If one thing were to arise from another, it would follow that anything could arise
from anything else, like darkness arising from a butter lamp and so on, given that
there is no difference in terms of their being other.
It is said [in the Introduction to the Middle Way]:
49
If things could arise on the basis of something ‘other’,
Well then, thick darkness should come from flames.
And:
For the cause and effect to be entirely ‘other’,

Is never feasible.
If the cause and effect were entirely other,
Causes would be just the same as non-causes.
Then you might say, “In the case of anything truly different such as light and
darkness and so on, cause and effect would be unpredictable. But seeds and sprouts
and so on have an uncommon acting causal relationship of influencer and influenced,
and so the preceding cause produces a subsequent effect. And so there is no question
of anything arising from anything else, like darkness from flames and so on.”
Then, it is said [in the Introduction to the Middle Way]:
You do not accept that barley, stamens, Kimshuka and so on

Can produce a rice sprout, because they lack the capability,
They are not within the same continuum, and are not similar.
It is the same for the rice seed, we say, because of being ‘other’.
In the same way that barley and flowers, stones and so on cannot be included within
the same continuum as the cause of a rice sprout or be said to be of ‘similar type’, so
too, the barley seed and its sprout, if they are established as truly ‘other’ from the
perspective of ultimate analysis, cannot ultimately belong to the same continuum.
Even though this does not affect the ultimate conclusion that it is wholly
unacceptable for a thing’s own producers to belong to its same continuum, it is
acceptable to classify a producer as belonging to the same continuum on the
conventional level, based on the ultimately incontrovertible point that things are not
inherently ‘other’, but arise in interdependence.
Moreover, since at any given time, either the seed or the sprout will be non-existent,
having not yet arisen or already ceased, how could it be feasible for them to be
‘influencer’ and ‘influenced’. These are mere imputations.
“Although the seed and sprout do not exist at the same time, there is no fault because
they arise and cease like the up and down movements of a pair of scales.” If this is
your claim, then while the seed is ceasing, it is approaching destruction and although
it exists in the present, it does not remain in the next instant. And the sprout, while it
is in the process of arising, is approaching production so it does not exist at the same
time as the seed. So there never could be any contact between the two, and the
example of the scales is meaningless.
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The Introduction to the Middle Way says:
If the eye consciousness already exists as other than its own simultaneous
producers,
Such as the eye and the co-emergent perception and so on,
What need is there for it to be produced?
If it does not exist, then the faults of this were already explained.
If eye consciousness already existed as something other than its own producers such
as the eye faculty and the visual object and so on, and also it’s concurrent mental
states such as sensation and perception, then there would be no need for its
production. If it did not exist already, then these could not be something ‘other’.
Therefore, the mind and mental states and the four elements that exist at the same
time are merely labelled as causes and effects, whilst if the mind and mental states
and so on were produced inherently as something truly ‘other’, that would entail the
faults already described.
So, regarding production such as that of the sprout from the seed, the Ācārya
Nāgārjuna said:
From a seed that is destroyed or intact,

The sprout is not produced,
So you taught that all production
Is just like magical creation.
As it is said, the appearances of dependent origination cannot withstand logical

analysis, and when investigated using reasoning that inquires into the ultimate, not
even the slightest so-called ‘production’ may be observed. Yet, when left unanalyzed,
just like the appearances during a dream, a sprout appears to be produced from a
seed. This is simply the way in which the conventional is presented.
Similarly, at a merely conventional level, the continuum of similarity is said to

remain and cease, but ultimately, since no arising is observed in the beginning, there
can be no true ceasing at the end nor any abiding in the interim. Thus things are
devoid of arising, dwelling and ceasing.
Therefore, appearances—when viewed from the perspective of the non-paradoxical

unity of the two truths—are just like the examples of an illusion, dream, city of
gandharvas, reflection of the moon in water and so on.
When analyzing in this way, using ultimate reasoning, because of the crucial point
that all phenomena lack inherent existence, seeds and sprouts and so on cannot be
established as having any essential identity, whether as truly identical, ‘other’ or
whatever.
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Others (the proponents of real entities within the Buddhist tradition) may say:
“Although the other three types of production—self-production and so on—may be
refuted, if we do not accept production from other, won’t we be contradicting the
normal conventions of the world, such as the fact that sprouts arise from seeds and
butter from curd?” There is no contradiction. In reality, if we apply reasoning, then
not only at an ultimate level, but also conventionally speaking, arising is never really
observed. If production were observable and proven conventionally, then it would
follow that conventionally true phenomena such as the aggregates and elements
would become immune to ultimate analysis. It would also follow that ultimate or
truly existent arising would not be refuted. And it would follow that the equipoise of
noble beings would become a cause for destroying previously existent conventional
phenomena, which would lead to the extreme of deprecating the existent by labelling
it non-existent. In any case, what is claimed is not possible.
In short, from the perspective of ultimate analysis, no phenomena whatsoever may

be observed that are established as genuinely existent, whilst from the perspective of
reasoning inquiring into the conventional, things are observed. That these two points
are consistent, and established as a single reality is the assertion of the followers of
the Middle Way beyond extremes.
Yet those who speak of real entities disagree, for they consider emptiness and
dependently originating appearance to be mutually opposed. They believe that
whatever is refuted by ultimate analysis must be completely non-existent even on a
conventional level, just like the horns of a rabbit. Or else, that whatever exists
conventionally, such as pillars and vases, could never be refuted by ultimate
reasoning. They conceive of some independent object of negation separate from the
conventional phenomena that are the basis of negation and they consider emptiness
—which for them is the refutation of a separate phenomenon called “true existence”—
and appearances, the basis for that refutation, to be directly opposed to one another,
like the total non-existence of the horns of rabbits and the real existence of the horns
of cattle. Asserting this to be a unity, by mentally ‘binding’ these two to an entity
such as a vase is tantamount to claiming that emptiness is an affirming negation, and
in the end it does not even go beyond the views of the proponents of true entities.
This point has already been well made by the great logicians of the past.
Production from Both

The Saṃkhyas who speak of primal substance and an almighty god assert production
from both self and other, but this carries the faults mentioned in both the earlier
positions. As it is said [in the Introduction to the Middle Way]:
Production from both is inherently unreasonable,

Because it would entail the problems already explained.
So, this position is unacceptable from the perspective of either of the two truths.
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Production without Cause
As for the assertion that there is no arising from self, from other or from both, but
that there could be production without any cause, it is said [in the Introduction to the
Middle Way]:
If the world were devoid of any cause, then it might be apprehended

Like the fragrance and colour of a blue lotus in space,
Yet this world is apprehended in all its rich variety,
And so, just like one’s own mind, it should be known to arise from causes.
This has already been refuted in more detail above, in the context of the
philosophical schools,1 where it was shown how it entails either permanent
existence or non-existence.
In this way, when analyzing properly using the logical arguments that refute
production from the four extremes of self, other, both and neither, no phenomenon
whatsoever may be seen to arise in the beginning, and therefore to possess the other
features of remaining in the middle or ceasing in the end. And so the conceptual
elaborations of the eight extremes2 such as ultimate arising and so on are pacified
with regard to these unceasing mere relative appearances, and this should be
understood as the unity of appearance and emptiness. This is taught more elaborately
in the Introduction to the Middle Way.
ii. The Refutation of Production from Four Alternatives

When analyzed, production can not be established as occurring in any of these four
possible ways:
1. Several causes producing a single result

2. Several causes producing several results
3. A single cause producing several results
4. A single cause producing a single result
You might think that it is only possible for several distinct causes, such as the object
of a visible form, the unimpaired sense faculty, the immediately preceding mental
attention, an unobstructed appearance and accommodating space, to produce the
result of a single visual consciousness.
In which case, since several distinct causes produce only a single result, the object,
faculty and so on do produce the visual consciousness, but it must follow that there
can be no other cause for its singularity. Similarly, as long as a single cause is
incapable of producing a single effect, there is no cause for singularity or plurality,
one-ness or many-ness. And since there is no knowable phenomenon that does not
fall into either category (of one or many), whatever is singular or plural must either
remain that way forever or never come into being at any time or place. This is
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because there is no cause for being singular or plural.
You might think that several causes produce several effects, the immediate intention
of wishing to look producing the visual consciousness of a mental nature, the
support of the eye faculty producing the apprehension of the object, and the apparent
object such as a vase producing its own particular mental features. In that case, since
it would be produced by these various causes, it would have the various features just
described, such as having a mental nature and so on, and so that eye consciousness
would become many, equal in number to its aspects described above. If that is
accepted, then the resultant visual consciousness is not produced by these causes
such as the intention and so on. The particular aspects such as the mental nature, the
endowment with the features of the object and so on are produced individually, but
the one who possesses these aspects, the visual consciousness itself, has no cause and
is therefore not produced by anything.
You might respond by saying that the apprehension of the object and the other
aspects are not separate, in the sense that they are nothing other than consciousness.
But then it would be meaningless to call this “several causes producing several
effects”. It becomes “several causes producing a single effect”, and the problems
involved in such an assertion, i.e. because one and many are uncaused, things must
be either permanently existent or non-existent, have been explained above.
You may think that there is still no fault because the aspects and the possessor of
these aspects are of the same essential identity, and only labelled as separate based
on conceptual distinctions. In that case, the causes such as attention, would perform
their function for the conceptual distinctions, the imputed phenomena such as the
mental nature and so on, but the substantially existent consciousness itself would not
be produced by any cause, and so consciousness would be causeless.
If you claim that the essential identity of the effect is one, but its aspects are multiple,
then this leads to the fault of the qualities being separate from that which possesses
them.
You might consider that the single cause of a blue flower produces several effects,
such as that flower’s own subsequent ‘similar type’ and the visual consciousness of
sentient beings, for example. The question is: does that cause, i.e., the flower,
perform this production by itself exclusively, without relying on any other factors, or
is it done together with other assisting factors, such as the faculties? In the first case
of production by itself alone, since it would not be able to produce a plurality, this
implies causeless production. Similarly, since one cause also can not perform the
function of producing one effect, then it follows that the single and the multiple must
both lack causes, and once again there is the fault of production occurring without
any cause, as explained above.
If the object, like the blue [flower], produces the visual consciousness in dependence
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on other causes, such as the appearance, sense faculty, attention and so on, and you
say that it has been produced by other causes as well, the result will cease to be
singular, because it will possess several features or qualities that have been produced
by the various causes, such as the object, faculty and attention.
Then, it might be said that a single cause only produces its own single result. If that
were the case, then since a cause such as the eye faculty could only produce the
result of its own subsequent ‘resemblance’, and could never perform the function of
producing anything else, such as a visual consciousness directly apprehending an
object, there would be no cause for beings’ visual or audial consciousnesses and so
on, and so these effects would be impossible, with the absurd consequence that
everyone would be deaf and blind.
As it says in the Two Truths of the Middle Way [by Jñānagarbha]:
Several things do not produce just one thing,

And many things do not create a multiplicity.
One thing is not produced by many things.
And from a single thing, a single thing is not produced.3
This was stated in accordance with such reasoning.
Moreover, other arguments might be given in response to one who asserts that
several causes, such as the appearance, faculty and attention, give rise to a single
result, such as visual cognition. [For example,] even if it is granted that the resultant
eye consciousness does not have several qualities and is singular, it is impossible for
any knowable phenomenon to be truly singular, as in the case of a visual
consciousness devoid of its accompanying mental states, such as the ever-present
states and so on.
You might think that many causes produce many effects, but then since it would be
impossible for several causes to produce only a single effect, it would be quite
meaningless to speak of a gathering of several causes. When singular phenomena
cannot be established, the ‘many’ that they go together to produce will not be
established either, and will not exist.
The assertion that one cause produces several effects is also unsound, since it
presupposes a single cause that cannot be divided into parts, and this is impossible. It
can be seen that a single cause such as a seed would be incapable of producing its
effect, the sprout, without relying upon other conditions, such as earth, water,
warmth, time and so on.
It is also not the case that a single cause gives rise to a single effect, since this is
contrary to direct experience, namely the successive production of a variety of effects
like the sprout, the flower, the fruit and so on, from a variety of causes and
55
conditions such as the seed, water, fertilizer, heat, moisture and so on.
Therefore, when thoroughly examining, a truly singular phenomenon that lacks a

plurality of features or qualities cannot be established at all, whether as a causal or
resultant entity. And without any such singular phenomenon, then the plural too,
which must necessarily be composed of the singular, must also be non-existent.
Nevertheless, in the case of a thing such as a sprout, even though it consists of

several parts such as its colour and shape and so on, they are still labelled as one
thing, i.e. a sprout, based on their similarity of type and so forth. And also in the case
of a single phenomenon such as a particle, when dividing it according to its features,
such as substance and direction, it is labelled as multiple. Yet it is simply through the
power of dependent origination or ‘dependent definition’, that these are
conventionally designated as causes and effects. When analyzing with ultimate
reasoning, they cannot be established according to any of these four alternatives of
single, multiple, etc., and therefore since these conventional entities do not withstand
investigation, they should be understood to be just like the appearances during a
dream.
Although this reasoning is sometimes called “the investigation of both the cause and
the effect: refuting production according to the four alternatives” thus giving a total
of five great logical arguments—and ultimately there is no real contradiction in
explaining it that way—it seems reasonable to include it within the category of
investigation of the cause, so that there are a total of four great logical arguments.
There are also other arguments which investigate the cause, effect and identity, such
as, for example, the division into the three times of past, present and future, i.e., the
result that was produced in the past has already arisen and has now ceased, so it is
not produced. The result of the future has not yet arisen in the present, and so it is
not produced. And finally, the present result has already been established as its own
identity and so it would be meaningless for it to be produced again.
2. The Investigation of the Result: Refutation of Existent or Non-

Existent Production
This is divided into an actual explanation and elimination of doubts.
i. Actual Explanation
Regarding the effect that is produced, if one examines whether it is an existent effect
that arises or a non-existent one, or one that is both or neither, the Introduction to the
Middle Way says:
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If it is something existent, what need is there for its production? But if it does
not exist, what could be done to it?
If it is both [existent and non-existent], what can be done? And if neither,
what can be done?
If you consider that the result to be produced is something existent which develops,
this is unreasonable. Why? If it is existent, then it must exist having already
established to its own identity as a sprout and so on, and being existent, it would be
unnecessary for it to be produced anew. It is just like a grain of barley, which, having
ripened once, does not need to ripen all over again. If something already existent still
needed to be produced then that would lead to the fault of production continuing ad
infinitum.
“Well then,” you might think, “It is something non-existent that is produced.” But in
that case, it would be impossible to produce. For example, even if someone were to
go to great lengths to assemble hundreds of causes and conditions, they would still
never be able to produce the non-existent horns on the head of a rabbit.
You might think that the effect, such as the sprout, was formerly non-existent, but is
made anew into something existent by the causes such as the seed. It is not so. Since
existent and non-existent are mutually contradictory, they could never combine on
the basis of a single entity. In terms of actual entities, there are no phenomena
whatsoever that were formerly non-existent, and later changed into something
existent. Causes and conditions could not transform unconditioned space, for
example, into the identity of a conditioned, existent phenomenon.
Thus, simply on a conventional level, effects appear based on causes. Formerly, prior
to the gathering of their causes and conditions, they did not appear, and now, when
the causes and conditions are assembled, they do. The mind relates these two stages
to one another, and then there is the merely conceptual statement, “This did not exist
before, but now it is arising!”
Similarly, one mentally relates earlier and later occasions and, in relation to a given
phenomenon, thinks, “This existed previously, and then it did not exist.”
Thus, the phenomena that are conventional entities simply appear by the force of
dependent origination, and in reality there are no existent phenomena whatsoever
that transform into non-existent ones, and there are no non-existent phenomena that
transform into existent ones.
It is similar in the case of conditioned formations arising anew and finally ceasing, or
the continua of ‘similar type’ remaining and not remaining, the perception of an
existent self of the individual or phenomena and the perception of no-self. The
explanation is similar to that given in the case of existent and non-existent
phenomena. They are all merely appearances on the conventional, relative level, and
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ultimately, they are empty of their own essential identity. At the level of the genuine
nature of things, there is no observation of any features such as the transformation of
something existent into something non-existent or non-existent into existent, of any
going or coming, arising or ceasing, increasing or decreasing.
ii. Eliminating Doubts

You might wonder how it is that production of results should be asserted, given that
neither existent nor non-existent effects are produced, and that, aside from these
two, no third mode of production is possible. It is asserted that the arising of effects is
nothing other than the undeceiving appearance of dependent origination, and when
analyzed as to whether it is existent or non-existent, it is not established in any way
whatsoever, but is just like the example of a magical illusion and so on.
It is impossible for a knowable phenomenon to be both existent and non-existent

since these two are directly opposed to one another. And it is also impossible for a
phenomenon to be neither existent nor non-existent, because it is impossible for
there to be some third option in between these two directly opposed positions.
“Well then,” you might think, “just as it is impossible here to have the option of
neither, there can not be this option of ‘neither’ in the context of freedom from
conceptual elaboration of the four extremes, such as existing, not existing and so on.”
And, you might think, “Just as in the assertion made without specifying ‘not existent
and not non-existent’, it is impossible for there to be a third option between direct
opposites, so the natural state can be understood through the two negations, and
there is nothing meaningful in defining what ‘nothing whatsoever’ means. Thus,
apart from the rather deceitful position of asserting nothing at all, our own tradition
does not make any kind of definite statement about how things are.” This might be
how spiritually immature beginners think it is, but it is not like that at all.
As long as one still maintains a basis for conceptual reference, there can not possibly
be an apprehension that does away with the four extremes altogether. Therefore,
whatever assertions are made by applying particular distinctions—like saying, “There
is no snake in this house, but there is a vase”—they are conceptual references
involving particular conceptual ideas, and so they are not beyond the realms of
ordinary conceptual thought. In the actual state of simplicity, in which all conceptual
focus has subsided, there are no assertions or conceptual references whatsoever with
regard to the four extremes. Even so, it is quite unlike the dull confusion of not
having realized ultimate reality, or a state of unconsciousness. It is a state difficult to
express by words or through examples, that is—as it says in Rāhula’s _Praise to the
Great Mother Prajñāpāramitā_—beyond words, beyond thought and beyond
description. It is simplicity that is discerned by means of one’s own individual
awareness, in which all doubts have been cut through: a non-conceptual primordial
awareness free from dualistic perceptions, but naturally luminous like the shining
sun.
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3. Investigation of the Essential Identity: ‘Neither One Nor Many’
To begin with, there is an analysis of the essential identity of all conditioned and
unconditioned phenomena to determine whether or not there is true singularity. In
the case of those conditioned phenomena of the five aggregates possessing physical
form, there is a division into above, below, the cardinal and intermediate directions
and the centre. Through this, it can be seen that, for something such as a vase,
singularity is simply a conceptual notion applied to the various features that are the
basis for such an imputation. True singularity is not established, and the same applies
in the case of its component parts. The body and the limbs are also divided into parts
in the same way.
In short, all that possesses physical form and is composed of material particles may
be broken down to its basis, which is the infinitely small particle. And, according to
the logic explained before, for that most subtle particle to be surrounded by particles
in the various directions, it must have sides, which means it must have parts, and so
on, in an infinite regression. If not, then however many subtle particles are gathered
together, they could never grow any larger. Thus, all phenomena with material form
lack true singularity.
In addition, the eight or the six collections of consciousness can not be established as
truly singular since they consist of various cognitive acts and mental states, take
various features as their focus, and arise in different forms from the gathering of the
four conditions, and then cease.
By analyzing everything that has the nature of arising and ceasing deriving from its
own causes, even the subtlemost indivisible moment can not be established, and so
all phenomena included within mind and matter lack any true singularity. As for
non-concurrent formations, they are simply imputations made upon the ‘occasion’ of
mind and matter, and so they lack any essential identity. Unconditioned phenomena
are imputations made with regard to the eliminated aspects of objects of negation,
and are also lacking in any essential identity.
In short, all conditioned and unconditioned phenomena can not be shown to have
any true singularity, and since this is not established, plurality that is made up of
what is singular must also remain unestablished. And so, since there is no mode of
true existence aside from being truly singular or plural, it must follow that
individuals and phenomena are proven to be without inherent identity, just as it is
explained more elaborately in The Ornament of the Middle Way.
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4. Analysis of All: The Logical Argument of Great Interdependence
All phenomena do not come into being through their own inherent identity, but as a
result of the coming together of causes and conditions, and when there are no
conditions they do not arise. Even at the time when they appear, they appear whilst
lacking any inherent existence, since they are like reflections, brought about by
causes and conditions. Free from any conceptual elaborations such as being
permanent or non-existent, going or coming, arising or ceasing or being one or
many, they appear whilst lacking true reality.
When evaluating in this way, using reasoning investigating the ultimate in

accordance with the actual nature of things, they are found to be mere unfailing
dependent arising. Otherwise, if they were truly established in any way, such as
arising according to the four extremes or four alternatives, or being existent or non-
existent, or permanent or impermanent etc., then that would be inappropriate as an
explanation for the conventional, and would result in a deprecation of all
conventions.
According to the Middle Way tradition, for whom the unreal illusory appearances of
dependent origination and emptiness arise in the same reality, all the conventions of
mere appearance are extremely reasonable. This being so, the conventions of the
world, as well as the supermundane conventions of the Four Truths, Three Jewels
and so on, are all perfectly established.
This king of reasonings, the Great Interdependence, includes all the other types of
ultimate logic, such as the Diamond Splinter and so on, because they are all
concerned with the seemingly real, unexamined appearances of dependent
origination. When analyzed, no causes, effects or essential identities whatsoever can
be established. The extensive variations of this logic that investigates the meaning of
dependent origination are to be found in The Root Verses of the Middle Way and
elsewhere.
Conclusion
Therefore, at the relative level, cause, effect and inherent identity appear in that way,
and are labelled with such conventions. Ultimately, causes, effects and inherent
identities lack any true nature, being emptiness with the identity of the three doors
of liberation. The emptiness in which the two truths are inseparably united like this
is the dharmadhātu, the object to be realized through the path of the Middle Way. It
is the supreme of all that might be realized, the ‘mother’ of the victorious buddhas
and their heirs.
This point concerning equalness in which the truths of appearance and emptiness are
indivisible is just like the sphere of space, and is beyond the realm of conceptual
thought, unimaginable and inexpressible, yet with non-conceptual wisdom, it can be
60
meditated in the manner of pure self-knowing awareness. During the post-
meditation phase, one has the confident certainty that all things appear yet lack true
reality, just like the examples of a magical illusion, dream, reflection, magical
creations and so on. And, with the wisdom that thoroughly discerns the two truths,
one is brought to an undeluded realization concerning all the categories of the
ground, path and fruition.
Through comprehending the meaning of emptiness in this way, all the enlightened
qualities of the path and fruition of the Great Vehicle will arise.
Taken from Mipham Rinpoche’s Gateway to Learning (mKhas 'jug), with

supplementary material from Khenpo Nüden’s commentary.
| Translated and edited by Adam Pearcey, 2005.
1. i.e., earlier in the text of the mKhas 'jug. See Gateway to Knowledge, Vol I,
Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1997, pp. 64-5. ↩
2. The eight extremes are: arising, ceasing, permanence, non-existence, coming,

going, plurality and singularity. ↩
3. This is verse 14 of the text. Khenpo Nüden gives the quote with the lines in a
slightly different order, but I have followed the original. ↩
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Individual Selflessness
by Mipham Rinpoche
That which we label as the agent of our actions or the experiencer of happiness and
suffering, and which we assume to be the self, the individual, the agent and so on, is
actually nothing more than a presumption of selfhood, made on the basis of the five
aggregates. When we examine this with wisdom, we do not find any intrinsic
‘individual self’ either as identical to, or distinct from, the aggregates.
If the self were identical to the aggregates, it would follow that, as there are different
aggregates, there must also be multiple selves. If the self were form—one of the
aggregates—it would follow that there must be as many selves as there are subtle
particles. Similarly for the other aggregates of feeling, perception, formations, and
consciousness, since they are all multiple by nature, logic dictates that the self would
likewise be multiple. The five aggregates arise from causes and do not remain for
more than a single moment, so the self too would be impermanent. In short, the
aggregates, composed, as they are, of many subtle particles and aspects of the
shortest possible duration, are not the self.
If there were an independent self distinct from the five aggregates, it should be
observable, but since no such self can be observed, we must deny its existence. Were
there a self transcending the conditioned aggregates, it would not have the
characteristics required to perform actions or to experience happiness and suffering,
and so on; rather, it would be unconditioned, like space, beyond either benefit or
harm.
The followers of the Vātsīputrīya school claim that there is a self, but that it cannot
be described in any way, either as identical to or distinct from the aggregates, either
as permanent or impermanent, and so on, but this too is illogical. When we analyze
this position rationally we can see that it is not possible for a thing which does not
fall into either of these categories to exist as something functional and real, because
anything that really exists must fall into one category or the other, and it is quite
impossible that something could exist as a functional entity yet avoid these two and
belong to some third category.
Form, therefore, is not the self. Nor do form and the self have a relationship of
possession, with one belonging to the other. The self does not reside in form, and
form does not reside in the self. By applying the same principle to sensations and the
other aggregates, we arrive at a total of twenty—the so-called ‘twenty peaks of the
mountain of belief in the transitory collection’. Since these are all acquired beliefs
based on a fundamental, instinctive self-clinging, as soon as the belief in the
transitory collection is shattered through vajra-like wisdom, they will all be
simultaneously destroyed.
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Moreover, on this basis of the fundamental belief in the transitory collection, there
are also the sixty-two types of wrong view related to the past, present and future,
which are mentioned in the Sūtra of Brahmā’s Net. Then there are all the different
suppositions about the features of the self—that it is permanent, unitary, in control,
pervasive, and so on. There is also the belief that, just as we can infer the presence of
a potter by seeing the articles of his trade, such as the materials for a vase, the wheel
and the stick, we can infer the presence of the self by seeing all the things, such as
bedding, food and clothing, which cater to its needs. Then there is the supposed
refutation of selflessness that says that without a self all the exertions of the spiritual
path would be meaningless, because there would be no one to profit from them. All
such statements by non-buddhist philosophers who propound the existence of a self
are entirely devoid of merit, because in the absence of a self, it is inappropriate to
speak of its features or its proofs.
If the self were permanent, there could not possibly be distinct occasions for
performing an action and experiencing [its result], or distinct occasions of happiness
and suffering, elation and depression, purity and impurity, and so on.
If the self were unitary, it could not be possibly have a variety of features.
If the self were independent and fully in control, it could not possibly be
impermanent or subject to even the slightest unwanted circumstance.
If the self were all-pervasive, it would be illogical for something possessing

everything all at once to experience ephemeral changes or distinctions, such as being
separated from friends, being self and other, performing virtuous and non-virtuous
actions, and so on.
Given that the nature of the self is never observed through any validating cognition,
we cannot admit any evidence such as seeing things which supposedly bring about
its benefit, just as we can not speak of the clothes of a barren woman’s son.
The question might arise, “Are not bedding and such like taken for the sake of the
self?” To this, we must reply that even though the self does not exist, they are taken
in order to benefit the collection and continuation of the aggregates.
If the self existed, the path to liberation would be impossible, because any system
that professes belief in a self can not include a path for eliminating attachment to the
self. If our attachment to self is not eliminated, our attachment to ‘mine’ will ensure
that we never part from our clinging to the three realms, and it will therefore be
impossible for us to find a means to gain freedom from samsara.
There is liberation however for the proponents of selflessness, because they have
turned away from these forms of attachment, and without any rejecting or adopting,
they can attain the nirvāṇa that is free from attachment to the three realms. Securing
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benefit and avoiding harm is not done because the self exists, but because we posit an
agent or an experiencer (and so on) on the basis of the continuity of aggregates,
although they are themselves devoid of such a self.
The label ‘chariot’, for example, is applied to a collection of parts. The chariot is not
identical to its wheels or other parts, yet nor is it completely separate from them.
Therefore, the parts and the possessor of these parts do not belong to one another.
The possessor of the parts does not reside within the parts, and the parts, such as the
wheels and so on, do not reside within the chariot that possesses them. The
collection of parts and the shape of this collection do not have the slightest existence
in their own right, separate from the parts themselves. When we analyze it in these
seven ways, we can not observe any actual chariot that is in possession of its parts.
Instead, we find that it is merely a designation, applied on the basis of its own
components. When we analyze the self in the same way, using these seven lines of
reasoning to see how the self is designated on the basis of the aggregates, we come to
understand that it does not exist.
As it says in a sūtra:1
Do you think, O Māra, that there is a "being"?

You are under the spell of beliefs.
These conditioned aggregates are empty,
And contain no living being.
Just as a chariot is spoken of

In reference to a collection of parts,
It is on the basis of the aggregates,
That we speak conventionally of ‘beings’.
Taken from Mipham Rinpoche’s Gateway to Learning (མཁས་འག་).
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2008, with reference to a preliminary translation by Erik Pema Kunsang.
1. Khenpo Nüden’s commentary gives the source of this quotation as the

Laṅkāvatāra Sutra. For more on these important verses of Sister Vajirā, which
are also to be found in the Pāli Canon and in several Mahāyāna sources, see
Matthew Kapstein, Reason's Traces, Wisdom Publications, 2001, page 78 and
passim. ↩
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Profound Instruction on the View of the Middle Way
by Mipham Rinpoche
Namo Mañjuśrīye!
Once you have gone through the training in analysis

And developed confidence in the crucial point
Of how the individual is devoid of self,
Then consider how, just as the so-called “I” is
An unexamined conceptual imputation,
All phenomena included within
The five skandhas and the unconditioned are the same:
Labeled conceptually as this or that.
Although we apprehend all these various phenomena,

When we investigate and search for what's behind the labelling, it cannot be found.
And when we reach the ultimate two indivisibles,
Even the most subtle and infinitesimal cannot be established.
It is the same for all that appears through dependent origination:
Entities themselves arise dependently,
And ‘non-entities’ are dependently imputed.
So, whether an entity or non-entity,

Whatever is conceived of uncritically,
Once it is analyzed and investigated,
Is found to be without basis or origin —
Appearing yet unreal, like an illusion, dream,
Reflected moon, echo, city in the clouds,
Hallucination, mirage, and the like.
Appearing yet empty, empty yet appearing—
Meditate on the way empty appearances resemble illusions.
This is the ultimate that is categorized conceptually.

It has the confidence of a mind of understanding,
And is indeed the stainless wisdom of seeing
The illusory nature of post-meditative experience.
Yet it is not yet free from focus on apprehended objects,
Nor have the features of a subjective mind been overcome,
And so, since it has not gone beyond conceptuality,
The true reality of natural simplicity is not seen.
Once this kind of certainty has arisen,

Even clinging to mere illusion
Can be understood as conceptual imputation.
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There is apprehension, but no essential nature to the perceived,
And even the perceiving mind cannot be found,
So, without clinging, one is brought to rest in natural ease.
Remaining like this, all perceptions,

Both external and internal, are not interrupted.
Yet within this fundamental nature, free from grasping,
All projections imposed upon phenomena,
Have never arisen and never ceased to be.
So, free from the duality of perceiver and perceived,
We rest in the all-pervading space of equality.
This is beyond any assertions, such as ‘is’ or ‘is not’.
And, within this inexpressible state of true and natural rest,
An experience dawns that is free from the slightest trace of doubt.
This is the actual nature of all things,

The ultimate that cannot be conceptualized,
And can only be known individually —
The non-conceptual wisdom of meditative equipoise.
Once you become familiar with this state,

In which emptiness and dependent arising are an inseparable unity,
The ultimate condition in which the two truths cannot be separated,
That is the yoga of the Great Middle Way.
Those who wish to realize this swiftly

And make evident non-dual, primordial wisdom
Beyond the domain of the ordinary mind,
Should meditate on the pith instructions of Secret Mantra.
This is the ultimate profound and crucial point

Of the progressive meditations on the Middle Way.
So, begin by thoroughly refining your conduct,

And then arrive at certainty, experientially and in stages.
With confidence in the illusory nature of empty appearance,
This is what it means for nothing to be removed or added on the path.
And, within the equality of the all-pervading space of perfect wisdom,
There is complete liberation.
In a place where people suffer drought and dehydration,

Hearing that there is water does not dispel thirst;
It is only by drinking that relief is found.
And this is how it is for learning and experience — so the sūtras say.
Someone with only dry, theoretical understanding,
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Who is worn out by all kinds of reasoning and ideas,
Does not need sporadic practice; but, when meditating in proper stages:
Will swiftly gain acceptance of the profound.
Jampal Gyepe Dorje

wrote down whatever came to mind,
On the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month of the Water Dragon year (1892).
Through this, may all beings realize the meaning of the profound Middle Way!
Maṅgalam!
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The Sword of Wisdom
For Thoroughly Ascertaining Reality
by Mipham Rinpoche
1. You have not the slightest confusion about philosophy,

And have completely abandoned every fault,
Your mind has no doubts about the three points—1
Before Mañjuśrī, the treasure of wisdom, I bow.
2. Profound, vast and difficult to realize

Is the nectar-like teaching of the sugatas—
To those who long to taste it,
I here grant the light of intelligence.
3. The Dharma taught by the Buddha

Depends entirely upon the two levels of truth,
The relative truth of the mundane
And the truth of the ultimate meaning.2
4. If one is to apply an unerring and certain mind

To the nature of these two truths,
One must cultivate the excellent vision
Of the two flawless valid cognitions.3
5. These appearances in all their rich variety

Arise through dependent origination.
Something that is truly independent,
Like a lotus in the sky, will not appear.
6. It is a complete gathering of causes

That functions to bring about an effect.
All effects, whatsoever they may be,
Depend upon their own particular causes.
7. It is by knowing what is or is not the case

In terms of causes and their effects
That we pursue one thing and avoid another,
Whether in crafts or in philosophy—
8. They all have this as their starting point.

This includes not only worldly disciplines,
But also the training that transcends the world.
All phenomena, arisen in mutual dependence,
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9. Naturally possess their own particular
Characteristics, which are uniquely theirs.
The plain and simple facts of the conventional—
Solidity, fluidity, warmth and so on—are incontestable.
10. Even just a single thing has countless properties,

And can be classified in infinite ways,
Based on affirmation and negation.
These are natural features of the thing itself.
11. An object that is perceived clearly and directly,

Has properties that seem separate and distinct,
But these distinctions are mental designations,
Distinguished and engaged with by conceptual mind.
12. Actual substance and what is imputed conceptually—

These are two ways in which one can understand
All that can be known, and many are the categories
That come from further elaborating on these two.
13. Just so, they have their own causes, effects and natures,
But when phenomena are investigated authentically,
That which brings about arising cannot be observed,
Nor is there anything that arises in dependence.
14. Each thing appears with its own identity,

Yet is empty by its very nature,
Absolute space with threefold liberation,
The very nature of the ultimate.
15. How something functions and how it depends

Are both aspects of its particular nature,
So it is with a thing’s nature that reasoning ends,
And it would be futile to enquire any further.4
16. This kind of evaluation of things in their nature,

According to each of the two levels of reality,
Is proven by the basic facts of how things are,
So it is reasoning that establishes what is tenable.
17. How things appear or how they ultimately abide,

Can be known through perceiving their nature directly,
Or it can be inferred unerringly based on
Something else which is clearly apparent.
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18. Direct perception itself is of four kinds:
Unmistaken sensory, mental, self-awareness
And yogic; all of which are non-conceptual,
Since their objects appear with specific characteristics.
19. Without these direct perceptions

There would be no evidence and hence no inference,
And any perception of things arising from causes
And then ceasing would become impossible.
20. If that were the case, how could we ever

Understand them to be empty and so on?
Without relying upon the conventional,
There can be no realization of the ultimate.5
21. Cognitions brought about by the five senses

Clearly experience their own objects.
Without this direct sensory perception,
Like blind folk, we would fail to see.
22. Mental direct perception arises from the faculty of mind,

And clearly determines both outer and inner objects.
Without it, there would be no aspect of consciousness
Capable of perceiving all types of phenomena.
23. Yogic direct perception is the culmination of meditation

Practised properly and according to the instructions.
It clearly experiences its own objects, and without it
There would be no vision of objects beyond the ordinary.
24. Just as this direct experience can eliminate

Misperceptions about outer forms and the like,
This is also how it is within the mind itself,
If there were some other knower, there would be no end to them.
25. A mind that is cognizant and aware

Naturally knows its objects, but at the same time
Is also aware of itself, without relying upon something else,
And this is what is termed ‘self-awareness’.
26. Any experience of the other direct perceptions

Is only determined to be actual direct perception
By means of self-awareness; without this
There would be no way of establishing it.
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27. The root of inference lies in direct perception,
And direct perception is determined by self-awareness.
It all comes down to the experience of an undeluded mind;
There are no other means of establishment beyond this.
28. Therefore, it is based on direct perceptions,

Which are non-conceptual and undeluded,
That misperceptions of apparent phenomena
Can be decisively eliminated.
29. The conceptual mind is that which

Conceives of objects by way of general images,
Associating them with names to form concepts,
From which stem all manner of words and thoughts.
30. Even for someone unaware of the proper expression,6

Generic images will appear in the mind,
Ready to be named, and through such concepts,
Objects can still be pursued or avoided.7
31. Without this conceptual mind,

There could be no conventions of affirmation or denial,
And it would be impossible to infer anything
Or communicate the points of training.
32. Conceptual thought enquires into and establishes

That which is not evident directly, such as future pursuits.
Without this ability to infer things conceptually,
We would all become like newborn babies.
33. A reason is information that allows us to know something else.8

The reason must be a feature of the subject,9
And there must be positive and negative logical pervasion—10
When these three modes are present, there can be no delusion.
34. From a reason that is arrived at through

Valid direct perception and valid inference,
What is hidden can be logically inferred,
And things can be proven by means of relationship.
35. There are reasons that are results and natural reasons.11
When a thing is not observed or its opposite is seen,
Something is negated for the reason that it cannot be observed—
Like this, there are three types of evidence in all.
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36. From a genuine perspective, all appearances
Are now, and always have been, the same;
And since a pure mind sees only purity,
Their nature remains entirely pure.
37. Real functioning things dependently arise,

And what is unreal is dependently imputed;
Therefore both the real and the unreal
Are empty by their very nature.
38. In the way things are, one cannot separate

A thing which is empty from its own emptiness.
So appearance and emptiness are indivisibly united,
This is inexpressible—one must know it for oneself!
39. Any affirmation, whatsoever it may be,

Must affirm either existence or identity;
And any negation, whatsoever it may be,
Must negate either existence or identity.
40. Negations and affirmations based on what is valid

May be set out definitively in the proper way,
And then, while remaining logically consistent,
One can prove a point to others or make a refutation.
41. When it comes to refutation, you can compose

Your own syllogisms including all three modes,
Or you can state the consequences that follow
From the opponent’s very own assertions.
42. Within the conventional, there is that which

We call ‘impure and narrow vision’ because
Reality and appearances do not coincide,
And a vision in which things are purely seen.
43. This makes two types of conventional validity,

Like seeing with eyes that are human and divine.
The difference between the two lies in their
Essential natures, causes, results and functions.
44. One is an undeceived cognition of limited scope,

That arises from a correct perception of its object,
Clearing misperceptions of things in a narrow field of vision,
To bring a thorough apprehension of a given object.
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45. One is a pristine cognition of what is vast in nature,
That arises from an observation of precisely how things are,
Clearing misperceptions of objects beyond the imagination,
To bring the result of wisdom that knows all there is.
46. The absolute as well has its two aspects:

Categorized and uncategorized conceptually,
And then to evaluate them, two types of validity
For looking into what is ultimately true.
47. It is by relying on the former that one reaches the latter.

Like impaired vision that is healed and made pure,
When the eye of valid cognition is fully developed,
The truth of purity and equalness can be seen.
48. It is because the mind, both with concepts and without,

Is sometimes deluded—as when perceiving two moons,
Dreaming or believing a rope is a snake—12 and sometimes not,
That we have the categories of valid and invalid cognition.
49. Without these categories of valid and invalid cognition,

A clear separation between the deluded and false
And the undeluded and true would be impossible,
And the tenets of philosophy could not be put forward.
50. When we investigate on the level of reality,

In spite of all these conceptual elaborations,
Based on classifications such as direct perception,
Inference, valid and invalid cognition and so on,
51. All is empty by its very nature.

And this natural simplicity itself
Is a feature of all conventional constructs,
Just as heat is a property of fire.
52. So it is that appearance and emptiness

Are inseparable in all phenomena
As the method and its outcome,13 which is why
You cannot negate one and affirm the other.
53. “Without investigating what is and is not valid,

But through mundane perception alone,
Can one enter into the ultimate?” you may ask.
It is true that this is not ruled out.
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54. Seeing how this thing is produced from that thing
Is the direct perception of ordinary people,
Based on which they infer and make predictions—
In fact, this is ‘pramāṇa’ in all but name.
55. Without the two kinds of conventional valid cognition,

Pure visions would seem false, and, even for the impure,
It would be unfeasible to say of a conch shell,
“White is its true colour, and yellow it is not.”
56. Without the two approaches to ultimate analysis,

We would not know the unity of the two truths,
The ultimate would fall into conceptual extremes,
And be a cause for its very own destruction.
57. The relative, that which is examined, is not real.

So too the probing mind and self-awareness.
When we look, they are not there, like the moon in water—
This is the ultimate indivisibility of the two truths.
58. This is the one truth, nirvāṇa, the limit of reality,

It is the ultimate state of all phenomena,
Enlightened being wherein knowing and known are inseparable,
Pure wisdom experience, without limit or centre.
59. Once the excellent eye of discriminating wisdom

Has opened to the profound and vast like this,
One sees the noble path travelled by
The bliss-gone buddhas and their heirs,
60. Those enlightened beings of mighty intelligence.

This is the way of the sūtra and mantra vehicles,
So difficult to find. When we have the opportunity,
Let us not fail to gain the result!
61. Possessing in this way the four reasonings,

And endowed with the light of intelligence,
Let us not be deceived by others, but investigate
And be sure to follow the four reliances.
62. If we do not have this understanding,

Then, like a blind man leaning on his staff,
We can rely on fame, mere words or what is easy to understand,
And go against the logic of the four reliances.
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63. Therefore do not rely on individuals,
But rely upon the Dharma.
Freedom comes from the genuine path that is taught,
Not from the one who teaches it.
64. When the teachings are well presented,

It does not matter what the speaker is like.
Even the bliss-gone buddhas themselves
Appear as butchers and such like to train disciples.
65. If he contradicts the Mahāyāna and so on,

Then however eloquent a speaker may seem,
He will bring you no real benefit,
Like a demon assuming Buddha’s form.
66. Whenever you study or contemplate the Dharma,

Rely not on the words, but on their meaning.
If the point is understood, it matters little
How eloquently or not the words were spoken.
67. Once you have understood what the speaker

Intended to communicate, if you then continue
To think about each word and expression,
It is as if your elephant is found, yet still you search.
68. If you misinterpret the words they will only increase,

And you’ll never stop till you run out of thoughts,
All the while straying further and further from the point.
Like a child at play, you’ll only end up exhausted.
69. Even for a single phrase like “Fetch the wood!”

Out of context, there’s no end to what it might mean.
Yet if you understand what is meant,
The need for the words ends just there.
70. When a finger points to the moon,

The ignorant look at the finger itself.
Fools, who are attached to language alone,
May think they understand, but it will not be easy.
71. When it comes to the meaning of what is taught,

You should know the provisional and definitive,
And rely not on any provisional meaning,
But only on the meaning that has certain truth.
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72. The All-Knowing One himself, in all his wisdom,
Taught in accord with students’ capacities and intentions,
Presenting vehicles of various levels,
Just like the rungs of a ladder.
73. Wisely, he spoke with certain intentions in mind,

As with the eight kinds of implied or indirect instructions.
If taken literally, these might be invalidated,
But they were spoken for specific reasons.
74. From the four schools of buddhist philosophy

Through to the ultimate vajra vehicle,
Aspects not fully realized by the lower approaches,
Are made clear by those which are more advanced.
75. Seeing it to be superior according to the texts and logic,

The intelligent seize the definitive meaning
Like a swan drawing milk from water,
And revel in the ocean of buddhist teachings.
76. The teachings of the profound vajra vehicle are also sealed
By means of the six limits and four modes.14
But can be definitively established by stainless reasoning,
Accompanied by the pith instructions of the lineage.
77. The inseparable union of the primordial purity

And great equalness of all phenomena
Is the point that is definitively established
By the two authentic valid cognitions.
78. By applying the key points of the literal, general,

Hidden and ultimate meaning, without any conflict
In the approaches of the pāramitās, development phase,
Completion phase and the Great Perfection,
79. One gains the confidence of certainty about reality.

Then the supremely intelligent heirs of the buddhas
Come to master an inexhaustible treasury of Dharma,
As a sign of victory for the teachings of scripture and realization.
80. When taking the definitive meaning into experience,

Do not rely upon the ordinary dualistic mind
That chases after words and concepts,
But upon non-dual wisdom itself.
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81. That which operates with conceptual ideas is the ordinary mind,
Whose nature is dualistic, involving ‘perceiver’ and ‘perceived’.
All that it conceptualizes in this way is false,
And can never reach the actual nature of reality.
82. Any idea of something real or unreal, both or neither—

Any such concept, however it’s conceived—is still only a concept,
And whatever ideas we hold in mind,
They are still within the domain of Māra.
83. This has been stated in the sūtras.

It is not by any assertion or denial
That we will put an end to concepts.
But once we see without rejecting or affirming, there is freedom.
84. Although it is without any perceiving subject or object perceived,

There is naturally occurring wisdom that is aware of itself,
And all ideas of existence, non-existence, both and neither have ceased completely—
This is said to be supreme primordial wisdom.
85. Just like the orb of the sun to someone blind since birth,
This has never been seen by the spiritually immature.
However much they think about it, they fail to understand,
And so it is only a cause of fear in the minds of the foolish.
86. Yet through scriptures of authentic origin,

Reasoning that refutes all four conceptual extremes,
And the force of the master’s practical instructions,
It arises in our experience, like sight that is restored.
87. At that time, with a faith that comes from savouring

The nectar-like taste of the Buddhadharma,
Our eyes open widely in purest joy
And we glimpse the buddhas’ wisdom kāya.
88. In this, all things without exception

Are seen in their ultimate state of equality,
And with this certainty about what is itself beyond expression,
Skillfully, one expresses the unending treasury of Dharma.
89. Having become learned in the ways of the two truths,

When seeing the reality of their inseparable unity,
One knows that, just as a husk is removed to reveal the grain,
All the various methods are simply to lead one to this point.
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90. With the thought, “Skilled in means are the buddhas,
And all these methods make a genuine path,”
An irreversible sense of confidence will arise
In the teachers and their teachings.
91. By gaining the supreme non-abiding wisdom,

Naturally one is freed from the extremes of existence and quiescence,
And the ornament of great and effortless compassion
Arises to pervade throughout the furthest reaches of space and time.
92. When the correct approach to the two truths

Is realized through contemplating the four reasonings
In this way, it brings the four genuine reliances.
From such a supreme and flawless cause as this
93. Comes the result of profound primordial wisdom.

When this experience is developed to its fullest
It releases the eight great treasures of confidence 15
That were sealed within the absolute space of awareness.
94. Scriptures heard and contemplated in the past

Are never forgotten—this is the treasure of recollection.
Knowing precisely their profound and vast points—
This is the treasure of intelligence.
95. Understanding all the themes of the sūtra and tantra collections—
This is the treasure of realization.
Never forgetting any detail from one’s studies—
This is the treasure of retention.
96. Satisfying all beings with excellent explanations—

This is the treasure of confidence.
Safeguarding the precious treasury of sacred teachings—
This is the treasure of Dharma.
97. Not severing the continuous line of the Three Jewels—

This is the treasure of bodhicitta.
Gaining acceptance of the nature of equality beyond arising—
This is the treasure of accomplishment.
98. Someone who has mastered these eight great inexhaustible treasures
Will never separate from them, and
Will be praised by the buddhas and their heirs
And become a sovereign of the three worlds.
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99. The valid teachings of the victorious buddhas
Are established by the valid cognitions,
So by developing confidence through the valid path,
The true result of the valid teachings will be seen.
100. With noble vision, completely and utterly pure,

And great compassion that has reached perfection,
The bliss-gone buddha revealed the path
And said, “The taste of this nectar I have discovered
101. Should be experienced by means of

The four reasonings and the four reliances.”
Although a portion of this elixir has now been shared,
In this modern age rife with degeneration,
102. Through all the methods that run counter to this approach,
It is difficult to savour the supreme taste of the teachings.
With this in mind, and with an altruistic intention
And a mind of supreme devotion for the teachings,
103. I have here briefly explained how to generate

The immaculate wisdom that is born of reflection.
Through the merit of this may all beings
Become the very equal of Mañjuśrī!
104. Turned towards the sun of Mañjuśrī’s speech,

The water-born lotus of my heart opens in devotion,
May these golden honey drops of excellent explanation
Become a plentiful feast for the bees of good fortune!
I had had the intention to write this for a while, but in accord with the recent request
made by the learned scholar Lhaksam Gyaltsen, this was written in a single day by
Jampal Gyepa on the twenty-ninth day of the third month of the Sakyong year (i.e.
Wood Bird, 1885). Mangalam. There are one hundred and four verses. Virtue!
1. Mipham Rinpoche in his own commentary, དོན་མ་པར་ས་པ་ས་རབ་རལ་ི་མཆན་བཅས

(hereafter MR) says that this refers to the three modes of a valid inference. ↩
2. This verse appears in Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, XXIV, 8. ↩
3. MR: conventional and ultimate valid cognition. ↩
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4. MR. For example, heat is the nature of fire. We don’t need to look into why fire
is hot; that is simply how it is. ↩
5. These last two lines are a quotation from Nāgārjuna’s Mūlamadhyamakakārikā,

XXIV, 10. ↩
6. MR gives the example of a small child or even an animal. ↩
7. MR says for example fire is avoided and water sought after. ↩
8. MR says for example, through the presence of smoke we can know that there is
fire behind the mountain. ↩
9. In the well-known syllogism, “Given the subject of sound, it is impermanent

because it is created” this refers to the fact that sound is created. ↩
10. In the above example, positive logical pervasion would be the fact that
whatever is created is impermanent. Negative logical pervasion refers to the
fact that whatever is not impermanent it is not created. ↩
11. The three types of evidence are: resultant evidence, natural, and non-
observation. ↩
12. MR. Seeing two moons is a deluded sensory perception, dreaming is deluded
mental perception, both of which are non-conceptual, and mistaking a rope for
a snake is deluded and conceptual. ↩
13. MR. Appearance is the method, emptiness is the outcome. ↩
14. Six limits: 1) provisional meaning, 2) definitive meaning, 3) indirect, 4) not

indirect, 5) literally true and 6) not literally true. Four modes: 1) literal, 2)
general, 3) hidden and 4) ultimate. ↩
15. These eight are mentioned in the Lalitavistara Sūtra (་ར་རོལ་པ). This is all based
on a quotation from that text. ↩
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The Vajra Mirror: Cutting through Doubts
Concerning Self-Awareness
by Mipham Rinpoche
Namo Mañjuśrīye!
Those of little learning and no experience

Believe that “self-awareness” in Dzogchen
Occupies an inferior position
To the Madhyamaka’s wisdom of equipoise.
Ah! You who presume to follow the Middle Way,

Tell me: when remaining in the dharmadhātu
Do you believe mind is interrupted or not?
If you say it is, then that’s perceptionless meditation.
But if you hold to the second option,
Is it mind that experiences dharmatā or not?
If not, how is this true nature realized?
If it is mind, then since dharmatā
Is the nature of all phenomena,
Do things themselves appear without obstruction
Before the subjective mind or not?
If they do, how has dualistic perception faded?
But if they don’t, yet in the absence of objects
There is so-called “experience” of the mind,
What is it like? Can you put your finger on it?
If you claim that it is merely wisdom,
Knowing itself individually, without separation
Between object and subject,
Such an experience is “self-awareness”.
Therefore, to understand self-awareness
As the clear awareness of Mind Only,
Or as a limited form of emptiness
Lacking knowledge of external objects’ non-existence
Is talk unrelated to an experience of how things are.
The dharmadhātu, which is beyond conception,
Is experienced individually and reflexively
In space-like meditative equipoise.
How is this a ‘limited’ nature?
Mind Only believes consciousness to be real.
But here, self-awareness is great emptiness.
In actual direct experience, any rigid notions
Or concepts of true existence fall apart.
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Whoever experiences this open space of unity
Sees the actual nature of all phenomena.
For if each thing had its own separate nature,
There would be no end to all these natures.
Thus it is through the experiential approach

Of settling meditatively in the space of unity
That you can come to realize what would be the fruit
Of many aeons of philosophical speculation.
Mipham Namgyal wrote down whatever came to mind during a break while staying at
the mountain hermitage of Karmo Taktsang.
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The Wheel of Analytical Meditation That Thoroughly
Purifies Mental Activity
by Mipham Rinpoche
Namo mañjuśrīye!
Whatever problems there are in the world

Are created by the afflictions in our own minds.
A mistaken attitude is a cause for the kleśas,
Yet the pattern of our thoughts can be refined.
Here there are three sections: 1) how to meditate, 2) the measure of progress, and 3)
the significance of the practice.
1. How to Meditate
Imagine someone who stirs in you intense attachment,
And consider them now present vividly before you.
Separate this person into five component skandhas,
And begin by investigating the physical body.
Consider all its impure substances
Of flesh and blood, bones, marrow, fat,
Internal organs, limbs and organs of sense,
Faeces, urine, bacteria, hair, nails and the like,
And the components of earth and other elements.
Think of all these aspects, each of which
Can still be divided even further, and then,
Down to the very tiniest particle,
Mentally dissect them all stage by stage,
Checking whether you feel desire for each in turn.
Since there is nothing we could call “body”
Apart from these substances, varied and impure,
A body is nothing but an unclean contraption,
A bundle of muscles and fibres, a mound of waste,
And seething fluids that ooze and trickle.
Seeing this fact, sit and consider it mindfully.
Once the momentum of this insight fades,
Turn to feelings, perceptions, formations and consciousness,
And look into their nature,
By dividing them into their various aspects.
When you see them as insubstantial like bubbles,
A mirage, a plantain tree or a magical illusion,
You will understand how in these too there is nothing
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To which one could ever be attached.
Continue with this thought until it fades.
Then, once it does, do not try to prolong it,
But turn instead to another investigation.
Reflect deeply on how these aggregates,
Which are impure and lack real essence,
Do not remain once they have arisen,
But perish from one moment to the next.
All the civilizations and societies of the past,
Met with only destruction in the end,
And so will those of today and ages yet to come.
The nature of the conditioned can inspire disenchantment.
Death is certain for all living things,
Suddenly it comes, and without warning.
Reflect on how all that we experience in life
Is changing from one moment to the next.
In summary, to the best of your ability,
Consider all the aspects of impermanence
That characterize conditioned things.
Reflect on each in turn with lucid thoughts.
Recognize how the aggregates of those that we desire,
Are transient as lightning, evanescent like bubbles,
And fleeting like clouds in the sky.
Until the momentum of this idea fades,
Focus your attention on nothing else.
Then consider how within each of the aggregates,
Which are momentary and consist of many aspects,
There are experiences we might describe as pain itself,
And those that seem pleasant until they change.
Yet they all provide the cause for future woes,
And thus the skandhas are the basis of suffering.
Reflect as well, as much as you are able,
On all the misery there is within the world.
All is due to the skandhas’ imperfections.
There is not the tiniest speck or pin-tip’s worth
Of these contaminated aggregates
That is free from the defect of suffering.
As they are the source of suffering,
The skandhas are likened to a filthy swamp,
A pit of burning coals or an island of demons.
Remain with this insight for as long as you can.
At the end, investigate these aggregates,
Which have many aspects and are impermanent,
And whose suffering nature has now been shown,
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And look for what it is that we call “I.”
When you see that, like a waterfall,
A shower of rain or an empty house,
They are devoid of any intrinsic self,
Remain until this conviction fades.
When it does disappear, then once again
Investigate in the stages as they have been shown.
Sometimes contemplate in no particular sequence,
Or else investigate a variety of things.
Practise investigating these points again and again,
Sometimes considering another’s aggregates,
Sometimes looking into your own,
And at times, analyzing all that is conditioned.
Let your attachment to anything be undermined.
In short, renounce any thought that does not
Involve an investigation of these four points,1
And turn the wheel of analysis again and again.
The more you analyze, the more your certainty will grow.
Apply therefore a clear mind of intelligence
To all kinds of observations just like these,
And, like wildfire spreading across a grassy plain,
Practise continually without interruption.
Say to yourself: “In the past, I would always
Get caught in my mistaken ideas and attitudes,
Which led to all kinds of useless speculation,
But now I will consider only this instead.”
If you find yourself getting tired,
Yet notice that the afflictions still do not arise,
Even without your applying the antidote,
Then rest in equanimity to refresh your mind.
After a while, once your tiredness is no more,
Repeat the investigation just like before,
At all times being mindful and aware
Of the insight the investigation brings.
If, at times, you slip into forgetfulness,
And the afflictions have occasion to arise,
Then take up this investigation once more,
Like reaching for a weapon when enemies appear.
Just as light will banish darkness,
It is almost needless to say that
A precise investigation such as this,
Even if it is only practised a little,
Will do great harm to the kleśas.
However much one understands the flaws
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Of this conditioned saṃsāric world,
One will also understand the unconditioned,
Nirvāṇa’s supreme and refreshing peace.
2. The Measure of Progress

Eventually, through familiarity with this practice,
You will naturally appreciate how everything
Included within the five skandhas and the conditioned
Is manifold, impermanent, painful and devoid of self.
Even without any deliberate effort,
The whole of your experience
Will seem magical and insubstantial,
And you will overcome the kleśas.
When it is free from the waves of the afflictive emotions,
The ocean of your mind is made serene and calm.
This is conducive to gaining mental self-control,
Through which one reaches the samādhi of calm abiding.
If you can then look into the very identity
Of the mind in one-pointed concentration,
That is the extraordinary insight of vipaśyanā.
It is here that one finds the initial entry point
That is common to all three vehicles.
3. The Significance of the Practice

All illusory phenomena which arise interdependently,
Have never arisen since the very dawn of time,
And so in emptiness—the lack of phenomenal identity—
They are beyond extremes such as sameness or difference.
This absolute space of great indivisible equality,
Is also known as the essence of the sugatas.
Once it is realized, one finds the great nirvāṇa
That abides in neither existence nor quiescence.
This is supremely pure and blissful,
The great unconditioned, totally permanent,
The great self-identity—these are its
Transcendent and unsurpassable qualities.
This is the theme of the highest secret essence tantras,
The all-pervading space of ultimate co-emergent bliss,
It is also referred to as ‘naturally arising wisdom',
A state in which all phenomena have total perfection.
To introduce this directly through the master’s
Pith instructions is the approach of the Great Perfection.
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Therefore, as a preliminary training
For the mahāyāna path of both sūtra and mantra,
Breaking through the shell of confusion surrounding the conditioned,
This path of precise investigation is excellent indeed.
First, through the power of fine analysis,
One destroys the marks of rising afflictions.
Then through confidence in the emptiness of the aggregates,
One lets go of desires and hopes based on the three realms,
And eventually, by progressing in stages, all conceptual notions
Are pacified completely within the state of emptiness.
Not wishing for any antidotes or further relinquishing,
One is freed entirely from attachment and clinging to extremes.
With the purest compassion beyond attachment,
One courses through existence without the slightest fear,
Like a bird soaring through absolute space,
And attains the level of a supreme bodhisattva.
Based on the texts of noble masters, I have here explained
The important points of the paths of the three vehicles,
Which provide a training in mental investigation,
As a preliminary to the paths of śamatha and vipaśyanā.
The more familiar you become with this practice
Of thorough training in investigative meditation,
The more the afflictions will diminish,
And the subtler the kleśas will become.
This will make it easier to practise śamatha,
And just like gold that is treated in fire
So it becomes malleable and ready to craft,
Mind will be refined once it is freed from attachment.
Imagine if someone were to offer plentiful gifts
To the Three Jewels for a thousand godly years.
It is said in the sūtras that the merit of this generosity
Is surpassed by the merit of even a moment’s reflection
On impermanence, emptiness and selflessness.
This is because the teachings say that
To recite the Four Seals of the Mahāyāna Dharma
Is equivalent to understanding the teachings
In the eighty-four thousand sections of the Dharma.
If you meditate well on the points explained here,
Since they bring together the key points of many thousands of sūtras,
You will easily gain the treasure of knowing perfectly the profound and vast,
And liberation will swiftly follow in its wake.
By the virtue of this explanation, may all beings
Tormented by the troubles of this degenerate age,
Meet this elixir-like teaching on non-attachment,
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And, through its power, reach a state of perfect peace.
This was written by Mipham Nampar Gyalwa in the Iron Hare year [1891] on the 18th
day of the tenth month.
Maṅgalam!
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2004, based on a version prepared by Garth Copenhaver and Adam
Pearcey in 2002 through the kindness of Ringu Tulku Rinpoche. Translation revised October 2006.
Thanks to Cortland Dahl of the Rimé Foundation for providing further clarifications based on the
commentary of Khenpo Sherab Sangpo.
A version of this translation was published in Dilgo Khyentse, The Collected Works of Dilgo Khyentse:
Volume Two. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2010.
1. Multiplicity, impermanence, suffering and selflessness. See also: Profound

Instruction on the Middle Way ↩
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༈ ་ཀ་ཛ་ི་གསོལ་བས།
Brief Offering Prayer to Ekajaṭī

by Mipham Rinpoche
ྂ། ན་་བཟང་མོ་་ས་ོས་པ་ལ། །
hung, kuntuzangmo yeshe tröpé tsal
Hūṃ! Samantabhadrī’s wrathful wisdom emanation,
དིངས་ི་ལ་མོ་་ཀ་ཛ་ི་མ། །
ying kyi gyalmo ekadzati ma
Mother Ekajaṭī, Queen of Space,
་ས་ལས་དང་འག་ེན་མ་མོ་ཚོགས། །
yeshe lé dang jikten mamö tsok
And the hosts of maternal spirits—of wisdom, with special karma and the worldly:
གསོལ་ལོ་མད་དོ་བལ་བ་ིན་ལས་མཛོད། །
sol lo chö do cholwé trinlé dzö
We supplicate you! We make this offering to you! Carry out the activities we request!
ཨ་་ཏས་སོ། །
by Ajita
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༄༅། །་དམར་པོ་གསོལ་བས།
Brief Offering Prayer to Tsiu Marpo

by Mipham Rinpoche
ིཿ པ་དབང་་བཀའ་ཉན་མ་བོ་། །
hrih, pema wang gi kanyen tuwo ché
Hrīḥ! Mighty one, who obeys Hayagrīva’s command,
་བཙན་ེགས་པ་ལ་པོ་ཡང་་ར། །
chetsen drekpé gyalpo yanglé wer
King of the arrogant tsen demons, Yangleber,
་དམར་པོ་བཀའ་འར་ལ་པ་བཅས། །
tsiu marpo kakhor trulpa ché
Tsiu Marpo, along with your retinue and emanations:
གསོལ་མད་བས་ལ་ིན་ལས་འབ་པར་མཛོད། །
sol chö shyé la trinlé drubpar dzö
Accept this offering and carry out all your activity!
ས་་ཕམ་པས་སོ། །
By Mipham.
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༈ བ་འག་གསོལ་བས།
Brief Offering Prayer to Za Rāhula

by Mipham Rinpoche
ིཿ ང་ོང་བ་འག་ན་པོ་་་ལ། །
hrih, drangsong khyabjuk chenpo rahula
Hrīḥ! Great planetary sage, Rāhula,
ལ་པ་མ་བད་གདོང་མོ་མད་བ་དང༌། །
trulpa nam gyé dongmo ché shyi dang
With your eight emanations and four animal-headed sisters,1
གཟའ་དང་་ར་ེགས་པ་ེ་བད་བཅས། །
za dang gyukar drekpa dé gyé ché
Spirits of the planets and stars and the eight classes of arrogant ones:
by Mipham
1. ↑ Four rākṣasīs with the heads of a tiger, bear, elephant, and makara respectively.
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༈ དམ་ཅན་གསོལ་བས།
Brief Offering Prayer to the Oath-Bound Vajrasādhu

by Mipham Rinpoche
ྂ། དམ་ཅན་ེས་་ན་པོ་ག་་ལ། །
hung, damchen kyebu chenpo tiklé tsal
Hūṃ! Great oath-bound being, Vajrasādhu—Tiklé Tsal,
དེས་ེ་བན་མ་འན་ང་ཕོ་ཉ་ཚོགས། །
gyé dé tenma dzin ging ponyé tsok
Along with those who delight you, the tenma goddesses, kiṃkaras and messengers,
་མད་མ་བ་ག་་ཚོགས་དང་བཅས། །
kuché sumgya drukchü tsok dangché
And the assembly of three hundred and sixty brothers:
by Mipham.
92
༄༅། །ང་ོང་ན་བན་མད་་གསོལ་ཁ་།
Offering to the Five Medicine Sisters, Guardians of the Earth

by Mipham Rinpoche
ིཿ དིངས་ི་མ་ན་ན་ེས་་། །
hrih, ying kyi yumchen lhenkyé daki nga
Hrīḥ! Five ḍākinīs who arise simultaneously with the great Mother of Space,
ང་ོང་ན་བན་མད་་ལ་ོན་པ། །
shyingkyong mentsün ché ngé tsul tönpé
Manifesting as the five medicine sisters, guardians of the earth,
འམ་ག་མཁའ་འོ་འར་དང་བཅས་པ་མས། །
bumtrak khandrö khor dang chepa nam
Together with your retinue of hundreds of thousands of ḍākinīs:
We supplicate you! We make this offering to you! Carry out the activities we request of
you!
ༀ་བ་་མོ་ཧ་་ཧ་་་ས་མ་མ་་་ི་བ་ ་་།
om bendza tramo ha bam harinisa ma ma dakini balingta khahi
་འག་་བ་གག་པ་ས་བ་གམ་ལ་ངས་བསོག་དས་་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པས་ིས་པའོ། །
Jampal Gyepé Dorje wrote this on the thirteenth day of the first month of the Water Dragon year (1892) when there
was a need for a text to accompany the accumulation of offerings.
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A Lamp to Dispel Darkness
An Instruction that Points Directly to the Very Essence of Mind
In the Tradition of ‘the Old Realized Ones’
by Mipham Jampal Dorje
The Homage
Homage to the Lama, inseparable from Mañjuśrī, the embodiment of wisdom!
Without having to study, contemplate, or train to any great degree,

Simply by maintaining recognition of the very nature of mind according to the approach
of the pith instructions,
Any ordinary village yogi can, without too much difficulty,
Reach the level of a vidyādhara: such is the power of this profound path.
The Instruction that Cracks Open the Egg-shell of Ignorance

When you leave your mind in a state of natural rest, without thinking any particular
thought, and at the same time maintain some kind of mindfulness, you can
experience a state of vacant, neutral, apathetic indifference, called “lungmaten”, (a
‘no-man’s land’), where your consciousness is dull and blank.
In this, there is not any of the clear insight of vipaśyanā, which discerns things
precisely, and so the masters call it marigpa (“non-recognition, ignorance,
unknowing”). Since you cannot define it and say “This is what it’s like”, or “This is
it!” such a state is called lungmaten (“undecided, indeterminate”). And since you
cannot say what kind of state it is you are resting in, or what your mind is thinking,
it is also called tha mal tang nyom (“an ordinary state of apathetic indifference”). In
fact, you are stuck in an ordinary state within the ālaya.
You need to use such a means of resting the mind, as a stepping stone, so as to give
rise to the non-conceptual state of primordial wisdom. However, if there is not the
self-recognition of primordial wisdom which is our rigpa, then it cannot count as the
main (meditation) practice of Dzogchen. As The Aspiration Prayer of Samantabhadra
says:
A blank state, devoid of any thought whatsoever—

That is marigpa, the cause of delusion.
Therefore, when mind experiences this kind of dull state that lacks any thought or
mental activity, by allowing your attention to turn naturally and gently towards the
one who is aware of this state—the one who is not thinking—you discover the pure
awareness of rigpa, free of any movement of thought, beyond any notion of outside
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or inside, unimpeded and open, like the clear sky.
Although there is no dualistic separation here between an experience and an

experiencer, still the mind is certain about its own true nature, and there is a sense
that, “There is nothing whatsoever beyond this.” When this occurs, because you can
not conceptualize it or express it in words, it is acceptable to apply such terms as:
“free from all extremes”, “beyond description”, “the fundamental state of clear light”
and “the pure awareness of rigpa.”
As the wisdom of recognizing your own true nature dawns, it clears away the
blinding darkness of confusion, and, just as you can see clearly the inside of your
home once the sun has risen, you gain confident certainty in the true nature of your
mind.
This was ‘the instruction (mengak) for cracking open the egg-shell of ignorance
(marigpa).’
The Instruction for Cutting through the Web of Saṃsāric Existence

When you gain this kind of realization, you understand that this nature of reality has
always been this way, timelessly, that it is not created by any causes or conditions,
and that it never undergoes any kind of transition or change in the past, present or
future. At the same time, you can not find even the tiniest fraction of something
called “mind” that is separate from this nature.
You could also say that the state of mental blankness we looked at earlier is
indescribable, but it lacks decisiveness, since you are completely unable to describe it
in any way. Rigpa, on the other hand, is in essence indescribable, but at the same
time it has a decisive quality that cuts through any doubt about what is indescribable.
So there is a huge difference between these two kinds of indescribability, like the
difference between blindness and perfect vision.
This covers the crucial point of distinguishing between the ālaya and the
dharmakāya.
Therefore, because terms like ‘ordinary mind’, ‘mental nondoing’, ‘inexpressible’ and
so on are used in two different ways—only one of which is authentic—when you
come to know the crucial point of how the same words can have a higher level of
meaning, you can come to experience the true meaning of the profound Dharma.
When resting in the essence of mind, some feel that what is to be maintained is a
simple clarity, a simple awareness, and so they settle in a state of ordinary mental
consciousness, thinking, “This is clarity.” Some focus their attention on the
awareness of an absorbing sense of emptiness, as though their minds had ‘become’
empty. But, in both cases, there is some clinging to the dualistic experience of an
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aspect of ordinary mental consciousness.
When you find yourself in either of these states, look into the innate nature (bab) of
that subtly fixated attention—the clarity and the one perceiving the clarity, the
emptiness and the one perceiving the emptiness—and, by doing so, you will take
away the support for the ordinary consciousness that perceives things dualistically.
Then, if you can decisively recognize the innate nature of your own mind in all its
nakedness—clear and open, without any limit or centre—and a state of lucid clarity
arises, that is what is called, ‘the very essence of rigpa.’ With this, as rigpa sheds the
covering layer of experiences involving clinging, its pure and pristine wisdom is laid
bare.
This was ‘the instruction for cutting through the web of conditioned existence.’
The Instruction for Remaining in the Equalness which is like Space

This is how you should recognize the pure awareness of rigpa once it is freed from
the various layers of ordinary thinking and experience, like a grain of rice freed from
its husk—by settling naturally and making use of rigpa’s own self-knowing (or self-
illuminating) quality.
It is not enough, however, simply to understand the nature of rigpa; you must be able
to remain in that state with some stability through developing familiarity. And so it
is very important that, without becoming distracted, you sustain constant
mindfulness, so as to continue resting in an utterly natural state of awareness.
When you are maintaining that state, at times you might experience a vague and dull
state with no thoughts, while at other times you might experience an unobstructed
state (zang thal) with no thoughts that has the clarity of vipaśyanā. At times, you
might experience states of bliss on which you fixate, while at other times you might
experience states of bliss free of such fixation. At times, you might have various
experiences of clarity with grasping, while at other times you might experience a
vivid clarity that is unsullied and free of grasping. At times, you might have
unpleasant and disturbing experiences, while at other times you might have pleasant
and soothing experiences. And at times, you might experience an extreme turbulence
of thoughts which carries your mind away, causing you to lose your meditation;
while at other times, you might experience unclear states of mind because of a failure
to distinguish between mental dullness and vivid clarity.
These and other experiences come about unpredictably and to an extent you can not
measure, like various waves produced by the winds of karma and habitual thoughts,
which you have cultivated throughout beginningless time. It is as though you are on
a long journey, during which you visit all sorts of different places—some of them
pleasant, some fraught with danger—but whatever happens, you do not allow it to
deter you, and continue on your own path.
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In particular, when you are not yet familiar with this practice, and you have the
experience of ‘movement,’ as all manner of thoughts stir in your mind, like a blazing
fire, don’t become discouraged. Maintain the flow of your practice without letting it
slip away, and find the right balance, so that you are neither too tense nor too
relaxed. In this way, the more advanced meditative experiences, such as
‘attainment,’1 will occur one after another.
At this point, investigate the distinction between the recognition and nonrecognition
of rigpa, between ālaya and dharmakāya, and between ordinary awareness and
wisdom. Through the master’s pith instructions, and on the basis of your own
personal experience, have confidence in the direct introduction you receive. While
you are maintaining this, just as water clears by itself if you do not stir it, your
ordinary awareness will settle in its own nature. So you need to focus mainly on the
instructions which clearly show how the true nature of this awareness is naturally
arising wisdom. Don’t analyze with a view to adopting one state and abandoning
another, thinking, “What is this that I am cultivating in meditation? Is it ordinary
awareness or wisdom?” Nor should you entertain all kinds of speculations based on
the understanding you have gained from books, because doing will only serve to
obstruct both śamatha and vipaśyanā.
At some point, the aspect of familiarity or śamatha—which here means settling in an

utterly natural way with stable and continuous mindfulness—and vipaśyanā—which
here means the awareness that knows its own nature by itself—will merge together
automatically. When this happens, and you gain some stable familiarity with it, you
come to understand how the śamatha and vipaśyanā that are the primordial stillness
of the natural state and the clear light of your own nature have always been
inseparable, and the naturally arising wisdom that is the wisdom mind of
Dzogpachenpo dawns.
That was the instruction for remaining in the equalness which is like space.
The glorious Saraha said:
Having gone beyond thinker and thinking,

Remain like a young child, free of thoughts,
This is the way to be. He also said:
Focus on the master’s words and apply great effort—
Then, if you have received the master’s instructions introducing you to your rigpa:
There is no doubt that your inherent nature will arise.
As he says, the naturally arising wisdom that is mind’s inherent nature, and which
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has always accompanied your ordinary mind from time immemorial, will dawn. This
is no different from the inherent nature of everything, and so it is also called the
‘genuine clear light of the fundamental nature (nyukma dön gyi ösal).’
Therefore, this approach of resting in a completely natural state and maintaining the
recognition of your own nature, or rigpa, the very essence of mind, or the nature of
phenomena, is ‘the pith instruction that brings together a hundred crucial points in
one.’ This is also what you are to maintain continuously.
The true measure of your familiarity with this is the ability to maintain the state of
clear light during sleep. The signs that you are on the right track can be known
through your own experience: your faith, compassion and wisdom will increase
automatically, so that realization will come easily, and you will experience few
difficulties. You can be certain about how profound and swift this approach is if you
compare the realization it brings with the realization gained only through great
effort in other approaches.
As a result of cultivating your mind’s own natural clear light, the obscurations of
ordinary thinking and the habits it creates will be naturally cleared away (sang), and
the two aspects of omniscient wisdom will effortlessly unfold (gyé). With this, as you
seize the stronghold of your own primordial nature, the three kāyas will be
spontaneously accomplished.
Profound! Guhya! Samaya!
This profound instruction was written by Mipham Jampal Dorje on the twelfth day of
the second month, in the Fire Horse year (1906), for the benefit of village yogis and
others, who, while not able to exert themselves too much in study and contemplation,
still wish to take the very essence of mind into experience through practice. It has been
set out in language that is easy to understand, in accordance with the experiential
guidance of a great many old realized masters. Virtue! Mangalam!
1. This is a reference to five successive experiences that occur during the

development of meditation in general, and śamatha in particular. They are
termed ‘movement’ (compared to a cascade of water down a rock face),
‘attainment’ (compared to a torrent in a deep ravine), ‘familiarization’
(compared to a meandering river), ‘stability’ (compared to an ocean free of
waves), and ‘consummation’ (compared to a mountain). ↩
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༄༅། །འཇམ་དཔལ་ོགས་པ་ན་པོ་ག་ལམ་འས་་དེར་ད་པ་དོན་ལ་ོན་པ་
ག་ོང་ོ་ེ་རང་གདངས་ས་་བ་བགས།
The Self-Radiance of Indestructible Awareness and Emptiness

An Aspiration towards the Meaning of the Indivisible Ground, Path and Fruition
of the Great Perfection Mañjuśrī
by Mipham Rinpoche
ོགས་བ་ས་བ་བ་གགས་ས་བཅས་ི། །
chok chu dü shyi deshek sé ché kyi
You embody the wisdom of all the bliss-gone buddhas and their heirs
་ས་ར་ར་གས་ད་ལ་འཆང་བ། །
yeshe kur gyur nyimé tsul changwa
Throughout the ten directions and four times, and keep to the way of non-duality –
འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་་མཉམ་པ་ད་ི་ངང། །
jampel shyönnu nyampa nyi kyi ngang
Ever-youthful Mañjuśrī, ‘Gentle Splendour,’ the state of perfect equality:
ར་ད་དོན་ལ་ན་ིས་བ་ར་ག །
char mé dön la lhun gyi drub gyur chik
May we spontaneously perfect the real meaning of non-action!
གདོད་མ་མན་པོ་དཔལ་ན་་མ་ལ། །
dö mé gönpo palden lama la
With the devotion of viewing the primordial protector and glorious guru
མཉམ་ད་ས་ར་་བ་མོས་ས་ིས། །
nyam nyi chökur tawé mögü kyi
As the enlightened body of truth, the dharmakāya of perfect equality,
དོན་བད་དངས་པ་ིན་བས་ིང་ལ་འཕོས། །
dön gyü gongpé chinlap nying la pö
May the inspiration of the ultimate lineage be transferred into our hearts,
ག་པ་ལ་ི་དབང་ན་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །
rigpa tsel gyi wangchen tobpar shok
And may we gain the great empowerment of the expression of awareness!
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་ནས་གནས་ིར་ོལ་བས་བབ་པ་དང། །
yé né né chir tsolwé drubpa dang
Primordially present and thus not forged through exertion,
དབང་པོ་ད་པར་སོགས་ལ་་ོས་ང། །
wangpö khyepar sok la mi tö kyang
It does not depend on capacity or constitution;
་བས་ད་མ་ས་པ་མས་ི་གསང། །
lawé yi ma chepa sem kyi sang
As it is so simple, we doubt this mystery of the mind:
་མ་མན་ངག་ོབས་ིས་མཐོང་ར་ག །
lamé mengak tob kyi tong gyur chik
Let the guru’s instructions give us the strength to see!
ོས་ང་དད་པ་ན་ོག་ོན་མ་ེ། །
trö shing chépa kün tok nönma té
Elaboration and analysis are superfluities of thought,
བཙལ་ང་བ་པ་རང་ད་ངལ་བ་། །
tsal shying drubpa rang nyi ngelwé gyu
While seeking and cultivating serve only to exhaust.
དགས་ང་བོམ་པ་ིར་ང་འང་བ་གབ། །
mik shing gompa shir shying chingwé zeb
Focusing and meditating are traps that merely bind –
ག་་ོས་པ་ནང་ནས་ད་པར་ཤོག །
zukngü tröpa nang né chöpar shok
Let such painful complexity cease within the mind!
བསམ་བོད་ལ་ལ་མཐོང་བ་གང་ད་ང། །
sam jö dral la tongwa gang mé kyang
Beyond thought and expression, there’s nothing that is seen.
མ་མཐོང་ག་མར་ར་བ་གང་ཡང་ད། །
ma tong lhagmar gyurpa gang yang mé
Nor is there more to it, something additional, unseen.
རང་མས་་ཐག་ད་པ་ཟབ་མོ་དོན། ། 100
རང་མས་་ཐག་ད་པ་ཟབ་མོ་དོན། །
rang sem kho takchöpa zabmö dön
This is the profound point for the mind to ascertain.
མཚོན་པར་དཀའ་བ་་ད་ོགས་པར་ཤོག །
tsönpar kawé dé nyi tokpar shok
May we realize this nature, so hard to point to and make plain!
ོས་ན་ཀ་ནས་དག་ིར་ཡོད་མཐའ་ངས། །
trö kun ka né dak chir yö ta pang
Always pure, without complexity, it avoids the eternalist extreme.
ག་གདངས་ན་ིས་བ་པས་ད་མཐའ་ལ། །
rig dang lhün gyi drubpé mé ta dral
Rigpa’s radiance is spontaneously present, not a nihilistic void.
གས་་བོད་ང་ོག་པས་འག་ལ་ཙམ། །
nyi su jö kyang tokpé juk tsul tsam
Although spoken of as two, that’s for ease of comprehension:
དེར་ད་བོད་ལ་མཉམ་པ་དོན་མཐོང་ཤོག །
yermé jö dral nyampé dön tong shok
May we see the meaning of equality, beyond division and description!
འ་ན་མབ་མོས་་བ་་བན་། །
di na tsubmö dawa ji shyin du
Like a finger pointing to the moon,
དང་པོར་ད་དོད་ག་ས་མཚོན་ས་ང། །
dang por yichö tsik gi tsön ché kyang
Reasoning and words show the way at first.
ས་ད་རང་བབས་ད་དོད་ལ་ལས་འདས། །
chö nyi rang bab yichö yul lé dé
But the natural state is no object of thought,
རང་ས་རང་ལ་ན་་མཐོང་བར་ཤོག །
rang gi rang la len té tongwar shok
So let us turn within and thereby truly see!
འ་ལ་བསལ་བར་་བ་མ་མཐོང་ང། ། 101
འ་ལ་བསལ་བར་་བ་མ་མཐོང་ང། །
di la salwar chawa ma tong shying
In this, you won't find anything to be removed,
བཞག་ེ་བ་པར་་བ་མ་དགས་པས། །
shyak té drubpar chawa ma mikpé
Nor conceive of what could be added or produced.
དགག་བ་ོལ་བས་མ་བད་ས་ད་ངང། །
gak drup tsolwé ma lé chönyi ngang
Dharmatā is unstained by efforts to block or cultivate:
ན་ིས་གནས་པ་དོན་ལ་འག་པར་ཤོག །
lhun gyi népé dön la jukpar shok
May we arrive at the state that's spontaneously present!
ས་་ག་དང་བོད་པར་ེད་པ་ལམ། །
shé jé shyi dang dröpar chépé lam
Although we might label a ground to be known,
ཐོབ་་འས་་ས་་བཏགས་པ་ཡང། །
tobja drebü chö su takpa yang
Path to be followed, or fruition to be attained,
རང་བན་གས་ལ་ནམ་མཁ་་མ་འ། །
rang shyin shi la namkhé gorim dra
In the natural state, these are like levels of space:
ར་ད་དོན་ལ་ན་ིས་གནས་པར་ཤོག །
char mé dön la lhun gyi népar shok
Effortlessly, then, may we keep to true non-action!
འལ་བས་ོ་བཏགས་མ་དག་འར་བ་ས། །
trulwé dro tak ma dak khorwé chö
Impure saṃsāric phenomena, conceived in delusion,
་ལས་ལོག་པ་དག་པ་ང་བ་ཡང། །
dé lé lokpa dakpé nangwa yang
And their opposites too, labelled ‘pure appearance’,
ོས་ནས་བཏགས་པ་མ་པར་ོས་པ་ས། ། 102
ོས་ནས་བཏགས་པ་མ་པར་ོས་པ་ས། །
tö né takpa nampar tröpé chö
Are dependent designations, elaborate projections:
ོས་ད་གས་ལ་་གནས་མཐོང་ར་ག །
trömé shi la mi né tong gyur chik
May we see their absence in the unelaborate condition!
ོ་ལ་ས་ད་གས་ི་བགས་ལ་ལ། །
lo dral chö nyi shi kyi shyuk tsul la
The actual nature as it is, beyond the ordinary mind,
་དང་ོམ་པས་བད་ིན་ོག་པས་ིབ། །
ta dang gompé lé kyi tokpé drip
Is obscured by tainted notions of view and meditation.
ཐ་མལ་གས་་སོན་ལ་་ོམ་ལ། །
tamal shi su sön la ta gom dral
In true ordinariness there is neither theory nor practice:
ལ་མ་དོན་ལ་བབ་ིས་གནས་ར་ག །
nalmé dön la bab kyi né gyur chik
May we naturally remain in the genuine condition!
གང་ལ་དགས་པར་་བ་་བ་ག །
gang la mikpar chawa tawé duk
To focus on anything only poisons the view,
གང་ག་ོལ་བས་ན་པ་ོམ་པ་ོན། །
gang shyik tsolwé zinpa gompé kyön
Deliberate fixation is but a meditative flaw,
གང་ལ་ང་དོར་་བ་ོད་པ་འང། །
gang la langdor chawa chöpé trang
Adopting and avoiding are perilous to action:
ག་་ན་ལ་ས་ད་མཐོང་བར་ཤོག །
zukngu kun dral chö nyi tongwar shok
May we see the nature beyond such affliction!
ོས་པ་གབ་་མ་ད་ག་པ་གདངས། ། 103
ོས་པ་གབ་་མ་ད་ག་པ་གདངས། །
tröpé zeb tu ma tsü rigpé dang
Directly seeing what transcends the ordinary mind:
ོ་ལ་མན་མ་མཐོང་ལ་ད་དོད་ི། །
lo dral ngönsum tong la yichö kyi
Rigpa’s radiance that’s not conceptually confined,
ཞགས་པས་མཁའ་ལ་མད་པ་་འདོར་བར། །
shyakpé kha la düpa mi dorwar
Without tying up the sky in the rope of conjecture,
རང་བཞག་ལ་མ་དོན་ལ་མཁས་ར་ག །
rangshyak nalmé dön la khé gyur chik
Let us master the genuine state of natural rest!
་་རང་ག་གཞོན་་མ་པ་། །
dé tsé rang rig shyön nu bumpa kü
The Gentle Voiced — Mañjughoṣa — of natural luminosity
མེན་ཆ་རང་འོད་གསལ་བ་འཇམ་པ་དངས། །
khyen cha rang ösalwa jampé yang
Is the cognizance of self-awareness, the youthful vase body:
ས་རབ་རང་ང་ོན་མ་ང་བ་ས། །
sherab rang jung drönmé nangwa yi
May the brilliant lamp of naturally arisen wisdom
ིབ་པ་ན་པ་འབ་པོ་འམས་ར་ག །
dribpé münpa tibpo jom gyur chik
Banish the dense darkness of mind’s obscurations!
མ་བས་འས་མ་ས་པ་ས་ད་ལ། །
ma chö dü ma chépé chönyi la
In the nature, which is uncompounded and uncontrived,
བས་མ་ལམ་ིས་གསར་་བབ་ད་པས། །
chömé lam gyi sar du drup mépé
Nothing can be generated anew through fabricated paths,
་ལས་མ་ང་མཐར་ག་འས་་དོན། ། 104
་ལས་མ་ང་མཐར་ག་འས་་དོན། །
gyu lé ma jung tartuk drébüi dön
Which is why the ultimate fruit does not arise from a cause.
རང་ལ་་ནས་གནས་པ་མཐོང་བར་ཤོག །
rang la yé né nepa tongwar shok
May we come to see what is, and always has been, within!
ད་དོད་ག་་ན་པ་འལ་བ་ལམ། །
yichö tsik gi punpa trulwé lam
Husk-like words of speculative ideas lead only to delusion:
་ར་བོད་ང་ོག་པ་་བ་ེ། །
jitar jö kyang tokpé drawa té
However they’re expressed, they entangle us in thought.
ང་ལས་མ་ང་རང་ས་ག་་བ། །
lung lé ma jung rang gi rig chawé
Let us practise instead the heart’s profound instructions,
མན་ངག་ཟབ་མོ་ིང་ལ་བོམ་པར་ཤོག །
mengak zabmo nying la gompar shok
Which arise not from scripture, but are intuitively known!
གང་འན་མས་་་བོ་ད་ིས་འལ། །
zung dzin sem ni ngowo nyi kyi trul
The mind of perceiver and perceived is essentially deluded.
གང་ར་དགས་པ་་བན་ད་་ན། །
gang tar mikpa dé shyin nyi du min
No matter what its focus, it never accords with how things are.
མས་ལས་མ་ང་རང་ང་་ས་། །
sem lé ma jung rangjung yeshé ku
May we attain the buddhahood of definitive reality –
ས་པ་དོན་ི་སངས་ས་འབ་པར་ཤོག །
ngepa dön gyi sangyé drubpar shok
The natural wisdom-kāya that does not derive from mind!
ག་ོང་ག་པ་དིངས་་ས་ཐམས་ཅད། ། 105
ག་ོང་ག་པ་དིངས་་ས་ཐམས་ཅད། །
rigtong rigpé ying su chö tamché
Within the all-pervading space of rigpa, empty and aware,
མཉམ་པ་ད་ར་ག་་ཉག་གག་ལ། །
nyampa nyi gyur tiklé nyak chik la
All things are equal, and, in this single, perfect sphere,
འར་འདས་་དོགས་ག་པ་ངང་ལ་། །
khordé ré dok shyikpé ngang tsul du
There are no longings or fears for saṃsāra or nirvāṇa:
་གནས་ས་་གཏན་ིད་ན་པར་ཤོག །
mi né chökü tensi zinpar shok
May we capture this stronghold of unlocated dharmakāya!
འ་ར་ས་དང་ལ་་ང་བ་ཡང། །
di tar lü dang yul du nangwa yang
Whatever we perceive, as the body or as objects of the senses,
རབ་བ་བན་་ོག་པ་དབང་ས་ང། །
rab rib shyin du tokpé wang gi nang
Is like defective vision, apparent through the force of thought alone —
་ོག་་ས་ན་པོ་རང་མདངས་ིས། །
mi tok yeshé chenpö rang dang kyi
By means of the natural radiance of great, non-conceptual wisdom,
ས་ཟད་གདོད་མ་དིངས་་ངས་ར་ག །
chö zé dömé ying su jang gyur chik
May all be purified into the original space of phenomenal exhaustion!
་་མཁའ་དང་མཉམ་པ་་ས་། །
dé tsé kha dang nyampé yeshé ku
At that time, may we gain the ultimate, unobstructed fruition,
ོགས་ས་་མཐའ་ིད་་འོ་ན་ི། །
chok dü muta si du dro kun gyi
And, with a wisdom buddha-form as vast and limitless as the sky,
ཕན་བ་དོན་ན་འ་བ་ད་བན་ནོར། ། 106
ཕན་བ་དོན་ན་འ་བ་ད་བན་ནོར། །
pendé dön kun jowé yishyin nor
Become wish-granting jewels, providing benefit and happiness
ིབ་ལ་འས་་མཐར་ག་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །
dripdral drébü tartuk tobpar shok
To beings everywhere, throughout the whole infinity of space and time!
ས་པ་འ་་་ན་་་་་ར་་མ་པར་འལ་པར་ཡོངས་་གས་པ་ེ་བན་མ་བ་ོང་་ས་དབང་མོས་རབ་
ས་་ི་་ས་ི་ས་ད་བར་བ་ས་པ་་ག་དང་། ལ་དཀར་ེང་བ་ན་པོ་་ན་ན་བཅས་བཀའ་
ས་བལ་བ་ེན་ས་ནས་ས་་ད་ལ་་ཕམ་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པའམ་འོད་གསལ་ོ་ེ་ས་་བ་ོགས་པར་
ིས་པ་ེ། ོགས་པ་ན་པོ་བ་མཐ་རང་ད་ན་ན་རང་ང་གས་པར་གང་ཤར་ས་པ་ད་བས་འོ་ན་
གདོད་མ་མན་པོ་འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་་་འཕང་ཐོབ་པར་ར་ག།
This was composed at the behest of the reverend lady Dekyong Yeshe Wangmo, who is universally renowned as an
emanation of the wisdom ḍākinī, Vajravārāhī, and who, on the favourable date of the fourth day of the third month
of the Fire-Dog year (1886), offered an auspicious silken scarf and preciously ornamented crystal rosary. With this
as the condition, I, the one known as Mipham Jampel Gyepa, or Ösel Dorje, wrote this prayer, completing it on the
very same day. Through the virtue of expressing whatever naturally arose in my mind, independently and in the
unique terminology of the Great Perfection system, may all beings attain the level of the primordial protector,
Mañjuśrī, the ever-youthful.
ཐོས་པ་ཙམ་ིས་ས་པར་ོལ་འར་ས། །
töpa tsam gyi ngepar drol gyur shyé
‘Merely hearing this is sure to bring liberation’ —
ོ་ེ་འཆང་ས་བགས་པ་ལམ་ི་མག །
dorje chang gi ngakpa lam gyi chok
Thus, Vajradhara praised the supreme of paths.
འ་ལ་མས་པར་ེད་པ་ོས་་འཚལ། །
di tsul sempar chépa mö chi tsal
What need is there to mention holding it in mind?
ས་ད་བན་པས་ར་་ོལ་བར་འར། །
chönyi denpé nyur du drolwar gyur
May the truth of dharmatā swiftly bring liberation!
ོལ་བཅས་ག་པས་གལ་བར་དཀའ་བ་། །
tsol ché tekpé dulwar kawé tsé
‘When it’s difficult for students to follow effort-based vehicles,
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ན་བཟང་གས་ི་བན་པ་འང་ས་། །
kunzang tuk kyi tenpa jung shyé su
The teachings of Samantabhadra’s wisdom-mind will arise’—
བགས་པ་ང་བན་ིང་པོ་བན་པ་ས། །
ngakpé lung shying nyingpö tenpa yi
May these essential teachings, praised in such statements,
འག་ེན་ན་་བ་ང་ས་ར་ག །
jikten kuntu khyab ching gyé gyur chik
Pervade the whole universe, spreading everywhere, far and wide!
ས་མ་ལམ།། །།
Sarva maṅgalam.
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2017
108
The Essence of Mind
by Mipham Rinpoche
Namo Guru Mañjuśrīye!
The actual nature of things is inconceivable and inexpressible. Yet, for those
fortunate individuals who seek to penetrate the profound meaning of dharmatā, I
shall here offer a few words by way of illustration.
What we call “essence of mind” is the actual face of unconditioned pure awareness,
which is recognized through receiving the guru's blessings and instructions. If you
wonder what this is like, it is empty in essence, beyond conceptual reference; it is
cognizant by nature, spontaneously present; and it is all-pervasive and unobstructed
in its compassionate energy. This is the rigpa in which the three kāyas are
inseparable.
It is therefore as the vidyādhara Garab Dorje said in his Final Testament:
This rigpa, which has no concrete existence as anything at all,

Is completely unobstructed in the arising of its self-appearances.
To summarize: the actual nature of mind—the way it has always been, in and of itself
—is this innate pure awareness that is unfabricated and unrestricted.
When this is explained in negative terms:
It is not something to be apprehended;

Nor is it a non-existent void;
It is not some combination of these two,
Nor is it a third option that is neither.
This is the view of the absence of any identifiable existence, the fact that it cannot be
conceptualised in any way by thinking, “It is like this.”
When explained in more positive, experiential terms, it is said to be glaringly empty,

lucidly clear, vividly pure, perfectly even, expansively open, and so on.
To illustrate this using examples: without limit or centre, it is like space; in its
unlimited clarity, it is like sunlight flooding the sky; without clear inside and outside,
it is like a crystal ball; in its freedom from clinging and attachment, it is like the
traces of a bird in flight; and neither arising nor ceasing, it is like the sky.
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To dispel any doubts or misunderstandings that might arise from this instruction, it
is described as the great clarity that is beyond partiality, the great emptiness of
freedom from conceptual reference, the great union that cannot be separated, and so
on.
In terms of its meaning, as it cannot be pointed out by words, it is inexpressible; as it

cannot be known with ordinary modes of consciousness, it is inconceivable; and as it
is does not fall into any extreme, it is the great freedom from elaboration. In the end, it
is beyond all expressions, such as: it is all and everything, it is not all, everything lies
within it, or does not, and so on. It remains an individual experience of self-knowing
awareness.
The names used to illustrate it are 'primordial purity' (ka dag) and 'spontaneous
presence' (lhun grub), and, when summarizing: 'the single, all-encompassing sphere
of naturally arising wisdom' (rang byung ye shes thig le nyag gcig).
As it is the pinnacle of all in terms of the qualities it possesses, it is also the

transcendent perfection of wisdom (prajñāpāramitā) and so on.
Symbolically, it can be revealed by means of the sun, or a magnifying glass, a crystal

ball, or a finger pointing into space, and so forth.
When you have a precious jewel in your own hand,

Even if others should discard them, why be angry?
Without losing your connection to these instructions,
The pinnacle of Dharma, and your own good fortune,
Even if others should criticize them, why be angry?
By Mipham.
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016, with the kind assistance of Alak Zenkar Rinpoche.
110
The Essence of Wisdom: How to Sustain the Face of
Rigpa
by Mipham Rinpoche
To the glorious Primordial Protector, I pay homage!
There are three stages to sustaining the essence of rigpa: recognition, perfecting the
strength, and gaining stability.
At first, refine your understanding until, through the guru’s instructions, you come
to see the actual face of rigpa, nakedly and without intellectual speculation. Once you
have arrived at certainty, it is crucially important that you sustain rigpa’s essence by
yourself. Mere recognition is insufficient; you must develop its strength. Moreover,
although you might recognise rigpa in the beginning, unless you settle in that
recognition, it will soon be interrupted by thoughts, making it difficult to experience
the naked, unadulterated rigpa. So, at this stage it is crucial that you settle without
blocking or indulging thoughts, and rest repeatedly, and for periods of increasing
duration, in an experience of uncontrived, pure awareness. Once you have
familiarised yourself with this again and again, the waves of thought will weaken
and the face of rigpa that you are sustaining will grow clearer. During meditation
remain in this experience for as long as you can, and in post-meditation maintain the
mindfulness of recalling the face of rigpa. If you can familiarise with this the strength
of rigpa will increase. Thoughts will continue to arise at first, but, without having to
resort to any other remedy in order to stop them, they will be freed by themselves in
an instant simply by leaving them as they are—like a snake uncoiling its own knots
by itself. Then, with further familiarity, rising thoughts will continue to bring some
slight disturbance but will dissolve immediately by themselves, like writing on water.
As you become still more familiar with this state, you will reach a point at which
rising thoughts no longer have any effect at all, and you have no hope or fear about
their arising or non-arising. This experience beyond benefit and harm is likened to a
thief entering an empty house. By continuing to familiarise yourself with this, you
will reach the level of perfect strength, at which point thoughts and the ālaya,
together with any tendency to produce movement in the mind, all dissolve into
unaltered dharmakāya, and rigpa is secure in its own place. Just as you might search
for ordinary earth and stones on an island of gold, without ever finding them, the
whole of appearance and existence, without exception, arises as a dharmakāya realm,
in which purity is all-encompassing. This is known as ‘gaining stability’, the point at
which any hopes and anxieties about saṃsāra and nirvāṇa or birth and death are
eradicated entirely.
Just as, in this way, daytime perceptions and thoughts are gradually brought into
rigpa’s domain, during the night-time too, there is no need to rely on any other
instruction, as this can be applied to dreams and the recognition of the clear light of
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light and heavy sleep. Having understood this, you must persist in the practice until
you gain stability, with unflagging diligence like the continuous flow of a river.
This instruction was given by Mipham. May virtue and goodness abound!
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016, with the kind assistance of Alak Zenkar Rinpoche.
112
The Key Points of Trekchö
by Mipham Rinpoche
Dhīḥ! Before the wisdom-being Mañjuśri, I reverently bow down.

Here I shall explain the key points of Trekchö—Thorough Cut.
Do not alter the mind but allow it to settle as it is.

And, in such a state, look naturally within.
There will unfold an experience that is indescribable,
Which has no fixed character as either this or that,
And the natural radiance of which will not cease.
This is the genuine state, the natural condition,
The actual dharmatā, beyond conception.
It is the insight born of natural luminosity,
The view: like a mountain, left as it is.
As you simply abide by that natural state,

There is neither meditation nor distraction.
Without suppressing, cultivating, evaluating or analysing,
Allow yourself to settle fully into the genuine state.
This is the natural concentration of dharmatā,
Uncorrupted by the bonds of deliberate action.
Abiding in the yoga that is the King of Space,
This is meditation: like the ocean, left as it is.
As you remain like this,

Any thoughts and impressions that stir within
And any appearances that occur without,
Should neither be prevented nor encouraged but left as they are.
As long as you do not stray from this natural state,
Whatever unfolds will bring neither benefit nor harm.
Without concern for good or bad, acceptance or rejection,
This is action: appearances, left as they are.
As you make progress, all that appears and exists

Will become a single all-embracing sphere of aware-emptiness,
Within which everything is entirely perfect and complete.
This happens effortlessly, is spontaneously accomplished.
Any striving to adopt or abandon simply fades away,
And hopes and fears for saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are no more.
The primordial nature is made manifest —
The fruition: awareness, left as it is.
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This instruction, including the four ways of leaving things as they are,
Is the ultimate purport of the Thorough Cut.
With these key points, liberation will swiftly be attained
As the most glorious form of Mañjuśrī, Gentle Splendour.
This arose from the lake-like mind of Mipham Jampal Gyepa during the Water Snake
year (1893–4).
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The Nature of Mind
by Mipham Rinpoche
Mind’s nature is indivisible emptiness and clarity,

Inexpressible and indestructible, like space.
In seeing it, there is no separate one who sees;
There is but a single, all-encompassing sphere.
Even looker and looking are one and the same.
This view of seeing all at once is unsurpassed,
A centreless, limitless, exceptional experience.
In this fruition in which what has to be done has been done,
There's no seeing at all, and any wish to see,
Any deep longing to discover the view,
Is naturally destroyed from its very depths.
To arrive at such contentment and evenness1
Is to be touched by brave Mañjuśrī's beneficent light.
Mipham wrote this on the 12th day of the seventh month, in the year of the Fire Rat
(1876). Maṅgalam.
Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016, with the kind assistance of Alak Zenkar Rinpoche.
1. Some editions of the Tibetan have khong snyom, but according to Zenkar
Rinpoche this is an error for khod snyom. ↩
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༄༅། །་སར་ང་་གསོལ་བས་བགས།
Brief Gesar Windhorse Invocation

by Mipham Rinpoche
ྃ། བ་ས་ང་་ན་པ་བ་དན་། །
hung, tashi lungta nyenpé baden ché
Hūṃ! The great flag of the windhorse, auspicious and sweet‑sounding far and wide
ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་ན་འོ་བ་འ། །
kunzang chöpé trin chen trowa di
Sends out a vast cloud of exquisite offerings, like those of Samantabhadra.
་གམ་ང་མ་ད་་ཟོ་དོར་དང་། །
tsa sum sungma drala zodor dang
Through this offering, may the Three Roots—guru, deva and ḍākinī—protectors, dralas,
and gods in action,
འ་ང་ོབ་པ་མད་པ་མོན་ར་སོགས། །
go shying kyobpa chöpé drön gyur sok
And all you guests who care for and protect us—
ད་པར་་སར་ནོར་་ད་འལ་ལ། །
khyepar gesar norbu dradul tsal
Especially you, Gesar Norbu Dradul Tsal,
་འལ་ོ་ེ་ང་ོད་ར་པོ་དང༌། །
dzutrul dorjé kyang gö perpo dang
With your miraculous, wild and skilful vajra steed,
དཔའ་བལ་ངས་ན་བཀའ་ོད་ཕོ་ཉར་བཅས། །
patul dangmen kadö ponyar ché
Your fearless warriors, ladies, attendants and envoys—
གསོལ་ལོ་མད་དོ་བསམ་དོན་ན་བ་མཛོད། །
sol lo chö do samdön lhündrub dzö
Cause all our aspirations to be spontaneously fulfilled!
ས་ང་་གསོལ་བས་འ་ཡང་ད་་་བ་ཡར་ས་བ་ས་བཟང་པོར་་དམ་ཡང་ོད་་་ཕམ་པས་བད་
པ་མ་། དའོ།།
This brief windhorse invocation was composed by the one called Mipham in a hermitage in Rudam on the
auspicious occasion of the tenth day of the ninth month. Maṅgalaṃ. May virtue abound!
116
117
༄༅། །་སར་གསོལ་བས་བགས།
Brief Offering Prayer to Gesar

by Mipham Rinpoche
ེ། འདོད་དོན་ན་འབ་ད་་མ་བོ་། །
kyé, dödön kün drub dralha tuwo ché
Kyé! Mighty warrior deity who fulfils all wishes
གས་གམ་པ་་འལ་ང་ན་ལ། །
rik sum pemé gyutrul sengchen gyal
Great Lion King, magical emanation of Padma of the three families,
ནོར་་ད་འལ་བཀའ་ོད་ཕོ་ཉར་བཅས། །
norbu dradul kadö ponyar ché
Norbu Dradul Tsal, together with your attendants and emissaries,
གསོལ་ལོ་མད་དོ་བསམ་དོན་ན་འབ་མཛོད། །
sollo chödo samdön kün drub dzö
We invoke you, we offer to you—cause all our wishes to be fulfilled!
བ་བོན་ལ་འོར་ི་དབང་ག་ ་་ི་གང་བལ་བན་བ་ཁང་བད་ལས་མ་ལ་ིང་་འཇམ་དཔལ་ོ་
ེས་ལ་་ས་བན་ད་བར་ིས་པ་འས་བ་བད་ི་བན་པ་ན་པོ་་ོགས་ན་ལས་ལ་བར་ར་ག། །།
In accordance with the request of the diligent practitioner and lord of yogis, Vidyādhara, this was written by Jampal
Dorje in the retreat house of Dülé Namgyal Ling (The Place of Total Victory over the Māras) on the seventh day of
the twelfth month. Through this, may the precious teachings of the practice lineage reign victorious in all
directions!
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༄༅། །ད་མད་་གཡང་ིན་ན་བགས།
Great Clouds of First-Portion Offerings for Prosperity

by Mipham Rinpoche
བཟའ་བང་དང་ཡོ་ད་སོགས་་ཡང་ང་ེ། ིན་ིས་བབས་ནས་ད་ི་ང་ན་གར་བདག་ར་མ་ཚོགས་ལ་
འ་ར་མད་པར་འོ། །
Bless food, drink and the necessities of life, whatever is suitable; mentally one should offer them in this way to the
Great Lion Gesar and hosts of terma lords and wermas. And then:
ༀ་ཿྂ། མན་ི་ནམ་འཁར་བད་ི་ིན་དཀར་དས། །
om ah hung, dün gyi namkhar dütsi trin kar ü
Oṃ āḥ hūṃ! Before me in the sky, amidst a white cloud of nectar
་གཡང་བསམ་འལ་ད་བན་ནོར་་། །
chayang sam pel yishyin norbu ni
Is the wish-fulfilling jewel who increases prosperity,
་སར་ད་་ལ་པོ་ན་པོ་ལ། །
gesar dralhé gyalpo chenpo la
Gesar, great king of the dralas,
་ལ་ལ་སོགས་གར་བདག་ར་མས་བོར། །
magyal lasok terdak wermé kor
Surrounded by Magyal and the rest, terma lords and wermas.
བཟའ་བང་འོར་པ་མ་་ཡོ་ད་ཚོགས། །
zatung jorpa khogü yojé tsok
This great gathering of the necessities of life, all that one could ever need of food, drink
and wealth,
་ས་བད་ི་འདོད་་འང་གནས་། །
yeshe dütsi dögü jungné su
As a source of the wisdom nectar fulfilling all that one desires,
ིན་ིས་བབ་པ་མད་པ་དམ་པ་འ། །
jingyi labpé chöpa dampa di
This sublime and blessed offering
ེས་མག་ནོར་་འར་དང་བཅས་ལ་འལ། །
kyechok norbu khor dangché la bul
We offer to you, Supreme Being, Norbu Dradül Tsal, together with your retinue;
119
ང་ིད་མ་ས་ིབས་ད་ས་ར་གགས། །
nangsi malü dribmé saler zik
You see clearly and distinctly the whole of phenomenal existence without exception;
མག་དམན་བར་མ་འོ་བ་ན་ལ་བེ། །
chok men barmé drowa kün la tsé
Whether high or low, or in between, you hold all beings with your love.
འདོད་དོན་ད་བན་ནོར་་ལ་ོལ་བ། །
dödön yishyin norbü tsul tsolwa
Like a wish-fulfilling jewel, you grant all of our desires.
ད་བན་་ོང་ར་མ་ཚོགས་ལ་བོད། །
yishyin rekong wermé tsok la tö
To your hosts of wermas, fulfillers of wishes, we offer praise.
གས་ེས་དངས་ག་མ་ན་ད་་ེ། །
tukjé gong shik tuden dralé jé
Think of us with compassion, lord of the mighty dralas,
བ་ད་གང་ང་ནོར་་གས་ོངས་ནས། །
lumé yungdrung norbü tuk long né
From the depth of your infallible and steadfast jewel-like wisdom mind,
་གཡང་ཟས་ནོར་འདོད་་ཆར་ན་པོས། །
ma yang zé nor dögü char chenpö
With a great shower of whatever we might desire of prosperity, abundance, food and
wealth,
་བ་ང་་ཡོངས་་བཀང་བར་མཛོད། །
rewé shingta yongsu kangwar dzö
May you fulfil completely all our hopes and expectations!
ས་ཇ་མད་སོགས་ལ་ར་་འ་ད་རང་ག་ེས་གར་འགས་ང་ཟས་ནོར་ེད་པ་འང་བར་འདོད་ན་ན་་ང་
ངམ། ས་་བགས་པས་་དཔལ་འོར་གཡང་་ནོར་་མ་བ་ལག་་བངས་ནས་དས་འདོད་ད་བན་བ་
པ་ེན་འེལ་ཡོད། རབ་ས་་ེལ་་བ་བ་གས་པ་ས་་བ་བ་་ོ་འལ་ཤར་་ང་པས་སོ། མ་
ལམ།། །།
Combine this with offerings of tea and so on. Wherever you might be staying, whether at home or abroad, if you
wish for food, wealth and possessions, through the auspicious connection of reciting this practice every day or on
specific occasions, you will acquire the four treasures of longevity, glory, wealth and prosperity, fulfilling all your
wishes and requirements. This was composed spontaneously on the morning of the fourteenth day of the twelfth
120
month during the Water Monkey year (1872) by ‘The One Named Dhīḥ’, Mipham Rinpoche. Maṅgalaṃ!
| Translated by Ane Tsöndrü, Rigpa Translations.
121
༄༅། །་སར་གསོལ་འབས་བགས།
Prayer to Gesar
by Mipham Rinpoche
གས་གམ་ན་འས་པ་ཐོད་ེང་ །
rik sum kündü pema tötreng gi
Embodiment of the three buddha families,
གས་ེ་འོད་ར་འཛམ་ིང་དཔལ་་ཤར། །
tukjé özer dzamling pal du shar
Through the compassionate light rays of Pema Tötreng, you arose as the splendour of the
world—
ེས་མག་ང་ན་ནོར་་ད་འལ་ལ། །
kyechok sengchen norbu dradul la
Supreme being, Great Lion, Norbu Dradül, 1 to you we pray!
གསོལ་བ་འབས་སོ་མག་ན་དས་བ་ོལ། །
solwa deb so choktün ngödrub tsol
Grant us supreme and ordinary siddhis!
ༀ་་་མ་་་ཛ་ི་ྃ༔
om guru mani radza siddhi hung
oṃ guru manirāja siddhi hūṃ
་ེལ་་༡༡ས་༣་ཕམ་པས་སོ། །
Written by Mipham Rinpoche on the third day of the eleventh month of the Fire Monkey year (1896).
1. ↑ 'The Great Lion, Jewel who Subdues Foes'—Sengchen Norbu Dradül Tsal—is one of Gesar's most
popular names.
122
༄༅། །་སར་ང་་བས་པ་བགས།
Short Windhorse Prayer to Gesar

by Mipham Rinpoche
ིཿ ད་མཚན་ང་་ན་པ་བ་དན་༔
hrih, getsen lungta nyenpé baden ché
Hrīḥ! Great flag of glorious windhorse is a sign of positivity;
འདོད་་ན་འང་མད་པ་ིན་ང་འ༔
dögu künjung chöpé trinpung di
These offering clouds, which are the source of all that is desirable,
་སར་ེས་་འར་དང་བཅས་ལ་འལ༔
gesar kyé bu khor dang ché la bul
We offer to you, great being Gesar, together with your retinue—
བསམ་དོན་ན་འབ་ོགས་ལས་མ་ལ་མཛོད༔
samdön kün drub chok lé namgyal dzö
Cause all our wishes to be fulfilled and grant us universal victory!
ས་པ་འའང་ང་ལ་་བ་་པ་ས་་ལ་་ཕམ་པས་བད་པ་ས་མ་། །
This was written by the one called Mipham on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Wood Snake year (1905).
Sarva maṅgalam!
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༄༅། །ང་ན་་སར་ནོར་་གསོལ་མད་ིན་ལས་ན་འབ་བགས། །
The Prayer and Offering to 'The Great Lion, Gesar the Jewel', that Spontaneously
Accomplishes Activities
by Mipham Rinpoche
ཇ་ཆང་་ང་སོགས་བཤམས་ང་ིན་ིས་བབས་ནས་འ་ད་དོ།
Arrange and consecrate tea, chang, torma and the like, and then recite as follows:
ྃ་ ིཿ འགས་ང་ིན་པོ་ོང་ེར་དཔལ་ི་། །
hung hrih, jikrung sinpö drongkhyer pal gyi ri
Hūṃ hrīḥ! In the rakṣasa city of terror, on the Copper-coloured Mountain of Glory,
་གམ་ལ་བ་ང་ཁམས་པ་འོད། །
ku sum gyalwé shyingkham pema ö
Lies the three kāya buddha field of Lotus Light,
དམར་ནག་་དང་འགས་པ་ག་པོ་ང༌། །
marnak mepung trukpa drakpö shying
A wrathful realm, dark red like a raging inferno.
ནང་ར་ོ་ེ་ས་ི་་ོང༌། །
nangtar dorjé lü kyi tsitté drong
Within our vajra body, this is the city of the heart,
ག་འན་དཔའ་བོ་མཁའ་འོ་ཕོ་ང་ནས། །
rigdzin pawo khandrö podrang né
And there—in the palace of vidyādharas, ḍākas and ḍākinīs—
ིད་་མཉམ་ད་་ས་ོ་ེ་། །
sishyi nyamnyi yeshe dorjé ku
Dwells the indestructible form of wisdom that equalizes saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,
རབ་འམས་ལ་བ་ི་གགས་མཚོ་ེས་ེ། །
rabjam gyalwé chizuk tsokyé jé
The embodiment of all the infinite buddhas—Padmasambhava, the Lake-born Lord.
གས་ེ་ལ་ང་་མར་རོལ་པ་གགས། །
tukjé tsalnang gyumar rolpé zuk
The power of his compassion magically takes form.
ལ་འོར་བ་པ་ཕོ་མོ་ཚོགས་དང་བཅས། །
naljor drubpa pomö tsok dangché
Thronged by yogins and siddhas, male and female,
མོས་ན་་ལ་ིན་ིས་བབ་པ་ིར། ། 124
མོས་ན་་ལ་ིན་ིས་བབ་པ་ིར། །
möden bu la jingyi labpé chir
So that you can grant us devoted sons and daughters your blessing,
བལ་གས་ོ་ེ་གར་ི་མཁའ་ལམ་ནས། །
tulshyuk dorjé gar gyi khalam né
You appear from out of the sky, in your vajra dance of yogic conduct,
བད་འལ་ད་་ར་མ་ར་བངས་། །
düdul drala wermé kur shyeng té
And arise as our protector, the tamer of māras, the drala werma:
ག་འན་ན་པོ་འཛམ་ིང་ན་མག་ལ། །
rigdzin chenpo dzamling gyen chok tsal
Great vidyādhara, supreme ornament of this world,
ས་རབ་རལ་ི་མདའ་ག་འལ་འར་ིས། །
sherab raldri dashyü trulkhor gyi
Wielding your sword of wisdom, your arrows and your bow,
ིད་པ་ད་ེ་འམས་པ་མ་བོ་། །
sipé dra dé jompé tuwo ché
Powerful, mighty conqueror of legions of saṃsāric enemies,
ེས་མག་ང་ན་ནོར་་་འར་དངས། །
kyechok sengchen norbu kukhor pung
Supreme being, 'Great Lion Jewel', Sengchen Norbu Dradül, with an army of attendants,
མ་ས་འར་དང་བཅས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ན། །
malü khor dang chepa tamché kün
Your entire retinue, each and every one,
དཔའ་བོ་་བོ་ཆ་་འག་ར་ོགས། །
pawö kiso chadra druk tar drok
Thunders out the warriors’ cry: Ki Ki! So So!
ད་མཚན་ན་པ་བ་དན་མཁའ་ལ་ར། །
getsen nyenpé baden kha la char
Your famous banner, emblem of auspiciousness, flies high in the sky,
ོ་ེ་་མག་བཞོན་པ་ོ་གར་ིས། །
dorjé tachok shyönpé drogar gyi
Your steed, the supreme vajra horse, beneath its hooves
བར་ཆད་དམ་ི་ོག་ིང་ཚལ་པར་འམས། ། 125
བར་ཆད་དམ་ི་ོག་ིང་ཚལ་པར་འམས། །
barché damsi soknying tsalpar gem
Crushes the hearts and the life force of obstacle-makers and damsi demons.
ིན་བས་ིན་འིགས་དས་བ་ཆར་ན་འབས། །
jinlab trin trik ngödrub char gyün beb
From your clustering clouds of blessings, pour down an unending rain of siddhis!
ལ་ན་བདག་ས་མད་ང་མངའ་གསོལ་ན། །
kalden dak gi chö ching ngasol na
When we fortunate ones make offerings to you, when we exalt you,
ཐོགས་ད་གས་ེ་དབང་ས་འར་གགས་ལ། །
tokmé tukjé wang gi dir shek la
Let your compassion be limitless, and come, now, to this place!
བད་ི་དཔའ་ེམས་ད་ི་མད་པ་བས། །
dütsi pa kyem pü kyi chöpa shyé
Accept the best of the offerings, this nectar—the triumphant drink of warriors!
བད་ན་ད་བན་གཏོར་མ་མད་པ་བས། །
chüden yishyin tormé chöpa shyé
Accept this offering of torma, that possesses the vital force, and fulfils every wish!
ག་ཆང་ོས་ེད་ཨཾ་མད་པ་བས། །
trak chang nyöjé argham chöpa shyé
Accept this exhilarating offering of ablution water!
འོད་གསལ་ི་མ་བསང་་མད་པ་བས། །
ösal drishyim sang gi chöpa shyé
Accept this smoke offering of clear light and fragrant incense!
དར་་བ་དན་རོལ་མོ་མད་པ་བས། །
darna baden rolmö chöpa shyé
Accept this offering of silks and banners and music!
བ་ོང་ཉམས་ོང་གསང་བ་མད་པ་བས། །
detong nyamnyong sangwé chöpa shyé
Accept this secret offering—experiences of bliss and emptiness!
ང་ིད་གར་བངས་མདོས་ི་མད་པ་བས། །
nangsi shyir shyeng dö kyi chöpa shyé
Accept this offering of the entire universe in the form of the thread-cross!
ཐམས་ཅད་མཉམ་ད་་ས་མད་པ་བས། ། 126
ཐམས་ཅད་མཉམ་ད་་ས་མད་པ་བས། །
tamché nyamnyi yeshe chöpa shyé
Accept this offering of primordial wisdom that equalizes all things!
གས་ེས་དངས་ག་ང་ན་ན་པོ་། །
tukjé gong shik sengchen rinpoche
Look on us with your compassion, Mighty Lion, Precious One!
དམ་བཅའ་མ་གལ་གས་གམ་ལ་པ་། །
damcha mayel rik sum trulpé ku
Don’t ever neglect your promise, for you are the emanation of Mañjuśrī, Avalokiteśvara
and Vajrapāṇi!
ང་ནས་ང་བ་བར་་་འལ་བར། །
deng né changchub bardu mindralwar
From now until enlightenment, never let us be apart!
བང་ོབས་ིན་ིས་ོབས་ལ་ིན་ལས་བས། །
sung kyob jingyi lob la trinlé drub
Guard us, defend us, grant us your blessings, carry out your enlightened actions!
ོད་་ིང་ེ་མག་་རང་བན་ེ། །
khyö ni nyingjé chok gi rangshyin té
You are the embodiment of love—of empathy supreme,
གས་ེ་ན་པོ་མཚོན་ན་མ་པར་འཆང༌། །
tukjé chenpö tsön chen nampar chang
Armed with all the weapons of great compassion.
བད་ི་དང་མས་འལ་ལ་མག་་ར། །
dü kyi pung nam dul la chok tu gyur
You are the greatest at subjugating negative forces;
བད་བ་འགས་པ་མཐའ་དག་ོད་ིས་སོལ། །
dü shyi jikpa tadak khyö kyi sol
You are the one who dispels all fear of the four māras!
མེན་རབ་དངས་པ་ོང་ནས་ལ་ངས་ལ། །
khyen rab gongpé long né tsal chung la
Bring out the power of your omniscient wisdom mind,
ལ་ན་ིང་་དས་་ིན་ན་ཕོབ། །
kalden nying gi ü su jin chen pob
And pour your vast blessing into the very core of our hearts!
་ང་ག་ཁམས་་ས་ིས་ཐོབ་ལ། ། 127
་ང་ག་ཁམས་་ས་ིས་ཐོབ་ལ། །
tsalung rik kham yeshe tsi tob la
Coat our channels, inner air, and awareness with primordial wisdom,
གང་ས་ང་བ་ལམ་་བར་བར་མཛོད། །
gang jé changchub lam du gyurwar dzö
And make whatever we do turn into the path to enlightenment!
བད་འལ་ག་པོ་གས་ིས་ག་འབར་ང༌། །
düdul drakpo ngak kyi zibar shying
Grant us the siddhis of power and mastery
ེ་་མོས་ང་ས་ལ་བར་བ་། །
kyegü mö nang chö la gyurwa yi
Over the two activities—annihilation and caring for beings—
ཚར་གད་ེས་་བང་བ་ིན་ལས་ལ། །
tsarchö jesu zungwé trinlé la
So we possess a dazzling command over the fierce mantras that subjugate māras,
དབང་འོར་མ་ོབས་ས་པ་དས་བ་ོལ། །
wangjor tutob nüpé ngödrub tsol
And can turn the minds of living beings towards the Dharma!
ིང་ག་དཔལ་ི་་གསང་མཛོད་ནས། །
nyingga pal gyi be ü sangdzö né
Within that secret treasury, the endless knot that is our heart,
གངས་ོབས་ོ་ོས་ནོར་་གར་ོ་ེས། །
zung pob lodrö norbü tergo ché
Fling open the door to the jewels of memory, brilliance and intelligence!
གཞན་ཕན་མཁའ་དང་མཉམ་པ་ིན་ལས་ིས། །
shyenpen kha dang nyampé trinlé kyi
Let altruistic activity be as vast as space,
དོན་གས་ད་བན་བ་པར་མཛད་་གསོལ། །
dön nyi yishyin drubpar dzé du sol
And accomplish the benefit of ourselves and others, just as our minds desire!
ང་བ་མས་ན་ན་བཟང་ོད་པ་ས། །
changchub semden kunzang chöpa yi
Let us possess the awakened mind of bodhicitta, and act just like the bodhisattva
Samantabhadra.
ཟབ་མོ་ོ་ེ་ག་མག་ལ་གནས་ནས། ། 128
ཟབ་མོ་ོ་ེ་ག་མག་ལ་གནས་ནས། །
zabmo dorjé tek chok la né né
And then, by following the sublime vehicle of the profound Vajrayāna,
ས་ལམ་མན་པར་ོགས་པ་ར་འལ་ང༌། །
salam ngönpar tokpa cher pel shying
Make our realization of the paths and stages grow ever greater,
ར་་མ་ོལ་ལ་བ་དབང་པོར་མཛོད། །
nyurdu namdrol gyalwé wangpor dzö
So that we swiftly attain complete liberation, the supreme enlightened state of the
conquerors!
ས་པའང་གས་འག་་ས་ལ་་ཕམ་པས་གང་ཤར་ིས་པའོ།། །།
Mipham wrote this—just whatever came into his mind—on the eighth day of the sixth month of the Iron Dragon
year (1880).
| Rigpa Translations, 1999. Adapted 2013, 2014.
129
༄༅། །་སར་ལ་པོ་གསོལ་མད་བསམ་དོན་ར་འབ་བགས།
The Swift Fulfilment of Wishes: A Brief Offering Prayer to King Gesar

by Mipham Rinpoche
་སར་ལ་པོ་གསོལ་མད་བསམ་དོན་ར་འབ་།
The offering prayer to King Gesar that swiftly fulfils wishes is as follows:
ྂ། དིངས་ནས་གས་ེས་མ་གལ་ང་ན་ེ། །
hung, ying né tukjé mayel sengchen jé
Hūṃ! From out of all-pervading space, your compassion unwavering, the Great Lion, Lord
Gesar,
་གམ་ན་འས་ནོར་་ད་འལ་ལ། །
tsa sum kündü norbu dradul tsal
You who embody all gurus, devas and ḍākinīs: Jewel Who Subdues Foes,
ས་ོང་ད་་ར་མ་འར་དང་བཅས། །
chökyong dralha wermé khor dangché
Together with your assembly of protectors, dralas and wermas,
གས་ེ་གས་དམ་དབང་ས་འར་གགས་ལ། །
tukjé tukdam wang gi dir shek la
Through the force of your compassionate pledge, come now,
དམ་ས་བད་ི་གཏོར་མ་མད་པ་བས། །
damdzé dütsi tormé chöpa shyé
And accept these offerings of samaya substances, amṛta and torma;
བ་པ་གས་མཚན་དས་་བན་པ་དང༌། །
drubpé taktsen ngö su tenpa dang
Show us real signs of accomplishment,
་བ་འས་་ད་བན་འབ་པར་མཛོད། །
rewé drebu yishyin drubpar dzö
And fulfil all our hopes and aspirations.
མག་དང་ན་མོང་དས་བ་ལ་་གསོལ། །
chok dang tünmong ngödrub tsal du sol
Grant us supreme and ordinary siddhis, we pray!
ༀ་མ་་ང་ཧ་མ་་་་ས་པ་་་ར་་་བ་ ་་། །
om maha singha mani radza saparivara idam balingta khahi
oṃ mahāsiṃha maṇirāja saparivāra idam baliṃ te khāhi
130
འ་་ང་ེལ་ད་པ་ོར་ག་་ིས། འ་བན་ནན་ཏན་བལ་ང་གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་ན་་འབ་པ་གང་ཡང་
ད། ིན་བས་ིན་ལས་ན་་ར་ང་ཚན་འོ། །མ་། །
This was composed during the ninth month of the Wood Monkey year (1884). There is nothing that cannot be
accomplished by praying assiduously in this way. Blessings and accomplishment will follow thick and fast!
Maṅgalam.
131
༄༅། །ག་པ་འར་ད་་ས་ི་ེས་་ན་པོ་་མ་ལ་འོར་ིན་བས་ར་
འག་ས་་བ་བགས་སོ། །
The Swift Infusion of Blessings: A Guru Yoga of the Great Embodiment of

Unchanging Awareness Wisdom
by Mipham Rinpoche
་མ་ཧོ། མན་ནམ་མཁར་འཇའ་འོད་འིགས་པ་ོང༌། །
emaho dün namkhar ja ö trikpé long
Emaho! In the sky before me is an expanse of rainbow-coloured light,
་་གམ་ད་་ིན་ང་ལས། །
lha tsa sum dralé trinpung lé
With vast, cloud-like gatherings of dralas and deities of the Three Roots,
ཕ་ེས་མག་ནོར་་ད་འལ་ལ། །
pa kyechok norbu dradul tsal
Out of which appears the Supreme Being, Gesar Norbu Draddul Tsal,
ིན་བས་་དེས་ཞལ་མས་བན་བགས། །
jin tib sé gyé shyal ngom shyin shyuk
Inspiring, replete with blessings, and smiling with joy.
མན་ལ་བ་ན་འས་གས་ེ་ཅན། །
gön gyalwa kündü tukjé chen
Protector, embodiment of all the Buddhas, Compassionate One,
དཔལ་་ན་ན་པོ་ལ་པ་། །
pal orgyen chenpö trulpé ku
Nirmanakaya emanation of the great and glorious Orgyen,
ེ་གས་གམ་གག་འས་ང་ན་ལ། །
je rik sum chik dü sengchen gyal
Lord, who embodies the three buddha families, great lion Gesar,
་མོས་ས་བཟོད་ད་གང་གས་ིས། །
bu mögü zömé dungshuk kyi
Like a child, in a state of intense and fervent devotion,
ཕ་ོད་ལ་གསོལ་བ་ིང་ནས་འབས། །
pa khyö la solwa nying né deb
I pray to you, my kind father, from the depths of my heart.
གས་འོད་གསལ་འཕོ་འར་ད་པ་ངང༌། ། 132
གས་འོད་གསལ་འཕོ་འར་ད་པ་ངང༌། །
tuk ösal pogyur mepé ngang
In your wisdom mind, which never parts from the state of clear light,
མས་ིང་ེ་ིན་ན་ག་་འིགས། །
jam nyingjé trin chen taktu trik
Great clouds of loving kindness and compassion are amassed now and for ever more,
ལས་ོན་ལམ་མན་པ་གལ་་ལ། །
lé mönlam tünpé dulja la
And for the disciples with the right karma and aspirations from the past,
ིན་བཙན་ཐབས་འབས་པ་གས་ེ་ཅན། །
jin tsentab bebpé tukjé chen
Your compassion brings down a powerful rain of blessings and inspiration.
དཔལ་ད་་་ཆས་་ར་ཡང༌། །
pal dralé ku ché rerer yang
Even within the battle dress and armour of the brave drala warriors,
་་གམ་དིལ་འར་ངས་ལས་འདས། །
lha tsa sum kyilkhor drang lé dé
Appear countless mandalas of the deities of the Three Roots—
ན་ཙམ་ིས་ིན་བས་དབང་ན་ཐོབ། །
dren tsam gyi jinlab wangchen tob
Merely by thinking of you all, we are inspired with great and powerful blessings.
ཡབ་དཔའ་བོ་ོ་བངས་བས་་བ། །
yab pawö dro dung trab sé trab
The male warriors perform their imposing dance of war,
མ་དཔའ་མོ་་ན་ཤ་ར་ར། །
yum pamö lulen shar ra
The female warriors sing their captivating songs,
་འདོ་ེ་ར་་ངས་་ང༌། །
ta do jé her dra lhang sé lhang
The horses pant and neigh excitedly,
དཔའ་ད་་བཞད་་མས་་མ། །
pa dralé shyé dra chem sé chem
And the brave dralas bellow with laughter.
མས་མོས་ང་ཅན་ི་ེ་བོ་ལ། ། 133
མས་མོས་ང་ཅན་ི་ེ་བོ་ལ། །
sem mö dungchen gyi kyewo la
For us, whose minds are filled with devotion and joy,
དམ་མ་གལ་མ་གལ་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
dam ma yel ma yel jingyi lob
Do not neglect your promises and commitments, but grant us your blessings—
ས་འ་ལ་ད་་དཔའ་ོང་ས། །
lü di la dralé pa dzong chö
Make our bodies a stronghold of drala warriors,
ངག་འ་ལ་འལ་གང་དབང་ག་བར། །
ngak di la trul sung wang shyik kur
Empower our speech with miraculous force,
མས་འ་ལ་བ་ོང་ག་ལ་ོར། །
sem di la detong riktsal bor
And arouse in our minds the awareness-power of bliss and emptiness!
ེ་ེད་དང་དེར་ད་འབ་པར་ཤོག །
jé khyé dang yermé drubpar shok
Make us one with you, Lord Gesar, forever inseparable!
Repeat the following as many times as you can:
་མ་མེན་ས་་མང་དང༌།
lama khyen
O lama, care for us!
And:
་མ་ེས་མག་ད་བན་ནོར་་མེན། །ས་དང༌།
lama kyechok yishyin norbu khyen
O lama, Great Being, Wish Fulfilling Jewel, care for us!
ༀ་ཿྃ་བ་མ་་་་མ་་་ཛ་ས་ི་ཕ་ལ་ྃ།
om ah hung benza maha guru mani radza sarva siddhi pala hung
ས་བས་མཐར་རང་དང་དེར་ད་ོ་འདས་ས་་ངང་་བཞག །
At the end of the recitation, consider that you merge inseparably and settle in an experience of dharmakaya,
beyond the ordinary mind.
ིན་བས་ར་འག་ག་ལ་བའ་གས་ོན། །ཞག་བན་གསོལ་བཏབ་ེས་་ས་པར་འན། །རང་ག་ོ་

འདས་ངང་ནས་ང་ན་ེ། །ིན་བས་་ཐོབ་ག་པ་ོ་ེས་ེལ། །
Blessings will enter swiftly and signs will appear as rigpa’s creative power.
134
If you pray like this for seven days you will surely be held and cared for.
In a state transcending the ordinary mind, this was composed by Rigpé Dorje,
Who has received the blessings of the Great Lion Gesar in abundance.
ན་མཐར་ཧོར་འལ་དང་་ག་གསོལ་འབས་དངས་ན་པོས་བགས་པར་འོ། །
At the end of the session, recite the prayers called “Subduer of Hor” and “The Swift Steed” in a melodious tone.
ཐམས་ཅད་འལ་ི་་༣ས་༢༣ལའོ། །དའོ། །མ་།།

This was written on the 23rd day of the third month of the year of Sarvajit (i.e., Fire Pig, 1887). May virtue abound.
Maṅgalaṃ.
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2012. With many thanks to Alak Zenkar Rinpoche.
135
༄༅། །ོང་ན་པ་གསོལ་འབས་་ཕམ་ན་པོ་་གང་ཁ་བར་བ་།
Prayer to Longchenpa (Adapted from the Words of Mipham Rinpoche)

by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
གདོད་ནས་ན་བ་འོད་གསལ་ག་པ་གས། །
döné lhündrub ösal rigpé shi
The primordial and spontaneous nature of luminous awareness
འར་ད་ལ་བ་ན་དང་རོ་མཉམ་པ། །
gyurmé gyalwa kün dang ronyam pa
Is unchanging and of one-taste with all the victorious buddhas.
མན་མ་གགས་པ་ན་མེན་ས་ི་ེ། །
ngönsum zikpa künkhyen chö kyi jé
To you who have perceived this directly, Omniscient Lord of Dharma,
ི་ད་འོད་ར་ཞབས་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འབས། །
drimé özer shyab la solwa deb
Drimé Özer, I pray!
ག་མག་ང་དོན་ཚང་ལ་མ་ནོར་བ། །
tek chok lung dön tsang la manorwa
With your brilliant, stainless insight you have clearly and unerringly understood
ི་ད་གས་པ་ལ་བཟང་གསལ་ེད་ང༌། །
drimé rikpé tsul zang saljé ching
The meaning of the supreme vehicle in its entirety
ཟབ་མོ་གནད་ི་མན་ངག་དང་ན་པ། །
zabmo né kyi mengak dang denpa
And are possessed of the pith instructions of profound key points:
གང་རབ་གས་བཤད་ཚོགས་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འབས། །
sung rab lek shé tsok la solwa deb
To the collection of your speech—fine explanations all—I pray!
ས་བཅས་ལ་བ་གང་དངས་ང་་ས། །
sé ché gyalwé sung yang sengé dré
The lion's roar that is the beautiful speech of buddhas and bodhisattvas
ང་བན་་བན་ནམ་ག་མན་པོ་ོད། ། 136
ང་བན་་བན་ནམ་ག་མན་པོ་ོད། །
lungten jishyin namshyik gönpo khyö
Has prophesied that you, protector, will awaken
མ་འེན་་རབ་མར་་ལ་མཚན་། །
namdren rirab marmé gyaltsen du
And be renowned as the guide Rirab Marmé Gyaltsen.
མན་པར་ང་བ་བེས་པ་་་། །
ngönpar changchub nyepa dé yi tsé
At that time may I and all parent beings gather
བདག་དང་བདག་་མ་ར་འོ་བ་ན། །
dak dang dak gi magyur drowa kün
At the place of your enlightenment as youthful bodhisattvas,
ང་ར་ལ་ས་གཞོན་་མ་རོལ་ིས། །
shying der gyalsé shyönnü namrol gyi
And, having enjoyed the nectar of your true words,
བན་གང་ས་ི་བད་ིར་ལོངས་ོད་ནས། །
den sung chö kyi dütsir longchö né
Receive a prophecy of our very own —
ོབས་བ་མངའ་བར་ང་བན་ེད་ར་ག །
tob chu ngawar lungten nyé gyur chik
That we too will attain the ten powers!
ས་འཇམ་པ་དངས་་ཕམ་ན་པོ་་གང་མས་ཁ་བར་ང་ཟད་བཅས་གསོལ་འབས་ི་ལ་་མ་ལ་ི་་
ས་ིས་པ་འས་ང་དངས་བད་་ས་ི་ན་ེད་ིང་དས་ི་པོར་འཆར་བ་ར་ར་ག
Thinking to alter the prayers of the one who was Mañjuśrī in person, Mipham Rinpoche, just a little, I, Maṅgala
Śrībhūti (Tashi Paljor, Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche), wrote this supplication. May it serve as a cause for the sun
of the wisdom lineage to rise and open the lotus blossom of our hearts!
| Translated by Sean Price, 2016. Revised and edited for Lotsawa House.
137
༈ ཞབས་བན་གསོལ་འབས་འ་ད་བ་པ་དངས་ན་ས་་བ་བགས་སོ།
The Melodious Song of Immortality: A Prayer for Long Life

by Mipham Rinpoche
ིཿ ང་ིད་མ་དག་་་དིལ་འར་། །
hrih, nangsi namdak lha yi kyilkhor du
Hrīḥ. In the divine maṇḍala of the utter purity of appearance and existence,
ོ་གམ་ོ་ེར་ིན་ང་ོལ་མཛད་པ། །
go sum dorjer min ching drol dzepé
You mature and liberate ordinary body, speech and mind as the three vajras,
གས་ན་བ་བདག་ད་ི་ོན་པ་པོ། །
rik kün khyab dak gyü kyi tönpapo
Lord of all buddha families, teacher of the tantras,
ོ་ེ་ལ་པོ་ག་་ཞབས་བན་གསོལ། །
dorjé gyalpo taktu shyabten sol
Vajra sovereign: may your life remain forever firm!
ོ་ེ་ས་ལ་གཞོམ་ད་གསང་གམ་ི། །
dorjé lü la shyommé sang sum gyi
Within the vajra body, you manifest the maṇḍala of great bliss,
བ་ན་དིལ་འར་མན་་འིན་པ་པོ། །
dé chen kyilkhor ngöndu jinpapo
The secret body, speech and mind that are indestructible.
ོ་ེ་ང་་བདག་པོ་་བ་མག །
dorjé lung gi dakpo chewé chok
Most supreme lord of the vajra transmission,
ོ་ེ་ོབ་དཔོན་བལ་བར་ཞབས་བན་གསོལ། །
dorjé lobpön kal gyar shyabten sol
Vajra master: may your life be secure for a hundred aeons!
རང་ག་འར་ད་བ་བ་ན་པོ་དིངས། །
rangrig gyurmé dewa chenpö ying
Holder of the profound and perfect instructions
ོལ་ད་ལམ་ནས་མན་མ་གསལ་མཛད་པ། ། 138
ོལ་ད་ལམ་ནས་མན་མ་གསལ་མཛད་པ། །
tsolmé lam né ngönsum sal dzepé
For directly revealing, through the path beyond effort,
ོགས་པ་མན་ངག་ཟབ་མོར་གར་འན་པ། །
dzokpé mengak zabmor nyer dzinpé
The space of great bliss, unchanging awareness:
དཔལ་ན་་མ་ིད་མཐར་བཞབ་བན་གསོལ། །
palden lama si tar shyab ten sol
Glorious guru, may your life remain secure until the end of existence!
བད་གམ་་མ་ཞལ་ིན་ན་པོ་། །
gyü sum lamé shyal kyin rinpoche
Precious regent of the gurus of the three lineages,
ས་གམ་ག་པར་ོ་ེ་ར་བངས་ནས། །
dü sum takpar dorjé kur shyeng né
May you remain forever in the vajra body, throughout past, present and future!
བད་གམ་ས་ི་ལ་མཚན་ན་པོ་གང་། །
gyü sum chö kyi gyaltsen chenpo gang
And may the victory banner of the Dharma of the three transmissions
ས་གམ་བ་པར་ག་་བེངས་ར་ག །
sa sum khyabpar taktu dreng gyur chik
Remain forever aloft, everywhere throughout the three planes of existence!
ས་པའང་ས་ི་་གམ་པ་ས་་ལ་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པ་ོ་ེས་གང་ཤར་ིས་པ་ལ་འས་དོན་དང་ན་པ་
བན་འན་མས་ལ་ག་འས་གསོལ་བ་བཏབས་པ་ཙམ་ིས་ཞབས་པད་བལ་པ་་མཚོར་བན་པ་ེན་འང་དང་
ད་གས་་ན་པོ་འལ་ལོ།
Thus, on the fifth day of third month in the earth mouse year of the 15th calendrical cycle (i.e., 1888), Jampal
Gyepe Dorje wrote whatever arose in his mind. By merely praying with these words, may the interdependent
circumstances arise for the lives of the genuine holders of the teachings to remain secure for countless aeons to come
and for virtue and goodness to vastly increase.
139
༄༅། །ང་་གསོལ་བས་བགས།
Brief Windhorse Invocation

by Mipham Rinpoche
ཧོ། བ་ས་ང་་ན་པ་བ་དན་། །
ho, tashi lungta nyenpé baden ché
Ho! The great flag of the windhorse, auspicious and sweet‑sounding far and wide
ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་ན་འོ་བ་འས། །
kunzang chöpé trin chen trowa di
Sends out a vast cloud of exquisite offerings, like those of Samantabhadra.
་གམ་ང་མ་ད་་ཟོ་དོར་བཅས། །
tsa sum sungma drala zodor ché
Through this offering, we pray, may the Three Roots—guru, deva and ḍākinī—protectors,
dralas, and gods in action,
གསོལ་ལོ་མད་དོ་བསམ་དོན་ན་བ་མཛོད། །
sol lo chö do samdön lhündrub dzö
Make all our aspirations be spontaneously fulfilled!
ང་་གསོལ་འས་འ་ཡང་་ཡོས་དག་་་བ་ཡར་ས་བ་པར་་ཕམ་པས་བད་པ་མ་། །
This brief invocation of windhorse was written by Mipham on the tenth day of the ninth month of the Water Hare
year (1903). Maṅgalaṃ!
| Rigpa Translations, 2013.
140
༄༅། །ང་་ན་འདོན་བགས།
Daily Lungta Recitation

by Mipham Rinpoche
ༀ་ཿྂ།
om ah hung
Oṃ āḥ hūṃ
དན་མག་་གམ་་དང་ང་ོང་དང་། །
könchok tsa sum lha dang drangsong dang
Assembly of the Three Jewels, Three Roots, gods and sages,
གས་གམ་མན་དང་མ་ལ་་མོ་ཚོགས། །
rik sum gön dang namgyal lhamö tsok
Lords of the three families and the goddess Vijayā,
པ་ཐོད་ེང་་བོད་ག་པ་འན། །
pema tötreng gya bö rigpa dzin
Padma Tötreng Tsal and all the vidyādharas of India and Tibet,
དཔལ་མན་ཚོགས་བདག་ད་་་དམག་དང་། །
palgön tsokdak drala lha mak dang
Glorious Gaṇapati, warrior spirits and armies of gods,
འ་བ་་མན་་སར་ེས་་། །
gowé lha gön gesar kyebu ché
Lord of the personal deities, great being Gesar,
ེན་འེལ་ིད་པ་ད་ི་་མས་ལ། །
tendrel sipa gyü kyi lha nam la
And deities in the line of interdependent existence—
དས་འོར་ད་ལ་ན་བཟང་མད་ིན་འལ། །
ngöjor yitrul kunzang chötrin bul
I present to you Samantabhadra’s offering clouds of real and imagined gifts,
གསོལ་བ་འབས་སོ་གས་ེས་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
solwa deb so tukjé jingyi lob
With compassion, please grant your blessings, I pray!
ད་ར་གཏད་མནན་གདོན་བགས་བར་ཆད་ིས། །
jepur té nen dön gek barché kyi
Pacify all circumstances that impair and diminish our lungta:
ང་་ད་ང་ཉམས་པ་ེན་ན་། ། 141
ང་་ད་ང་ཉམས་པ་ེན་ན་། །
lungta gü ching nyampé kyen kün shyi
Black magic, evil sorcery, harmful influences, hindrances and obstacles!
འཐབ་འན་་ཁ་ད་ོད་ང་ི་སོགས། །
tab khön mikha dra gyö pungsi sok
And pacify all forms of obstruction and disharmony:
་མན་བར་ཆད་མ་ས་་བར་མཛོད། །
mitün barché malü shyiwar dzö
Conflict, hostility, malicious gossip, rivalry, legal disputes, recurrent calamity, and the like.
་འལ་ང་པ་བ་དང་ན་པ་། །
dzutrul kangpa shyi dang denpa yi
Greatly enhance the power and strength of the meritorious windhorse
བསོད་ནམས་ང་་ོབས་གས་རབ་ས་ནས། །
sönam lungté tobshuk rab gyé né
Complete with its four miraculous limbs!
ས་དང་ིད་དང་མག་དང་ན་མོང་ །
chö dang si dang chok dang tünmong gi
And grant us all the attainments—spiritual and temporal,
དས་བ་མ་ས་ད་བན་འབ་པར་མཛོད། །
ngödrub malü yishyin drubpar dzö
Supreme and ordinary—just as we desire!
Mantra of Mañjuśrī:
ༀ་་་་་ྃ།
om vagi shori mum
oṃ vāgīśvari muṃ
Mantra of Avalokiteśvara:
ༀ་མ་་པེ་ྂ།
om mani pemé hung
oṃ maṇi padme hūṃ
Mantra of Vajrapāṇi:
ༀ་བ་་་ྂ།
om vajrapani hung
oṃ vajrapāṇi hūṃ
Mantra of Guru Padmasambhava:
ༀ་ཿྂ་བ་་་པ་ི་ྂ། 142
ༀ་ཿྂ་བ་་་པ་ི་ྂ།
om ah hung benza guru pema siddhi hung
oṃ āḥ hūṃ vajra guru padma siddhi hūṃ
Mantra of the cycle of Kālacakra:
ༀ་ཿྃ་ཧོ། ཧྐྵྨླྭྲྱཾ་་།
om ah hung ho hang ksha ma la va ra ya soha
oṃ āḥ hūṃ ho haṃ kṣaḥ ma la va ra ya svāhā
Mantra for Lungta:
ༀ་ས་་ཧ་ཀྵ་་་་ཀ་ར་་་།
om sarva graha nakshatra dhyami karani soha
oṃ sarva graha nākṣatra dhyami karaṇi svāhā
Mantra for controlling negative influences in the environment:
ༀ་་་་་བྷ་བྷ་་ར་ཡ་་ར་ཡ། ་་་། ཨ་་ཀ་་མ་་་་།

om hé hé tishta tishta bhendha bhendha dharaya dharaya | nirundha nirundha | amuka
urna mani yé soha
oṃ he he tiṣṭha tiṣṭha bhandha bhandha dhāraya dhāraya | nirundha nirundha | amuka
urṇa maṇiye svāhā
Mantra for Avalokiteśvara as the Jewel of Windhorse:
ༀ་པ་་མ་་་ལ་ྂ།
om pema tsinta mani dzola hung
oṃ padma cintamaṇi jvala hūṃ
Invocation mantra for Gesar and his entourage of dralas and wermas:
ༀ་མ་་་ཛ་ཧ་ཧ་་་་ཧཻ་ཧོ་ཧཽ། ས་་ཛ་ཡ་ི་ྂ།
om mani radza ha ha hi hi hé hé ho ho | sarwa bidzaya siddhi hung
oṃ maṇirāja ha ha hi hi he hai ho hau | sarva vijaya siddhi hūṃ
Invocation mantra for the 'four animals':
ༀ་ཿྂ་ཧོ་་ག་ང་ང་འག་འར་ཡར་བེད། །ན་འས་ས་འ་འ་ཧོཿ
om ah hung ho hé tak seng khyung druk dir yar kyé | kündü sarva du du ho
oṃ āḥ hūṃ ho he tiger, lion, garuḍa, dragon, rise up here! Gather all, gather gather all! hoḥ
Mantra for protecting longevity:
ༀ་བ་་་ེ་་། བདག་ཅག་་་དང་བསོད་ནམས་དཔལ་དང་ང་་ཐམས་ཅད་ང་ནས་ང་
་བེད་ག
om benza ayukhé soha | dakchak gi tsé dang sönam pal dang lungta tamché gong né
gong du kyé chik
ọm vajra āyuṣe svāhā | Increase our lifespan, merit, glory and windhorse further and further!
143
Mantra of the essence of interdependent origination:
ༀ་་དྷ་་་་་་་ེ་་་ག་ཏོ་་ཝ་དཏ། ་་ཡོ་་རོ་དྷ་་་་ི་མ་་་མ་ཎཿ་
།
om yé dharma hetu prabhava hetun teshan tatagato hyavadat | teshan tsa yo nirodha
evam vadi maha shramana soha
oṃ ye dharmā hetu prabhavā hetun teṣāṃ tathāgato hy avadat teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃ
vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ svāhā
Mantra for enhancing the qualities of lungta:
ༀ་ར་་བ་ཿ ི་ན་མ་་།
om bhur bhuwa sa | soti nama soha
oṃ bhurbhuva svaḥ | svasti nama svāhā
Mantra for all to be auspicious and good, and to create happiness:
ༀ་ས་་་ཀྵ་་་་མ་་ོཿ་།
om sarva tithi nakshatra grahé mangalé jo soha
oṃ sarva tithi nākṣatra grahe maṅgale bhyoḥ svāhā
Mantra to pacify obscuration in all directions, and particularly to prevent harm from the spirits which 'own' the
earth:
ༀ་ཨ་ཀ་་་ཀ་་ཨ་་ལ་མ་ ་་མ་་་།
om akani nikani abhila manghalé mandalé soha
oṃ akani nikani abhila manghale maṇḍale svāhā
ན་མོ་་དྷ་་གྷ་ཡ་མ་མ་ི་་མ་ལ་བྷ་བ་་་།
namo buddha dharma sanghaya mama shri yé mangala bhavatu soha
namo buddha dharma saṅghaya mama śrīye maṅgala bhavatu svāhā
འ་ན་་བན་བཏོན་ན་ག་་བ་ས་པ་དང༌། ་བ་གང་བམ་པ་བར་ཆད་ད་པར་ད་བན་འབ་པ་
དང༌། བསོད་ནམས་ང་་ོབས་ལ་ར་ས་ནས་ན་གས་དང་དཔལ་འོར་འལ་བ་དང༌། བསམ་པ་དོན་
ན་ས་མན་གས་ལམ་འལ་་མག་དང་ན་མོང་་དས་བ་ར་་ཐོབ་པར་འར་རོ། །་ཕམ་པས་སོ། །
Reciting this every day will bring lasting auspiciousness and will ensure that every action undertaken is
accomplished without obstacle, just as one wishes. It will cause the power and strength of merit and windhorse to be
greatly enhanced and renown and resources to increase. All aspirations that accord with the Dharma will succeed,
and the supreme and common attainments will swiftly be attained. By the one called Mipham.
144
༄༅། །ལ་མཚན་ེ་མོ་དང་ན་ི་གསོལ་འབས་བགས།
Prayer to Gyaltsen Tsemö Pung Gyen1

by Mipham Rinpoche
ༀ། ་་་དམ་ལ་མཚན་ེ་མོ་ཏོག །
om, guru yidam gyaltsen tsemö tok
Oṃ! We take refuge in the gurus, the yidams, and in you, Gyaltsen Tsemö Pung Gyen,
དང་ན་་ཚོགས་ེད་ལ་བས་་མ། །
pung gyen lhatsok khyé la kyab su chi
Along with all your retinue!
བདག་ཅག་ིང་ནས་གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་པ་མས། །
dakchak nying né solwa tabpé tü
By the power of this fervent prayer of ours,
ད་པ་ན་ལས་ར་་བབ་་གསོལ། །
güpa kün lé nyurdu kyab tu sol
Quickly protect us from all failure and misfortune!
ༀ་ྂ་་། དང་ན་་ཚོགས་ེད་ི་་འལ་མས། །
om hung soha | pung gyen lhatsok khyé kyi dzutrul tü
Oṃ hūṃ svāhā! O Pung Gyen, and your retinue:
བདག་དང་་ོར་ཡོན་བདག་འར་བཅས་ལ། །
dak dang gyujor yöndak khor ché la
With the force of your magical display, for us, our benefactors, and all those around us
ི་ལམ་ངན་དང་བསམ་ངན་ོར་བ་ོག །
milam ngen dang sam ngen jor tsub dok
Avert all bad dreams, and those who have ill thoughts or do us harm!
ད་ཁ་ར་ཁ་འཐབ་ོད་འགས་ལོང་ོག །
jekha purkha tabtsö truklong dok
Avert spells and curses, dispute and conflict!
ོག་ས་དབང་ཐང་ང་་ད་པ་ོག །
sok lü wangtang lungta güpa dok
Avert all weakening in our life force, body, wangtang and windhorse!
་ལ་ན་ཚ་གས་ལ་ད་ཁ་ོག །
mi la natsa chuk la gökha dok
Avert all illness in men and women, all loss of our resources!
་དང་བསོད་ནམས་དཔལ་དང་གས་པ་སོགས། ། 145
་དང་བསོད་ནམས་དཔལ་དང་གས་པ་སོགས། །
tsé dang sönam pal dang drakpa sok
Grant us long life, merit, glory and renown, and
ན་མཚན་ན་་བ་གས་མཛད་་གསོལ། །
nyintsen küntu delek dzé du sol
Make peace and happiness reign, throughout both day and night!
By the one called Mipham.
1. ↑ Gyaltsen Tsemö Pung Gyen, whose name translates roughly as 'Ornament on the Top of the Victory
Banner', is a female deity whose dhāraṇī is particularly treasured as a method for enhancing windhorse.
The Buddha said that in a previous life he had heard her dhāraṇī, and from that moment on never again
did he experience fear or defeat.
146
༄༅། །ང་་བ་དན་ི་མད་པ་འདོད་ད་ར་ོལ་བགས། །
The Swift Fulfilment of All Wishes—Offering the Flag of Windhorse

by Mipham Rinpoche
ཧོ། ན་བ་དག་པ་་ས་ན་པོ་ལས། །
ho, künkhyab dakpa yeshe chenpo lé
Ho! Within the all-pervading purity of primordial wisdom,
མ་རོལ་མ་འགགས་རང་ང་བད་པ་ན། །
namrol magak rangnang köpé gyen
Appearances arise, unceasing, as the ornaments of my perception;
བ་ས་ང་་ན་པ་བ་དན་། །
tashi lungta nyenpé baden ché
And the great flag of the windhorse, auspicious, sweet‑sounding far and wide,
ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་ན་རབ་་འོ། །
kunzang chöpé trin chen rabtu tro
Sends out, like Samantabhadra, a vast cloud of exquisite offerings.
་འལ་གས་ན་་ལ་བ་ལ་ཧ། །
dzutrul shukden ta gyal balaha
Miraculous and mighty is the king of horses, Bālāha, 1
མ་མང་ན་ན་ན་ས་ང་ར་འོ། །
nam mang rinchen gyen tré lung tar cho
Adorned with the jewel of many kinds, he soars like the wind,
གང་བསམ་ཐོགས་ད་བོད་པ་ོ་ེ་ོབས། །
gang sam tokmé dröpa dorjé tob
And travels, unimpeded with his indestructible strength, wherever we so wish.
་འལ་ང་པ་བ་་རོལ་པ་ལས། །
dzutrul kangpa shyi yi rolpa lé
From his four miraculous limbs, there spread out
ོགས་བར་ག་ང་ང་འག་འོ་ང་ིང་། །
chok shyir tak seng khyung druk cho shying ding
In the four directions, a tiger, lion, garuḍa and dragon, taking flight and soaring in the sky.
ས་དང་བར་ང་ནམ་མཁ་ོན་ན་། ། 147
ས་དང་བར་ང་ནམ་མཁ་ོན་ན་། །
sa dang barnang namkhé khyön küntu
Over the earth, in the air, and through the whole expanse of space,
བ་དང་གས་དང་ལ་དང་བ་པ་། །
dé dang lek dang gyal dang drubpa yi
Sounds of happiness ring out, of goodness, victory and accomplishment,
བ་ས་་དངས་་་་་སོགས། །
tashi luyang lha yi ngadra sok
In songs of auspiciousness, with the resounding drumbeat of the gods,
རོལ་མོ་དངས་བཅས་་ཏོག་ཆར་འབས་ང་། །
rolmö yang ché metok char beb shing
And melodious strains of music. While flowers fall like rain,
་ས་མད་པ་ིན་ིས་ོགས་ན་བ། །
lhadzé chöpé trin gyi chok kün khyab
Clouds of divine offerings pervade every direction,
ས་གམ་ད་བ་བ་ས་དཔལ་ཡོན་ི། །
sa sum gewé tashi pal yön gyi
And all that is excellent throughout the three worlds—
གས་ཚོགས་མ་ས་ན་ིས་བ་པ་། །
lek tsok malü lhün gyi drubpa yi
Auspiciousness, glory and riches—manifests spontaneously.
ད་བན་འདོད་འང་མད་པ་གར་ན་འ། །
yishyin dö jung chöpé terchen di
This vast offering treasure, containing all that could ever be wished for,
་བད་་མ་་དམ་་ོ་། །
tsa gyü lama yidam shyitrö lha
We offer to the root and lineage masters, the peaceful and wrathful yidam deities,
གནས་གམ་མཁའ་འོ་དམ་ཅན་ས་ོང་ཚོགས། །
né sum khandro damchen chökyong tsok
The ḍākinīs of the three places, and oath-bound Dharma protectors,
ད་་ར་མ་ནོར་་གར་བདག་དང་། །
drala werma norlha terdak dang
Dralas, wermas, wealth gods and treasure-keepers,
ལ་་ག་བདག་དཀར་ོགས་ོང་བ་ེ། ། 148
ལ་་ག་བདག་དཀར་ོགས་ོང་བ་ེ། །
yul lha shyidak karchok kyongwé dé
Local deities, masters of the earth, all who safeguard what is beneficial and wholesome,
འ་ང་ོབ་པ་མད་པ་མོན་ར་ན། །
go shying kyobpa chöpé drön gyur kün
And all you guests who care for and protect us—
འ་ལ་ད་་དགས་པ་་་ཁ་བར་འད་པར་འདོད་ན།
At this point, should you wish to address prayers to particular deities, you may insert verses such as these:
Gesar
ད་པར་་སར་ནོར་་ད་འལ་ལ། །
khyepar gesar norbu dradul tsal
Especially you, Gesar Norbu Dradul Tsal,
་འལ་ོ་ེ་ང་ོད་ར་པོ་དང༌། །
dzutrul dorjé kyang gö perpo dang
With your miraculous, wild and skilful vajra steed,
དཔའ་བལ་ངས་ན་བཀའ་ོད་ཕོ་ཉར་བཅས། །
patul dangmen kadö ponyar ché
Your fearless warriors, ladies, attendants and envoys—
གསོལ་ལོ་མད་དོ་བོད་དོ་མངའ་གསོལ་ལོ། །
sol lo chö do tö do ngasol lo
We pray to you, make offerings, praise and exalt you!
ད་འཕང་གཉན་པོ་ས་ི་དིངས་་བོད། །
upang nyenpo chö kyi ying su tö
Your awesome majesty we glorify as high as the dharmadhātu!
ས་གས་བཅད་གག་བན།
Hayagrīva
ད་པར་ང་ིད་དབང་ད་ོབས་ི་། །
khyepar nangsi wangdü tob kyi lha
You who magnetize all appearance and existence, deity of power,
པ་དབང་ན་་མག་རོལ་པ་། །
pema wangchen tachok rolpa yi
‘Mighty Lotus’ Hayagrīva,
དིལ་འར་་ཚོགས་བཀའ་ོད་ཕོ་ཉར་བཅས། ། 149
དིལ་འར་་ཚོགས་བཀའ་ོད་ཕོ་ཉར་བཅས། །
kyilkhor lhatsok kadö ponyar ché
With all the deities of your mandala, attendants and emissaries—
ས་གས་བཅད་གག་བན་ལ། ་བན་།
Tsokdak
ད་པར་དཔལ་མན་ཚོགས་བདག་ཡབ་མ་དང༌། །
khyepar palgön tsokdak yabyum dang
Glorious protector Gaṇapati, with your consort,
་གང་གས་མན་ོགས་བ་ེ་བད་མན། །
ku sung tuk gön chok chu dé gyé gön
Protectors of body, speech and mind, and protectors of the eight classes in the ten
directions,
ད་་དམག་དཔོན་་ི་གས་མན་བཅས། །
drala makpön tsedzi shuk gön ché
Along with the drala Makpön Tsedzi Shuk—
ས་དང་།
Magyal Pomra
ད་པར་མདོ་ཁམས་ཤར་ོགས་ལ་ོང་། །
khyepar dokham sharchok yulkyong ché
Great guardian of the eastern lands of Dokham,
་ལ་ོམ་ར་འར་དང་བཀའ་ཉན་དང༌། ། 150
་ལ་ོམ་ར་འར་དང་བཀའ་ཉན་དང༌། །
magyal pomra khor dang kanyen dang
Magyal Pomra, with your entourage and attendants,
མ་སང་དེས་ེ་ན་ི་ཚོགས་དང་བཅས། །
masang gyé dé men gyi tsok dangché
Masang wermas and dralas, with all your ladies—
ས་གས་བཅད་གག་བན་པར་འོ། །
ས་སོགས་གས་བཅད་གག་བན་ནས། མག་་རང་གང་ལས།
Then, returning to the main prayer:
དེས་རབ་མག་ན་མས་རབ་ལ་ར་ནས། །
gyé rab chokden nyé rab pul gyur né
By offering you these supremely delightful and pleasing gifts,
མ་ོབས་ས་པ་ོ་ེ་ང་གས་ིས། །
tutob nüpa dorjé lung shuk kyi
Let the forceful vajra wind of your power and strength,
ལ་འོར་བདག་ཅག་འར་དང་བཅས་པ་། །
naljor dakchak khor dang chepa yi
For us practitioners and those around us,
་དཔལ་བསོད་ནམས་ང་་ོབས་བེད་ནས། །
tsé pal sönam lungté tob kyé né
Increase our life, prosperity, merit and the strength of our windhorse.
གང་འདོད་ིན་ལས་ཐོགས་ད་ད་བན་འབ། །
gang dö trinlé tokmé yishyin drub
And with your actions, unimpeded in any way, make whatever we wish for come to be,
just as we desire.
151
་མན་ོགས་མས་མན་པ་ོགས་་བར། །
mitün chok nam tünpé drok su gyur
Transform everything that hinders and troubles us into an ally,
བ་ས་ད་མཚན་ན་པ་བ་དན་བེངས། །
tashi getsen nyenpé baden dreng
Hoist high the inspiring flag of auspiciousness and virtue,
ཕ་རོལ་ོལ་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་ིས་ནོན། །
parol golwa tamché zil gyi nön
Overcome all that oppose and stand against us,
ོགས་ལས་མ་པར་ལ་བ་ིན་ལས་མཛོད། །
chok lé nampar gyalwé trinlé dzö
And, with your enlightened activity, make us victorious over all!
ས་བ་ས་ངས་ན་ི་གས་་བཅད་པ་འ་ད་མས་ེད་་ཡོས་དག་་་བ་ཡར་ས་བ་པ་ས་
བཟང་བར་་དམ་ཡང་ོད་པ་བསམ་གཏན་བ་ན་ིང་། ་ཕམ་མ་པར་ལ་བས་བད་པ་ད་གས་འལ། །
These verses, which are of an auspicious number, were written in the Water Hare year (1903) on the auspicious
occasion of the tenth day of the ninth month, in the hermitage of Padma Samten Deden Ling in Rudam, by Mipham
Nampar Gyalwa. May virtue and goodness abound!
1. ↑ Bālāha is an emanation of Avalokiteśvara.
152
༄༅། །མཁན་ན་བོད་པ་འཇམ་དཔལ་མ་ས་་བ་བགས་སོ། །
Gentle Splendour:1
Praises to the Great Abbot Śāntarakṣita
by Mipham Rinpoche
འཇམ་དཔལ་དཔའ་བོ་ཞབས་པད་ི་ད་ད། །
jampal pawö shyabpé drimé nyi
While the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī’s pristine lotus feet
ཡན་ལག་མག་་པར་རབ་བད་ནས། །
yenlak chok gi pemar rab kö né
Remained elegantly poised atop a perfect lotus,
ཟབ་ས་ས་ལ་དས་་གས་ནོད་པ། །
zabgyé chö tsul ngö su lek nöpa
You perfectly trained in the Dharma, profound and vast —
མཁན་ན་་བ་འཚོ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
khenchen shyiwatso la chaktsal tö
Mahāpaṇḍita Śāntarakṣita, to you I offer homage and praise.
བན་པ་་བ་སོ་སོར་ཐར་པ་། །
tenpé tsawa sosor tarpa yi
Pure, you hold the saffron victory banner,
ལ་ིམས་མ་དག་ར་ིག་ལ་མཚན་འཆང༌། །
tsultrim namdak ngurmik gyaltsen chang
The pratimokṣa discipline, the root of the teachings.
ོམ་བོན་ེ་ོད་འན་པ་ལ་པོར་བགས། །
domtsön denö dzinpé gyalpor ngak
Renowned as the sovereign scripture-holding observer of vows —
་ས་གག་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
shakyé sé chik khyé la chaktsal tö
Only son of Śākya, to you I offer homage and praise.
ཟབ་ཡངས་ང་འན་་མཚོ་ན་པོ་ོང༌། ། 153
ཟབ་ཡངས་ང་འན་་མཚོ་ན་པོ་ོང༌། །
zab yang tingdzin gyatso chenpö long
Within the ocean-like expanse of profound and vast samādhi
མན་ས་ལ་སོགས་ཡོན་ཏན་ནོར་་གར། །
ngönshé lasok yönten norbü ter
Lies the treasure box of qualities — clairvoyance and more,
ལ་ས་ོད་པ་བས་ེང་ར་གཡོ་བ། །
gyalsé chöpé lab treng cher yowa
Floating amidst the rolling waves of bodhisattva conduct —
ང་བ་མས་དཔ་མག་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
changchub sempé chok la chaktsal tö
Supreme Bodhisattva, to you I offer homage and praise.
གཞལ་་བན་པ་གས་ི་ས་ལ་ན། །
shyalja denpa nyi kyi chö tsul kün
Along the path of perfect reasoning,
ཡང་དག་གས་པ་ལམ་ནས་གསལ་མཛད་པ། །
yangdak rikpé lam né sal dzepé
Where all dharmas accord with the twofold truth of valid cognition,
ས་རབ་་་འོད་ིས་ས་ེང་བ། །
sherab nyidé ö kyi sateng khyab
Your intelligence pervades the world, like the light of the sun and moon —
མཁས་པ་དབང་པོ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
khepé wangpo khyé la chaktsal tö
Fount of Learning, to you I offer homage and praise.
རང་གཞན་བ་མཐའ་་མཚོ་ཕ་རོལ་ིན། །
rangshyen drubta gyatsö parol chin
Crossing the ocean of Buddhist and non-Buddhist views,
ད་མས་ང་འག་ང་་ལམ་ོལ་ེས། །
u sem zungjuk shingté lam sol ché
You unified the approach of Madhyamaka and Cittamātra,
འཕགས་པ་ལ་ན་་་་ར་གས། ། 154
འཕགས་པ་ལ་ན་་་་ར་གས། །
pakpé yul na nyida tabur drak
Renowned like the sun and moon throughout the noble land of India —
བན་པ་ན་གག་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
tenpé gyen chik khyé la chaktsal tö
Single Gem of the Teachings, to you I offer homage and praise.
གངས་ཅན་ན་པ་ོད་་ལ་བན་མག །
gangchen münpé trö du gyalten chok
In the dark abode of the Snowy Land,
ང་བ་ོ་ན་ཐོག་མར་ོད་ིས་ེས། །
nangwé gochen tokmar khyö kyi ché
You were the first to open the door to the light of the Buddha’s supreme teachings,
ཡང་དག་ང་དང་གས་པ་ལ་་བགས། །
yangdak lung dang rikpé gyal nga drak
Sounding the royal drum of genuine scripture and reasoning —
མཁན་ན་ས་ི་ལ་པོར་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
khenchen chö kyi gyalpor chaktsal tö
Great Abbot, King of Dharma, to you I offer homage and praise.
བང་་བ་ག་ད་་ངས་བགས་། །
drangja gyatrak gu yi drang shyuk té
Remaining for nine hundred years
འཕགས་ལ་་ནག་གངས་ཅན་ལ་སོགས་པར། །
pakyul gyanak gangchen lasokpar
In the noble land of India and the snows of Tibet,
བན་པ་ལ་མཚན་ོགས་བར་རབ་་བེང༌། །
tenpé gyaltsen chok chur rabtu dreng
You hoisted in every quarter the victory banner of the teachings —
བན་འན་ལ་པོ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
tendzin gyalpo khyé la chaktsal tö
Royal Holder of the Teachings, to you I offer homage and praise.
ད་ང་གས་བེད་ོན་ལམ་་མཚོ་དང༌། ། 155
ད་ང་གས་བེད་ོན་ལམ་་མཚོ་དང༌། །
mejung tukkyé mönlam gyatso dang
With marvellous bodhicitta you made an ocean of aspirations,
ཐབས་ལ་མཁས་པ་མ་རོལ་་ཚོགས་ིས། །
tab la khepé namrol natsok kyi
And with skilful means in elaborate display
བཟང་པོ་ིན་ལས་ས་ེང་ན་་བ། །
zangpö trinlé sateng küntu khyab
You spread excellent activity throughout the entire world —
བཀའ་ིན་འན་ད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
kadrin drenmé khyé la chaktsal tö
Matchless Kindness, to you I offer homage and praise.
མ་ོབས་བདག་པོར་ར་ང་མས་བེ་ངང༌། །
tutob dakpor gyur kyang jam tsé ngang
Master of powerful magic, out of kindness and love
ཡོན་ཏན་་མཚོས་དོར་ང་ེམས་ད་། །
yönten gyatsö yor kyang nyemmé shyi
You grew rich in an ocean of qualities, yet were mild and humble,
གསང་གས་ས་ལམ་ོགས་ང་ད་ོང་ལ། །
sang ngak salam dzok kyang gejong tsul
You perfected the path of secret mantra, yet maintained the conduct of a bhikṣu —
དམན་མས་ེས་་འན་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
men nam jesu dzin la chaktsal tö
Follower of Humble Bearing, to you I offer homage and praise.
བོད་འར་ལ་བན་་ིད་གནས་ི་བར། །
bö dir gyalten jisi né kyi bar
For as long as the Buddha’s teachings remain in Tibet
ལ་པ་བན་འན་ཡང་ཡང་འོན་པ་དང༌། །
trulpé tendzin yangyang jönpa dang
Emanations will come again and again to uphold and spread the Dharma,
བན་ལ་་བ་ེད་པར་ཞལ་ིས་བས། ། 156
བན་ལ་་བ་ེད་པར་ཞལ་ིས་བས། །
ten la jawa jepar shyal gyi shyé
Resolute in their work on behalf of the teachings —
གངས་ཅན་མན་པོ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
gangchen gönpo khyé la chaktsal tö
Protector of the Snowy Land, to you I offer homage and praise.
གང་་བོམ་པས་བན་པ་མངའ་ཐང་འལ། །
gang ku gompé tenpé ngatang pel
For whoever meditates on your form, it is said that the teachings’ domain will flourish,
ལ་ིམས་མ་དག་ང་འན་ས་རབ་ས། །
tsultrim namdak tingdzin sherab gyé
Pure discipline, samādhi, and intelligence will bloom,
མཐར་ིས་ོ་ེ་འན་ལ་འར་ས་གངས། །
tar gyi dorjé dzin gyal gyur shyé sung
And the state of Vajra-Wielding Victor will ultimately be attained —
དཔག་ད་གས་ེ་གར་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
pakmé tukjé ter la chaktsal tö
Treasury of Immeasurable Compassion, to you I offer homage and praise.
ས་མཐར་ལ་བ་བན་པ་ཉམས་དམའ་ང༌། །
dü tar gyalwé tenpa nyam ma shying
You promised that in the final days, when the teachings are cast aside
བན་ེས་འག་མས་ན་་ཉམ་ཐག་། །
ten jejuk nam shintu nyamtak tsé
And followers of the Dharma are in an abject state,
ེད་ད་ན་པས་ོབས་པར་འར་རོ་ས། །
khyé nyi drenpé kyobpar gyur ro shyé
By recalling you we will be protected —
ཞལ་བས་ེས་་ན་ནོ་གས་ེ་ཅན། །
shyalshyé jesu dren no tukjé chen
Compassionate One, remember your pledge!
ང་ས་ིགས་མ་ས་བམ་འོ་བ་མས། ། 157
ང་ས་ིགས་མ་ས་བམ་འོ་བ་མས། །
dengdü nyikma ngé chom drowa nam
Now, during this plundering age of the five degenerations,
ཡང་དག་་བ་དགས་མ་ེད་དཀའ་ང༌། །
yangdak tawé miknam nyé ka shying
Without the nectar of discipline and samādhi,
ལ་ིམས་ང་འན་བད་ི་ལ་བས་དན། །
tsultrim tingdzin dütsi kalwé wen
Beings struggle to find the doctrine of the authentic view,
བན་ལ་འ་བ་ོགས་མས་ས་ར་བདོ། །
ten la tsewé chok nam ché cher do
And those who wish to harm the teachings only grow in number.
ཆར་ན་ས་བཟང་ོགས་པ་ནམ་གག་བན། །
charden dü zang dzokpé nam shyuk shyin
When, like the favourable summer rains that come to an early end,
་ལ་བསམས་ང་ོ་བ་ས་འ་ན། །
chi la sam kyang kyowé dü di na
However carefully we plan, there is only failure —
ལ་ན་མ་ོབས་དབང་ག་ོ་ེ་འན། །
gyal kün tutob wangchuk dorjé dzin
Then, ever-victorious powerful Lord, vajra-wielding Protector,
མན་པོ་ོད་ི་དམ་བཅའ་མ་བེལ་ག །
gönpo khyö kyi damcha ma nyel chik
Never forget your pledge!
ེ་ོད་ད་ེ་འཆད་ཉན་དར་བ་དང༌། །
denö gyüdé chenyen darwa dang
Spread the study and teaching of the scriptures and tantras,
བབ་གམ་མ་གས་ལ་འོར་ང་་འལ། །
lab sum rim nyi naljor gong du pel
Nurture the three trainings and the two stages of yoga,
ང་ོགས་བན་པ་མངའ་ཐང་རབ་ས་པ། ། 158
ང་ོགས་བན་པ་མངའ་ཐང་རབ་ས་པ། །
lungtok tenpé ngatang rabgyé pé
Increase the dominion of the Dharma of learning and realization —
ོགས་ན་ས་བཟང་གསར་་མས་པར་མཛོད། །
dzokden dü zang sar du ngompar dzö
So that a new era of perfect excellence may arise!
ེ་བ་ན་་ེད་ིས་ེས་བང་ནས། །
kyewa küntu khyé kyi jezung né
In each of my lives, may I be your disciple,
ལ་བ་དེས་པ་ལམ་ལས་་གཡོ་ང༌། །
gyalwa gyepé lam lé mi yo shying
Never wavering from the path which delights the buddhas.
མཐའ་ཡས་འོ་བ་ན་ང་ལ་ན་ི། །
tayé drowa kün kyang gyal kün gyi
May each and every being, infinite in number,
གསང་འན་གསང་བ་བདག་པོ་ད་ར་ག །
sang dzin sangwé dakpo nyi gyur chik
Become the Master of Secrets, holding the secrets of the Victors.
ས་གས་་བཅད་པ་་ད་མ་པ་བ་ག་་ངས་ན་འ་་་་་བ་ད་པ་ས་་ལ་་ཕམ་འཇམ་དཔལ་
དེས་པས་བད་པ་ད་གས་འལ།།
These verses, equal in number to the sixteen aspects of the Four Truths of the Noble Ones, were written down in the
year of the Male Fire Horse, on the 5th lunar day of the ninth month,2 by Mipham Jampel Gyepa. May virtue and
excellence flourish!
| Pema Jungne Translations, 2018. (Translators: Stefan Mang and Kaleb Yaniger. Editor: Libby Hogg.)
1. ↑ Lit. Mañjuśrī
2. ↑ Monday 22nd October, 1906.
159
༄༅། །ས་ལ་ན་པོ་བོད་པ་གངས་ཅན་མ་ས་་བ་བགས་སོ། །
Snowy Lands: Praises to the Great Dharma Emperor Trisong Detsen

by Mipham Rinpoche
གངས་ཅན་འོ་བ་ཐབས་ིས་གལ་་ིར། །
gangchen drowa tab kyi duljé chir
To tame the people of the Snowy Land
ལ་ས་་བོ་ེ་བན་འཇམ་པ་དངས། །
gyalsé tuwo jetsün jampé yang
The foremost bodhisattva, Noble Mañjuśrī,
བོད་ལ་ལ་པོ་ལ་་གས་ང་བ། །
böyul gyalpö tsul du lek nangwa
You gracefully appeared in the form of Tibet’s emperor —
ི་ོང་ེ་བཙན་ཞབས་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
trisong detsen shyab la chaktsal tö
Trisong Detsen, to you I offer homage and praise.
་་ང་འ་མཁན་ོབ་མ་གས་སོགས། །
nyida zung dré khen lob nam nyi sok
You brought the Master and Abbot, like sun and moon, together,
་གར་པཎ་བ་བོད་ི་ལོ་་བ། །
gyagar pendrub bö kyi lotsawa
Along with Indian paṇḍitas and translators from Tibet.
གངས་ཅན་ཕན་བ་ེད་པོ་ལ་པ་། །
gangchen pendé jepo trulpé ku
Destined emanation for the benefit and happiness of Tibetans —
མ་མང་བ་བར་མཛད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
nam mang duwar dzé la chaktsal tö
Gatherer of Many, to you I offer homage and praise.
ག་པ་གནས་དང་མདོ་ད་བན་བས་གང༌། །
rigpé né dang dogyü tenchö shyung
Commissioning and checking the unerring translations
མ་ནོར་བར་ས་གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་མཛད་ང༌། ། 160
མ་ནོར་བར་ས་གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་མཛད་ང༌། །
manor gyur shyü ten la pab dzé ching
Of all the fields of knowledge, the sūtras, tantras, and commentaries,
བཤད་བ་བན་པ་ལ་མཚན་རབ་་བེངས། །
shedrub tenpé gyaltsen rabtu dreng
Gallantly you raised the victory banner of learning and practising the teachings —
མངའ་བདག་ན་པོ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
ngadak chenpo khyé la chaktsal tö
Grand Sovereign, to you I offer homage and praise.
མཐའ་བ་ལ་ཁམས་ོབས་ིས་དབང་་བས། །
ta shyi gyalkham tob kyi wang du dü
You brought kingdoms of all the four directions under your control,
གག་ལག་ཁང་དང་་གང་གས་ི་ེན། །
tsuklakhang dang ku sung tuk kyi ten
Constructed a temple with supports of enlightened body, speech, and mind,
མདོ་གས་འན་པ་ེ་གས་བོད་་བད། །
do ngak dzinpé dé nyi bö du kö
And entrusted Tibet with the twofold collection of sūtra and mantra —
བོད་ལ་ོང་མཛད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
böyul kyong dzé khyé la chaktsal tö
Protector of Tibet, to you I offer homage and praise.
་ཚོགས་ཐབས་ིས་ས་ིད་ང་་ོང༌། །
natsok tab kyi chösi zung du kyong
By various means you unified both government and dharma,
བཀའ་བཙན་ོལ་བཟང་ལ་ཁམས་བ་ལ་བད། །
ka tsen sol zang gyalkham dé la kö
Securing the empire’s well-being under the order of tradition excellent.
མངའ་བདག་ཚངས་པ་་་་ཏོག་ས། །
ngadak tsangpa lha yi metok ché
Your pleasing name, “Brahma’s Divine Flower,” spread throughout the world —
ན་པས་ས་ེང་བ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། ། 161
ན་པས་ས་ེང་བ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
nyenpé sateng khyab la chaktsal tö
Emperor, to you I offer homage and praise.
་མག་བད་ིས་བ་པ་མན་་ར། །
chemchok dütsi drubpa ngön du gyur
Accomplishing the supreme amṛta above all others,
ང་འན་གཡོ་ད་དངས་པ་ལ་ན་ོགས། །
tingdzin yomé gongpé tsal chen dzok
Perfecting the great potency of unwavering samādhi,
ཚད་མ་ལ་སོགས་གས་བཤད་བན་བས་ེལ། །
tsema lasok lek shé tenchö pel
You caused authentic knowledge, elegant speech and commentaries to flourish —
ས་ི་ལ་པོ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
chö kyi gyalpo khyé la chaktsal tö
Dharma King, to you I offer homage and praise.
སངས་ས་ལས་ང་ས་དན་གསང་གས་ི། །
sangye lé kyang ché kön sang ngak kyi
Through the pith instructions and treatises of the secret mantra,
གང་གས་མས་དང་་་གདམས་ངག་ས། །
shyungluk nam dang dé yi damngak gi
Rarer even than the appearance of a buddha,
བྷོ་ཊ་ལ་འ་་ི་་ན་དང༌། །
bhoté yul di o di ya na dang
You made this land of Tibet equal to Uḍḍiyāna:
མངས་པར་མཛད་པ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
tsungpar dzepa khyé la chaktsal tö
To you I offer homage and praise.
དིངས་ི་མཁའ་འོས་ས་བཏབ་ཟབ་གསང་ས། །
ying kyi khandrö gyé tab zabsang chö
The ḍākinīs of all-encompassing space concealed the profound and secret dharma,
ས་ང་ེད་པར་དཀའ་བ་ནང་ད་གམ། ། 162
ས་ང་ེད་པར་དཀའ་བ་ནང་ད་གམ། །
sü kyang nyepar kawa nanggyü sum
Making the three inner tantras difficult to find,
བ་མག་མས་ིས་ཡོངས་ངས་ནོར་་གར། །
drub chok nam kyi yong lang norbü ter
Yet extensively the masters have revealed these jewel-like treasures —
ས་འར་འད་མཛད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
sa dir gö dzé khyé la chaktsal tö
Warden of this Land, to you I offer homage and praise.
བལ་ན་ར་བ་དཀར་པོ་ོངས་འ་ན། །
silden rawa karpö jong di na
In these valleys ringed by cold white mountains
ལ་བ་བན་དང་་འན་འས་པ་ེ། །
gyalwé ten dang dé dzin düpé dé
Reside the teachings of the Buddha and those who safeguard them.
་ེད་ང་བ་མན་པོ་ོད་ི་ིན། །
jinyé jungwa gönpo khyö kyi drin
It is due to your kindness that all this has come to pass —
བཀའ་ིན་འན་ལ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
kadrin drendral khyé la chaktsal tö
Incomparable Kindness, to you I offer homage and praise.
ད་ང་སངས་ས་བན་པ་གནས་ི་བར། །
dadung sangye tenpa né kyi bar
For as long as the Buddha’s teachings remain,
་ཚོགས་ལ་པས་ལ་བ་བན་པ་དང༌། །
natsok trulpé gyalwé tenpa dang
There will come your emanations with the purpose of ensuring
གངས་ཅན་ཕན་བ་ེལ་བར་མཛད་པ་། །
gangchen pendé pelwar dzepa yi
The proliferation of the Dharma and the well-being of Tibet —
གས་བེད་མཉམ་ད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། ། 163
གས་བེད་མཉམ་ད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
tukkyé nyammé khyé la chaktsal tö
To you whose bodhicitta aspiration is unequalled I offer homage and praise.
བདག་ཅག་གངས་་ོད་གནས་་མས་ིས། །
dakchak gangri trö né mi nam kyi
It is thanks to your kindness
ལ་བན་ན་ན་ས་ི་་ཙམ་ཡང༌། །
gyalten rinchen chö kyi dra tsam yang
That the people of our snowy homeland
་བར་ཐོས་པ་ོད་ི་ིན་ན་ན། །
nawar töpa khyö kyi drin yin na
Have at least heard of the great and precious buddhadharma —
ོ་ན་་ག་ེད་ལ་ས་་ས། །
loden su shyik khyé la chi migü
No sensible person could lack respect for you.
་ིར་བདག་་དད་མོས་ེ་གག་པས། །
dechir dak ni dé mö tsechik pé
Thus, with one-pointed faith and admiration,
མན་པོ་ོད་ལ་བོད་ང་ག་འཚལ་ན། །
gönpo khyö la tö ching chaktsal na
I pay homage to you and offer praise, Protector!
ོན་ི་གས་བེད་དམ་བཅའ་ན་པོ་ས། །
ngön gyi tukkyé damcha chenpo yi
With your great long-standing bodhicitta pledge,
བདག་ཅག་ེས་བང་ིན་ིས་བབ་པར་མཛོད། །
dakchak jezung jingyi lab par dzö
Please care for us and grant your blessings.
ོགས་བ་ལ་བས་དབང་བར་ང་བན་ང༌། །
chok chü gyalwé wangkur lungten ching
Through the empowerments and transmissions of all the buddhas of all directions,
ན་རས་གགས་ི་གས་བེད་མ་བཙན་པས། ། 164
ན་རས་གགས་ི་གས་བེད་མ་བཙན་པས། །
chenrezik kyi tukkyé tutsenpé
And through the bodhicitta strength of Avalokiteśvara,
འཇམ་དཔལ་ལ་པ་ལ་པོ་གས་བད་བན། །
jampal trulpé gyalpö tuk shyé shyin
In accordance with the aspirations of Mañjuśrī’s supreme emanation,
ལ་བན་ན་་གནས་པ་ད་ར་ག །
gyalten yündu nepa nyi gyur chik
May the teachings of the Buddha remain steadfast.
མཐའ་ཡས་འོ་ན་གས་བེས་ཡོངས་་བང༌། །
tayé dro kün tuk tsé yongsu zung
Ever-embracing infinite beings with compassion and love,
ནམ་མཁའ་་ིད་གཞན་ཕན་ིན་ལས་ོད། །
namkha jisi shyenpen trinlé chö
For as long as space endures, you act for the benefit of others.
ལ་ས་དཔའ་བོ་མས་ི་གག་་ན། །
gyalsé pawo nam kyi tsuk gi gyen
Protector, crown ornament of the bodhisattvas,
མན་པོ་ེད་དང་མངས་པར་བདག་ར་ག །
gönpo khyé dang tsungpar dak gyur chik
May I become your equal!
ེད་ལ་བོད་ང་གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་པ་མས། །
khyé la tö ching solwa tabpé tü
Through the power of praising and supplicating you,1
བདག་སོགས་གང་་གནས་པ་ས་ོགས་ར། །
dak sok gangdu nepé sachok der
In whatever land I and others find ourselves to be,
ནད་དང་དལ་ཕོངས་འཐབ་ོད་་བ་དང༌། །
né dang ulpong tabtsö shyiwa dang
May sickness, poverty, and strife be pacified,
ས་དང་བ་ས་འལ་བར་མཛད་་གསོལ། ། 165
ས་དང་བ་ས་འལ་བར་མཛད་་གསོལ། །
chö dang tashi pelwar dzé du sol
And may the Dharma flourish and auspiciousness increase!
ལ་དང་ལ་བ་ས་ི་ོན་ལམ་དང༌། །
gyal dang gyalwé sé kyi mönlam dang
Through the pure aspirations of the buddhas and their heirs,
བདག་ཅག་མོས་ད་མ་པར་དཀར་བ་མས། །
dakchak mö gé nampar karwé tü
And through the virtue of our own admiration,
མངའ་བདག་ས་ི་ལ་པོ་ི་ོང་ེ། །
ngadak chö kyi gyalpo trisong jé
May all be auspiciousness for the teachings to spread in all directions
གས་བེད་བན་པ་མཐར་ས་བ་ས་ཤོག །
tukkyé tenpa tar gyé tashi shok
In accordance with the awakened aspirations of Lord Trisong, the Dharma Sovereign!
ས་གས་་བཅད་པ་མད་པ་་མོ་བ་ག་་ངས་ན་འ་་་་་བ་བད་པ་ས་ར་བན་ལ་་ཕམ་
འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པས་བད་པ་ད་གས་འལ།།
These sixteen verses, equal in number to the sixteen offering goddesses, were written down in the year of the male
Fire Horse, on the 27th lunar day of the eighth month2, by Mipham Jampel Gyepa. May virtue and excellence
flourish!
1. ↑ Here Mipham states in small commentarial script that these verses are renowned as being the speech
of Trisong Detsen, the Great Dharma Emperor, himself.
2. ↑ Monday, 15th October, 1906.
166
༄༅། །ོབ་དཔོན་ན་པོ་བོད་པ་་གམ་མ་ས་་བ་བགས་སོ། །
The Three Kāyas: Praises to the Great Master Padmasambhava

by Mipham Rinpoche
་གམ་ལ་བ་ཡོངས་ི་གས་ེ་གས། །
ku sum gyalwa yong kyi tukjé shuk
Compassionate power of the buddhas of the three kāyas
གག་བས་ག་འན་ལ་པོ་ལ་འཆང་བ། །
chikdü rigdzin gyalpö tsul changwa
Manifesting in a single form as the Vidyādhara King,
བ་ན་མཁའ་འོ་དབང་ག་ོ་ེ་། །
dechen khandrö wangchuk dorjé ku
In your vajra body, lord of the ḍākinīs of great bliss —
པ་ཐོད་ེང་ལ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
pema tötreng tsal la chaktsal tö
Mighty Lotus Skull-Garland,1 to you I offer homage and praise!
ང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་མན་པོ་ན་རས་གགས། །
nangwa tayé gönpo chenrezik
Inseparable from Amitābha and the protector Avalokiteśvara,
དེར་ད་་ངས་མཚོར་ལ་པ་། །
yermé sindhu dang tsor trulpé ku
Manifesting on the waters of the radiant sindūra ocean,
འག་ེན་གམ་ན་་བ་ག་གས་འཆང༌། །
jikten sum na chewé rik ngakchang
The great knowledge mantra holder of the triple world —
མཉམ་ད་་མ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
nyammé lama khyé la chaktsal tö
Peerless Guru, to you I offer homage and praise!
པ་ལས་འངས་པ་བཞད་པ་ཞལ། །
pema lé trung pema shyepé shyal
Born from a lotus flower, your lotus mouth smiling,
མཚན་ད་ག་འབར་ལ་ན་ཞལ་ིན་མག ། 167
མཚན་ད་ག་འབར་ལ་ན་ཞལ་ིན་མག །
tsenpé zibar gyal kün shyal kyin chok
Resplendent with the marks and signs, regent of all victors,
འག་ེན་མངའ་བར་མངས་ད་ལ་བ་ས། །
jikten nga gyur tsungmé gyalwé sé
Unmatched heir of the conquerors, sovereign of the world —
བ་མག་པ་ལ་པོར་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
demchok pema gyalpor chaktsal tö
Supreme Bliss Lotus King, to you I offer homage and praise!
གནས་ལ་མས་་བལ་གས་ོད་པ་བངས། །
neyul nam su tulshyuk chöpa kyang
Persisting in yogic discipline in sacred sites and lands,
མ་ཚོགས་ེགས་པ་དབང་བས་ལས་ལ་བལ། །
ma tsok drekpa wangdü lé la kol
You magnetized arrogant female spirits and set them to work,
ས་ེང་ན་་གསང་གས་བན་པ་ེལ། །
sateng küntu sang ngak tenpa pel
And spread the teachings of secret mantra throughout the world —
་མ་འོད་ར་ཞབས་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
nyima özer shyab la chaktsal tö
Rays of the Sun, to you I offer homage and praise!
ས་་གནས་མས་གགས་པ་ཙམ་ིས་ོགས། །
shejé né nam zikpa tsam gyi tok
At a mere glance you understood all that is to be known
་ག་ན་མེན་མཁས་པ་ལ་་ིན། །
nga rik künkhyen khepé pul du chin
An all-seeing scholar, the five sciences perfected,
འཇམ་པ་དངས་དང་དེར་ད་ལ་བ་ས། །
jampé yang dang yermé gyalwé sé
Heir of the conquerors, inseparable from Mañjuśrī —
ོ་ན་མག་ེད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། ། 168
ོ་ན་མག་ེད་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
loden choksé khyé la chaktsal tö
Wise Seeker of the Sublime, to you I offer homage and praise!
ེ་ོད་གམ་དང་ད་ེ་མ་ག་ །
denö sum dang gyüdé nam druk gi
You attained perfection in the realization and conduct
དངས་ོད་མཐར་ིན་ལ་དང་ལ་ས་ི། །
gong chö tarchin gyal dang gyalsé kyi
Of the tripiṭika and the six classes of tantra,
མ་ཐར་་མཚོ་ལ་ལ་མངའ་དབང་བེས། །
namtar gyatsö tsul la nga wang nyé
Master of the ocean of perfect liberation of the victors and their heirs —
པ་་བྷ་བ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
padma sambhava la chaktsal tö
Lotus-Born Padmasambhava, to you I offer homage and praise!
ལ་བ་མག་ད་ར་ཡང་ོན་པ་བན། །
gyalwa chok nyi lar yang jönpa shyin
As though it were the Supreme Victor himself returning,
མ་དག་ང་པོ་་འཆང་མག་ལ་ལ། །
namdak pungpo nga chang choktrul tsul
You came as a supreme emanation, your five aggregates pure,
ས་མག་ང་་་དངས་ས་གམ་བགས། །
chö chok sengé drayang sa sum drak
And sounded the melodious lion’s roar of supreme Dharma throughout the three realms —
་ང་་ོད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
shakya sengé khyö la chaktsal tö
Lion of the Śākyas, to you I offer homage and praise!
འ་ད་ོ་ེ་་དང་ག་འན་ས། །
chimé dorjé tsé dang rigdzin sa
Reaching the vidyādhara stage of immortal vajra-life,
དས་བ་ན་ི་མངའ་དབང་དམ་པ་བེས། ། 169
དས་བ་ན་ི་མངའ་དབང་དམ་པ་བེས། །
ngödrub kün gyi nga wang dampa nyé
You attained mastery of every siddhi and everything sublime,
དིལ་འར་ན་ི་གཙོ་དང་གས་་ད། །
kyilkhor kün gyi tso dang nyisumé
Thus becoming inseparable from the chief of all maṇḍalas —
པ་འང་གནས་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
pema jungné khyé la chaktsal tö
Lotus-Born Padmākara, to you I offer homage and praise!
བད་དང་་ེགས་ཕས་ི་ོལ་བ་མས། །
dü dang mutek pé kyi golwa nam
Through your display of awe-inspiring miracles,
་འལ་ན་པོས་ང་་ག་མར་ས། །
dzutrul chenpö ming gi lhakmar jé
You crushed your rivals — māras and heretics.
་བཙན་འན་ད་ོ་ེ་མ་ོབས་བདག །
chetsen drenmé dorjé tutob dak
Lord of vajra magic, peerless in your splendour —
ང་་་ོགས་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
sengé dradrok khyé la chaktsal tö
Lion’s Roar, to you I offer homage and praise!
གངས་ཅན་ོངས་་ལ་བ་བན་པ་ེལ། །
gangchen jong su gyalwé tenpa pel
The Victor’s teachings flourished in the Snowy Land;
ནག་པོ་་ལག་ོ་ེ་མ་ས་བལ། །
nakpö tsalak dorjé tu yi tul
All corrupted parties were subdued by vajra magic;
ས་ེང་ཐམས་ཅད་ཟབ་མོ་གར་ིས་བཀང༌། །
sateng tamché zabmö ter gyi kang
Everywhere the land was filled with priceless terma-treasures –
ོ་ེ་ོ་ལོད་ལ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། ། 170
ོ་ེ་ོ་ལོད་ལ་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
dorjé drolö tsal la chaktsal tö
Mighty Vajra Wrath, to you I offer homage and praise!
་གག་མཚན་བད་འལ་མཚན་་་དང༌། །
ku chik tsen gyé trul tsen nyishu dang
Your one kāya, eight forms, and twenty emanations
་འད་འག་ེན་སོ་ག་ལ་སོགས་པར། །
mi jé jikten so druk lasokpar
Pervade the sahā-world and the thirty-six realms,
མཐའ་ཡས་ལ་པ་ང་ཁམས་ན་་བ། །
tayé trulpé shyingkham küntu khyab
And all the infinite range of manifested fields.
་འལ་ལ་པོ་ེད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
gyutrul gyalpo khyé la chaktsal tö
King of Magical Display, to you I offer homage and praise!
ལ་ས་མས་དཔའ་བད་དང་བ་ེ་བད། །
gyalsé sempa gyé dang drubdé gyé
Inseparable from the eight bodhisattvas, the eight iṣṭadevatās,
ལ་སོགས་ལ་བ་ལ་ས་་མཚོ་དང༌། །
lasok gyalwa gyalsé gyatso dang
And the ocean of victors and their heirs,
དེར་ད་་མ་དིལ་འར་ན་ི་བདག །
yermé lama kyilkhor kün gyi dak
You are the unsurpassed chief of all maṇḍalas —
མངས་ད་འེན་པ་ོད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
tsungmé drenpa khyö la chaktsal tö
Peerless Guide, to you I offer homage and praise!
སངས་ས་ན་ི་གས་ེ་གག་བས་ནས། །
sangye kün gyi tukjé chikdü né
Sole embodiment of the compassion of all the buddhas,
ིགས་མ་འོ་བ་བབ་པར་མཛད་པ་ིར། ། 171
ིགས་མ་འོ་བ་བབ་པར་མཛད་པ་ིར། །
nyikmé drowa kyabpar dzepé chir
In your role as protector of this degenerate age
ིན་བས་གས་ེ་ག་པར་ར་བ་ས། །
jinlab tukjé lhakpar nyurwa yi
With your exalted compassion for beings, and your blessing,
ལས་ཅན་ེས་་འན་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
lechen jesu dzin la chaktsal tö
You care for your disciples: to you I offer homage and praise!
དཔལ་ན་ོགས་པ་སངས་ས་པ་ེས། །
palden dzokpé sangye pema kyé
Lotus-born, glorious, perfect buddha,
མ་པ་ན་མེན་་ས་མཛོད་འན་པ། །
nampa künkhyen yeshe dzö dzinpa
Knower of all things, you hold the treasury of wisdom.
ག་འན་ལ་པོ་་འལ་་ཚོགས་ོན། །
rigdzin gyalpo gyutrul natsok tön
Vidyādhara King, magical display of myriad teachers,
ན་ལས་་བ་སངས་ས་ག་གས་འཆང༌། །
kün lé chewa sangye rik ngakchang
Grander than the rest, awakened wisdom mantra holder,
རང་ང་ན་་བཟང་པོ་ོད་ད་ལ། །
rangjung kuntuzangpo khyö nyi la
Naturally present Samantabhadra —
་ེད་དད་པས་གས་པར་བོད་པ་། །
miché depé lekpar töpa yi
May the illuminating merit, shining bright as daylight,
བསོད་ནམས་ན་མོར་ེད་པ་འོད་ར་ིས། །
sönam nyinmor jepé özer gyi
Of these elegant praises, sung with unstinting faith,
མཚོ་ེས་བན་པ་པད་ཚལ་ས་ར་ག ། 172
མཚོ་ེས་བན་པ་པད་ཚལ་ས་ར་ག །
tsokyé tenpé petsal gyé gyur chik
Cause the lotus grove of the Lake-born’s teachings to flourish!
ོད་བད་ད་པ་མཐའ་དག་རབ་་། །
nöchü güpa tadak rabtu shyi
May the decline of worlds and beings be pacified completely!
དཔལ་དང་གས་པ་བ་ས་བ་གས་འལ། །
pal dang drakpa tashi delek pel
May glory, renown, auspiciousness, happiness, and excellence flourish!
འོ་ན་མངས་ད་་ས་ེས་བང་ནས། །
dro kün tsungmé gurü jezung né
May every being be accepted by you, peerless Guru,
རང་ང་པ་་འཕང་མག་ཐོབ་ཤོག །
rangjung pemé gopang chok tob shok
And attain the supreme state of the innate Lotus-born!
ས་གས་་བཅད་པ་དགའ་བ་བ་ག་་ངས་ན་འ་་ལ་གནོན་་་་བ་བད་པ་ས་ར་བན་ལ་་
ཕམ་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པས་ེལ་བ་ད་གས་འལ།།
These sixteen verses, equal in number to the sixteen delights, were written down in the year of the Male Fire Horse,
on the 27th lunar day of the eight month,2 by Mipham Jampal Gyepa. May virtue and excellence flourish!
1. ↑ Here and in the following verses the author invokes the various manifestations of Guru Rinpoche. For
poetic consideration we chose to translate Guru Rinpoche’s names into English. So that the reader may
easily identify them by their Tibetan names, we have italicized Guru Rinpoche’s names whenever they
appear in the Tibetan phonetics.
2. ↑ Monday 15th October, 1906.
173
༄༅། །འཇམ་དཔལ་བོད་པ་ས་རབ་རབ་འལ་བགས། །
In Praise of Mañjuśrī: Increasing Intelligence to the Full

by Mipham Rinpoche
ིཿ ོགས་བ་ས་གམ་བ་གགས་ས་བཅས་ི། །
dhih chok chu dü sum deshek sé ché kyi
Dhīḥ! Supreme enlightened form of all the buddhas and their heirs,
་་མག་ེ་གང་་དབང་ག་། །
ku yi chok té sung gi wangchuk ché
Throughout the whole of space and time,
་ས་མས་དཔའ་ེ་བན་འཇམ་དཔལ་དངས། །
yeshe sempa jetsün jampal yang
Powerful lord of speech and embodiment of wisdom, precious Mañjughoṣa,
བདག་་ིང་དས་པོར་ག་་མད། །
dak gi nying ü pemor taktu chö
Remain forever upon the lotus in the centre of my heart.
ོད་་བ་བར་གགས་པ་ན་ི་ཡབ། །
khyö ni dewar shekpa kün gyi yab
You are the father of all the buddhas who have gone to bliss,
མ་ས་འཕགས་ཚོགས་ན་ེད་ས་དིངས་མ། །
malü pak tsok kün kyé chöying yum
And the dharmadhātu mother from whom all the noble ones are born,
ས་གམ་ལ་བ་ས་ི་ལ་ོན་པ། །
dü sum gyalwé sé kyi tsul tönpa
Yet you appear as the son of the buddhas of past, present and future—
མངས་ད་ོད་ལ་ས་པས་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
tsungmé khyö la güpé chaktsal tö
To you who are without equal, I prostrate in devotion!
ས་དིངས་ན་བ་་འལ་་བ་གར། །
chöying künkhyab gyutrul drawé gar
Play of the net of magical illusion which pervades the whole expanse of reality,
ནམ་མཁའ་་ིད་འོ་ན་ཕན་བ་མཛོད། ། 174
ནམ་མཁའ་་ིད་འོ་ན་ཕན་བ་མཛོད། །
namkha jisi dro kün pendé dzö
Treasury of universal benefit and happiness for as long as space exists,
ཐམས་ཅད་མཉམ་ད་་ས་ོ་ེ་། །
tamché nyamnyi yeshe dorjé ku
Embodiment of the vajra wisdom of all-encompassing equality,
འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་་ོད་ལ་ག་འཚལ་བོད། །
jampal shyönnu khyö la chaktsal tö
To you, Mañjuśrī the ever-youthful, I prostrate and offer praise!
དམར་ར་་མ་འཆར་ཁ་ལང་ཚོ་ཅན། །
marser nyima char khé langtso chen
With the vibrant splendour of the orange sun rising in the sky,
ིང་ལ་མངས་ད་བ་ེར་གཞོན་་གགས། །
nying la tsungmé dé ter shyönnu zuk
Your youthful form brings to my heart a delight beyond compare.
་ས་དར་དང་ན་ན་་ཏོག་ས། །
lhadzé dar dang rinchen metok gi
Adorned with divine garments of silk and with jewels and flowers,
རབ་མས་ར་ད་་ན་ིལ་ང་བགས། །
rab dzé zur pü ngaden kyil trung shyuk
You sit cross-legged, with your long hair tied up in five main knots.
ས་རབ་འོད་འབར་་ས་རལ་ི་ས། །
sherab öbar yeshe raldri yi
With wisdom’s sword that blazes with the light of intelligence,
བད་བམ་ན་པ་བ་པོ་མ་པར་འལ། །
dü chom münpé tibpo nampar dral
You subdue the maras and cut the darkness of our ignorance.
ད་འོང་ལ་གཞོན་་ག་མཚན་ིས། །
yi ong utpal shyönnü chaktsen gyi
With the fresh and lovely utpala flower clasped in your hand,
ད་ལ་གང་འདོད་དམ་པ་མག་ིན་མཛད། ། 175
ད་ལ་གང་འདོད་དམ་པ་མག་ིན་མཛད། །
yi la gang dö་dampa ok jin dze
You show the mudrā of generosity, and grant our every wish.
ེ་བན་ེད་་ན་པ་མོད་ད་ལ། །
jetsün khyé ku drenpé mö nyi la
In the very instant we think upon your perfect form, O precious one,
འལ་ང་འར་བ་ན་པ་མཐར་ེད་ང༌། །
trulnang khorwé münpa tar jé ching
All the darkness of samsara and deluded perception is at an end,
ཡང་དག་ལམ་བཟང་མཐོང་བ་ང་བ་ིན། །
yangdak lam zang tongwé nangwa jin
And you grant us the light with which to perceive the genuine path,
ད་ལ་ན་མོར་ེད་པ་དཔལ་ོལ་བ། །
yi la nyinmor jepe pal tsolwa
As if the sun’s glorious radiance had been brought into our minds!
ས་རབ་་ས་་ཅན་འཇམ་པ་དཔལ། །
sherab yeshe kuchen jampé dpal
‘Gentle Splendour,’ Mañjuśrī, embodiment of wisdom and intelligence,
བདག་ིང་་ེས་བཞད་པ་་སར་ལ། །
dak nying chukyé shyepé gesar la
Respectfully I offer you this seat upon the lotus of my heart,
ས་པས་བི་ང་ག་གས་ལ་པོ་ས། །
güpé ti shying rik ngak gyalpo yi
And I invoke your wisdom mind, O protector,
མན་པོ་ེད་ི་གས་དམ་ད་བལ་ན། །
gönpo khye kyi tukdam gyü kul na
Through the sovereign of all awareness-mantras.
ག་དོན་མ་པར་འེད་པ་ོ་ོས་མ། །
tsikdön nampar jepé lodrö tu
Swiftly set ablaze a great fire of wisdom within my heart,
མག་་ོ་ར་་་རབ་ཟབ་པ། ། 176
མག་་ོ་ར་་་རབ་ཟབ་པ། །
chok tu no nyur gyache rab zabpa
A powerful intelligence discerning words and meaning,
ན་གསལ་་་དིལ་འར་དང་མངས་པ། །
kün sal nyidé kyilkhor dang tsungpé
Supremely keen, swift, utterly profound and expansive,
ས་རབ་་ན་ིང་ལ་ར་་ོར། །
sherab mé chen nying la nyur du por
Illuminating all, like the maṇḍalas of the sun and moon.
མ་པ་དང་ལ་གང་ས་་བི་ང་། །
shyumpa dang dral gang gi mi dzi shying
Grant me too the confidence of eloquence,
ཐོགས་ད་ན་ཆགས་མཛད་པ་ཡོངས་ངས་བ། །
tokmé gyünchak dzepa yong pangwa
That is unhesitating, entirely unassailable,
འགས་པ་ད་པ་ོ་ེ་་་། །
jikpa mepa dorjé tabu yi
Unhindered, constant, never dissipating—
ོབས་པ་མག་་བདག་ལ་བ་པར་མཛོད། །
pobpé chok dé dak la drubpar dzö
A vajra-like fearlessness that is indestructible.
ག་དང་དོན་ི་མ་པ་མ་ས་མས། །
tsik dang dön gyi nampa malü nam
Grant me the great treasure of infallible memory,
ནམ་ཡང་བེད་པ་ནོངས་པ་མ་མས་པ། །
namyang jepé nongpa machipa
Which is as broad and all-encompassing as space,
ནམ་མཁའ་་ར་་བས་ཡངས་པ་། །
namkha tabur gokab yangpa yi
And is entirely unerring, so that never will I forget
་ཟད་གངས་ི་གར་ན་བདག་ལ་ོལ། ། 177
་ཟད་གངས་ི་གར་ན་བདག་ལ་ོལ། །
mizé zung kyi terchen dak la tsol
Any aspect whatsoever of the words or of the meaning.
མིན་པ་འོ་མཚོར་དངས་ཅན་དེས་རོལ་བས། །
drinpé otsor yangchen gyerolwé
Through Sarasvatī’s delight as she plays at my throat,
མཁས་མས་ན་་ད་འོག་ག་་ཉམས། །
khé nam shintu yitrok tsik gi nyam
May I achieve the power of mastery over speech,
བད་ི་རོ་ན་ད་རབ་མ་ེད་པ། །
dütsi roden yi rab sim jepé
And my words entice and enchant the learned,
ངག་་དབང་ག་བ་པར་མཛད་་གསོལ། །
ngak gi wangchuk drubpar dzé du sol
Like the taste of sweetest nectar, bringing pleasure to their minds.
ལ་དང་ལ་ས་ཉན་རང་འཕགས་ཚོགས་དང་། །
gyal dang gyalsé nyenrang pak tsok dang
From the whole of this world—from the buddhas, bodhisattvas,
་་་དང་གནོད་ིན་ང་ོང་སོགས། །
lha lu mi dang nö jin drangsong sok
And the noble assembly of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas,
འག་ེན་ན་ན་གང་མས་ོ་ོས་ི། །
jikten kün na gang chi lodrö kyi
From gods, nāgas, humans, yakṣas, sages and the like—
དཔལ་མས་ད་ལ་རབ་་འགས་པར་མཛོད། །
pal nam yi la rabtu gukpar dzö
I invoke the splendour of intelligence, summoning it into my mind!
ཐོས་བསམ་བོམ་པ་དིལ་འར་ཡོངས་་ོགས། །
tö sam gompé kyilkhor yongsu dzok
May I perfect the spheres of study, reflection and meditation,
འཆད་ོད་ོམ་པ་འོད་ར་རབ་་གསལ། ། 178
འཆད་ོད་ོམ་པ་འོད་ར་རབ་་གསལ། །
ché tsö tsompé özer rabtu sal
Shine bright the lights of explanation, debate and composition,
ེམས་ད་་བ་གཞན་ཕན་ིང་བེ་དང༌། །
nyemmé shyiwa shyenpen nying tsé dang
And possess humility, calm, altruism, kindhearted love and faith,
དད་སོགས་ཡོན་ཏན་་མཚོས་མས་ར་ག །
dé sok yönten gyatsö dzé gyur chik
The most beautiful and perfect qualities, as boundless as the ocean.
་་མ་ལས་ལ་བ་བན་པ་ལ། །
dé yi tu lé gyalwé tenpa la
Through the power of this, may I accomplish vast deeds
་བ་་ན་མག་་རབ་བིད་ང༌། །
jawa gyachen chok tu rab gyi ching
To benefit the teachings of the victorious buddhas,
འཇམ་དཔལ་དཔའ་བོས་དེས་བན་ེས་བང་ནས། །
jampal pawö gyé shyin jezung né
And always delight and be cared for by Mañjuśrī,
རང་གཞན་དོན་གས་ན་ིས་འབ་པར་ཤོག །
rangshyen dön nyi lhün gyi drubpar shok
Spontaneously accomplishing my own and others’ welfare!
ས་ས་རབ་འལ་ེད་ི་བོད་ོན་གས་་བཅད་པ་བན་གཡོ་ངས་མ་བ་བ་ངས་ན་འ་་་་
དག་་ས་ག་བཟང་པོ་ངས་ལ་་ཕམ་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པས་ེལ་བ་དའོ། མ་། །
This praise and aspiration for increasing intelligence with verses equal in number to the fourteen vital essences
(dwangs ma) of the animate and inanimate was written by Mipham Jampal Gyepa on an auspicious day during
the ninth month of the Fire Horse year (1906). May virtue abound!
| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2006. Originally published on www.lotsawaschool.org
179
༄༅། །འཇམ་དཔལ་བོད་པ་ིན་བས་གར་ན་བགས་སོ། །
In Praise of Mañjuśrī: The Great Treasure of Blessings

by Mipham Rinpoche
ༀ། ་མག་འཇམ་དཔལ་གཞོན་ར་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
om ku chok jampal shyönnur chaktsal lo
Oṃ! Supreme wisdom body, youthful Mañjuśrī, to you I prostrate!
འཇམ་དངས་གང་དབང་ག་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
jamyang sung wangchuk la chaktsal lo
Powerful lord of gentle and melodious speech, to you I prostrate!
མེན་རབ་་ས་མས་དཔར་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
khyen rab yeshe sempar chaktsal lo
Wisdom being, with a mind of perfect knowledge, to you I prostrate!
ལ་ན་་ས་ེན་འེལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
gyal kün yeshe tendrel chaktsal lo
Auspicious coincidence of all the buddhas' wisdom, to you I prostrate!
་ས་རལ་ི་འན་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
yeshe raldri dzin la chaktsal lo
Wielder of the sword of wisdom, to you I prostrate!
ཐབས་ི་ལ་བམས་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
tab kyi utpal nam la chaktsal lo
Holder of the lotus of skilful means, to you I prostrate!
ས་རབ་མདའ་ོན་འན་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
sherab da nön pen la chaktsal lo
Shooter of the piercing arrow of knowledge, to you I prostrate!
ིང་ེ་ག་ན་འཆང་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
nyingjé shyu chen chang la chaktsal lo
Drawer of the great bow of compassion, to you I prostrate!
བདག་ས་མན་པོ་འཇམ་དངས་ོད་ན་། །
dak gi gönpo jamyang khyö dren té
By remembering you, my lord and protector Mañjughoṣa,
ས་པས་ིང་ནས་གསོལ་བ་འབས་ལགས་ན། །
güpé nying né solwa deb lak na
And praying with devotion from the depths of my heart,
གས་དམ་ན་པོས་་བར་ེས་བངས་ནས། ། 180
གས་དམ་ན་པོས་་བར་ེས་བངས་ནས། །
tukdam chenpö nyewar jé zung né
Guide me and care for me in your great wisdom,
ོབས་པ་གར་བད་ོལ་བར་མཛད་་གསོལ། །
pobpé ter gyé drolwar dzé du sol
And cause the eight great treasures of my courageous eloquence to be released, I pray!
ༀ་ཨ་ར་པ་ཙ་ན་ིཿྃ།
om a ra pa tsa na dhih hung
ས་པའང་གས་ལ་་བ་ད་པ་ས་་མ་ངས་ལ་གནོན་ན་པོ་བེན་བ་ལ་གནས་པ་ན་བས་ག་་
ིཿང་པས་ེལ་བ་ད །
Written by the one called Dhīḥ during a session in a retreat focused upon the great and glorious subjugator, on the
first day of the ninth month of the iron snake year (1881). May virtue abound!
181
༄༅། །བ་ག་ིན་བས་གར་མཛོད་བགས་སོ། །
The Treasury of Blessings: A Practice of Buddha Śākyamuni

by Mipham Rinpoche
ན་མོ་་་་་ན་།
Namo guru śākyamunaye!
་ཡང་མདོ་ང་འན་ལ་པོ་ལས། འཆག་དང་འག་དང་འེང་དང་ཉལ་བ་ན། །་གང་བ་པ་བ་ན་ེད་པ། །་

་མན་ན་ག་་ོན་པ་བགས། །་་་ན་་ངན་འདའ་བར་འར། ས་དང་། ་ས་དག་་གར་ི་མདོག་
འ་བས། །འག་ེན་མན་པོ་ན་ནས་རབ་་མས། དགས་པ་འ་ལ་གང་་མས་འག་པ། །ང་བ་མས་
དཔའ་་་མཉམ་བཞག་ན། ས་གངས་པ་བན་། བདག་ཅག་མས་ི་ོན་པ་མངས་པ་ད་པ་བ་པ་
དབང་པོ་ེས་་ན་པ་ལ་འོར་་་བ་། འ་་ེ།
In the Samādhirāja Sūtra it is said: ‘Those who, while walking, sitting, standing, or sleeping, recollect the moon-like
Buddha, will always be in Buddha’s presence and will attain the vast nirvāṇa.’ And: ‘His pure body is the colour of
gold, beautiful is the Protector of the World. Whoever visualizes him like this practises the meditation of the
bodhisattvas.’ In keeping with this, we should practise remembering our incomparable teacher, the Lord of Sages, in
the following way:
སངས་ས་ས་དང་ཚོགས་ི་མག་མས་ལ།
sangye chö dang tsok kyi chok nam la
In the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly
ང་བ་བར་་བདག་་བས་་མ།
changchub bardu dak ni kyab su chi
I take refuge until I attain enlightenment.
བདག་་ིན་སོགས་བིས་པ་བསོད་ནམས་ིས།
dak gi jin sok gyipé sönam kyi
Through the merit of practising generosity and so on,
འོ་ལ་ཕན་ིར་སངས་ས་འབ་པར་ཤོག
dro la pen chir sangye drubpar shok
May I attain buddhahood for the benefit of all beings.
ལན་གམ།
Recite this verse three times
ཚད་ད་བ་བོམ་པ་ོན་་བཏང་ེ།
Then cultivate the four immeasurables by saying:
མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་བ་བ་དང་བ་བ་་དང་ན་པར་ར་ག 182
མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་བ་བ་དང་བ་བ་་དང་ན་པར་ར་ག
semchen tamché dewa dang dewé gyu dang denpar gyur chik
May all sentient beings enjoy happiness and the causes of happiness!
ག་བལ་དང་ག་བལ་ི་་དང་ལ་བར་ར་ག
dukngal dang dukngal gyi gyu dang dralwar gyur chik
May they be free from suffering and the causes of suffering!
ག་བལ་ད་པ་བ་བ་དང་་འལ་བར་ར་ག
dukngal mepé dewa dang mindralwar gyur chik
May they never be separated from the sacred happiness devoid of suffering!
་ང་ཆགས་ང་གས་དང་ལ་བ་བཏང་ོམ་ཚད་ད་པ་ལ་གནས་པར་ར་ག
nyering chakdang nyi dang dralwé tang nyom tsemepa la nepar gyur chik
And may they dwell in boundless equanimity that is free from attachment and aversion!
ས་ཐམས་ཅད་ང་ལ་རང་བན་མ་བ་པ་དོན་ད་ལ་ན་པ་ངང་ནས།
Bringing to mind how all phenomena appear and yet lack inherent existence, recite the following:
ཨཿ ེ་ད་ོང་པ་ད་དང་ེན་འང་ །
ah, kyemé tongpanyi dang tenjung gi
Āḥ! As the union of unborn emptiness and the ceaseless
ང་བ་འགག་ད་ང་འག་་མ་ལ། །
nangwa gakmé zungjuk gyumé tsul
Appearances of interdependence, magically there appears
རང་མན་ནམ་མཁར་མད་ིན་་མཚོ་དས། །
rang dün namkhar chötrin gyatsö ü
Before me in the sky, amidst vast clouds of offerings,
ན་ན་ང་ི་པད་་་བ་ེང་། །
rinchen sengtri pé nyi dawé teng
On a jewelled lion throne, and lotus, sun and moon disc seats,
ོན་པ་མངས་ད་་ང་་། །
tönpa tsungmé shakya sengé ni
The incomparable teacher, Lion of the Śākyas.
གར་ི་མདོག་ཅན་མཚན་དང་ད་ད་ན། །
ser gyi dokchen tsen dang pejé den
His body the colour of gold, adorned with major and minor marks.
ས་ས་གམ་གསོལ་ོ་ེ་ིལ་ང་བགས། ། 183
ས་ས་གམ་གསོལ་ོ་ེ་ིལ་ང་བགས། །
chögö sum sol dorjé kyiltrung shyuk
Clad in the three Dharma robes, he sits in vajra posture.
ག་གཡས་ས་གནོན་ག་་གས་བངས་ང་། །
chak yé sa nön chakgya lek kyang shing
His right hand gracefully poised in the earth-touching mudrā,
ག་གཡོན་མཉམ་བཞག་བད་ི་ང་བད་བམས། །
chak yön nyamshyak dütsi lhungzé nam
And his left hand is in the gesture of meditation, holding an alms-bowl full of nectar.
གར་ི་་ར་ག་བིད་དཔལ་འབར་བ། །
ser gyi ri tar ziji pal barwa
Like a mountain of gold, magnificent, he shines in splendour,
་ས་འོད་ར་་བས་མཁའ་དིངས་བ། །
yeshe özer drawé khaying khyab
Spreading beams of wisdom light across the whole expanse of space.
་བ་ས་བད་གནས་བན་བ་ག་སོགས། །
nyewé sé gyé neten chudruk sok
The Eight Close Sons, Sixteen Elders and the like—
འཕགས་ཚོགས་་མཚོ་འར་ིས་ཡོངས་བོར་ང་། །
pak tsok gyatsö khor gyi yong kor shying
A vast, ocean-like retinue of noble beings encircles him all around.
ན་པ་ཙམ་ིས་ིད་་མཐའ་གས་ལས། །
drenpa tsam gyi sishyi ta nyi lé
Simply think of him and he grants the glory of the highest bliss:
མ་ོལ་བ་བ་མག་་དཔལ་ོལ་བ། །
namdrol dewa chok gi pal tsolwa
Liberation from saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, the two extremes.
བས་ན་འས་པ་བདག་ད་ན་པོར་གསལ།
kyab kündüpé daknyi chenpor sal
He is the Great Being, perfect embodiment of every source of refuge.
ས་་ར་སངས་ས་ི་་ལ་དགས་་་ན་དས་་བགས་ཡོད་མ་པ་མས་བེད་མ་ཐག་། སངས་ས་
མས་ི་་ས་ི་་ལ་ོགས་དང་ས་གང་་ཡང་་ང་་མངའ་བ་ིར། གང་་དགས་པ་་ད་་ས་པར་
184
བགས་པར་འར་། མདོ་ལས། གང་ག་སངས་ས་ད་ེད་པ། །་་མན་ན་་བགས་། །ག་པར་ིན་
ིས་ོབས་ེད་ང་། །ས་པ་ན་ལས་མ་པར་ོལ། ས་གངས་ང་། ལ་བ་་ད་ལ་དགས་ནས་ཚོགས་
བསགས་པ་ཡང་་ཟད་པ་ད་་ད་་ཟ་བ་ན་། ཕལ་པོ་་ལས། །ལ་བ་་དག་ཐོས་མཐོང་མད་པ་ས་པས་
ང་། །ཚད་ད་པ་་བསོད་ནམས་ང་པོ་འལ་བར་འར། །ན་མོངས་འར་བ་ག་བལ་ཐམས་ཅད་ང་འར་
། །འས་ས་འ་ནང་བར་མ་དོར་་ཟད་་འར། ས་དང་། ་མན་་ོན་ལམ་་ར་བཏབ་པ་ཡང་་བན་
་འབ་ེ། འཇམ་དཔལ་ང་་ཡོན་ཏན་བན་པ་ལས། །ས་མས་ཐམས་ཅད་ེན་བན་། །འན་པ་ེ་ལ་རབ་
་གནས། །གང་ས་ོན་ལམ་་བཏབ་པ། །་འ་འས་་ཐོབ་པར་འར། ས་གངས་པ་ལ་མས་ལ་ས་
པ་བན་པོ་བེད་།
Visualize the form of the Buddha in this way, and imagine that he is actually there, in front of you. The instant that
you generate this thought—as the buddhas' wisdom body is not constrained by limits like time or location—he will
certainly be there. One of the sūtras says: Should anyone think of the Buddha, he is there, right in front of them,
constantly granting his blessings and freedom from all harm. The merit gained through visualizing the Buddha is
inexhaustible; it is a source of virtue that will never go to waste. As it says in the Avataṃsaka Sūtra: By seeing,
hearing or offering to the buddhas, a boundless store of merit is amassed. Till we are rid of all the destructive
emotions and the suffering of saṃsāra, this compounded merit will never go to waste. Also, whatever prayers of
aspiration we make before the Buddha will be fulfilled.
As it says in the Teaching on the Qualities of Mañjuśrī’s Pure Land: Everything is circumstantial and depends
entirely on our aspiration. Whatever prayers of aspiration we make the results we will gain accordingly. Generate
firm conviction in these statements, and recite the following:
ིང་ེ་ན་པོས་ོད་ན་ིགས་མ་ང་། །
nyingjé chenpö tsöden nyikmé shying
With your great compassion, you embraced this turbulent and degenerate world,
བང་ནས་ོན་ལམ་ན་པོ་་བ་བཏབ། །
zung né mönlam chenpo ngabgya tab
And made five hundred mighty aspirations.
པད་དཀར་ར་བགས་མཚན་ཐོས་ིར་་ོག །
pekar tar ngak tsen tö chir mindok
You are as exalted as the white lotus; whoever hears your name shall never return to
saṃsāra—
ོན་པ་གས་ེ་ཅན་ལ་ག་འཚལ་ལོ། །
tönpa tukjé chen la chaktsal lo
Most compassionate teacher, to you I pay homage!
བདག་གཞན་ོ་གམ་ད་ཚོགས་ལོངས་ོད་བཅས། །
dakshyen go sum gé tsok longchö ché
All my own and others’ virtues of body, speech and mind, together with all our
possessions,
ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་་དགས་ནས་འལ། ། 185
ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་་དགས་ནས་འལ། །
kunzang chöpé trin du mik né bul
Visualized like Samantabhadra’s offering clouds, I offer to you.
ཐོག་ད་ནས་བསགས་ིག་ང་མ་ས་པ། །
tokmé né sak diktung malüpa
All the harmful actions and transgressions I have committed throughout beginningless
time,
ིང་ནས་འོད་པ་ག་པོས་སོ་སོར་བཤགས། །
nying né gyöpa drakpö sosor shak
Each and every one I now confess, with intense and heartfelt regret.
འཕགས་དང་སོ་སོ་ེ་བོ་ད་བ་། །
pak dang sosö kyewö gewa ni
In all virtuous actions, of the noble ones and ordinary beings,
ས་གམ་བསགས་ལ་ེས་་་རང་་། །
dü sum sak la jesu yi rang ngo
Accumulated throughout the past, present and future, I rejoice.
ཟབ་ང་་་ས་ི་འར་ལོ་ལ། །
zab ching gyaché chö kyi khorlö tsul
Turn the Wheel of the profound and vast Dharma teachings,
ོགས་བར་ན་་འཆད་པར་བོར་་གསོལ། །
chok chur gyün michepar kor du sol
Ceaselessly and in every direction, I pray!
ོད་་ནམ་མཁའ་་་་ས་། །
khyö ni namkha tabü yeshe ku
Your wisdom body is like space
ས་གམ་འཕོ་འར་ད་པར་བགས་མོད་ི། །
dü sum pogyur mepar shyuk mö kyi
And remains changeless throughout past, present and future.
གལ་་ང་ར་ེ་འག་ལ་ོན་ང་། །
duljé nang ngor kyé jik tsul tön kyang
Yet in the perception of those to be guided, you go through the display of birth and death;
ལ་པ་གགས་་ག་་ང་བར་མཛོད། ། 186
ལ་པ་གགས་་ག་་ང་བར་མཛོད། །
trulpé zukku taktu nangwar dzö
Even so, let your form body continue always to appear.
བདག་ས་ས་གམ་བསགས་པ་ད་ཚོགས་ིས། །
dak gi dü sum sakpé gé tsok kyi
Through all the virtues I have accumulated in the past, am accumulating now and will
accumulate in the future,
མཁའ་བ་འོ་བ་ན་ལ་ཕན་ད་། །
khakhyab drowa kün la pen ledu
For the sake of benefitting all beings, who are as infinite as space,
ས་ི་ལ་པོ་ག་་མས་ེད་ང་། །
chö kyi gyalpo taktu nyé jé ching
May you, the sovereign of Dharma, be forever pleased,
ས་ེ་ལ་བ་་འཕང་ཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །
chöjé gyalwé gopang tobpar shok
And may all attain the state of the victorious one, the Lord of Dharma.
བདག་ཅག་ིགས་མ་འོ་བ་མན་ད་མས། །
dakchak nyikmé drowa gönmé nam
Living beings like us, adrift in this degenerate age, have no guidance and protection.
གས་ེས་ག་པར་བང་བ་བཀའ་ིན་ལས། །
tukjé lhakpar zungwé kadrin lé
Because of your kindness, caring for us with surpassing compassion,
ང་དང་ས་འར་ན་ན་མ་གམ་ི། །
shying dang dü dir rinchen nam sum gyi
Every manifestation, in this world now, of the Three Jewels
ང་བ་་ེད་ེད་ི་ིན་ལས་ད། །
nangwa jinyé khyé kyi trinlé nyi
Is your enlightened activity.
་ིར་བས་མག་མངས་ད་གག་་། །
dechir kyab chok tsungmé chikpu ru
You are then our only refuge, incomparable, supreme;
187
ད་ས་དད་པས་ིང་ནས་གསོལ་འབས་ན། །
yiché depé nying né soldeb na
So from our hearts we pray, with total confidence and faith:
ོན་ི་དམ་བཅའ་ན་པོ་མ་བེལ་བར། །
ngön gyi damcha chenpo manyelwar
Do not neglect the great promises you made in times gone by.
ང་བ་བར་་གས་ེས་ེས་འན་མཛོད།
changchub bardu tukjé jedzin dzö
But hold us, until we attain enlightenment, with your compassion.
ས་ད་ས་ི་དད་པ་ག་པོས་ོན་པ་དས་་བགས་ཡོད་མ་པ་་ལ་ེ་གག་་དགས་།
With the strongest possible confidence and faith, consider that the Buddha is actually there, in front of you.
Concentrate one-pointedly on his form. And recite the following as many times as you can:
་མ་ོན་པ་བམ་ན་འདས་་བན་གགས་པ་ད་བམ་པ་ཡང་དག་པར་ོགས་པ་སངས་
ས་དཔལ་ལ་བ་་བ་པ་ལ་ག་ཚལ་ལོ། །མད་དོ། །བས་་མའོ། །
lama tönpa chomdendé deshyin shekpa drachompa yangdakpar dzokpé sangye pal
gyalwa shakya tubpa la chak tsal lo chö do kyab su chi o
Supreme teacher, bhagavan, tathāgata, arhat, complete and perfect Buddha, glorious
conqueror, Śākyamuni Buddha, to you I pay homage! To you I make offerings! In you I
take refuge!
གས་ད་བལ་བ་ལ་་ར་ིན་་་ང་་ལས་གངས་པ་གངས་།
Then, as a means of invoking his wisdom mind, recite as many times as you can the following dhāraṇī, which is
taught in the abridged Prajñāpāramitā:
ཏ་ ་། ༀ་་་་་མ་་་ན་་་།
teyata om muné muné maha munayé soha
tadyathā oṃ mune mune mahāmunaye svāhā
ས་་གས་དང་།
Then recite, as many times as possible, the same mantra from oṃ onwards:
ༀ་་་་་མ་་་ན་་་།
om muné muné maha munayé soha
oṃ mune mune mahāmunaye svāhā
མན་ཆད་་འབ་་བའོ། འ་དག་་བས་་ོན་པ་ཡོན་ཏན་ེས་་ན་། དད་པ་མས་ིས་ེ་གག་་

་་གསལ་ང་ལ་དགས་ནས། མཚན་བོད་པ་དང་། བང་བས་པ་ེན་ིས།
During all this, bring to mind the Buddha’s qualities and, with a mind full of devotion, concentrate one-pointedly
on the clear visualization of his form. Then, through the power of uttering the names of the Buddha and reciting his
dhāraṇī, imagine that:
ོན་པ་་ལས་་ས་ི་འོད་ར་་ཚོགས་པ་ང་བ་ན་པོས་བདག་དང་མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་
188
ོན་པ་་ལས་་ས་ི་འོད་ར་་ཚོགས་པ་ང་བ་ན་པོས་བདག་དང་མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་
ི་ིབ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་བསལ་ང་།
tönpé ku lé yeshe kyi özer natsokpé nangwa chenpö dak dang semchen tamché kyi
dribpa tamché sal shying
From the Buddha’s body there emanates a great radiance, of multi-coloured rays of
wisdom light, dispelling all our own and others’ obscurations,
ག་པ་ན་པོ་ལམ་ི་ཡོན་ཏན་ལ་བན་་ེས་་ིར་་ོག་པ་ས་ནོན་པར་བསམ།
tekpa chenpö lam gyi yönten tsulshyin du kyé té chirmidokpé sa nönpar gyur
And causing all the genuine qualities of the Mahāyāna path to arise within us, so that we
attain the level of perfection from which we will never return again to saṃsāra.
་ར་་ས་་བོན་པར་འོ། ན་མཚམས་མས་་མལ་སོགས་མད་པ་དང་། བ་ོད་ི་གས་དང་། ིང་

ེ་པད་དཀར། ་ར་རོལ་པ། ེས་རབ་་ཚོགས། ་བན་གགས་པ་མཚན་བ་་བད་པ་སོགས་མདོ་གང་
འདོད་་ར་ས་པར་བག། ད་བ་་བ་མས་་ད་ང་བ་་བོ་བ་དང་ོན་ལམ་ིས་ས་གདབ་པར་འོ།
Diligently apply yourself to this practice, as much as you can. In between sessions, practise maṇḍala offering, and
recite, to the best of your ability, whichever sūtras you prefer, such as the Praises of the Buddha, White Lotus of
Compassion, Lalitavistara, Jātaka Tales, or The One Hundred and Eight Names of the Tathāgatas. Dedicate your
sources of virtue towards unsurpassable awakening and recite prayers of aspiration.
༈ བ་གགས་ས་བཅས་ན་ི་གས་བེད་དང་། །
deshek sé ché kün gyi tukkyé dang
Like all the buddhas and their heirs — in enlightened intention,
མཛད་པ་ོན་ལམ་མེན་བེ་ས་པ་ལ། །
dzepa mönlam khyen tsé nüpé tsul
And in activity, aspiration, wisdom, love and capacity,
་ད་་ས་་འལ་་འ་བ། །
lamé yeshe gyutrul chindrawa
In these and all the ways unsurpassable wisdom manifests —
་འ་་ནར་བདག་སོགས་འར་བར་ཤོག །
dendra khonar dak sok gyurwar shok
May I and every other being too come to be exactly as they are! 1
ིར་འོ་འཆག་ཉལ་འག་་བས་ན་་ོན་པ་ད་མ་བེད་པར་ན་པ་དང་། མཚན་མོ་ཡང་ོན་པ་དས་་
བགས་པ་་་འོད་ིས་ོགས་ཐམས་ཅད་ན་མོ་ན་་ངས་བ་ས་་ར་ང་བ་འ་ས་ི་ངང་་གད་
ལོག་པར་། ས་ན་་ོན་པ་ད་ིས་་ར་གས་བེད་པ་ལ་ལས་བམ་ེ། ས་གམ་ི་སངས་ས་དང་
ང་བ་མས་དཔའ་ན་པོ་མས་ི་མ་པར་ཐར་པ་ལ་ེས་་གཞོལ་བ་ང་བ་ི་མས་ན་པོ་་དམ་བཅའ་
189
ོད་པ་ད་པ་ངང་ནས་ང་བ་མས་དཔ་ོད་པ་ི་དང་། ད་པར་་ག་་ལ་འོར་ལ་་ས་་བོན་པས་
དལ་འོར་ཐོབ་པ་དོན་ན་་འར་། བདག་ཅག་་ོན་པ་འ་ད་ི་མཚན་ཐོས་པ་ཙམ་ག་ས་མ་ིས་ང་
བ་ན་པོ་ལམ་ལས་ིར་་ོག་པར་འར་བ་མདོ་་མ་ནས་གངས་ལ། ང་་བན་པ་བངས་འ་ལས་སངས་
ས་ཐམས་ཅད་འང་ང། གངས་འ་ེད་པ་མས་་ལ་པོ་ད་སངས་ས་ང་། ན་རས་གགས་ང་
བ་མས་དཔ་ོད་པ་མག་་ར་པ་དང་། གངས་འ་ཐོས་པ་ཙམ་ིས་བསོད་ནམས་་ན་པོ་གས་ད་པར་
འཐོབ་ང་ལས་ི་ིབ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ང་བ་དང་། གས་བབ་པ་ན་བགས་མ་མས་པར་བ་པར་འར་རོ་ས་
ས་རབ་ི་ཕ་རོལ་་ིན་པ་་་ང་་ས་པ་་ད་ལས་གངས་ང་། བཀའ་གཞན་ལས་ང་གངས་འ་ལན་
གག་བས་པས་བལ་པ་ེ་བ་ག་བད་ི་བར་་ས་པ་ིག་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ང་བར་འར་པ་སོགས་ཕན་ཡོན་
ཚད་ད་པ་དང་ན་ང། ་བན་གགས་པ་་བ་པ་ིང་པོ་དམ་པ་ད་་གངས་སོ། དད་པ་བེད་པ་དང་་
ག་་ལ་འོར་ལ་་ར་བོན་པ་ལ་ར་་བཤད་པར་འོ། །
In general, whatever you are doing, whether it is moving, walking, sleeping or sitting, you should constantly
remember the Buddha. Even at night, when you go to sleep, consider that the radiance of the Buddha’s form
illuminates the whole of space in every direction, lighting it up as brightly as during the day. At all times, emulate
the buddha’s actions from the moment he first generated the mind of awakening, and follow the example of the
buddhas and great bodhisattvas of the past, present and future. Maintaining your commitment to precious
bodhicitta, without ever allowing it to waver, exert yourself as much as possible in the bodhisattvas’ conduct in
general, and in the practices of śamatha and vipaśyanā in particular, so as to make meaningful the freedoms and
advantages of this human existence. It is said in several sūtras that merely hearing the name of our teacher, the
Buddha, ensures that one will gradually progress along the path to great enlightenment, without ever falling back.
It is also said that the dhāraṇī revealed above is the source of all the buddhas. It was through the force of discovering
this dhāraṇī that the King of Śākyas himself attained enlightenment, and that Avalokiteśvara became the supreme
of all the bodhisattvas. Through simply hearing this dhāraṇī, a vast accumulation of merit will easily be gained
and all karmic obscurations will be purified, and when it is recited, obstacles will not occur. This has been taught in
the Abridged Prajñāpāramitā. Other teachings say that by reciting this dhāraṇī only once, all the harmful actions
you have committed throughout eight hundred billion kalpas will be purified. They say that it possesses boundless
qualities such as these and is the sacred heart-essence of Buddha Śākyamuni. The ways to generate faith and exert
oneself in the practices of śamatha and vipaśyanā are explained elsewhere.
ས་པ་འ་་བབ་གམ་ནོར་་མཛོད་མངའ་དབོན་་ན་བན་འན་ནོར་་ནས་བ་ས་པ་་ས་དང་
བཅས་་ནན་ཏན་་བལ་བ་ད་ལ་འཇགས་པ་ེང་་་ཆར་ཡང་དབོན་ན་པོ་་ད་ནས་ལ་པ་་འགས་ད་
པད་མ་བ་ན་ལ་ན་། ན་ན་དང་པོ་སོགས་བ་ས་པ་་ས་ི་ེས་དང་བཅས་ར་་བ་པར་ིས་ས་
དམ་པ་ང་་བཀས་བལ་བ་ལ་བེན་ནས། ོན་པ་མག་ལ་་ེད་པ་དད་པ་ཐོབ་ང་། ས་མཐར་ས་་བ་
ང་ཙམ་འན་པ་་ེས་འག་་ཕམ་འཇམ་དངས་་མཚོས། ་ོ་ེ་འཕན་ག་་་ཞོལ་ན་ཚོགས་ནོར་་
ིང་། ན་ན་གས་ི་གསར་ས་་འལ་ན་པོ་་བ་ཡར་ས་བད་ལ་བ་པར་བིས་པ་འས་ང་
བན་འོ་ལ་ཕན་པ་ད་་ང་བ་ན་་འཆད་པར་ེད་པ་དང་། ལ་འ་མཐོང་ཐོས་ན་ག་་འོ་བ་མས་ི་
ད་པ་ོན་པ་བ་པ་དབང་པོ་ིན་བས་མངས་པ་ད་པ་མན་་འག་པར་ར་ག། ༎
The intention to compose this text first arose due to the persistent encouragement of Ön Orgyen Tenzin Norbu, who
is a holder of the treasury of threefold training, and who accompanied his request with the offering of auspicious
substances. More recently, the same Ön Rinpoche sent Tulku Jikmé Pema Dechen, with gifts of gold and other
auspicious substances, saying, “Please finish it quickly.” At the urging of these two great masters, I, Mipham
Jamyang Gyatso, a follower of Śākyamuni with unshakeable faith in the supreme teacher and is a Dharma teacher
in name only during this final age, composed this at Phuntsok Norbüi Ling at the foot of Mount Dza Dorje Penchuk.
It was completed on the eighth day of the Month of Miracles in the Iron Rat year. 2
190
May this benefit the teachings and beings continuously, without interruption, on a marvellous scale, and may all
who see, hear, think of, or come into contact with it in any way, truly receive the incomparable blessings of our
teacher, the Lord of Sages.
| Translated by Rigpa Translations, with reference to existing versions by Tulku Thondup Rinpoche and the
Padmakara Translation Group.
1. ↑ These four lines are not part of the original text but are added here in most recent editions
2. ↑ i.e., 1900. This would mean he only completed the text in the year of Orgyen Tenzin Norbu's death.
191
༄༅། །བསམ་ན་བས་པ་བགས།
A Brief Prayer for the Spontaneous Fulfilment of Aspirations

by Mipham Rinpoche
སངས་ས་ན་འས་་་ན་པོ་། །
sangye kündü guru rinpoche
Embodiment of all buddhas, Precious Master,
་ན་པ་འང་གནས་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འབས། །
orgyen pema jungné la solwa deb
To you, Lotus-born Guru of Orgyen we pray:
་མན་འགལ་ེན་བར་ཆད་་བ་དང༌། །
mitün galkyen barché shyiwa dang
Grant us your blessing, to pacify disharmony, conflicting circumstances and obstacles,
བསམ་པ་ན་ིས་འབ་པར་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
sampa lhün gyi drubpar jingyi lob
And spontaneously fulfil all our aspirations.
བསམ་ན་བས་པ་་ཕམ་པས་སོ། །
This brief prayer for the spontaneous fulfilment of aspirations was composed by Mipham.
| Rigpa Translations, 2004
192
༄༅། །ས་བ་མཛད་པ་ེས་ན་བགས།
Recollecting the Deeds of The Tenth Days

by Mipham Rinpoche
་མ་ཧོཿ སངས་ས་ན་འས་་་པ་། །
emaho, sangye kündü guru pema yi
Emaho: O wonder! Guru Padma, in you all buddhas are embodied,
ས་བ་མཛད་པ་ེས་ན་ས་པས་འད། །
tsé chü dzepa jedren güpé dü
To you I bow in devotion, remembering your deeds on the tenth days:
Sixth month
དྷ་ན་་ཤར་པ་ིང་པོར་འངས། །
dhanakoshar pemé nyingpor trung
On the Dhanakośa lake, you were born in the heart of a lotus blossom,
Twelfth month
་ན་ལ་པོ་ས་་ལ་ིད་བང༌། །
orgyen gyalpö sé su gyalsi zung
As crown prince of Oḍḍiyāna, you ruled the kingdom,
First month
ལ་ིད་ངས་ནས་ར་ོད་བལ་གས་མཛད། །
gyalsi pang né durtrö tulshyuk dzé
Relinquishing the kingdom, you practised yogic discipline in the charnel grounds,
Second month
བན་ལ་རབ་ང་མདོ་གས་ས་་མེན། །
ten la rabjung do ngak sheja khyen
Ordained into the teaching, you mastered all objects of knowledge of both sūtras and
tantras,
Third month
ཟ་ཧོར་ལ་ཁམས་ས་བད་་མ་བེན། །
zahor gyalkham chö kö lhacham ten
You established the Dharma in the kingdom of Zahor, taking the princess Mandāravā as
your consort,
Fourth month
་ན་ལ་ཁམས་ང་བ་ལམ་ལ་བད། ། 193
་ན་ལ་ཁམས་ང་བ་ལམ་ལ་བད། །
orgyen yul kham changchub lam la kö
You set the land of Oḍḍiyāna on the path to enlightenment,
Fifth month
་ེགས་ཚར་བཅད་བན་པ་ལ་མཚན་བེངས། །
mutek tsarché tenpé gyaltsen dreng
Destroying the tīrthikas, you raised the victory banner of the teachings,
Seventh month
ི་རོལ་འ་བ་་འལ་་བས་བལ། །
chirol tsewa dzutrul chewé tul
When non-Buddhists harmed you, you subdued them with the greatness of your miracles,
Eighth month
ག་ན་ན་བར་་ེགས་ས་ལ་བད། །
duk chen men gyur mutek chö la tsü
Transforming deadly poison into medicine, you brought the tīrthikas into the Dharma,
Ninth month
བལ་ལ་བགས་བལ་ཡང་ར་དས་བ་བེས། །
balyul gek tul yang pur ngödrub nyé
Overcoming obstructive spirits in Nepal, you attained the siddhis of Yangdak and
Vajrakīlaya,
Tenth month
བོད་ལ་ས་བལ་དམ་ས་ོན་ད་ར། །
böyul sa tul damchö drönmé par
Subjugating the earth of Tibet, you lit the lamp of the sacred Dharma,
Eleventh month
གངས་ཅན་མཐའ་དས་གར་ཁ་ངས་ད་ས། །
gangchen ta ü terkha drangmé bé
In the centre and on the borders of Tibet you concealed countless termas.
ལོ་གག་བ་གས་་བ་ས་བ་ལ། །
lo chik chunyi dawé tsé chu la
“On the tenth day of each of the twelve months of the year
མཛད་ན་བ་གས་བན་ལ་དད་ས་ན། ། 194
མཛད་ན་བ་གས་བན་ལ་དད་ས་ན། །
dzé chen chunyi ten la déjé na
I have displayed one of my twelve great deeds; have faith in them,
དས་བ་བ་གས་ོལ་ས་ཞལ་བས་ར། །
ngödrub chunyi tsol shyé shyalshyé tar
And I will grant you the twelve siddhis.” As this was your promise,
་་ན་པོ་་ལ་གསོལ་བ་འབས། །
guru rinpoche la solwa deb
Guru Rinpoche, to you I pray:
བར་ཆད་ན་་་བསམ་ད་བན་འབ། །
barché kün shyi chi sam yishyin drub
Pacify all obstacles, accomplish whatever we wish, just as our minds desire,
ས་དང་ིད་ི་གས་ཚོགས་ང་་འལ། །
chö dang si kyi lektsok gong du pel
Make all good things, both spiritual and worldly, increase more and more,
མག་ན་དས་བ་མ་ས་ཐོབ་པ་དང༌། །
choktün ngödrub malü tobpa dang
Let us attain all the siddhis, ordinary and supreme,
་་ད་དང་དེར་ད་སངས་ས་ཤོག །
guru nyi dang yermé sangye shok
And awaken into buddhahood, inseparable, O Guru, from you!
ས་པའང་་དམ་ཡང་དན་བསམ་གཏན་བ་ན་ིང་་རབ་ས་་ག་ོ་བན་་བ་ི་མ་ས་ར་བད་དང་
མོར་་ཕམ་འཇམ་དཔལ་དེས་པས་ར་བ་ད་གས་འལ།། །།
In the hermitage of Rudam valley, Samten Déden Ling, in the evening of the twenty-eighth day of the doubled
seventh month of the Water Tiger year (1902), this was composed by Mipham Jampal Gyépa. May virtue and
goodness prevail!
| Rigpa Translations
195
༄༅། །གསོལ་འབས་དས་བ་ན་འང་བགས།
The Prayer which is the Source of All True Realization

by Mipham Rinpoche
ལ་པ་་་མཚན་བད་དང༌། །
trulpé guru tsen gyé dang
To the eight manifestations of Guru Rinpoche,
བ་པ་ག་འན་ན་པོ་བད། །
drubpé rigdzin chenpo gyé
The eight great accomplished vidyādharas,
ང་མས་་བ་ས་བད་དང༌། །
changsem nyewé sé gyé dang
The eight great bodhisattvas,
བ་ན་བཀའ་བད་་ཚོགས་ལ། །
drubchen kagyé lhatsok la
The eight maṇḍalas of Kagyé with all their deities,
གསོལ་བ་འབས་སོ་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
solwa deb so jingyi lob
To you we pray—inspire us with your blessings!
ི་ནང་གསང་བ་བར་ཆད་སོལ། །
chi nang sangwé barché sol
Dispel all obstacles outer, inner and secret!
བསམ་པ་ད་བན་འབ་པ་དང༌། །
sampa yishyin drubpa dang
Fulfil all our aspirations!
མག་དང་ན་མོང་དས་བ་ོལ། །
chok dang tünmong ngödrub tsol
Grant us attainments ordinary and supreme!
གར་འང་་་ིན་་དམར་ོགས་དགའ་བ་དང་པོ་་ཤར་ལ་འཇམ་དཔལ་ོ་ེ་ད་མཚོ་ལས་བོལ་བའོ། །
This arose from the lake of the mind of Jampal Dorjé at dawn on the first day of the waning moon of the month of
Pleiades in the Fire Bird year (1897).
| Rigpa Translations, 2004
196
༄༅། །ང་ིད་དབང་་ད་པ་གསོལ་འབས་ིན་བས་ིན་ན་བགས་སོ། །
Wang Dü: ‘The Great Cloud of Blessings’—The Prayer which Magnetizes All that
Appears and All that Exists
by Mipham Rinpoche
ༀ་ཿྂ་ ིཿ བ་ན་འབར་བ་དབང་་ཕོ་ང་། །
om ah hung hrih, dechen barwa wang gi podrang du
Oṃ āḥ hūṃ hrīḥ! In the palace of power, the blazing of great bliss,
བ་ོང་སོ་སོར་ོག་པ་་ས་། །
detong sosor tokpé yeshe ku
Are the embodiments of the wisdom of discernment, union of bliss and emptiness:
མ་ཆགས་བ་ན་པ་རང་བན་ལས། །
machak deden pemé rangshyin lé
Each on a lotus, its nature bliss free from all attachment,
ོ་ེ་་མ་ང་བ་ན་པོ་དཔལ། །
dorjé nyima nangwa chenpö pal
And the splendour of a great, illuminating vajra sun—
ས་་ང་བ་མཐའ་ཡས་ོ་ེ་ས། །
chöku nangwa tayé dorjé chö
Dharmakāya Amitābha and Vajradharma,
འག་ེན་དབང་ག་གས་ེས་ེས་ཆགས་གགས། །
jikten wangchuk tukjé jechak zuk
Avalokiteśvara, Lord of the World, the very manifestation of compassion,
པ་ལ་པོས་འར་འདས་མངའ་དབང་བར། །
pema gyalpö khordé ngawang gyur
Padma Gyalpo, all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa beneath your control,
ང་ིད་ལ་གནོན་དབང་ན་་་ཀ །
nangsi zilnön wangchen heruka
Powerful heruka, subjugator of all that appears and exists,
གསང་བ་་ས་བ་་ར་། །
sangwa yeshe benza varahi
‘Secret Wisdom’ (Guhyajñāna) and Vajravārāhī,
བ་མག་འདོད་པ་ལ་པོ་བ་ན་གར། ། 197
བ་མག་འདོད་པ་ལ་པོ་བ་ན་གར། །
demchok döpé gyalpo dechen ter
Döpé Gyalpo, King of Desire, ecstasy supreme, source of the wisdom of great bliss,
མ་ས་ེ་་ད་འོག་ག་ེད་མ། །
malü kyegü yitrok rikjema
Kurukullā, who captivates the mind of every living being without exception,
མག་ན་ག་་དབང་ག་བ་ོང་གར། །
choktün chakgyé wangchuk detong gar
Masters and mistresses of supreme and ordinary mudrās, dancing in bliss and emptiness,
དབང་མཛད་ོ་ེ་དཔའ་བོ་ི་ཚོགས། །
wangdzé dorjé pawo daki tsok
Hosts of vajra ḍākas and ḍākinīs attract and magnetize.
ང་ོང་མཉམ་པ་ན་པོ་ངང་ད་། །
nangtong nyampa chenpö ngang nyi du
Remaining always within the state of great equality of appearance and emptiness,
ོ་ེ་་་གར་ིས་ིད་གམ་གཡོ། །
dorjé ku yi gar gyi si sum yo
With the dance of your vajra body, you cause the three planes of existence to tremble;
འགག་ད་གང་་བཞད་ས་ཁམས་གམ་འགས། །
gakmé sung gi shyé dré kham sum guk
With the sound of your laughter, your unceasing enlightened speech, you draw in the
three worlds;
འོད་ར་དམར་པོས་འར་འདས་ཡོངས་ལ་བ། །
özer marpö khordé yong la khyab
Rays of red light burst out to fill all of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa
ིད་་ངས་བད་གཡོ་ང་ད་པར་ེད། །
sishyi dangchü yo shying düparjé
And cause the vital essence of conditioned existence and ultimate peace to vibrate and be
gathered in.
ོ་ེ་ཆགས་པ་ན་པོ་གས་ིས་། །
dorjé chakpa chenpö tuk kyi ni
With your enlightened mind of great vajra passion,
མ་གས་དས་བ་འདོད་ད་མག་ོལ་ང༌། །
nam nyi ngödrub dö gü chok tsol shying
You grant the supreme of all things desired—the two kinds of siddhis;
ོ་ེ་གས་་ཞགས་པ་ན་པོ་ས། ། 198
ོ་ེ་གས་་ཞགས་པ་ན་པོ་ས། །
dorjé chakkyu shyakpa chenpo yi
And with your great vajra hooks and lassos
ང་ིད་བ་བ་ན་པོར་ོམ་ེད་པ། །
nangsi dewa chenpor domjepa
You bind the world of appearance and existence in great bliss.
མཐའ་ཡས་་འལ་་བ་རོལ་གར་ཅན། །
tayé gyutrul drawé rolgarchen
Dancers in the play of the limitless net of illusion,
ལ་ི་ང་་ེ་བ་བན་བགས་པ། །
til gyi gongbu chewa shyin shyukpé
Who fill space to overflowing, like a vast outpouring of sesame seeds,
རབ་འམས་་གམ་དབང་་་ཚོགས་ལ། །
rabjam tsa sum wang gi lhatsok la
Vast array of the Three Roots, hosts of magnetizing deities,
ས་པས་གསོལ་བ་འབས་སོ་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
güpé solwa deb so jingyi lob
In devotion we pray to you: inspire us with your blessings,
མག་ན་དས་བ་འདོད་ད་དཔལ་མཐའ་དག །
choktün ngödrub dö gü pal tadak
Grant us attainments, ordinary and supreme, and so the siddhi
ཐོགས་ད་དབང་་ེད་པ་དས་བ་ོལ། །
tokmé wang du jepé ngödrub tsol
Of magnetizing, without obstruction, whatever we desire!
ས་པའང་རབ་ས་ས་ཡོས་་ ༧ ས་ ༡ ལ་ིཿང་པས་ེལ་བ། གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་ན་གང་ཟག་་ཡང་ང་ེ་དབང་

་ལས་ན་་ར་བསམ་པ་བན་འབ་པར་གདོན་་ཟའོ། །དར་དམར་ལ་ིས་་ར་བའམ། ་ང་ལ་འར་ལོ་
ས་ང་འབ་བོ། །མ་། །
This was composed on the first day of the seventh month of the Earth Hare year (1879) by one named Dhīḥ. Anyone
who prays in this way will, without any doubt, accomplish all magnetizing activities exactly according to their
wishes. This prayer may be written on red flags and flown in the air, or used in prayer wheels powered by heat or
wind. Mangalaṃ!
199
༄༅། །གས་ེད་མ་བ་ཐབས།
A Sādhana of Kurukullā
by Mipham Rinpoche
ོང་པ་ངང་ལས་པད་་རོ་གདན་ེང་། །
tongpé ngang lé pé nyi roden teng
Out of the state of emptiness, upon lotus, sun and corpse,
ིཿལས་གས་ེད་དབང་མོ་་མདོག་དམར། །
hrih lé rikjé wangmo kudok mar
A syllable Hrīḥ transforms into Kurukullā, red in colour,
ཞལ་གག་ག་བ་ད་འོག་གཞོན་འམ་ོ། །
shyal chik chak shyi yitrok shyön dzum tro
With one face, four arms, enchanting youthfulness and wrathful smile,
དང་པོ་ག་གས་ལ་མདའ་ག་འངས། །
dangpö chak nyi utpal dashyu geng
Her first two hands draw a bow and arrow of utpala flowers,
ཐ་མ་ག་གས་གས་་ཞགས་པ་བམས། །
tamé chak nyi chakkyu shyakpa nam
And the final two hold a hook and lasso.
ན་གམ་དམར་མ་ད་་དམར་ར་བེས། །
chen sum mar dum utra marser dzé
She has three round red eyes and streaming orange hair adorned with five dry skulls,
ཐོད་མ་ས་བན་ཐོད་ོན་དོ་ཤལ་འང་། །
tökam ngé gyé tö lön doshal chang
And she wears a garland of freshly severed heads,
ས་པ་ན་དང་དར་དངས་ག་ཤམས་ས། །
rüpé gyen dang dar chang tak sham tré
Bone ornaments, silk scarf and a skirt of tiger skin.
བང་བམ་གར་བས་་མ་བ་ཡོལ་ཅན། །
kyangkum gartab nyimé gyab yolchen
With one leg stretched and the other bent, she is in dancing pose with a sun behind
འོད་དམར་ོང་བགས་ིད་་ངས་བད་འགས། །
ö mar long shyuk sishyi dangchü guk
And in an expanse of red light, summoning the vital essence of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
གནས་གམ་་ས་་ས་ན་ངས་བིམ། ། 200
གནས་གམ་་ས་་ས་ན་ངས་བིམ། །
né sum yigé yeshe chendrang tim
The wisdom deity is invited through the syllables at her three centres, then dissolves.
གས་ས་དབང་བར་ང་མཐས་དར་བན་པ། །
rik ngé wangkur nang té ur gyenpé
The five families confer empowerment, with Amitābha as the crown ornament.
གས་དས་་ེང་ ིཿལ་གས་ིས་བོར། །
tuk ü nyi teng hrih la ngak kyi kor
In the centre of her heart, upon a sun disc is a syllable Hrīḥ surrounded by the mantra,
འོད་འོས་ིད་་ན་ཚོགས་དབང་བས་ར། །
ö trö sishyi püntsok wangdü gyur
From which light radiates out, magnetizing all that is excellent in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.
ༀ་་་ེ་ ིཿ་།
om kurukullé hrih soha
oṃ kurukullā hrīḥ svāhā
གང་ག་ན་དང་བས་པ་ཙམ་ིས་ང་། །འག་ེན་གམ་པོ་དབང་་ེད་པའོ། །
Anyone who merely thinks and recites in this way will gain control of the Three Realms.
་ཕམ་པས་སོ།།
Composed by Mipham.
| Translated by Abraham Ta-Quan, 2019.
201
༄༅། །ག་བན་གསོལ་འབས་དང་འེལ་བ་་མ་ལ་འོར་ིན་བབས་ཆར་
འབས་བགས།
A Shower of Blessings: A Guru Yoga Practice to Accompany the Seven Line Prayer
by Mipham Rinpoche
བས་འོ་།
Taking Refuge
ན་མོ༔ ་མ་བ་གགས་འས་པ་༔
namo lama deshek düpé ku
Homage! Lama, you embody all the sugatas,
དན་མག་གམ་ི་རང་བན་ལ༔
könchok sum gyi rangshyin la
Your very nature the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha.
བདག་དང་འོ་ག་མས་ཅན་མས༔
dak dang dro druk semchen nam
Together with all sentient beings in the six realms,
ང་བ་བར་་བས་་མ༔
changchup bar du kyap su chi
Till enlightenment is attained, I take refuge in you.
Repeat three times.
མས་བེད་།
Arousing Bodhicitta, the Heart of the Awakened Mind
མས་བེད་འོ་བ་ན་དོན་༔
sem kyé drowa kün dön tu
Now I arouse bodhicitta, and to benefit all living beings
་མ་སངས་ས་བབ་ནས་༔
lama sanggyé drupné ni
Through realizing the awakened state of the master,
གང་ལ་གང་འལ་ིན་ལས་ིས༔
gang la gang dul trinlé kyi
And with enlightened action, training every one according to their needs,
འོ་བ་ོལ་བར་དམ་བཅའ་འོ༔ 202
འོ་བ་ོལ་བར་དམ་བཅའ་འོ༔
drowa drolwar dam cha o
I vow to liberate them all.
Repeat three times.
ཚོགས་བསགས་ཡན་ལག་བ་པ་།
The Ten Branches for Accumulating Merit
་མ་་དམ་མཁའ་འོ་གགས༔
lama yidam khandro shek
Approach now, gurus, devas and ḍākinīs:
་་པ་གདན་ལ་བགས༔
nyi da peme den la shyuk
Take your seats on cushions of lotus, sun and moon.
ས་ངག་ད་གམ་ས་ག་འཚལ༔
lü ngak yi sum gü chak tsal
I offer homage, while devotion fills my body, speech and mind.
ི་ནང་གསང་བ་མད་པ་འལ༔
chi nang sangwé chö pa bul
I make offerings, outer, inner and secret.
ཉམས་ཆག་ིག་ིབ་མཐོལ་ང་བཤགས༔
nyamchak dik drip tol shying shak
I confess all impairments and breakages of vows, all my harmful actions and obscurations.
གསང་གས་བབས་ལ་ེས་་རངས༔
sang ngak drup la jé yi rang
I rejoice, because the secret mantrayāna is being accomplished.
ིན་ོལ་གསང་གས་ས་འར་བོར༔
mindrol sang ngak chö khor kor
I request you: Turn the wheel of the secret mantra teachings, which bring ripening and
liberation.
་ངན་་འདའ་བགས་གསོལ་འབས༔
nya ngen mi da shyuk sol dep
Remain with us without passing into nirvana, I pray.
ིང་པོ་མས་ཅན་དོན་་བོ༔
nyingpo semchen dön du ngo
All merit I dedicate so that sentient beings attain the essence of enlightenment:
203
ཡང་དག་ོ་ེ་དོན་ོགས་ཤོག༔ །
yang dak dorjé dön tok shok
May we realize the true meaning of indestructible reality.
The Visualization
ཨཿ རང་ས་ཐ་མལ་གནས་པ་མན་མཁའ་། །
ah rang lü tamal nepé dün kha ru
Ah! I am in my ordinary form; before me, in the sky
་ན་ི་ད་དྷ་ན་་ཤ་མཚོ། །
orgyen drimé dhanakoshé tso
Appears Oḍḍiyāna, and the immaculate Dhanakośa lake,
གང་ཟབ་ཡན་ལག་བད་ན་ས་གང་བ། །
ting zap yenlak gyé den chü gangwé
Deep and full of water with eight kinds of purity.
དས་་ན་ན་པད་ོང་འདབ་ས་ེང་། །
wü su rin en pé dong་dap gyé teng
In its centre you dwell, on a jewelled lotus blossom, its petals open wide:
བས་གནས་ན་འས་་ན་ོ་ེ་འཆང་། །
kyapné kundü orgyen dorjé chang
All sources of refuge combined, Orgyen Dorje Chang,
མཚན་ད་དཔལ་འབར་མཚོ་ལ་མ་དང་འིལ། །
tsenpé palbar tsogyal yum dang tril
Ablaze in splendour with the major and minor marks of perfection, and embracing the
consort Yeshe Tsogyal.
ག་གཡས་ོ་ེ་གཡོན་པས་ཐོད་མ་བམས། །
chak yé dorjé yönpé tö bum nam
You hold a vajra in your right hand, a skull cup containing a vase in your left,
དར་དང་ན་ན་ས་པ་ན་ིས་མས། །
dar dang rinchen rüpé gyen gyi dzé
Beautiful in all your silk, jewel and bone ornaments.
འོད་་ོང་ནས་བ་ན་ག་ིན་འབར། །
öngé longné dechen zi jin bar
In an expanse of blue, white, yellow, red and green light, you preside resplendent,
radiating great bliss.
འར་་་གམ་་མཚོ་ིན་ར་གབས། ། 204
འར་་་གམ་་མཚོ་ིན་ར་གབས། །
khor du tsa sum gyatso trin tar tip
All around you, gurus, devas and ḍākinīs gather like clouds.
ིན་བས་གས་ེ་ཆར་འབས་བདག་ལ་གགས། །
jinlap tukjé char bep dak la zik
Pour down your blessings in a rain of compassion: watch over and care for me!
ལ་ན་་བོ་འ་ད་་ས་ར། །
gyal kün ngowo chimé yeshé kur
Essence of all buddhas, in your immortal wisdom body,
གང་གས་ག་པོས་དད་ག་ག་་འཚལ། །
dung shuk drakpö dé chak tak tu tsal
Now and always, I bow to you with passionate longing and devotion.
ས་དང་ལོངས་ོད་ས་གམ་ད་བ་ཚོགས། །
lü dang long chö dü sum gewé tsok
My bodies, possessions and all my merit, past, present and future
ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་་དགས་ནས་འལ། །
kunzang chöpé trin du mikné bul
I visualize as Samantabhadra’s offering clouds, and present them to you.
ཐོག་ད་ནས་བསགས་ིག་ང་མ་ས་བཤགས། །
tokmé né sak dik tung ma lü shak
My harmful actions and downfalls, committed through beginningless time, I confess
without exception.
ས་བཅས་ལ་བ་ན་ི་ཡོན་ཏན་ི། །
sé ché gyalwa kün gyi yönten gyi
You alone have completely mastered the precious qualities of all the buddhas and
bodhisattvas,
བ་བདག་གག་་མན་པོ་མ་ཐར་ལ། །
khyap dak chik pu gönpö nam tar la
And with all my heart I rejoice at your liberating life story.
ིང་ནས་་རང་དད་པས་གསོལ་འབས་ང་། །
nying né yi rang depé sol dep shing
With total trust I pray to you,
ཟབ་ས་ས་ི་ཆར་ན་འབས་པར་བལ། །
zap gyé chö kyi char chen beppar kul
And implore you: shower down a great rain of Dharma, profound and vast.
རང་གཞན་ད་བ་དས་པོ་ན་བོམས་ནས། ། 205
རང་གཞན་ད་བ་དས་པོ་ན་བོམས་ནས། །
rang shyen gewé ngöpo kun dom né
Gathering all the actual merit of myself and others,
འོ་ཁམས་་མཚོ་་ིད་གནས་ི་བར། །
dro kham gyatso ji si né kyi bar
For as long as these infinite realms of living beings remain
མན་པོ་ོད་ི་མ་ཐར་ེས་བེགས་། །
gönpo khyö kyi namtar jé nyek té
I shall follow your example, Lord,
མཁའ་བ་འོ་བ་འེན་པ་དོན་་བོ། །
kha khyap drowa drenpé dön du ngo
And dedicate it all to guiding beings as limitless as space.
བས་གནས་ན་འས་མེན་བེ་གར་ན་པོ། །
kyapné kundü khyentsé terchen po
You are all my sources of refuge in one, a great treasure of wisdom and love,
ས་ངན་ིགས་མ་བས་མག་ན་པོ་། །
dü ngen nyik mé kyap chok rinpoché
Our precious, our greatest, protection in this dark age, the dregs of time.
་བདོ་ད་པས་མནར་ང་གངས་གས་ིས། །
nga dö güpé nar shing dung shuk kyi
Tormented and drained by the the five kinds of degeneration, when I call on you
གསོལ་འབས་་ལ་བེ་བས་གས་ིས་གགས། །
sol dep bu la tsewé tuk kyi zik
In desperate yearning, look upon your child with all the love of your wisdom mind.
དངས་པ་ོང་ནས་གས་ེ་ལ་ངས་ལ། །
gong pé long né tukjé tsal chung la
Let the power of your compassion burst out from your vast expanse of realization,
མོས་ན་བདག་་ིང་ལ་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
mö den dak gi nying la jin gyi lop
And flood my devoted heart with your blessing.
གས་དང་མཚན་མ་ར་་ོན་པ་དང་། །
tak dang tsenma nyur du tönpa dang
Quickly show me the signs and marks of attainment,
མག་དང་ན་མོང་དས་བ་ལ་་གསོལ། 206
མག་དང་ན་མོང་དས་བ་ལ་་གསོལ།
chok dang tünmong ngödrup tsal du sol
And grant me siddhis, ordinary and supreme.
ག་བན་གསོལ་འབས་་ས་་འདོན། །
Recite The Seven Line Prayer as many times as you can.
ྃ༔ ་ན་ལ་ི་བ་ང་མཚམས༔
hung, orgyen yul gyi nup jang tsam
Hūṃ. In the north-west of the land of Oḍḍiyāna,
པ་་སར་ོང་པོ་ལ༔
pema gésar dong po la
In the heart of a lotus flower,
ཡ་མཚན་མག་་དས་བ་བེས༔
yatsen chok gi ngö drup nyé
Endowed with the most marvellous attainments,
པ་འང་གནས་ས་་གས༔
pema jungné shyé su drak
You are renowned as the Lotus-born,
འར་་མཁའ་འོ་མང་པོས་བོར༔
khor du khandro mangpö kor
Surrounded by many hosts of ḍākinīs.
ེད་ི་ེས་་བདག་བབ་ིས༔
khyé kyi jesu dak drup kyi
Following in your footsteps
ིན་ིས་ོབས་ིར་གགས་་གསོལ༔
jin gyi lop chir shek su sol
I pray to you: come and bless me with your grace!
་་པ་ི་ྃ༔
guru pema siddhi hung
ས་མོས་ས་ིས་གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་པས་་མ་ཡབ་མ་ི་ོར་མཚམས་དང་གས་ཀ་ནས་་ས་ི་འོད་ར་་་བ་
ཐག་ར་བངས་ནས་རང་་ིང་གར་མ་པས་ད་ིན་ིས་བབ་པར་བསམ།
Imagine that, because you are praying with sincere devotion, from the place of union and the heart of the lama and
the consort fine shafts of wisdom light—blue, white, yellow, red and green—shoot out and dissolve into your heart,
blessing and transforming your very being.
Recite the Vajra Guru Mantra as much as you wish.
ༀ་ཿྃ་བ་་་པ་ི་ྃ༔ 207
ༀ་ཿྃ་བ་་་པ་ི་ྃ༔
om ah hung vajra guru pema siddhi hung
ན་མཐར།
At the end of the session:
་མ་གནས་གམ་་་འ་གམ་ལས༔
lamé né sum yi gé dru sum lé
From the three syllables oṃ āḥ hūṃ at the three centres of the lama,
འོད་ར་དཀར་དམར་མང་གམ་ང་ནས་༔
özer kar mar ting sum jung né su
White, red and blue rays of light strike out
རང་་གནས་གམ་མ་པས་ོ་གམ་ི༔
rang gi né sum timpé go sum gyi
And dissolve into my own three centres, purifying the obscurations
ིབ་ང་་གང་གས་ི་ོ་ེར་ར༔
drip jang ku sung tuk kyi dorjér gyur
Of my body, speech and mind, and transforming them into vajra body, speech and mind.
མཐར་་་མ་འར་བཅས་འོད་་༔
tar ni lama khor ché ö du shyu
Finally, the lama and his retinue melt into light
དཀར་དམར་ག་་ྃ་ས་མཚན་པ་༔
kar mar tiglé hum gi tsen pa ru
And into a red and white tiklé marked with hūṃ,
རང་་ིང་གར་མ་པས་་མ་གས༔
rang gi nying gar timpé lamé tuk
That dissolves into my heart, through which the lama’s wisdom mind
རང་མས་དེར་ད་ན་ེས་ས་ར་གནས༔
rang sem yermé lhen kyé chö kur né
And my own mind merge inseparably, and so I abide in the ever present dharmakāya.
ཨ་ཨ༔
aa
ས་བོད་ལ་་ནས་བས་བར་ང་ང་ལས་འདས་པ་རང་་མས་ད་གདོད་མ་ས་་ན་པོ་རང་ཞལ་
བ། །ར་ཡང་་མ་་་ང་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་་མ་རང་བན་་བས་ལ་ད་བ་བོ་ང་ས་པ་བོད་པས་བ་
གས་་འོ། །
As you utter a ah, look into the actual face of the great primordial dharmakaya—the very nature of your own mind
208
that from the very beginning is utterly beyond alteration or change, beyond rejecting or accepting anything at all.
Once again, consider all illusion-like appearances as the nature of the lama. Dedicate the merit and make prayers
for auspiciousness, so that peace and wellbeing prevail.
End the practice well by recognizing all illusory appearance as the nature of the lama, dedicating the merit and
making a prayer of prosperity.
ས་པའང་ཐམས་ཅད་འལ་ས་པ་ོ་བན་་བ་ཡར་ས་བད་ལ། །་རབས་ཐམས་ཅད་་་་པ་ན་་
ོན་ལམ་འབས་པ་་ཕམ་མ་པར་ལ་བ་ད་ི་མཚོ་ལས་ང་བ་དའོ། །
On the eighth day of the waxing moon in the seventh month called ‘Taming All Beings’, this arose from the oceanic
mind of Mipham Nampar Gyalwa, one who prays and aspires to serve Guru Padmasambhava in all his lives. May
virtue ensue!
ས་མ་། །
Sarva Maṅgalaṃ.
209
༄༅། །ོ་ེ་ག་བན་དང་འེལ་བ་ཚོགས་མད་དཔལ་ི་མ་བཟང་།
Excellent Vase of Splendour: The Tsok Feast Offering to Accompany the Vajra
Seven Line Prayer
by Mipham Rinpoche
ཤ་ཆང་སོགས་་འོར་བ་དམ་ས་བཤམས་ལ།
Arrange whatever samaya substances you have, such as meat and alcohol.
ྃ། ཿལས་ས་དིངས་དང་མཉམ་ཀ་པ་ལར། །
hung, ah lé chöying dang nyam kapalar
Hūṃ. With āḥ appears a skullcup, as vast as the space of dharmadhātu,
ༀ་ལས་ང་ིད་འདོད་ཡོན་ཚོགས་་བཤམས། །
om lé nang si dö yön tsok su sham
With oṃ, all appearance and existence are displayed as the tsok offerings
ྃ་ས་བ་ན་་ས་རོལ་པར་བར། །
hung gi dechen yeshé rolpar gyur
With hung, they transform into the wisdom play of great bliss,
ིཿས་་གམ་་ཚོགས་དེས་པ་བང་། །
hrih yi tsa sum lha tsok gyé pa kang
With hrīḥ, gurus, devas and ḍākinīs, all the deities gathered, are pleased and satisfied.
ༀ་ཿྃ་ ིཿས་ིན་ིས་བབས།
om ah hung hrih
Bless the offerings with oṃ āḥ hūṃ hrīḥ
ྃ༔ ་ན་ལ་ི་བ་ང་མཚམས༔
hung, orgyen yul gyi nup jang tsam
Hūṃ. In the north-west of the land of Oḍḍiyāna,
པ་་སར་ོང་པོ་ལ༔
pema gésar dong po la
In the heart of a lotus flower,
ཡ་མཚན་མག་་དས་བ་བེས༔
yatsen chok gi ngö drup nyé
Endowed with the most marvellous attainments,
པ་འང་གནས་ས་་གས༔
pema jungné shyé su drak
You are renowned as the Lotus-born,
འར་་མཁའ་འོ་མང་པོས་བོར༔ 210
འར་་མཁའ་འོ་མང་པོས་བོར༔
khor du khandro mangpö kor
Surrounded by many hosts of ḍākinīs.
ེད་ི་ེས་་བདག་བབ་ིས༔
khyé kyi jesu dak drup kyi
Following in your footsteps,
འདོད་ཡོན་ཚོགས་ལ་ན་འེན་ན༔
dö yön tsok la chen dren na
We invite you to this feast of desirable offerings,
ིན་ིས་ོབས་ིར་གགས་་གསོལ༔
jin gyi lop chir shek su sol
So come now, bless us with your grace!
གནས་མག་འ་་ིན་ཕོབ་ལ༔
né chok di ru jin pop la
Pour down your blessings on this sublime place,
ཚོགས་མད་་ས་བད་ིར་བར༔
tsok chö yeshé dütsir gyur
Transform the tsok offerings into wisdom nectar,
བ་མག་བདག་ལ་དབང་བ་བར༔
drup chok dak la wang shyi kur
Grant us, the supreme practitioners, the four empowerments,
བགས་དང་ལོག་འེན་བར་ཆད་སོལ༔
gek dang lok dren barché sol
Dispel obstructors, negative forces and obstacles
མག་དང་ན་མོང་དས་བ་ོལ༔
chok dang tünmong ngödrup tsol
And confer siddhis, ordinary and supreme.
ྃ༔ ་མ་ེ་བན་པ་ཐོད་ེང་ལ། །
hung, lama jetsün pema tötrengtsal
Hūṃ. Beloved master Pema Tötrengtsal,
ག་འན་མཁའ་འོ་ཚོགས་དང་བཅས་པ་། །
rigdzin khandrö tsok dang chépa yi
With your throng of vidyādharas and ḍākinīs,
་གམ་ན་འས་ལ་བ་དིལ་འར་ལ། ། 211
་གམ་ན་འས་ལ་བ་དིལ་འར་ལ། །
tsa sum kundü gyalwé kyilkhor la
Encompassing the three roots in this mandala of the buddhas,
མོས་ས་གང་གས་ག་པོས་གསོལ་བ་འབས། །
mö gü dung shuk drak pö solwa dep
In deep devotion, with fervent yearning, I pray to you.
བདག་གཞན་ོ་གམ་ད་ཚོགས་ལོངས་ོད་བཅས། །
dak shyen go sum gé tsok long chö ché
All the merit of my and others’ body, speech and mind, our wealth,
ང་ིད་འདོད་ཡོན་དེས་ད་མ་ཚང་ད། །
nang si dö yön gyé gu ma tsang mé
And everything desirable in the universe, every source of pleasure and enjoyment with
nothing left out,
ན་བཟང་བ་ན་ཚོགས་ི་འར་ལོར་འལ། །
kunzang dechen tsok kyi khorlor bul
I offer as Samantabhadra’s unending ganachakra of great bliss.
གས་བེ་དེས་བས་གས་དམ་ོང་ར་ག །
tuktsé gyé shyé tuk dam kong gyur chik
With all your compassion and love, accept them with delight, so your heart’s wishes are
fulfilled.
གསོལ་བ་འབས་སོ་་་ན་པོ་། །
solwa dep so guru rinpoché
Guru Rinpoche, I pray to you;
ིན་ིས་ོབས་ག་ག་འན་མཁའ་འོ་ཚོགས། །
jin gyi lop shik rigdzin khandrö tsok
Vidyādharas and ḍākinīs, inspire me with your blessings;
མོས་ན་་ལ་མག་ན་དས་བ་ོལ། །
mö den bu la chok tün ngödrup tsol
Grant this devoted disciple attainments, ordinary and supreme;
དམ་ག་ཉམས་ཆག་ཐམས་ཅད་ངས་་གལ། །
damtsik nyam chak tamché jang du sol
Let all my impairments and breakages of samaya be healed, I pray.
ི་ནང་གསང་བ་བར་ཆད་དིངས་་ོལ། །
chi nang sangwé barché ying su drol
Obstacles outer, inner and secret—liberate them all into dharmadhātu.
ང་བ་བར་་འལ་ད་ེས་འན་ང་། ། 212
ང་བ་བར་་འལ་ད་ེས་འན་ང་། །
changchup bardu dralmé jé dzin shying
Until I realize enlightenment, hold me close, without ever parting,
་བསོད་ཉམས་ོགས་ཡར་་་ར་འལ། །
tsé sö nyam tok yar ngö da tar pel
Like the waxing moon let my lifespan, merit, experience and realization grow ever greater,
བསམ་པ་ན་ིས་འབ་པར་ིན་ིས་ོབས། །
sampa lhün gyi druppar jin gyi lop
And bless me so that all my aspirations spontaneously come true.
ༀ་ཿྃ་བ་་་པ་ི་ྃ།
om ah hung vajra guru pema siddhi hung
༈ ཚོགས་བས་།
The Concise Tsok Feast
ཚོགས་ས་མས། ༀ་ཿྃ་ཧོས། ིན་ིས་བས།

om ah hung ho
Bless the substances for the tsok offering with oṃ āḥ hūṃ ho
་གམ་་ཚོགས་ཚོགས་ལ་ན་འེན་གགས། །
tsa sum lha tsok tsok la chen dren shek
Gurus, devas, ḍākinīs all: come now to this tsok feast.
ི་ནང་གསང་བ་བ་ན་ཚོགས་མད་འལ། །
chi nang sangwé dechen tsok chö bul
Outer, inner and secret great bliss are the tsok offerings I make.
དམ་ག་ཉམས་ཆག་ཐམས་ཅད་མཐོལ་ལོ་བཤགས། །
damtsik nyam chak tamché tol lo shak
All impairments and breakages of samaya, I confess.
གས་འན་ད་བགས་ས་ི་དིངས་་ོལ། །
nyi dzin dra gek chö kyi ying su drol
Duality, enemies and obstructors: liberate them into the dharmadhātu.
མཉམ་ད་བ་བ་ན་པོ་གས་དམ་བངས། །
nyam nyi dewachenpö tuk dam kang
May your wishes, the great bliss of equality, be fulfilled;
མག་དང་ན་མོང་དས་བ་ལ་་གསོལ། ། 213
Please grant me attainments, ordinary and supreme.
The Remainder Offering
ༀ་ཿྃ། ག་ལ་དབང་བ་ེགས་པ་ཚོགས༔
om ah hung, lhak la wangwa dregpé tsok
oṃ āḥ hūṃ. Gathering of arrogant ones empowered to receive the remainder:
ིན་ར་བབས་ང་ཧབ་ཤ་ག༔
trin tar tip shing hap sha gyuk
Cluster like clouds and gorge yourselves voraciously.
ཤ་ག་བན་པ་ཚོགས་ག་བས༔
sha trak gyenpé tsok lhak shyé
Accept the remainder offering of the tsok, ornamented with meat and blood.
ོན་ི་དམ་བཅའ་་བན་༔
ngön gyi dam cha ji shyin du
Just as you vowed long ago,
བན་ད་དམ་ཉམས་ཟས་་ཟོ༔
ten dra dam nyam zé su zo
Devour enemies of the Dharma and samaya breakers,
གས་དང་མཚན་མ་ར་་ོན༔
tak dang tsen ma nyur du tön
Quickly show us signs and marks of realization,
བབ་པ་བར་ཆད་བོག་པ་དང་།
druppé barché dokpa dang
Avert all obstacles to realization,
ིན་ལས་ཐོགས་ད་འབ་པར་མཛོད༔
trinlé tokmé druppar dzö
And carry out enlightened activity without any hindrance.
་ི་བ་ང་ཏ་་༔
utsita balingta kha hi
With this, place the offering outside in the north east.
214
Aspiration
ཧོཿ ག་འན་་མ་དིལ་འར་། །
hoh rigdzin lamé kyilkhor du
Ho. In this mandala of the vidyādhara lama,
ཚོགས་ི་མད་པ་འལ་བ་ས། །
tsok kyi chöpa bulwa yi
By making the tsok offering,
བདག་གཞན་འོ་བ་མ་ས་པ། །
dak shyen drowa ma lü pa
May I and others, with no exception,
དིལ་འར་གག་་འབ་པར་ཤོག །
kyilkhor chik tu druppar shok
Reach attainment all together in the one mandala.
215
༄༅། །འོད་ར་ཅན་མ་བ་ཐབས་བགས།
A Sādhana of Mārīcī
by Mipham Rinpoche
ོང་པ་ངང་ལས་པ་་བ་ེང་། །
tongpé ngang lé pema dawé teng
Out of the state of emptiness, upon a lotus and moon,
ཾ་ལས་་ངན་ད་པ་འོད་ར་ཅན། །
mam lé nya ngen mepé özer chen
From a syllable Māṃ appears Aśokakāntā-Mārīcī, Sorrowless Resplendence:
གར་མདོག་ག་གཡས་མག་ིན་ག་་དང་། །
ser dok chak yé chok jin chakgya dang
Golden in colour, her right hand in the gesture of supreme generosity,
གཡོན་པས་་ངན་ད་པ་ོན་ང་བམས། །
yönpé nya ngen mepé jönshing nam
And her left hand holding an aśoka plant.
དར་དང་ན་ན་ན་ཆས་ཡོངས་་ོགས། །
dar dang rinchen gyenché yongsu dzok
She is garbed in all the silken and jewelled adornments,
ཞབས་གས་ེད་ིལ་པད་་གདན་ལ་བགས། །
shyab nyi chekyil pé dé den la shyuk
And her two legs are loosely crossed as she sits on lotus and moon.
གས་ཀར་་ེང་ཾ་ལ་གས་ིས་བོར། །
tukkar da teng mam la ngak kyi kor
At her heart upon a moon-disc is a syllable Māṃ surrounded by the mantra,
འོད་འོས་་དང་ང་སོགས་ལས་ན་འབ། །
ö trö shyi dang sung sok lé kün drub
From which light radiates out, accomplishing all forms of activity including pacifying and
protecting.
ༀ་་་ ཻ་་།
om ma ri tsyai soha
Oṃ mārīcyai svāhā
གཞན་ིས་་བ་་དང་ང་བ་དང་། ། 216
གཞན་ིས་་བ་་དང་ང་བ་དང་། །
shyen gyi mi tub shyi dang sungwa dang
The powers of invulnerability, pacification, protection,
ཕ་རོལ་ོགས་ལས་ལ་བ་མ་བ་འར།
parol chok lé gyalwé tu drub gyur
And victory over opponents are hereby accomplished!
་ཕམ་པས་སོ།།
By the Invincible One (Mipham).
217
༄༅། །ན་རས་གགས་་་ག་པ་བོམ་བས།
Visualization and Recitation of the Six-Syllable Mantra of Avalokiteśvara

by Mipham Rinpoche
ན་རས་གགས་་་ག་པ་བོམ་བས་ོས་ད་ི་ལ་ཉམས་་ང་བར་འདོད་པས། ཐོག་མར་བས་འོ་
མས་བེད་ཚད་ད་བ་མས་སོང་ེས།
If you wish to practise the visualization and recitation of the six-syllable mantra of Avalokiteśvara in a simple,
unelaborate way, first take refuge, generate bodhichitta and cultivate the four immeasurables, then recite the
following:
ིཿ དག་པ་ང་ཁམས་པོ་ཊ་ལ་་དས། །
hrih, dakpé shying kham po ta la yi ü
Hrīḥ. In the centre of the pure realm of Potala,
རབ་དཀར་པ་་བ་གདན་ེང་། །
rab kar pema dawé den teng du
Brilliant white, on a lotus and moon disc seat,
རང་ད་འཕགས་པ་ན་རས་གགས་ི་། །
rangnyi pakpa chenré zik kyi ku
I appear in the form of Noble Avalokiteśvara,
དཀར་གསལ་ཞལ་གག་ག་བ་ཞབས་གས་པ། །
kar sal shyal chik chak shyi shyap nyi pa
White and radiant, with one face, four arms and two legs.
དང་པོ་ག་གས་གས་ཀར་ཐལ་མོ་ར། །
dangpö chak nyi tukkar talmo jar
My first two hands are joined at my heart, and
འོག་མ་གས་ིས་ལ་ེང་པད་དཀར་བམས། །
oma nyi kyi shel treng pé kar nam
The lower two hold a crystal rosary and a white lotus,
དར་དང་ན་ན་ན་ན་ིལ་ང་བགས། །
dar dang rinchen gyen den kyiltrung shyuk
I wear silk and jewel ornaments and my seated legs are crossed.
ི་བོར་་མ་འོད་དཔག་ད་པས་བན། །
chiwor lama öpak mepé gyen
And adorning my crown is Lama Amitābha, Buddha of Boundless Light.
འར་་སངས་ས་ང་མས་ིན་ར་གབས། ། 218
འར་་སངས་ས་ང་མས་ིན་ར་གབས། །
khor du sangye chang sem trin tar tib
All around are buddhas and bodhisattvas gathered like clouds.
གནས་གམ་ༀ་ཿ་ྂ་་འོད་ར་ིས། །
né sum om ah hung gi özer gyi
From the oṃ āḥ hūṃ at my three centres streams out rays of light
་ས་་ཚོགས་ན་ངས་གས་ད་བིམ། །
yeshe lha tsok chen drang nyimé tim
Inviting the hosts of wisdom deities, who dissolve indivisibly.
གས་དས་པད་་གདན་ལ་་་ ིཿ །
tuk ü pé dé den la yigé hrih
In the centre of my heart on a lotus and moon disc seat is the syllable hrīḥ,
་མཐར་གས་ི་ེང་བས་བོར་བ་ལས། །
de tar ngak kyi trengwé korwa lé
Surrounded by the mantra garland. From it
འོད་འོས་འཕགས་མད་འོ་ན་ིབ་པ་ོངས། །
ö trö pak chö dro kün dribpa jong
Light streams out, making offerings to the noble ones and purifying the obscurations of all
beings.
ང་ཁམས་ཐམས་ཅད་་པོ་ཏ་ལ་ང་། །
shying kham tamché ri po ta la'i shying
The whole environment becomes the realm of Mount Potala.
ང་བ་ཐམས་ཅད་གས་ེ་ན་པོ་། །
nangwa tamché tukjé chenpöi ku
All that appears is the form of the Great Compassionate One,
་གས་ཐམས་ཅད་་་ག་པ་གངས། །
dra drak tamché yigé drukpé sung
All sounds the speech of the six-syllable mantra,
ན་ོག་ཐམས་ཅད་ོང་ད་ིང་ེ་གས། །
dren tok tamché yong nyi nyingjé tuk
And all thoughts the wisdom mind of emptiness and compassion.
འན་ད་བ་བདལ་གག་མ་ངང་ནས་བས། །
dzin mé khyabdal nyukmé ngang né dé
Out of the genuine nature, beyond grasping and all-pervading, I recite the mantra:
ༀ་མ་་པེ་ྂ། 219
ༀ་མ་་པེ་ྂ།
om mani pemé hung
ས་་་ག་པ་དང་། ་ལ་ ི་བཏགས་པ་་་བན་མ་གང་འདོད་བས་པར་། བས་།

Recite this six-syllable mantra, or, if you wish, by adding hrīḥ, the seven-syllable mantra. Then, at some point,
continue with:
ིཿ རང་་མས་ལ་མས་ིས་ོས། །
hrih, rang gi sem la sem kyi tö
Hrīḥ. At my own mind, with mind, I look:
ས་བང་ད་པས་ནམ་མཁའ་འ། །
ngö zung mepé namkha dra
With nothing to identify, it's just like space,
་ཡང་མ་མཐོང་སང་་བ། །
chi yang ma tong sang ngé wa
With nothing whatsoever to see, vividly clear,
་བོ་ོང་པ་ད་་གནས། །
ngowo tongpa nyi du né
In that essence, which is emptiness, I remain.
ༀ་མ་་པེ་ྂ་ ིཿ
om mani pemé hung hrih
ོང་པ་ཟང་ཐལ་ངང་ད་ལས། །
tongpa zangtal ngang nyi lé
Out of that experience of unimpeded emptiness
ང་བ་མ་འགག་ས་་བ། །
nangwa ma gak sa lé wa
Appearances arise, unobstructed and vividly clear,
ས་ད་ན་བ་འས་མ་ས། །
rimé kun khyab dü ma ché
Without bias, all-pervasive, uncompounded,
རང་བན་འོད་གསལ་་མཚར་། །
rangshyin ösal ngotsar ché
And with the nature of clear light – how wonderful!
ༀ་མ་་པེ་ྂ་ ིཿ 220
གསལ་བན་ོང་ལ་ོང་བན་གསལ། །
sal shyin tong la tong shyin sal
Clear yet empty, and empty yet clear,
གསལ་ོང་དེར་ད་བསམ་བོད་ལ། །
sal tong yermé samjö dral
Clarity and emptiness indivisible, beyond thought and expression—
ན་ེས་གག་མ་བ་ན་འ། །
lhen kyé nyukma dechen di
This innate, genuine state of perfect bliss,
ས་དོན་ན་རས་གགས་དབང་ན། །
ngedön chenrezik wang yin
Is the ultimate Lord Avalokiteśvara.
ས་པ་དོན་བསམ་ལ་བ།
Considering the meaning, recite the mantra.
མཐར་ད་བ་བོ་ང་བ་ས་བོད་པར་འོ། །
Finally dedicate the merit and recite verses of auspiciousness.
འ་་ད་ང་མན་ངག་་དོན་བན་་་་ཛ་་ཉམས་ན་་་ཕམ་པས་ིས་པ་དའོ། །མ་།།
I, Mipham, wrote this according to the meaning of the tantras, scriptures and pith instructions for Nāthavija's
practice. May it be virtuous! Maṅgalaṃ!
| Translated by Ane Tsöndrü and Adam Pearcey, 2015.
221
༄༅། །བསང་མད་བས་པ་བགས།
Brief Sang Offering

by Mipham Rinpoche
ཧོ། བསང་མད་ན་བཟང་མད་པ་ིན་ན་པོས། །
ho, sang chö kunzang chöpé trin chenpö
Ho! With this smoke offering, in great clouds like those of Samantabhadra,
་མ་་དམ་སངས་ས་ང་མས་བསང་། །
lama yidam sangye changsem sang
We sanctify the guru, yidam deity, buddhas and bodhisattvas,
དཔའ་བོ་མཁའ་འོ་ས་ོང་ནོར་་བསང་། །
pawo khandro chökyong norlha sang
We sanctify the vīras, ḍākinīs, dharma protectors and wealth deities,
ད་་ར་མ་གནས་ག་གར་བདག་བསང་། །
drala werma né shyi terdak sang
We sanctify the warrior spirits, wermas, regional deities and treasure-keepers,
འ་བ་་མན་གཉན་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་བསང་། །
gowé lha gön nyenpo tamché sang
We sanctify all the personal gods and powerful guardians,1
ག་ང་འ་་གང་འདོད་ཁ་བར་ང་ག
ི་ོད་ནང་བད་དག་པ་ན་པོར་བསང་། །
chi nö nangchü dakpa chenpor sang
We sanctify the outer environment and its inhabitants into vast purity.
འདོད་ཡོན་་ཟད་ནམ་མཁའ་མཛོད་ིས་མད། །
döyön mizé namkha dzö kyi chö
And we offer a sky-treasury of inexhaustible sensory delights.
གས་་བསམ་དོན་ན་བ་བ་ས་ཤོག །
gek shyi samdön lhündrub tashi shok
Let everything be auspicious so that hindrances are pacified and all our wishes
spontaneously fulfilled!
ༀ་ཿ་ྃ་ས་བ།
om ah hung
Recite Oṃ āḥ hūṃ.
222
ང་ལ་་ ༧ ས་ ༤ ལ་་འ་་ོད་་་ཕམ་པས་བད་པ་དའོ།། །།
The one called Mipham composed this in Thrangu hermitage on the fourth day of the seventh month of the Wood
Snake year (1905). May virtue abound!
1. ↑ A note says that this line may be adapted to any deity of your choice.
223
༄༅། །མནོལ་བསང་བས་པ་བགས།
Brief Sang Offering to Purify Contamination

by Mipham Rinpoche
ྃ། ང་ོང་མ་དག་བད་ི་བསང་མད་འས། །
hung, nangtong namdak dütsi sang chö di
Hūṃ. Through this smoke offering of amṛta, the purity of appearance and emptiness,
མ་ོག་ལས་ང་ིབ་དང་་གཙང་ན། །
namtok lé jung drib dang mi tsang kün
All contamination and defilement that comes about through thought,
དག་གསལ་ོགས་ད་ས་་ན་པོ་ངང་། །
dak sal nyokmé chöku chenpö ngang
Is purified within the experience of the great dharmakāya—pure, clear and unsullied.
བསང་་ན་བཟང་ིབ་ད་ོང་་ཿ
sang ngo kunzang dribmé long du ah
Within this unobscured expanse of Samantabhadra, the All Good: Āḥ!
མནོལ་བསང་བས་པ་ང་འག་་ ༡༡ ས་ ༦ ་ལ་ིས་སོ།།

This brief sang offering to purify contamination was composed by Dhīḥ on the sixth day of the eleventh month of
the Wood Dragon year (1904/5).
224
༄༅། །་ཐར་གཏོང་བ་་ག་་ང་འདོད་ད་དཔལ་ེར་བགས།
The Glorious Gift of Longevity and Granting All Desires: A Liturgy for Saving
Lives
by Mipham Rinpoche
མས་ཅན་་ི་གག་་མན་པོ་་དཔག་ད་བོམས་ལ།
Visualize Amitāyus, Lord of Boundless Life, above the heads of the beings to be released and recite:
བདག་དང་མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ས་འ་ནས་བང་ེ་ང་བ་ིང་པོ་བར་་ལ་བ་་དང་་
ས་དཔག་་ད་པ་ལ་བས་་མའོ། །
dak dang semchen tamché dü di né zung té changchub nyingpö bardu gyalwa tsé dang
yeshe pak tu mepa la kyab su chi o
From now on until we reach the essence of awakening, I and all sentient beings take
refuge in Amitāyus, the Victor of Boundless Life and Wisdom.
ལན་གམ།
Three times.
མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་འ་བ་འགས་པ་ལས་ཐར་་འ་ད་ག་པ་དམ་པ་་འཕང་འཐོབ་པ་
ད་་་ཐར་གཏོང་བ་ད་བ་བ་པར་འོ། །
semchen tamché chiwé jikpa lé tar té chimé takpa dampé gopang tobpé chedu tsé tar
tongwé gewa drubpar ja o
In order to free all beings from the fear of death, and so they attain the sublime level of
unending deathlessness, we will engage in the virtue of saving lives.
མ་་མས་བེད་ལན་གམ། ཚད་ད་བ་བོམས་ནས། ་གངས་ཚར་གམ་བོད་ལ་ནས་འཐོར་བས་མས་

ཅན་་དང་་གས་ཅན་འ་བས་འགས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་འ་བདག་ལས་ལ་་ེ་བ་ན་་་་དས་བ་ཐོབ་པར་
བསམ།
Recite this verse three times, then generate the four immeasurables. Now reciteThe Dhāraṇī of Boundless Life1
three times and scattering barley over them imagine these sentient beings and their whole species conquer all fear of
death, and the Lord of Death himself, and that throughout all their lives they obtain the siddhi of boundless life.
ༀ་ན་མོ་བྷ་ག་ཝ་། ཨ་པ་་་ཏ་་་ན་་་་ི་ཏ་་ཛོ་་་ཡ། ཏ་་ག་་ཡ། ཨ་་ས

225ཾ་
ༀ་ན་མོ་བྷ་ག་ཝ་། ཨ་པ་་་ཏ་་་ན་་་་ི་ཏ་་ཛོ་་་ཡ། ཏ་་ག་་ཡ། ཨ་་ས ཾ་
་ཡ། ཏ ་། ༀ་ེ་ེ་མ་་ེ། ཨ་པ་་་ཏ་ེ་ཨ་པ་་་ཏ་་་ན་་་རོ་པ་་
། ༀ་ས་་་ར་པ་་་དྷ་་ག་ག་ན་ས་ ་་་་ཝ་་ེ་མ་་ན་ཡ་པ་་་་་།
om namo bhagawate | aparimita ayurjnana subinischita tejo rajaya | tathagataya arhate
samyaksambuddhaya | tadyatha om punye punye maha punye | aparimita punye
aparimita punya jnana sambharo pachite | om sarva samskara parishuddha dharmate
gagana samudgate svabhava vishuddhe mahanaya parivare svaha |
oṃ namo bhagavate aparimitāyur-jñāna-suviniścita-tejo-rājāya tathāgatāya arhate samyak
saṃbuddhāya | tadyathā | oṃ puṇye puṇye mahā-puṇye 'parimita-puṇye 'parimita-puṇya-
jñāna-saṃbhāropacite | oṃ sarva-saṃskāra-pariśuddhe dharmate gagana-samudgate
svabhāva-viśuddhe mahā-naya-parivāre svāhā |
་དྷར་བ་ང་་ཐར་ི་གས་གདབ་དས་ན་། མཆན། དལ་བར་མར་ི་གང་ང་དང༌། ེང་་་་བད་

ལ།
Then, recite the ye-dharmā mantra, and, if you wish, mark the beings to be released with the sign of saving lives.
Draw a svastika with sun and moon above on their foreheads with butter.
ༀ་་དྷ་་་་་་་ེ་་་ག་ཏོ་་ཝ་དཏ། ་་ཡོ་་རོ་དྷ་་་་ི་མ་་་མ་ཎཿ་
།
om yé dharma hetu prabhava hetun teshan tatagato hyavadat | teshan tsa yo nirodha
evam vadi maha shramana soha |
oṃ ye dharmā hetu prabhāvā hetuṃ teṣāṃ tathāgato hyavadat | teṣāṃ ca yo nirodha evaṃ
vādī mahāśramaṇaḥ svāhā ||
་་ཝས་ང༌།
Then, purify them with the svabhāva-mantra:
ༀ་་་ཝ་་ཿས་དྷ་་་ཝ་ོ་།
om sobhava shuddho sarva dharma sobhava shuddho hang
oṃ svabhāva śuddhāḥ sarvadharmāḥ svabhāva śuddho ‘haṃ
ོང་པ་ངང་ལས་དགས་་ས་ང་ཁམས་ེ་མད་ཐམས་ཅད་མ་དག་བ་བ་ན་པོ་རང་
བན་མད་པ་ིན་ང་བསམ་ིས་་བ་པར་ར།
tongpé ngang lé mik jé lü pung kham kyemché tamché namdak dewa chenpö rangshyin
chöpé trinpung sam gyi mi khyabpar gyur
Out of the state of emptiness, the body, aggregates, elements, and sense fields of the
beings that are the focal point of the practice become inconceivable cloud banks of
offerings, whose nature is complete purity and great bliss.
ༀ་ཿྃ་དང་ནམ་མཁའ་མཛོད་ིས་བབས།
Bless them with oṃ āḥ hūṃ and the sky-treasury mantra:
ༀ་ཿྃ། 226
ༀ་ཿྃ།
om ah hung
oṃ āḥ hūṃ
ན་མཿས་ཏ་་ག་་ོ་་་་་ཿས་ཏ་་་་་ར་ཎ་་་ག་ག་ན་་་།
nama sarva tatagaté bayo bisho mukhebé sarva takham udgaté saparana imam gagana
kham soha |
namaḥ sarvatathāgatebhyo viśvamukhebhyaḥ | sarvathā kham udgate spharaṇa imaṃ
gaganakhaṃ svāhā ||
ེ། ོགས་བ་ང་ན་བགས་པ་། །
kyé chok chü shying na shyukpa yi
Kyé! To the buddhas residing in the ten directions’ pure realms,
སངས་ས་ས་དང་ད་འདན་དང༌། །
sangye chö dang gé den dang
To the Dharma, and to the Saṅgha,
་མ་་དམ་མཁའ་འོ་ཚོགས། །
lama yidam khandrö tsok
To the gathering of gurus, devas, and ḍākinīs,
ས་ོང་ནོར་་གར་ི་བདག །
chökyong norlha ter gyi dak
To the dharmapālas, wealth deities and treasure guardians,
ལ་ས་ཟོ་དོར་དཀར་ོགས་ོང༌། །
yul ri zodor karchok kyong
To the chief local deities, and to those who guard virtue,
་ི་་མན་་འན་། །
tsé dzi tsé gön tsendzin lha
To the deities with power over life, who guard life, who control life,
འ་ང་ོབ་པ་་ཚོགས་ལ། །
go shying kyobpé lhatsok la
And to all the deities who nurture and protect life
མད་པ་དམ་པ་འལ་བ་། །
chöpa dampa bulwa ni
I make this sacred offering.
ོག་དགས་མ་ས་ན་པ་། །
sok uk namshé denpa yi
May all sentient beings, endowed with consciousness
མས་ཅན་འ་་་བད་ལས། ། 227
མས་ཅན་འ་་་བད་ལས། །
semchen di ni tsé dü lé
And the breath that supports their vitality, be freed
ཐར་་འགས་ད་དགས་དང་ཐོབ། །
tar té jikme ukyung tob
Of all that endangers their life and be relieved of their fears.
འ་་ང་ཁམས་ེ་མད་མས། །
di yi pung kham kyemché nam
Their aggregates, elements, and sense fields
རང་བན་མ་དག་མད་པ་ིན། །
rangshyin namdak chöpé trin
Are clouds of offerings, by nature completely pure.
ནམ་མཁའ་བ་པར་ོ་ེད་ང༌། །
namkha khyabpar tro jé ching
They bring pleasure that fills the entire sky,
འདོད་ཡོན་ན་ན་བ་བ་། །
döyön künden dewa ché
The great bliss of everything to delight the senses.
འ་ད་་མག་བ་པ་ས། །
chimé tsé chok drubpé dzé
May these substances that bring supreme immortality,
་མཐའ་ད་པར་ཡོངས་ཤར་བས། །
muta mepar yong sharwé
Manifested here in a boundless and infinite array,
ེད་མས་གས་དམ་གཉན་པོ་བང༌། །
khyé nam tukdam nyenpo kang
Fulfil your sacred and weighty pledges,
དེས་རབ་མག་དང་ན་ར་ག །
gyé rab chok dangden gyur chik
And bring the most sublime and supreme delight! 2
བདག་དང་་ོར་ཡོན་བདག་ས། །
dak dang gyujor yöndak gi
May all infinite sentient beings —
ཐོག་ངས་མཁའ་མཉམ་མས་ཅན་ན། ། 228
ཐོག་ངས་མཁའ་མཉམ་མས་ཅན་ན། །
tok drang khanyam semchen kün
Headed by us and all sponsors and donors —
དས་ན་འ་བ་ེག་ལས་ཐར། །
dé min chiwé kek lé tar
Be freed from all obstacles that bring untimely death.
ན་་ན་ང་འཚོ་འར་ང༌། །
shintu yün ring tso gyur shying
May we live for an extremely long time,
བ་གས་ན་ཚོགས་འཐོབ་བར་ཤོག །
delek püntsok tobwar shok
And may every form of goodness and happiness be ours!
ང་ཁམས་ཉམས་པ་སོར་ད་ང༌། །
pung kham nyampa sorchü ching
May any degeneration of the aggregates and elements be restored!
བན་གཡོ་ངས་བད་གསོས་་ིན། །
tenyö dangchü sö su min
May the vital essence of the inanimate and animate universe be rejuvenated!
་དཔལ་བག་མདངས་ག་བིད་ས། །
tsé pal trakdang ziji gyé
May our longevity and wellbeing, our radiance and splendour flourish!
ནད་ད་ས་འོར་འལ་བར་ཤོག །
nemé chö jor pelwar shok
May we be free from illness and possess the wealth of Dharma!
བདག་དང་མས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ན། །
dak dang semchen tamché kün
Until we and all sentient beings
་ད་ང་བ་ཐོབ་ི་བར། །
lamé changchub tob kyi bar
Reach unsurpassed awakening,
ེ་བ་ན་་་ང་ང༌། །
kyewa küntu tsering shying
Throughout all our lives,
འ་ད་་མག་བ་པར་ཤོག ། 229
འ་ད་་མག་བ་པར་ཤོག །
chimé tsé chok drubpar shok
May we always have supreme immortality.
ད་འས་མཁའ་མཉམ་འོ་བ་ན། །
gé di khanyam drowa kün
Through this merit
ེ་འ་ལས་འདས་ོ་ེ་། །
kyechi lé dé dorjé ku
May all infinite sentient beings
མན་པོ་་དཔག་ད་པ་། །
gönpo tsepakmé pa yi
Attain the vajrakāya, beyond birth and death,
་འཕང་དམ་པ་འཐོབ་པར་ཤོག །
gopang dampa tobpar shok
The sublime level of Lord Amitāyus.
ས་བོད་ལ། ཞབས་བན་ན་ན། །
That being recited, if you wish to add a long-life prayer for the guru:
འ་ར་བབ་པ་གས་ས་ེན་འེལ་ིས། །
ditar drubpé lek jé tendrel gyi
Through the auspicious connection of having done this good act
དཔལ་ན་་མ་་་རབ་བན་ང༌། །
palden lama ka tsé rabten shying
May the form and life of the glorious gurus be perfectly stable,
ད་ང་ིན་ལས་ོགས་བར་རབ་་བ། །
mejung trinlé chok chur rabtu khyab
May their wondrous activities fill all the ten directions
གས་ི་བད་དོན་ཡོངས་་འབ་པར་ཤོག །
tuk kyi shyedön yongsu drubpar shok
And may the wishes of their awakened minds be completely fulfilled!
ས་ར། མཐར་བ་ས་ི་གས་་བཅད་པ་་གས་པ་དང་བཅས་་་ཏོག་འཐོར་བས་ད་གས་་འོ། །
Conclude by scattering flowers while reciting whatever verses of auspiciousness are appropriate. Then dedicate the
merit well.
གར་འངས་་་་བ་བ་པ་ས་བད་ལ་་ཕམ་མ་ལ་བས་གང་ཤར་བད་པ་བ་ས་པར་ར་ག་
 །མ།
230
On the eighth day of the tenth month of the female fire bird year,3 Mipham Namgyal wrote down whatever came
to his mind. May it bring auspiciousness. Maṅgalaṃ!
| Translated by Stefan Mang and Peter Woods, 2019.
1. ↑ This is the dhāraṇī from The Sublime Sūtra of the Great Vehicle entitled “Boundless Life and Wisdom” (D
675, ārya-aparimita-āyurjñāna-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra, ‘phags pa tshe dang ye shes dpag tu med pa zhes
bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo)
2. ↑ Here Mipham Rinpoche refers to the main goals of the gaṇacakra practice, namely the fulfilment
(bskang ba) and delight (dgyes pa) of the assembled deities.
3. ↑ Thus Mipham Rinpoche wrote the liturgy on Wednesday, the 1st of December, 1897, when he was 51
years old.
231
༄༅། །འཕགས་མ་ོལ་མ་ལ་གསོལ་འབས་་གས་བཅས།
Prayer to Tārā, Combined with Her Mantra

by Mipham Rinpoche
ༀ་ག་འཚལ་ེ་བན་་་་མོ། །
om chaktsal jetsün taré lhamo
Oṃ! We pay homage to you, reverend goddess Tārā,
་་ས་གང་བ་ན་ོབ། །
tuttaré shyé dungwa kün kyob
With Tuttāre, you protect us from suffering,
གས་ེ་ཐོགས་ད་་་དཔའ་མོས། །
tukjé tokmé turé pamö
Your compassion is unobstructed, Turé, swift lady warrior,
བདག་ལ་བ་མག་ོལ་ག་་། །
dak la drub chok tsol chik soha
Grant us the supreme accomplishment, svāhā.
ས་་གས་དང་བཅས་པ་ག་འཚལ་འདོད་གསོལ་བཅས་ཡོད་པ་འ་་་ཕམ་པས་ིས་སོ་ད །
This prayer and homage combined with the root mantra was written by Mipham. Virtue!
| Rigpa Translations.
232
༈ ཚོགས་བས་།
Concise Tsok Feast

by Mipham Rinpoche
ཚོགས་ས་མས། ༀ་ཿྃ་ཧོས། ིན་ིས་བས།

om ah hung ho
Bless the substances for the tsok offering with oṃ āḥ hūṃ ho
་གམ་་ཚོགས་ཚོགས་ལ་ན་འེན་གགས། །
tsa sum lha tsok tsok la chen dren shek
Gurus, devas, ḍākinīs all: come now to this tsok feast.
ི་ནང་གསང་བ་བ་ན་ཚོགས་མད་འལ། །
chi nang sangwé dechen tsok chö bul
Outer, inner and secret great bliss are the tsok offerings I make.
དམ་ག་ཉམས་ཆག་ཐམས་ཅད་མཐོལ་ལོ་བཤགས། །
damtsik nyam chak tamché tol lo shak
All impairments and breakages of samaya, I confess.
གས་འན་ད་བགས་ས་ི་དིངས་་ོལ། །
nyi dzin dra gek chö kyi ying su drol
Duality, enemies and obstructors: liberate them into the dharmadhātu.
མཉམ་ད་བ་བ་ན་པོ་གས་དམ་བངས། །
nyam nyi dewachenpö tuk dam kang
May your wisdom mind, the great bliss of equality, be delighted;
Please grant me attainments, ordinary and supreme.
ས་པའང་ཚོགས་ངས་བསགས་པ་སོགས་ལ་མ་བ་ཚོགས་བས་འཇམ་དཔལ་ོ་ེས་སོ།།
This concise feast offering to be recited during the accumulation of tsok and on other occasions was composed by
Jampal Dorje.
233
༄༅། །དཔལ་ན་་མ་ོ་ེ་མས་དཔའ་ལ་བེན་ནས་ཉམས་ིབ་ང་བ་ཐབས་
བགས།
A Method of Purifying Samaya Violations by Relying on the Glorious Guru

Vajrasattva
by Mipham Rinpoche
བདག་་ིང་དས་པ་་བ་ེང་། །
dak gi nying ü pema dawé teng
Upon a lotus and moon disc at the center of my heart
་བ་་མ་དཔལ་ན་ོ་ེ་མས། །
tsawé lama palden dorjé sem
Is the glorious Vajrasattva, my root Guru,
དཀར་གསལ་ོ་ེ་ིལ་འན་ལོངས་་ཆས། །
karsal dorjé dril dzin longkü ché
Pure white in color, holding vajra and bell and with the dress of a saṃbhogakāya,
བ་ན་ེམས་མ་མ་དང་མཉམ་པར་ོར། །
dechen nyemma yum dang nyampar jor
In union with the consort, Vajragarvā of great bliss.1
་ལས་འོད་ར་བད་ི་དཀར་པོ་ན། །
ku lé özer dütsi karpö gyün
From their bodies, a white stream of amṛta and rays of light flow down filling my entire
body.
བབ་པས་ས་གང་ནད་གདོན་ིག་ིབ་དང་། །
babpé lü gang nedön dikdrib dang
Through this, all sicknesses, evil influences, misdeeds, obscurations
དམ་ག་ཉམས་ཆགས་ཐམས་ཅད་དག་ར་ནས། །
damtsik nyamchak tamché dak gyur né
And violations of samaya are completely purified.
བ་ན་མཉམ་ད་ོ་ེ་་ཐོབ་ར། །
dechen nyamnyi dorjé ku tob gyur
And I obtain the vajra body of great bliss and equanimity.
ༀ་བ་ས་་ྃཿ
om benza sato hung
Oṃ vajrasattva hūṃ
234
ས་་འབ་བས་ནས་ད་བོ་ས་བོད་འོ། །
Recite the mantra as many times as you can. Then, conclude with the dedication of merit and verses of
auspiciousness.
ས་ེལ་་ ༣ ས་ ༩ ལ་་ཕམ་པས་ིས་པ་མག་་དའོ། །

Mipham wrote on the ninth day of the third month of Earth Monkey year (1908). May there be supreme excellence!
| Translated by Abraham Ta-Quan, 2019.
1. ↑ Although Vajrāṭopā is sometimes given as the Sanskrit name of Vajrasattva's consort, whose Tibetan
name is Dorje Nyemma (rdo rje snyems ma), it seems that the correct Sanskrit name, which is attested
in extant sources, is Vajragarvā
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
PDF document automatically generated on Sat Jun 8 05:15:05 2019 GMT from
https://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/mipham
235

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Kyeho! All activities within saṃsāra are pointless and hollow—

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2012.

The tradition of the lineage is like the banks of a divine river,

When cherished philosophical ideas enter your mind,

If the blazing fire is not extinguished by the wind,

Let go of all reliance upon tired intellectual speculation,

Let the light of spontaneous activity blaze forth,

To take a stance and cling to a position, thinking “This is it!”

When arriving at a firm decision from within,

Mañjuśrī held in thought is conceptual, confused.

Now is the time to adopt the discipline of not speaking.

Be uninhibited and free, as in a simpleton's soliloquy.

Don't tell anyone of this—that is a sacred pledge, a samaya.

Even though you possess the treasury of the wisdom essence,

Rely on the reverend Tārā and Kīlaya

Do not show this to anyone else. Maṅgalam.

1. Read byes as byis (AZR). ↩

3. These two lines appear in Thondup 1996: 241 ↩

4. Sita tshattraṃ, presumably a Tibetan transcription of the Sanskrit Sitachattra,

All 84,000 approaches to the Dharma

| Translated by Abraham Ta Quan and Adam Pearcey, 2019.

You might wish to drink the nectar of calm abiding,

Unless you stem the flow of mental distraction,

Return continually to the state of non-distraction,

When you gain stability,

Prolonged training in what is difficult can be discouraging,

Composed on the seventh day of the sixth month.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2018.

Through the enlightened activity of the victorious buddhas,

The transmission of sūtras has fallen to the Gendenpa,

The Sakyapa are masters of learning,

There are four marvellous transmissions:

The Nyingmapa chant through their noses,

Now for a few words in jest:

Ha ha! That was all said in jest.

Having become followers of one teacher,

Whatever falls outside the scope of the teachings,

Through the power of this, here within the Land of Snows,

Nyingma followers of Secret Mantra emphasize the actual tantra.1

Kagyü followers, the protectors of beings, emphasize devotion.

The Riwo Gendenpas2 emphasize the ways of the learned.

The glorious Sakyapas emphasize approach and accomplishment.

Ema! All four dharma traditions of this land of Tibet

So, like children of the same father and same mother,

Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016

2. i.e., the Gelugpas. ↩

A key point to understand in both sūtra and mantra vehicles

Through familiarity with the key points of

When your familiarity with this becomes stable,

All phenomena are perfectly equal.

When reaching the limit of realisation,

One who has gained such universal victory,

Thus, having realised the authentic view,

| Translated by Adam Pearcey, 2016.

Invoking the Three Jewels and Three Roots

The Greatness of the Translators & Scholars

The Greatness of the Translations: Buddha’s Words and the Commentaries

View and Conduct

The Greatness of the Profound Essence: the Vast Tantras

The Profound Sādhanas

The Greatness of the Purity of the Teachings: their Words

The Greatness of Dzogpachenpo: Establishing the Ground

Practising the Path