Theos-Talk Archives (November 2000 Message tt00255)

For Sherab in his honor I'll post this quote:


MAHAYANA MEDITATION

OM SVASTI! 

Homage to him beyond the gods, the generous Master 
Who is inseparably one with Manjusri-vajra, 
Lama Tsong-Kha-Pa, who nakedly showed 
The nature of mind, pure since the beginning. 

Dream objects in the mind of one drunk with sleep, 
The horses and elephants conjured up by a magician; 
Only appearances; on those foundations, 
Nothing real; merely mental imputations. 

Similarly, all things in the world and beyond 
Are simply projections of names and thoughts. 
Not even the tiniest atom exists by itself, 
Independently and in its own right. 

Yet anything perceived by an ordinary being 
Whose mind is clouded by the slumber of unknowing 
Is taken as something ultimately true. 
Look at how the samsaric mind grasps. 

That 'I' seen by the deluded mind, 
That way things seem to exist on their own, 
Is known by realized beings not to be. 
How important to check the mind that believes in it. 

If that called 'I' actually exists and is not 
Merely a label placed upon the body and mind, 
'I' would not be related to 'my' body and mind; 
They would be like eastern and western mountains. 

When one searches the 'I' in terms of cause and effect, 
And asks whether it is one with or other than the body and mind, 
The wisdom of emptiness, void as the sky, arises 
And melts the thought that grasps for ultimates. 

That wisdom is the perfect view which, joined 
With relentless mindfulness, the spy of alertness 
And firm samadhi, transports one to the peak 
Of clear, blissful, non-conceptual meditation. 

Mind thus poised and repeatedly searching, 
One gains a diamond-hard understanding, 
A weapon of one hundred unbreakable spikes, 
Which undoubtedly will destroy the mountain of ego. 

During meditation, keep the mind 
Unobstructed as space; 
After meditation, regard the flow of events 
As a rainbow. 
Thus the things which so allure the world 
Are seen to be insubstantial hallucinations. 

Joy and misery are dances within a dream; 
Forms and sights are a town projected by a magician. 
Sounds are like one's own voice echoed in a cave; 
Those who grasp at these things are mindless children. 

Just as a reflected image distinctly appears 
When a man holds his face to a mirror, 
All things are both radiantly manifest and empty. 
For that very reason is cause and effect unfailing. 

Thus, abandoning the negative, increasing the good, 
Keeping one's mind tethered with the three bonds, 
Following a life-style unstained by even minor faults, 
Ultimate aims are easily and quickly attained. 

This body is a pot filled with blood, pus and excrement; 
Possessions are like the honey collected by a bee; 
Friends and relatives are like strangers in shops; 
Prosperity and comfort are deceptive assassins. 

This life races towards death 
Like a river pouring over a cliff; 
No one is sure to be alive even this evening 
When the grinning sun drops behind the West. 

Engrossed in the dance of the eight worldly dharmas, 
Children of the world overlook deeper values. 
Watching them thus flounder in fantasy and delusion, 
The hearts of those like me retch and groan. 

If you wish to attain supreme, perfect enlightenment, 
Meditate day and night upon the proper attitude. 
Merely engaging the body, speech and mind in virtue 
Will not make your practice Mahayana. 

Develop ever greater waves of enlightened thought 
And strive intently to cross over to the other shore 
Of the infinite sea of Bodhisattva deeds, 
Just as taught in the sutras and tantras of Buddha. 

May this song on meditation upon the perfect view 
Be a dragon's roar to awaken living beings 
>From the beginningless sleep of ignorance; 
May it help fulfil the endless needs of the world. 

LOSANG KALSANG GYATSO 
THE VIIth DALAI LAMA (17O8-1757)

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