Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Quintessence of the Stages of Path - Part II (Yeshe Gyaltsen)

[2/4 partial | Copyright@DNKL(2016) | Special thanks go to Tina R. & Ven. Chopel. ]

Part II. 
   The Path which is also Common to Beings of Medium Capacity
       a. Cultivating a Mind which Seeks to Achieve Liberation 
            i. The Distaste for Cyclic Existence in General
            ii. The Suffering Unique to Each Realm 
       b. True Nature of the Path Approaching Liberation

༄༅།།བྱང་ཆུབ་ལམ་གྱི་རིམ་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྡུས་པ་དངོས་གྲུབ་ཀུན་འབྱུང་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་བཞུགས་སོ།།
The Quintessence of the Stages of Path
by the Most Venerable
Tsechokling Yongtzin Yeshe Gyaltsen
(Part II. Medium Capacity)

2. The Means to Train the Mind on the Stages of the Path that is Also Common to Beings of Medium Capacity 

a. Cultivating a Mind which Seeks to Achieve Emancipation from Cyclic Existence 

i. Meditation on the Relinquishment, the Distaste for Cyclic Existence in General
1.      If I do not cultivate a distaste for the Three Realms of cyclic existence
and counter my grasping for it
by understanding that it is by nature sorrows,
no matter what I do, it will become cause for
the turning of the wheel of cyclic existence. 
Therefore, I shall cultivate the utmost pure intention –
the Inspiration for Liberation.
2.        Up to the Heaven of the Peak of Existence
and down to the Hell of Unendurable Torments,
no matter where I take birth, I am by nature in sorrow，
since I am powerless, tightly chained by
the shackles of karmas and mental afflictions,
and tormented by the three types of sorrow uninterruptedly.
3.        No matter which place of cyclic existence I take birth in,
I am not free from sorrow, which is its very nature:
It is like being imprisoned in the dungeon of a wicked king,
no chance for me to be pleasant.
Tightly chained by the shackles of karmas and mental afflictions,
I am constantly tormented by the throes of Compositional Sorrows – 
Reoccurring at every moment, no way to be stopped.
I shall cultivate the mind of relinquishing this prison-like cyclic existence!
4.        Furthermore, no matter which place of cyclic existence I take birth in,
I am not free from sorrow, which is its very nature: 
Companions may become enemies, enemies may become companions,
and strangers become adversaries, and strangers become my beloved,
sometimes, enemies of the past are my children in this life;
And sometimes, my gracious father and mother of a previous life,
are those whom I kill in this life –
In every place of cyclic existence, there is no certainty I can entrust my heart with.
Contemplating this, I shall cultivate a distaste for cyclic existence
and counter my grasping for it.    
5.        This erroneous understanding which grasps sorrow as pleasure
induces multifarious unbearable sorrows:
In cyclic existence, whenever I encounter “pleasure,”
I am never satisfied and my craving is increased.
6.        Due to my obliviousness, whichever types of body I obtain
in some place of cyclic existence, I am covetous of it as “my body.”
But even if I endure hundreds of hardships for its benefit,
I have no control of it even for a short moment and will have to leave it eventually.   
Contemplating this very fact, I shall cultivate a feeling of weariness of it.
7.        From beginningless time until right this very moment,
I have been drifting and roaming in the Three Realms of cyclic existence
without even one moment of rest, like a whirling firebrand.
Contemplating on this, I shall cultivate a distaste for it and counter my grasping for it. 
8.        Even if I obtain the glory of Brahma the Pure, Sakra the Blessed or a Wheel-turning Emperor –
beings of the highest status among all in cyclic existence –
certainly, I will still have no control and eventually have to leave it all behind,
I will still be a prisoner under the reign of karmas:
My myriad of abundances will decay, splendors deteriorate.
Contemplating this, I shall cultivate the mind to counter my grasping for cyclic existence.
9.        Even if I have scores of companions, friends, relatives, retinues and so forth,
at the time of death, I will have to take the journey alone, all by myself.
Contemplating this fact, I shall cultivate a distaste for cyclic existence:
Have no appetite for it, and relinquish it.     
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
ii. Meditating on the Suffering Unique to Each Realm and Cultivating a Distaste for Cyclic Existence and Relinquishing It
10.    The Basis which is compounded by heaps –
substantial results brought about by the force of karmas and mental afflictions –
is not free from sorrow, its very nature:
All sentient beings in cyclic existence can be categorized into species,
“migratory beings are the six species” said the Victor.
The six species of migratory being are:
Beings in hell, hungry ghosts, animals, demi-gods, gods and humans.
11.      No matter which species I take rebirth as, I am powerless,
since I am forced to retake birth under the reign of my individual karmas.
Now, if I keep my behavior as usual,
there will be nowhere for me to go except the three miserable realms.  
12.    And when I take rebirth in hell under the reign of wicked karmas,
I will have to experience the unbearable sorrows for ages:
Being scorched in the flaming and blazing iron lava,
or being tormented by excruciating cold in a harrowing blizzard.
13.    Now, I cannot even endure the slightest touch
of a tiny flame on my body,
How will I fare if being scorched in the hell
where iron lava violently boils?
Reflecting on this, I shall cultivate extremely forceful Inspiration for Liberation.
14.    Now, I cannot even endure a little cold,
how will I fare if being subject to the suffering for ages,
in the hell where torturous snowstorms turbulently swirl,
and excruciating cold splits my body into hundreds of fragments? 
Reflecting on this, I shall meditate on terrors and fear.
15.    Even if I do not take rebirth in hell,
but fall into the land of hungry ghosts, that is also insufferable:
Now, I cannot even endure one day of hunger,
how will I fare if being born in this land
where even the word “food” is not to be heard for hundreds of years?
16.    Even if I do not take rebirth in hell or as a hungry ghost,
but am born as an animal, that is also extremely frightening:
I will become a possession of deities or humans,
they will enslave and beat me, milk, bleed and skin me;
With other animals, we will slaughter and feast on each other.
I will be extremely oblivious of what to practice and what to abandon:
17.    Even if all the Victors together with their heirs in the ten directions
expound the holy Dharma again and again with fabulous words and enormous voice,
that will do nothing to me – a foolish and oblivious being!
Therefore, in this very moment while I still have control,
I shall be diligent to close the doors of taking rebirth in the miserable realms.
18.    Even if I do not take rebirth among the three miserable realms,
but obtain a life belonging to a pleasant realm,
I will still not be free from sorrow, which is its nature:
19.    The Victor said: “When beings first enter their mother’s wombs,
they fall in a faint due to the delusive powers of craving and aversion.
Then, nakedly immersed in noxious smells and filth of urine and excrement,
their limbs, fingers and toes are tightly squeezed and cramped by fetal membranes,
they suffer from hundreds of unbearable sorrows –     
cold, hot, and crushing force like being pressed down by mountains.”
20.    And such torments are not only for a short moment,
but have to be endured for nine or ten months.
How will I fare if I have to stay for one day
to cramp all my limbs, fingers and toes
in a leather bag filled with urine and excrement?
21.    Thinking about this fact, our great master Arya Nāgārjuna
declare the tremendous sorrows of taking rebirth:
“Oh, know this: There is no case of birth that is good,
every birth is a vessel of multifarious hurts.”
Knowing that among all types of sorrows of cyclic existence,
the sorrows of taking rebirth are principal,
the Hero declares “Taking rebirth is the stronghold of cyclic existence.”
22.    If I achieve a certainty about the sorrows of taking rebirth,
and cultivate an experience which is transformative for my mind,
I shall soon cultivate the utmost pure renunciation.
23.    Based on assuming a rebirth in a mother’s womb,
all types of harms from demons and evils will come
to this body which is shaped by the force of karmas and mental afflictions –
this body is changing in each and every moment.
From the body of a youth, sorrows will come –
ugliness, aging, sickness, oppression, pain and death.      
24.    Furthermore, there are other sorrows of human’s life:
being separated from a beloved companion,
being hurt by a vile adversary,
failing to acquire a desired entity after a long search,
suddenly running into undesirable sorrows, and so forth.
Contemplating this again and again, I shall cultivate a distaste for it and relinquish it.
25.    If I take rebirth in the body of a demi-god,
I will not be able to stand the prosperities of gods,
and do nothing except constantly wage wars and fight battles with them:
My limbs, fingers and toes will be cut into pieces,
I will suffer unbearable sorrows and take joy in vices.
Due to the accumulation of sinful actions, again will I fall to lower realms!
Therefore, I shall cultivate a disfavor for such a place to take rebirth as well. 
26.    Even if I obtain the life of a god,
such a life is not trustworthy either:
Taking joy in the desirables again and again, I will constantly be distracted,
and be parted from the opportunities of reflecting on the holy Dharma;
In the end, once I am stricken by the signs of death,
I will suffer from the sorrow of beholding the hells directly.
The life of a god is like an arrow
that is shot into the sky but eventually falls down,
it is not trustworthy, since sorrow will still be experienced in its continuity.
27.    In short, no matter which of the six species and where in cyclic existence I take rebirth,
I will not be free from the sorrow that is their very nature.
Thus, I shall cultivate a distaste for cyclic existence,
counter my grasping of it and relinquish it.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!

b. Reaching a Precise Decision about the True Nature of the Path Approaching Emancipation 

1.        Without knowing what the seed of existence is,
I will not be able to eliminate sorrow even if I wish to do so,
just like the root of a tree is deep underground.
Therefore, I should sever the root of cyclic existence.  
2.        From beginningless time,
the great devil of self-reification arisen from the experiencing of “I”
has been residing in the utmost depth of my heart.
He fabricates a distinction of “we” and “they”
and brings about craving and aversion,
which in turn accumulate karmas.
And due to karmas, I am trapped and cycling in cyclic existence.
3.        In order to defeat this self-reification, the root of cyclic existence,
I certainly need eyes of superb wisdom that realize the actual mode of being,
thus, I shall cleanse my mind’s eye with the nectars of mental stabilization.
In order to hold this nectar – one-pointed mental stabilization –
I certainly need a vase of utmost pure serene discipline.
Thus, I shall defend the serene discipline – the root of all virtuous qualities –
cherishing it more than my own life.   
4.        In order to bring about utmost pure serene discipline,
I must firmly block the Four Tunnels which permit downfalls:
Without impeding the habitual flows of mental afflictions and flawed actions,
there is no way to make serene discipline completely pure. 
5.        The Four Tunnels which permit downfalls are:
The first tunnel of not knowing the discipline,
the second tunnel of lacking devotion,
the third tunnel of letting mental afflictions multiply
and the fourth tunnel of being inattentive.
6.        If I do not know, exactly in accordance with the Victor’s words,
which of my physical, verbal and mental actions are proper,
and which are improper,
there is no way to restrain myself from flawed actions of the Three Doors.
And if I do not forcefully restrain myself from flawed actions of the Three Doors,
I will never be free from reprehensible behaviors.  
7.        With sagacious knowing and a compassionate heart toward all migratory beings,
the Sacred Teacher, who is the most sublime and unrivaled,
graciously bestowed upon us the explanation of
the practice of the beneficial and the abandonment of the harmful.
Therefore, relying on guiding friends, who have mastered the sutras
which expound the principal and supplementary code of Individual Liberation Vows –
the root of sacred teachings –
I shall properly familiarize myself with those sutras.
8.        Furthermore, it is not enough only to know the words of the sutras,
I shall learn and understand in detail
the application procedures of permission and prohibition,
according to the oral instruction of Lobsang Drakpa, the Second-Coming Victor.  
9.        Even with the understanding of the discipline, without faith and devotion,
conscientiousness will be corrupted by the flaws of contempt.
Thus, I shall cultivate devotion to the Individual Liberation Vows –
the root of sacred teachings –
as well as my holy tutors, who are well-trained in those vows,
and I shall take the training by following them.    
10.    Even if I want to defend serene disciplines and have devotion,
without relying on recollection, introspection and attentiveness,
there is no doubt that I will be conquered, again and again,
by the pillagers of mental affliction.
11.    Therefore, with recollection, introspection and heedfulness,
I shall carefully avoid the places
where the committing of downfalls is possible,
exactly like avoiding a contagious disease.
12.    From beginning-less time until today, I have let my mental afflictions multiply and intensify.
Thus, if I do not know the remedies for each and every mental affliction,
while curing one of them, another will emerge and grow enormously,
like trying to cure a disorder caused by bile and phlegm together.
Therefore, I shall understand how to rely on the individual remedies
for each and every type of metal affliction.
13.    The remedy for cravings of the desirable is to meditate on ugliness;
The remedy for aversion is to meditate on pleasantness and caring love;
The remedy for bewilderment is to meditate on the causal dependent-arising;
The remedy for arrogance is to meditate on the typology of constituents in all its detail;
The remedy for jealousy is to be thoroughly trained in utmost pure impartiality;
And the remedy for dubiety is to bring about immaculate decisive awareness.  
14.    Furthermore, it is not enough to merely engage in one form of observation and practice.
I shall make offerings of the seven-limbs and Mandala the Universe Cycles
to those with compassionate hearts: Three Sublime Jewels and my Supreme Mentors,
and make exceedingly intense prayers to them:
“Please, extinguish these mental afflictions of mine! ”
15.    I shall also recite the divine invoking mantras of my tutorial deities,
observing their actions of defeating the great devil – self-reification.
I shall make offerings of Torma Sacrament to Dharma protectors,
and beseech them for their activities again and again:
“Please, quickly deliver me from the true enemies of mine – my mental afflictions!
They harm me! They hurt me!”
16.    By doing so, I will be able to eliminate all flawed actions;
And from such an assembly of immaculate causes,
where no conducive condition is missing,
the result will come.
This is the very nature of conditioned occurrence.
17.    Therefore, with tremendous devotion,
I shall properly take training on the Individual Liberation Vows –
The foundation of all the Three Vehicles’ paths, the root of the sacred teachings.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so! 

                                               ~~~~
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