Homage to the master.
Lady
Tsogyal of Kharchen served the nirmanakaya Orgyen Padmakara from her
eighth year, accompanying him like a shadow follows a body. When the
master was about to leave Tibet for the land of the rakshas, I, Lady
Kharchen, having offered a mandala of gold and turquoise and having
arranged a tantric feast, a wheel of gathering, implored:
Great
master! You are leaving to tame the rakshas. I am left behind here in
Tibet. Although I have served you for a long time, master, this old
woman has no confidence about the time of death. So I beseech you to
kindly give me an instruction condensing all teachings into one, which
is concise and easy to practice.
The great master replied: Devoted
one with a faithful and virtuous mind, listen to me. Although there are
many profound key points of body, rest free and relaxed as you feel
comfortable. Everything is included in simply that.
Although there
are many key points of speech such as breath control and mantra
recitation, stop speaking and remain like a mute. Everything is included
in simply that. Although there are many key points of mind such as
concentrating, relaxing, projecting, dissolving and focusing inward,
everything is included in simply letting it rest in its natural state,
free and easy, without fabrication. But the mind doesn’t remain quietly
in that state.
You may wonder, is mind nothing? It still shimmers
and flashes forth, like haze in the heat of the sun. You may wonder, is
it something? It has no color or shape to identify it but is utterly
empty and completely awake. That is the nature of your mind. Having
recognized it as such, to become certain about it, that is the view. To
remain undistracted in the state of stillness, without fabrication or
fixation, that is the meditation. In that state, to be free from
clinging or attachment, accepting or rejecting, hope or fear, towards
any of the experiences of the six senses, that is the conduct.
Whatever doubt or hesitation occurs, mentally call on your master for
help. Don’t remain in places of ordinary people, practice in seclusion.
Give up your clinging to whatever you are most attached to as well as to
whomever you have the strongest bond with in this life, and practice.
Like that, although your body remains in human form, your mind is equal
to the buddhas’.
At the time of dying, you should practice as
follows. When the earth element dissolves into water, the body becomes
heavy and cannot support itself. When the water element dissolves into
fire, the mouth and nose dry up. When the fire element dissolves into
wind, body heat disappears. When the wind element dissolves into
consciousness, you cannot but exhale with a rattle and inhale with a
gasp. Next you feel as if being pressed down by a huge mountain, being
trapped within darkness, or being dropped into the expanse of space. All
these experiences are accompanied by thunderous and ringing sounds. The
whole sky is vividly bright like an unfurled brocade.
Now within a
dome of rainbow lights the natural forms of your mind, the peaceful,
wrathful, semi-wrathful deities and the ones with various heads begin to
fill the sky. Some brandish weapons and utter “Beat! beat!” “Kill!
kill!” “Hung! Hung!” “Phat! Phat!” and other fierce sounds. There is
light like a hundred thousand suns shining at once. At this time, your
innate deity will remind you of awareness saying, Don’t be distracted!
Don’t be distracted! Your innate demon will disturb all your
experiences, make them collapse and utter sharp and fierce sounds and
confuse you.
At this point, know this: The feeling of being pressed
down is not that of being pressed by a mountain. It is your own elements
dissolving. Don’t be afraid of that! The feeling of being trapped
within darkness is not a darkness. It is your five sense faculties
dissolving. The feeling of being dropped into the expanse of space is
not being dropped. It is your mind without support because your body and
mind have separated and your breathing has stopped.
All the
experiences of rainbow lights are the natural manifestations of your
mind. The peaceful and wrathful forms are the natural forms of your
mind. All sounds are your own sounds. All lights are your own lights.
Have no doubt about that. If you do feel doubt, it throws you back into
samsara. Resolve all this to be self-display, and when you then remain
wide awake in luminous emptiness, simply in that you will attain the
three kayas and awaken to enlightenment. Even if someone then cast you
into samsara, you won’t go there.
The innate deity means
undistracted presence of mind which right now arrests your thinking.
From this moment, the most important point is rid this mind of hope and
fear, clinging and fixation, toward the objects of your six sense
faculties as well as to fascination, joy and sadness. If you already now
become stable in this, you will be able to reassume your natural state
in the bardo and awaken to enlightenment. The most vital point is
therefore to sustain your practice undistractedly from this very moment.
The innate demon is your present tendency for ignorance, your doubt and
hesitation. Whatever frightful phenomena appear at that time, such as
sounds, colors and lights, don’t be fascinated, don’t doubt and don’t be
afraid. Falling into doubt for even a moment, will cause you to wander
into samsara, so gain complete stability.
Next you may experience
the entrances to a womb in the form of celestial palaces. Don’t be
attracted to them. Be certain of that! Be free from hope and fear! I
swear there is no doubt that you will then become enlightened without
taking further rebirths. When this happens, it is not that you are
helped by a buddha, because your awareness is primordially enlightened.
It is not that you can be harmed by a hell, because fixation is
naturally cleared away, fear of samsara and hope for nirvana are cut
from the root. Becoming enlightened can be compared to water cleared of
sediments, gold cleansed of impurities or the sky cleared of clouds.
Having realized space-like dharmakaya for the benefit of oneself, you
will accomplish the welfare of sentient beings as far as space pervades.
Having attained sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya for the welfare of others,
you will benefit sentient beings as far as your mind pervades
phenomena.
If this instruction is given three times to even a great
sinner such as one who has killed his own father and mother, he will not
fall into samsara even if thrown there. There is no doubt about
becoming enlightened. Even if you have many other profound teachings,
without an instruction like this, you remain far away from
enlightenment. Since you don’t know where you may wander next, practice
this with perseverance.
You must give this instruction to recipients
who have great faith, strong diligence and are intelligent, who always
remember their teacher, who have confidence in the oral instructions,
who exert themselves in the practice, who are stable-minded and able to
give up concerns for this world. Give them this with the master’s seal
of entrustment, the yidam’s seal of secrecy, and the dakini’s seal of
entrustment.
Although I, Padmakara, have followed many masters for
one thousand eight hundred years, have requested instructions, received
teachings, studied and taught, meditated and practiced, I have not found
any teaching more profound than this. I am going to tame the rakshas.
You should practice like this. Lady, you will become enlightened in the
celestial realms. Therefore persevere in this instruction.
Having
spoken, the precious master mounted the rays of the sun and departed for
the land of the rakshas. Following that, Lady Tsogyal attained
liberation. She committed this teaching to writing and concealed it as a
profound treasure. She made this aspiration: In the future, may it be
given to Guru Dorje Lingpa. May it then benefit many beings.
This
completes the Sacred Refined Essence Instruction, the reply to questions
on self-liberation at the moment of death and in the bardo. Samaya,
seal, seal, seal.
