Monday, September 5, 2016

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


[Presented here is a draft translation of a hymn of prayers which summarizes the practices of the Stages of Path (Lamrim) with one-hundred stanzas. It was composed by the Most Venerable Yeshe Gyaltsen, tutor to His Holiness the 8th Dalai Lama and founder of Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery. Among numerous writings in this genre, it is marked with unique characteristics including personalized tone, experiential message and approachable language. May our hearts be moistened by the blissful nectar of sacred teachings!] 
[1/4 partial | Copyright@DNKL(2016) | Special thanks go to Tina R. & Ven. Chopel. ]

Dip Tse Chok Ling Monastery, Dharamsala, India 


 Part I. Guru Devotion & Small Capacity 
  The Root of the Path – How to Rely on and Serve Guiding friends
  The Stages of the Path which is also Common to Beings of Small Capacity
      a. Meditation on Death and Transiency
      b. Meditation on the Sufferings of the Miserable Realms
      c. The Way to Practice the Taking of Refuge
            i. Assembling the Causes and Conditions of Taking Refuge
            ii. Actual Rite of Taking Refuge
            iii. The Way to Practice the Trainings of Taking Refuge
      d. Meditation on the Faith of Putting Confidence on Karmic Cause-Effect

 ~~~~~~
Part I 

I. The Root of the Path – How to Rely on and Serve Guiding friends

1.        The Victors said: “The root of all virtues without exception,
temporal and ultimate, is the Supreme Mentor.”
Thus, I shall hold the sublime Supreme Mentors, who flawlessly reveal the Path,
dearer than my own life, rely on them and serve them properly.
2.        “If one properly relies on and serves the holy guiding friends well,
they will quickly and effortlessly achieve all
that they wish for without exception, contemporary and ultimate.”
This undeceiving truth was spoken by the Victors,
and thus should be firmly accepted.
3.        The Victors also said: “If one disdains the holy guiding friends who reveal the Path,
they will suffer terrors stronger than the ripening results of
the five immediately retributive actions,
and lacking protection by any of the Victors and their heirs,
they will certainly fall into the hells.”
4.        No matter in what bodily form our guiding friends of virtues,
who gracefully grant upon us the nectars of holy Dharma, evince themselves,
in reality, they are the Mighty Lord Vajradhara the Adamant Holder himself.
Vajradhara the Omnipresent Lord bestowed such words:
“In the Era of Degeneration, to uphold the beings who lack the fortune to see Buddhas,
the Victors will assume ordinary form.”    
5.        The sacred body of a Supreme Mentor consolidates the bodies of all the Awakened Realizers,
his sacred speech is the sacred activities of all the Victories,
and his sacred heart, in its very nature, is compassion for me.
Therefore, I shall cultivate exceedingly powerful and non-fabricated faith toward him –
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that such devotion arises in my continuum.
6.        The holy guiding friends of mine
are the very nature of the compassion of all the Victors.
Their grace bestowed upon me is even more sublime than the grace of all the Victors –
Great is their grace, I shall remember it constantly.
7.        Since beginning-less time, no one who is confined within cyclic existence
has been able to reveal to me the holy Dharma –
the excellent path to superior status and Liberation –
not my father, not my mother, not my relatives, partners nor friends,
except you! How could your grace of teaching me be measured in any way?   
8.        The arising of any virtuous qualities in my continuum –
starting from a single virtue until the achievement of the State of Awakening –
is nothing but the grace of my Supreme Mentors alone.
Reflecting on their grace again and again, I shall remember it.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so I can remember such!
9.        The Victor said: “Revering one hair follicle of a Supreme Mentor,
is superior to revering all the Victors in the ten directions.
The sacred body of a Supreme Mentor is to be revered by trainees –
since all the Victors reside there.”
10.    Therefore, with great faith and devotion and by the means of three doors,
I shall enthusiastically take on the responsibility to serve in their pleasure.
Especially, I shall vigorously take on the practice exactly in accord with their words –
to be diligent on this Gradual Path leading to the State of Awakening.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I shall be able to do so!     

II. How to Refine Our Own Mind by Relying on Supreme Mentors

A. Exhorting the Trainees to Extract the Quintessence of Human Life with Leisure and Fortune

1.        This human life, basis of leisure, is extremely meaningful,
and it is difficult to obtain such a form in the future.
One should contemplate these two aspects again and again –
these are the holy practice instructions.
I shall exhort myself to engage in practice through such contemplation.
2.        From beginningless time, I have been forever confined in
the Three Realms of cyclic existence,
roving again and again, without leisure, without relief.
Almost all the time, I have been restlessly roaming the land of darkness,
and hardly ever have I encountered such quintessence of the Victor’s teachings.
3.        Due to the mighty power of the compassionate heart of
my Supreme Mentor the most sublime one,
lucky am I, to have the chance to obtain this human life with leisure and fortune!
Utilizing this excellent life, I am certainly able to achieve whatever I wish,
even the excellent Path to superior status and Liberation.
4.        Therefore, I must not waste this life endowed with leisure,
which is more sublime than a Wish-filling Jewel, for trivial purposes,
and I must extract the quintessence of this immensely meaningful life –
Thus, I shall be diligent on the Gradual Path leading to the State of Awakening.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I shall be able to do so!
5.        If, even with this excellent life, I did not extract its quintessence,
to obtain such a life again in the future would be extremely difficult:
Comparing with sentient beings in the three miserable realms,
those who obtain human bodies are like stars that are visible in daylight. 
6.        Even for human beings like me, those who practice Dharma properly
are rarer than Uḍumbara the rarest mysterious blue lotus.
It is extremely seldom that the causes and conditions of practice,
leisure and fortune, are completely assembled.
Examining this in respect to my own continuum, it is plainly clear! 
7.        Having obtained leisure and fortune, if I did not practice the holy Dharma,
but fell into the miserable realms again,
that would be like returning empty-handed,
from a continent full of Wish-fulfilling Jewels.
Who could be more duped and stupid!
8.        Therefore, having obtained only this chance of having leisure and fortune,
I shall not have an appetite for the activities concerning this life –
They are like childish plays and lunatic dramas.
One-pointedly focused by tightening my mind,
I shall be diligent on the Gradual Path leading to the State of Awakening –
The means to extract the quintessence of this tremendously meaningful life.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I shall be able to do so!   

B. The Means to Extract the Quintessence

1. The Means to Train the Mind on the Stages of the Path which is also Common to Beings of Small Capacity 

a. Meditation on Death and Transiency  

1.        All the flawed actions of body, speech and mind, whatever I may commit
originate from my detrimental perception beholding perpetuity.
All the virtues which bring about benefit in the future, whatever I may accumulate,
arise due to the power of the recollection of transiency.
2.        All compounded existences are transient in general,
especially, I myself will soon die.
By contemplating this again and again, all day and all night,
I shall exhort myself to practice the excellent Path in its utmost purity
3.        This excellent life of fortune – difficult to attain and extremely meaningful –
is disintegrating rapidly and will not last for long.
Like a stone thrown from the summit of a high cliff,
it falls fleetly without even a moment of rest.
4.        No place is not under the reign
of Yama the lord of death, the Master of Mortals.
No substance or medicine, no power or wealth, no authority or governance
is able to defeat Lord Yama, the Master of Mortals.             
5.        Even in the short occasion that I am alive,
I am distracted, again and again, by numerous actions of trivial purpose –
sleeping, foolish gossiping, eating and drinking –
and remove myself from opportunities of contemplating the holy Dharma.
6.        Even the holy beings demonstrate scenes of passing away,
how could I, whose body is like a water bubble, not die? 
Therefore, by contemplating this aspect – the certainty of my own death –
I shall apply myself to the virtuous practice, all day and all night.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
7.        Not only is death certain, the time of my death is unpredictable:
So many are conditions that cause me to die,
while so little are conditions for me to live.
Most living beings suffer untimely death
and my own body is also as fragile as a bubble of water.
8.        Even for today, there is no assurance that I will not die.
And if I die at this moment, what opportunities of practice could I have?
Therefore, I shall not think that I still have time and procrastinate,
but apply myself to the virtuous practice, right here, right now.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
9.        At the time of death, there is not a single beneficial thing save Dharma:
Even if I make all people in the Continent of the Jambu Tree
become my close companions,
and even if all of them surround me at the time of my death,
what good could they do for me?
10.    Even if I obtain the glory of domination over
the extent of a universe system of one billion worlds,
still, I have no ability to carry a single dust mole with me to the next life.
Even this body, which I protect and nourish with affection,
is frightening, since it will surely betray me when the Lord of Death arrives.       
11.    Thus, at the time of my passing into another world – the basis of disintegration –
only my supreme Mentors – the Three Sublime Jewels – are not deceptive.
And only the holy Dharma is definitely beneficial.
Therefore, one-pointedly focused by tightening my mind,
I shall be diligent on the Gradual Path leading to the State of Awakening –
the quintessence of Dharma.  

b. Meditation on the Sufferings of the Miserable Realms 

1.        When the time comes and I am separated from this physical body,
I will have no control over the place of my future birth,
but am subjected to take birth under the domination of karma.
And where, by the gale of detrimental karma, will I be carried to?
2.        Countless and beyond calculation, are the detrimental karmas
I have accumulated from beginningless time until my last life.
Exactly in the same way, all I think in this life are of
the three poisons and other mental afflictions,
and all I do are flawed actions and detrimental karma.
3.        The Victor said: “Even a single occasion of subtle flawed action will cause one
to experience hundreds of thousands of unbearable sufferings in the miserable realms.”
Thus, wishing to close the doors of taking birth in the miserable realms,
I shall be diligent in the elimination of vices and the practice of virtues.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
4.        Now, I cannot endure even the slightest touch of a flame.
How will I fare if my body is blazingly scorched
in the Hell of Pouring Rage,    
whose ground is flaming iron lava?
Merely to hear about it terrifies me into trembling, let alone to see!
5.        Now, I cannot endure even a little cold.
Who could protect me if my body is tormented by arctic frost in the Hell of Glaciers,
where blizzards and ice-storms turbulently swirl,
and splinted into hundreds of fragments.
6.        Now, I cannot endure hunger even for one day.
How will I fare if I take birth in the land of hungry ghosts,
where even the word “food” will not be heard for hundreds of years?
Alas! I do not have any control over not being born in those places.
7.        Now, I cannot endure even a few harsh words.
Who could protect me if I take a body
in the realm of hopeless and pitiful animals,
where I will be beaten, enslaved, slaughtered and shredded.    
8.        Right now, I do have some control over myself.
If I did not close the doors of taking birth in the miserable realms,
I would have totally lost my mind – That is no question!
Therefore, I shall be diligent in the elimination of vice and the practice of virtues.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!

c. The Way to Practice the Taking of Refuge

i. Assembling the Causes and Conditions of Taking Refuge
1.        From the depth of my heart and the innermost of my bones,
I go for refuge to the Supreme Mentors –
the three Precious Jewels who are never deceptive,    
since I cannot endure the sufferings of miserable realms,
and they are my sole refuge that protects me from the abyss.
2.        If I were not to rely on my refuge – the Three Sublime Jewels,
there would be no refuge which protects me from the abyss of miserable realms,
since all those who reside in the Three Realms and Six Worlds,
are fastened by shackles of karmas and mental afflictions.
3.        If I do not have faith, even though the compassionate heart of the Sublime Jewels,
is tremendously powerful, they will not be able to protect me –
No matter how sharp the iron hook is made,
it cannot clench to a round pebble.
4.        Therefore, I shall contemplate again and again the immeasurable excellent virtues
of the Three Precious Jewels, the most sublime and exquisite.
With tremendous confidence, faith and devotion from the depth of my heart,
I shall have unreserved trust and intense yearning towards them. 
5.        The Victor spoke this non-deceptive truth:
“For those who bear the Victors’ bodily images in their mind,
or hear the Victors’ beautiful voice with their ears,
or have a little faith and devotion of exhorting the Victors’ compassionate heart,
even if they do take rebirth,
they are surely emancipated from the lands of miserable realms.”
Thus, I shall affirm such a statement.
6.        The Victor said: “Having been terrified by
the cyclic existence and especially the miserable realms,
and having confidence in and devotion to the Three Sublime Jewels,
for they have the power of protection,
one brings about the single-pointed trust. –
Such is the quintessence of the practice of taking refuge.”
Please grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!   
ii. Actual Rite of Taking Refuge
7.        I, together with my fathers and mothers – all sentient beings – without exception,
go for refuge to the Supreme Mentors, the Three Sublime Jewels:
There is no one to place our hope in, save you!
Please, hold us in your sacred compassion,
and save us from all the terrors of Existence and Tranquility! (Recite many times.)
iii. The Way to Practice the Trainings of Taking Refuge
8.        Wholeheartedly taking refuge and entrusting myself to the Three Sublime Jewels,
I must practice exactly according to their words.
Thus, I shall defend the trainings of taking refuge,
cherishing them more than my life.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
9.        Holding Buddha the Awakened Realizers – the sacred teachers – as my refuge,
I shall not seek refuge in any of the worldly deities and spirits,
I shall not belittle, judge or desecrate any images or statues of the Awakened Realizers,
but revere them on top of my head.
10.    Holding holy Dharma the truth as my refuge,
I commit to not putting my confidence on anything that is not Dharmic,
I shall eliminate actions of disrespect and irreverence,
like stepping over or belittling the letters of Dharma,
and revere them on top of my head.
11.    Holding Virtuous Arya Sangha the Seers’ Assembly as my refuge,
I shall not associate myself with wicked companions who have erroneous views,  
I shall consider all monastics–
even those who only assume the attire of saffron robes –
as my Field of Merit, and revere them with devotion.
12.    Having gone for refuge to the Three Sublime Jewels from the depth of my heart,
thus with the cultivation of all the excellent virtues,
like the three sets of vows and so forth, 
humans and non-humans will not intend to harm me,
and I will achieve all the desirable goals without exception, contemporary and ultimate.
Having been accepted into the community of the Awakened Realizers,
all the Victors, together with their heirs, will protect me as their child.   
13.    With confidence in the infinite blessings of taking refuge as such
which are spoken by the Victors,
I shall go for refuge three times in the day and three times at night,
and no matter what I do in my daily life,
I shall always make prayers to the Three Sublime Jewels first.  
14.    I shall not abandon the Sublime Jewels, even if it means my life.
With the understanding that all happiness and comfort is
the grace of the Sublime Jewels alone, I shall diligently and constantly
take on the practice of revering them.
Please, grant your blessings upon me so that I will be able to do so!

d. Meditation on the Faith of Putting Confidence on Karmic Cause-Effect, Which is the Root of All Happiness and Excellence

1.        With roaring and melodious voices, the Victors extolled extensively:
“The root of all happiness and excellence is exactly
the cultivation of the unsullied confidence in karmic cause and effect.”
Therefore, I shall contemplate the karmic cause and effect, both bright and dark.
2.        Only the Sacred Teacher with his compassionate heart
can reveal the cause and effect of bright and dark karmas
as well as the proper way of cultivating and abandoning them –
There is no one among those who are still in the cyclic existence of three realms who can do so.
Therefore, I shall be confident in the words of the Victors.
3.        It is possible that the ground together with all mountains float in the sky,
it is possible the sun, moon, and all the stars smash into the ground;
but the Victors will never speak a lie.
Thus, I shall find confidence in the words of the Victors.
4.        I do not desire sufferings, yet I long for its causes – the vices;
I do desire happiness, yet I do not bring about its causes – the virtues.
With an erroneous understanding of what to cultivate and what to abandon,
I have been deceiving myself. Contemplating the karmic cause and effect,
I shall eliminate vices and obtain virtues.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
5.        From a virtuous karma, arises only happiness,
from a non-virtuous karma, arises only suffering,
if a karma is not accumulated, its results will not arise,
and if a karma is accumulated, it will never ever be aborted.
6.        The ripening result of a karma of the vice’s doing
will be experienced by me alone.
It cannot be transferred or allocated to anyone else –
not my relatives, not my associates, not my retinues nor companions.
7.        A subtle karma of virtue or vice’s doing will induce tremendous ripening results.
The Victors spoke about the stupendousness of ripening results, for example,
due to despising another person as “a monkey,”
someone took rebirth as a monkey five hundred times.
8.        Contemplating the mechanics of karmas and their effects in this way,
I shall always examine again and again, my three doors of action in my daily life,
and with steadfast recollection and introspection,
I shall be diligent in the elimination of vices and cultivation of virtues.   
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so!
9.        Even if I am diligent, due to the forceful domination of my mental afflictions,
I may still commit flawed actions of body, speech and mind.
When it happens, I shall confess and purify it right then and right there,
just like how I would do if been bitten by a poisonous snake.
Please, grant upon me your blessings so that I will be able to do so! 
                                                                   ~~~~~~
Continue to Part II: Medium capacity
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