THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER

Transcription

1 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER COMPOSED BY BAN GAR WA JAMPAL ZANGPO TRANSLATION AND EXPLANATION BY TONY DUFF PADMA KARPO TRANSLATION COMMITTEE

2 Copyright and Fair Usage Notice Copyright Tony Duff All rights reserved. The translations and commentaries contained herein are made available online as a gift of dharma. They are being offered with the intent that anyone may download them, print them out, read and study them, share them with friends, and even copy and redistribute the files privately. Still, the following must be observed: The files may be copied and given to others privately provided that no fee is charged for them. Other web-sites are encouraged to link to this page. However, the files may only be put up for distribution on other sites with the expressed permission of the author. Neither the files nor their content are in the public domain; the copyright for both remains with the author. In accord with standard copyright law, you may use reasonable portions of these files for your own work, publication or translations. If you cite from them or use them in that way, please cite these files as if they were printed books. Please make it clear in your work which portions of your text is coming from our translation and which portions are based on other sources.

3 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER COMPOSED BY BAN GAR WA JAMPAL ZANGPO TRANSLATION AND EXPLANATION BY TONY DUFF PADMA KARPO TRANSLATION COMMITTEE

4 For enquiries regarding permission to reproduce this book or any portion of it, or to obtain further books, please write to the given address or contact the author via internet and . Copyright 2008 Tony Duff. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photography, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed, without permission in writing from the publisher. First edition, December 2008 Palatino typeface with diacritical marks and Tibetan Classic typeface Designed and created by Tony Duff Produced, Printed, and Published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee P.O. Box 4957 Kathmandu NEPAL Web-site and contact through: Or search Padma Karpo Translation Committee on the web.

5 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... iii THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER... 1 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER WITH COMMENTS ON THE TRANSLATION... 3 TIBETAN TEXT i

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7 INTRODUCTION This is a new translation of one of the most used prayers of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, the Short Great Vajradhara Prayer as it is called. The new translation is meant for practitioners but could also be used as an exercise by those who are trying to learn to translate Tibetan texts. There were many translations of the prayer around at the time of writing, most of them based on one of the earliest translations made, the one done by the Nalanda Translation Committee in the 1970's. The first part of the prayer is straightforward and easy to translate but the last two verses are not because they sum up very profound Mahāmudrā instruction. All translations made so far have failed to translate them correctly. At the urging of several people, we made a fresh translation and a short commentary to the prayer that does correctly show the meaning of the prayer. STUDY TOOLS In general, the Padma Karpo Translation Committee has published a wide range of books on Buddhist dharma. A number of them are on Kagyu Mahāmudrā and will be very helpful in understanding the prayer presented here. See our iii

8 iv INTRODUCTION website at the address given on the copyright page; you will find texts free and for sale there, all of them prepared to the highest level of quality. We also provide many aids for those wanting to translate. We had the idea in producing this publication that it would help practitioners by giving to have a better version of a prayer which is so commonly used. We also had the idea that it could be used as an exercise in translation by those who were wanting to learn how to do that. You could easily use the book here, with all it provides, to take this prayer as a translation exercise. If you do so, we would strongly recommend the Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary as something you should use when you are translating. It contains a large amount of information about Tibetan grammar in general and all of the vocabulary mentioned in this prayer, too. You might also be interested in our major work on Tibetan grammar, The Thirty Verses of Minister Thumi, which presents, for the first time in the West, Tibetan grammar as it is actually used and understood by Tibetans. In fact, the translation exercise in here is founded on the principles of Tibetan grammar which are laid out very extensively in that book. This e-book has a binding offset built in so that it can easily be printed and bound as a book for your library. The text in Tibetan script has been included for those wanting to study it. iv

9 INTRODUCTION v Finally, there are other publications on our website which can be used as exercises in translation. Our best wishes to you, Lama Tony Duff Padma Karpo Translation Committee Swayambhunath, Nepal 19 February v

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11 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER Great Vajradhara, Tailo, Naro, Marpa, Mila, Lord of Dharma Gampopa, Knower of all three times and knowables Karmapa, Holders of the four great and eight lesser lineages of Drigung, Taglung, Tsalpa, these three, glorious Drukpa, and so on You who have mastered the profound path of Mahāmudrā, Unequalled protectors of migrators, the Dvagpo Kagyu, I supplicate you the Kagyu gurus, I hold your lineage, Grant your blessings so that I might follow your example. Revulsion is the foot of meditation as is taught. To this meditator who is not attached to food and wealth, Who decides to cut the ties to this life, Grant your blessings so that I have no attachment to honour and gain. Devotion is the head of meditation as is taught. To this meditator who continually supplicates The guru who opens the door to the foremost instructions, Grant your blessings so that genuine devotion is born in me. 1

12 2 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER Non-distraction is the body of meditation as is taught. To this meditator for whom thought shining forth in freshness Is left unaltered and who stays in just that, Grant your blessings so that I am free of rational-minded meditation. Discursive thought s entity is dharmakāya as is taught. To this meditator for whom nothing whatsoever Shining forth as everything, shines forth in unstopped play, Grant your blessings so that I realize the inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Composed by the man from Ban Gar, Jampal Zangpo. Translated by Lama Tony Duff of Padma Karpo Translation Committee according to the instructions received from many Kagyu lineage holders, while staying with the Three Jewels at Swayambunath, Nepal, December, 2008.

13 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER WITH COMMENTS ON THE TRANSLATION The translation and explanation here of this very popular Kagyu prayer are based on the explanations of the various lineage gurus for whom I have personally translated or heard and the Tibetan commentaries I have read about it. There are several translations of this text floating around. The first few verses are not difficult to translate and are more or less correctly translated by everyone. There are differences in style, with some definitely being better than others; the Nalanda Translation Committee s translation, with the imprint of the Vidyādhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche on it, stands out from the others in this regard. However the last two verses of the prayer are not translated correctly in any of the translations that I have seen even the latest ones. This might not be surprising because the last two verses deal with high levels of practice whose details are secret. The information needed to translate these two verses correctly has obviously not been at the disposal of the people who have done the translations. If a Tibetan teacher were to give you a commentary on the last two verses, you could try to use the other translations with 3

14 4 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER it but it would not work as I found out several times over the years when translating for Kagyu gurus. As a matter of interest, I found myself several times over the years in the position where I was asked to translate such a commentary, on the fly, to these last two verses. Whenever I tried to use the existing translations, it did not go well and I was questioned about it. After careful examination, the various teachers said that there were major problems with the existing translations; they stated plainly that these translations did not reflect the Tibetan at all and, as far as they were concerned, had obstructed the teacher s teaching. So, the problem with existing translations is not just my opinion but that of several high level Kagyu teachers. Interestingly, the current Karmapa was also dissatisfied with the current translations. He had his team of Tibetan lamas work on a new translation which was presented at the 2007 Kagyu Prayer Festival at Bodhgaya. Unfortunately, their lack of knowledge of English shows through very strongly and that translation is even worse that some of the ones done by Westerners. Tibetans can be the teachers for non-tibetans but they absolutely should not be the translators; this is just as they themselves insisted when the Indians were transmitting the Buddha dharma to the Tibetans. At any rate, I am making the point that the Tibetan lineage holders all the way up to the current Karmapa who do understand English enough to know are in universal agreement that this prayer has not been correctly translated so far. Thus, due to need and request, I have produced a new translation that corrects the serious faults of all existing translations of the last two verses and generally sets the rest of the prayer into English according to what is written in the Tibetan. To

15 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 5 do this, I decided not to reject all other work done but to honour that by basing the new translation on the alreadyexisting work of Nalanda Translation Committee, given that their translation is more or less correct for the first few verses and does have a better style than any of the other translations that I have seen. For those who know the Nalanda Translation Committee version, You will see that there are corrections in a few places in the first few verses, which were necessary, and that the last two verses have been translated afresh. This way there is continuity to the work already done but with the necessary improvements made. This new translation can be used with word by word commentaries given by Tibetan teachers because, apart from being generally correct, it does fit the flow of the words and does not lose any of the important concepts involved. THE MEANING OF THE PRAYER There are four, main traditions of Buddhist dharma in Tibet. One of them is the Kagyu tradition. The Kagyu tradition has for its main practice what is called the practice of Mahāmudrā. Mahāmudrā is a name that arose in India for reality. The name means the great imprint and refers to the fact that all phenomena are, without choice or variation, marked by reality. All phenomena are choicelessly imprinted with reality. When that is not words on a page but an actual, direct experience, it is said, in the Indian and Tibetan way of thinking to be great in order to distinguish it from a purely conceptual understanding of it. Thus reality itself that is

16 6 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER indivisibly part of every phenomenon is called The Great Imprint, Mahāmudrā. 1 The prayer here was written by a follower of the Kagyu tradition called Ban Garwa (meaning the man from Ban Gar) Jampal Zangpo. His prayer hits all the key points of the path of Mahāmudrā in a very short space and in just the right way. It was so well-done that it quickly became a prayer used by all followers of his Kagyu tradition and he himself became famous as a result of it. There is a fairly entrenched habit amongst Western dharma students of thinking that this is a lineage prayer. It is not. It is as just mentioned, a summation of the Mahāmudrā path to enlightenment as practised by the Kagyus, built as a prayer that asks for blessings so that the path could be achieved. Traditionally, one would explain the meaning of the title first. A well-constructed title totally sums up the meaning of the content. That is the case here. The prayer starts with enlightenment in the form of other, the external teacher Vajradhara, and goes all through the process of returning to that enlightenment, ending up on the last line with oneself returning to that enlightenment, now as Vajradhara oneself. It is a short prayer indeed and it is about Vajradhara from primordial origin all 1 A great deal more about Mahāmudrā and its practice in the Kagyu tradition starting with Gampopa s instructions on it and including translations of many key texts and a major commentary by Tenga Rinpoche can be found in Gampopa s Mahāmudrā, The Five-Part Mahāmudrā of the Kagyus published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee, ISBN

17 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 7 the way through to your own Vajradhara manifested through following the path. In the Mahāmudrā system, the primordial buddha, the buddha that represents primordial reality before all other buddhas, is Vajradhara. He is the buddha before all others so he is also called Great Vajradhara. Therefore the prayer is called The Short Great Vajradhara Prayer. The body of the prayer hits all the key points of the path of practise that goes with the Mahāmudrā system as follows: 1. It starts with enlightenment in the form of Vajradhara; 2. Prays to the Mahāmudrā lineage connected with realizing that; 3. Asks for blessings for the key point of renunciation, which is the basis for all practice; 4. Asks for blessings for the key point of devotion, which is the special feature needed for the practice of Mahāmudrā; 5. Asks for blessings for the key point of non-distraction leading to non-meditation, which is the style of essence Mahāmudrā meditation; 6. Asks for blessings for the practice of the ultimate view, which is expressed through Gampopa s axiom married to the three characteristics of ultimate practice, leading to final realization which is expressed as the fruition, the inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. SUPPLICATING PRIMORDIAL ENLIGHTENMENT AND THE MAHĀMUDRĀ LINEAGE THAT HAS COME FROM IT To return to reality, you have to relate to the reality and to people who are connected with it. The first part of the prayer sets out the reality and the line of humans who have con-

18 8 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER nected with it via the Mahāmudrā teaching that came from India into Tibet and then supplicates them for their assistance. In this system, primordial reality is represented, as mentioned above, by Great Vajradhara. In other words, the prayer begins by referring to the reality that we would like to return in its manifestation as Vajradhara, the buddha who transmitted the teachings of reality to the humans who practised it and passed it on. Vajradhara gave the teachings to the Indian siddha Tailopa. Although he is commonly called Tilopa these days amongst Westerners, he was almost universally known as Tailopa or just Tailo, in Tibetan Buddhism itself. The prayer, accordingly, calls him Tailo. Tailo received four main lines of teaching on reality from various other Indian siddhas, all of them tracing their lineages of teaching back to Vajradhara. Tailopa had these human gurus but he also had direct meetings with primordial reality. Therefore, it is common that the human lineages that connected him with primordial reality are not mentioned and that his direct connection to reality is mentioned instead, as is done here. One of Tailopa s main disciples was the Indian siddha Naropa. Naropa in turn was the guru of the Tibetan man Marpa. Marpa went to India, received all of the teachings from Naropa and took them back to Tibet where he taught them to his disciples. Marpa had four main disciples, one of them the legendary yogin Milarepa. The life stories of these early forefathers of the Kagyu lineage, as they are called, have been translated into English and are important reading for those following the path. Devotion is a key point of the practice

19 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 9 of Mahāmudrā in general and in the Kagyu lineage in particular and reading their stories helps to make devotion blaze. Milarepa had two main disciples, one of them Gampopa. As Milarepa himself said to Gampopa 2, Through you, there will be much benefit for sentient beings, he said. I, Gampopa, asked how that would be and he said, When you came here, a sign that you would benefit beings arose. After you stayed here, I had a dream in which we had a race and you came first; it says that your benefit for sentient beings will be greater than mine. Again, one time I dreamed that you hurled a boulder bigger than a nomad s tent to another land and by striking the boulder with both hands it was reduced to dust your body also was better than mine; I did not have your capacity. It means that you will not be afraid of external objects. As Milarepa predicted there and in other places, Gampopa was special in that he had a very great connection with sentient beings and because of him in particular, the Kagyu lineage went from being narrowly practised to being practised on a grand scale. The lineage down to Gampopa was like the trunk of a tree. Gampopa represents the point from which the tree develops branches and spreads out into very luxuri- 2 Quoted from Gampopa s Questions and Answers with Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa as found in Gampopa s Collected Works. This will be published in a forthcoming book from Padma Karpo Translation Committee, a book that covers in depth the way that Gampopa taught essence Mahāmudrā to his disciples.

20 10 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER ous growth. All of the lineage gurus mentioned so far were called Lord of Dharma at one time or another because of each one s great realization. However, Gampopa was especially known as Lord of Dharma because of his greatness in making the Kagyu dharma spread widely. Hence, later Kagyu followers often refer to him as such, just as is done in this prayer. After Gampopa, the Kagyu lineage spread out and developed in many sub-lineages. They became known as the four great and eight lesser lineages. The Illuminator Tibetan-English Encyclopaedic Dictionary 3 explains: The Four Greater and Eight Lesser schools is a formulation that does not include all of the Kagyu traditions; it is really an abbreviated statement of what happened to the Kagyu lineage after Gampopa. Kagyu schools that came into existence prior to Gampopa include the Marpa Kagyu and Rechung Nyengyu; from Gampopa himself there is the Dvagpo Kagyu and another transmission; these lineages exist separately from the four greater and eight lesser schools. The four greater Kagyu schools are: 1) the Karma Kagyu founded by one of the three men from Kham, Dusum Khyenpa; 2) the Barom Kagyu founded by Barom Darma Wangchuk;, 3 Published by and available through Padma Karpo Translation Committee. See the PKTC web-site at the address on the copyright page for full information.

21 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 11 3) the Tshalpa Kagyu founded by Lama Zhang, Zhang Tshalpa Tsondru Drakpa; and 4) the Phakdru Kagyu tradition founded by Phagmo Drupa another of the three men from Kham. The eight lesser schools appeared due to eight of the great students of Phagmo Drupa. They are: 1) the Drigung Kagyu founded by Kyobpa Jigten Gonpo; 2) the Taglung Kagyu founded by Taglung Thangpa Tashi Palden; 3) Trophu Kagyu founded by Drogon Gyaltsha; 4) the Lingre Kagyu founded by Lingje Repa Pema Dorje (and which became the source of the Drukpa Kagyu); 5) the Martsang Kagyu founded by Choje Marpa Dondrup; 6) the Yelpa Kagyu founded by Yelpa Yeshe Tsek; 7) the Yazang Kagyu founded by Zarawa Yeshe Senge; and 8) the Shugseb Kagyu founded by Nyephu Gyergom Chenpo. The prayer continues by mentioning Knower of all three times and knowables Karmapa. This is the first Karmapa, Dusum Khyenpa. He was the founder of the Karma Kagyu, which is one of the four greater lineages. The reason that Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa is mentioned specifically here and not any of the other founders of the four great and eight lesser lineages is that the author of the prayer was a follower of the Karma Kagyu, so he is mentioning the source of his own Kagyu lineage. The first Karmapa became known during his lifetime as a practitioner of consummate realization so was called Dusum Khyenpa meaning knower of the three times, in reference

22 12 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER to the fact that a buddha has the capacity to know all of the past, present, and future simultaneously. The prayer here is very cleverly written; it builds on his name Knower of the three times, and literally says The all the three times and knowables knowing one Karmapa. This is a bit hard to render into English without becoming a mouthful so I ve translated it as I have. However, that is what it actually says. The point here is that buddhas do not only know the three times, they also know every single thing that could be known all knowables. By the way, the text does not say that he is omniscient, it says that he is all-knowing which is a specific epithet of the Tibetan tradition. After the first Karmapa, it mentions all the rest of the lineage holders of the various Kagyu lineages by mentioning the lineage holders of the four great and eight lesser lineages. Even though there were other Kagyu lineages, as mentioned in the citation from the Illuminator Dictionary, mentioning the four great and eight lesser lineages became a way, as it is here, of meaning all of the Kagyu lineages. The prayer does not just mention the eight lesser lineages and leave it at that but goes on to pick out the Drigung, Taglung, Tshalpa, and Glorious Drukpa Kagyu lineages. It does this because they were flourishing strongly compared to some of the others, so they got a special mention. The Drukpa Kagyu, for example, was especially famous for consisting mainly of yogins who were practising and gaining accomplishment. To this point, the prayer has mentioned all of the lineage holders of all the Kagyu lineages with emphasis, because of the mention of Karmapa, on the Karma Kagyu. Later, other

23 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 13 lineages changed these last few lines slightly so that it would work better for their particular Kagyu lineage. For example, there is a slightly modified version that removes Karmapa Dusum Khyenpa and puts in the names of the main lineage holders of the Drukpa Kagyu lineage. The prayer continues by praising these lineage holders. They are the great beings of the lineage who have mastered the profound path of Mahāmudrā. Moreover, they are the unequalled guardians of migrators, the Dvagpo Kagyu. Unequalled means that the Kagyu gurus are unequalled in their capacity for guiding sentient beings. Note that some translations of the prayer say incomparable ; there is a specific word for incomparable in Tibetan, just as there is in English, and a specific word for unequalled, just as there is in English. The word here is unequalled. Guardians of migrators is a standard phrase used in all spheres of Tibetan Buddhism. Migrators is one of many terms that the Buddha used to describe sentient beings in general. The Buddha s original word was, quite literally, goers ; he used it to refer to the fact that sentient beings buzz about blindly, zipping here and there between one existence and another, like flies trapped in a jar. They need help. That help comes in various ways. In this case, the gurus of the Kagyu lineage are like their guardians. The word here is not merely protector though it includes that notion, too. The word is the specific word for someone older, wiser, and more capable who stands over and protects another person in the role of being their guardian. The gurus of the Kagyu lineage have actually taken on these blind migrators who are buzzing around like senseless flies and stand over them, looking after

24 14 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER and guiding them, like the guardians of children who have lost their parents and need someone older to look after them in every way. These unequalled guardians of beings are the Kagyu gurus of the lineage that came down from Gampopa. Gampopa is mostly known to Tibetans not as Gampopa but as the man from Dvagpo because that is where he came from and also where he established his monastery on the advice of Milarepa. Thus, they are the unequalled guardians of beings, the gurus of the lineage of the Dvagpo Kagyu that came down through Gampopa. Now that all of the lineage holders have been stated then praised, the first of several supplications is made. The remainder of this first section, when paraphrased, says, I supplicate you the Kagyu gurus mentioned above. I too have the instructions of the Kagyu lineage and practise them, thus I too am a holder of the Kagyu lineage. Therefore, please grant me your blessings so that I too could practise dharma in the ways that you have, as seen in your various life stories. With that, the practitioner has made a full connection with reality and the lineage of teachers who have practised and passed on the teachings to him, and has asked for their blessings so that he too could practise and attain as they have. Having done that, the practitioner needs to have specific blessings so that he could have all the necessities of practice itself and accomplish the practice according to how it should be accomplished. Thus, the rest of the prayer is concerned

25 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 15 with supplicating for blessings so that practice could be entered and successfully accomplished. SUPPLICATING FOR RENUNCIATION The first thing needed for practice is renunciation. There are many ways of summing up the path to enlightenment but they always begin with renunciation because a person who has not seen that his existence is fundamentally flawed will not have the drive needed to go through the process of getting to a more enlightened kind of existence. Renunciation is a two fold process of seeing firstly that your current type of existence is fundamentally flawed and cannot be fixed and secondly of turning towards a different type of existence that is not flawed and does not need to be fixed. The first step is to be revolted with your current, cyclic type of existence then, from there, you can take the second step of finding out which type of existence is better and re-orienting yourself firmly to that, which is actual renunciation. Thus revulsion or disgust at one s current state of existence is a precursor for the renunciation that does the work of carrying you all the way along your journey to a more enlightened style of existence. Therefore, this verse says, Revulsion is the foot of meditation as is taught. Revulsion in Tibetan means to be disgusted with something, to be utterly fed up with it to the point of nausea. When you are this fed up with your deluded style of existence, otherwise known as cyclic existence or saṃsāra, you have the drive needed to undertake what it takes to get to enlightenment. You will be prepared because of it to give up attachments to the securities of your deluded kind of existence food, wealth,

26 16 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER lodging, possessions, and so on and put yourself wholly into the practice. Giving up attempts to make this life workable that will inevitably fail goes along with making a very deliberate and no-turning-back-possible decision to abandon that approach and to get on only with practice. The Tibetan words in the prayer that correspond to cut the ties to this life actually mean to cut the mooring rope of a boat and they have the sense of making a final, definite decision that commits the person making the decision to a course of action without any looking back. The Tibetan wording is quite strong and the English has to be understood that way. The prayer does not merely say that one cuts the ties to this life but that one firmly decides to cut the ties to this life and does actually do so. So you, as the meditator are a person who has been revolted by what you understand your cyclic existence to be and have given up on this life, having made a firm decision to cut all ties to it. Therefore, you supplicate the ones before you who have done the same, asking for their blessings so that you have no attachment to honour and gain. Here gain means to have things as opposed to not having them; it is one element of a comfortable, secure existence in this life, something that the meditator is abandoning or has abandoned. Honour means others holding you in high esteem and treating you very well because of it. In short, you, the meditator are asking for blessings so that you do not have the sorts of mind that would disturb your decision to abandon cyclic existence and get on with enlightenment. SUPPLICATING FOR DEVOTION

27 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 17 Devotion is one of the key issues in Vajra Vehicle. Without it, nothing can happen. Devotion oversees the whole practice and guides it along. Therefore it is likened to a head, with eyes and a brain. When you have properly entered into relationship with someone who can teach you Mahāmudrā, that person, your guru, opens to the door to your being able to practise Mahāmudrā specifically by granting you the very special sort of oral instructions that will enable you to progress on the path. There are many types of oral instruction in Buddhism and each has a specific name that tells exactly what it is. The most special of all, called upadeśha in Sanskrit and man ngag in Tibetan, has the power to wake up certain kinds of experience in you. The name literally means foremost oral instruction. It is not enough just to think of this as oral instruction; there are many types of oral instruction but there is only one type of this foremost instruction and it is universally described as the special type of instruction needed for the transmission of the Vajra Vehicle teaching. The whole transmission of Mahāmudrā and Dzogchen depends on having a teacher who can impart this kind of instruction to you. And your ability to receive it and do something with it depends on your devotion to that person. Therefore, the guru is precious above all, and your devotion to him is key. Because of that, you supplicate the lineage gurus so that a genuine devotion could be born in you. The Tibetan word translated as genuine is actually uncontrived. It means un-feigned devotion, devotion with nothing artificial about it.

28 18 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER A lot could be said here about devotion but much of it is closed teaching, available only to those who have entered the Vajra Vehicle, and this small explanation is meant for wider public distribution. SUPPLICATING FOR NON-DISTRACTION The remaining two verses deal with the actual practice of Mahāmudrā meditation. There are two main approaches to Mahāmudrā practice taught in the Kagyu; one is called essence Mahāmudrā and the other is called The Four Yogas of Mahāmudrā. The two verses here are about essence Mahāmudrā. This is the way that Gampopa, according to what he himself says in his Collected Works, taught Mahāmudrā to his disciples. The two remaining verses sum up the whole practice of essence Mahāmudrā and could easily have several large books written about them. As mentioned before, the author was very erudite and actually compressed all the essential issues into just these two verses. However, as mentioned above, this is only a small explanation of the prayer meant for widespread distribution, so a detailed explanation will not be given and the secret details will not be discussed. To understand the current verse, the one that starts with Non-distraction, you must understand that all lower types of meditation, such as those found in sūtra, are meditations in which you meditate using rational or you can say dualistic mind. And, you very consciously do a meditation that has the particular feature of developing a quality that you did not have before or improving on one that you do have but which could be further developed. The meditations, for example,

29 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 19 on impermanence, loving kindness, compassion, calm-abiding, and so on are like that, and even meditation on emptiness could be like that. They are meditations done with rational mind, and they try to create or develop something in rational mind. Higher types of meditation are quite different. Rather than using rational mind to produce or improve something in the normal, dualistic state of mind, these meditations do not create or improve anything in that mind. To the contrary, they are beyond rational-mind made meditations and require that the meditator separates himself from that kind of meditation. The first of these two last verses is seeking blessings specifically so that the practitioner can divorce himself from rationalmind styles of meditation and go to the beyond-mind style meditation of Mahāmudrā. To enter the approach of a non-rational type of meditation which is not even a meditation there has, initially, to be nondistraction from the real situation as it is. You might not be doing a conventional type, rational-minded meditation but, whatever else you do, you must remain without distraction in your practice. To do that, thoughts are not approached the way they are in rational-mind made meditations. In rationalmind made meditations, thoughts are seen as bad and have to be stopped. In essence Mahāmudrā, thoughts are part of reality and do not need to be prevented but they must also not be allowed to be a source of distraction. This point of being non-distracted is a key point in Mahāmudrā. It is the body, or the main part of meditation, as the prayer says. A number of translations change non-distraction to its opposite, awareness, and use that word instead of non-

30 20 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER distraction. This is a serious mistake as anyone who is wellacquainted with the practice and its transmission will know. The key point and the word for it is non-distraction and there are extensive explanations on why that is so and what it means. The second and third lines present a progression with four, specific features of how a thought has to be dealt with initially for it to be part of the non-distraction. They are like a live broadcast of someone dealing with thoughts so that they remain an integral part of the person s non-distraction. They are fresh things, those thoughts, when they do shine forth. What is shining forth? It is a specific technical term that is not the same as the more general words arising, occurring, etc. It is a word specifically for things that happen only in mind. When used in the Tibetan, you know exactly what you are dealing with. We have no word for this in English, so I have used the phrase shines forth which both makes the term stand out as it does in the Tibetan and correctly translates the meaning. They are fresh things, those thoughts, when they do shine forth. And you leave those things, in all of their freshness, untouched by any attempt to alter them. You put yourself so that you are staying in just that, meaning just exactly what that un-distracted freshness is, and nothing more or less. By putting yourself in that specific way in relation to any thought that shines forth, you develop the non-distractedness which is an essential component of every meditation but do it without the usual rational-minded approach to meditation seen in lower types of meditation. That is what you are aim-

31 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 21 ing for so you end this verse by asking for blessings so that you can, using this style of non-distraction, rid yourself of all styles of rational-mind made meditation and move to the nondualistic, non-meditation of essence Mahāmudrā. Let me say here that, in the Tibetan of this verse, everything is in the right place, there is great meaning, and the verse is easy to chant. However, this is one of those cases where it is very difficult to get all of the qualities of the Tibetan verse into English so that all details are included, are in the right order, and the whole thing is pleasant to chant. An equally important point is not to fall into the mistake of looking at this and saying, Oh, I prefer some other translation because it sounds better or is easier to chant. That would be like saying, I don t care if the meaning is wrong and it takes me in the wrong direction, I just like it better. The hard truth exposed by this situation is that we need to start writing our own prayers in English. THE CORE PRACTICE AND ITS RESULT, A RETURN TO ENLIGHTENMENT The last verse succinctly describes ultimate Mahāmudrā practice and supplicates for blessings for its accomplishment, which will be the fruition of the path, a return to buddhahood. As with the last verse, the Tibetan in this verse incorporates a number of key points in a flow. It s rather beautiful, too, if you know all the details involved. Unlike the previous verse, it is straightforward to render into English though it does require a knowledge of the most profound points of Mahāmudrā, which admittedly is not something that many people have, even amongst practitioners.

32 22 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER The verse starts out with Gampopa s statement that discursive thoughts are the entity of dharmakāya. The word entity here has often been translated as nature or essence but that is not the meaning of the word. The word means what something actually is. This line is not saying the essence of discursive thought is dharmakāya, which conveys the sense that there is something inside a thought that is dharmakāya and then there is the thought as well. This line is saying discursive thoughts themselves are the dharmakāya, they are what dharmakāya is. There are two points connected with this. First, saying something like the nature or essence of discursive thought is dharmakāya is not particularly hard to understand or accept within Buddhism. However, saying that the entity of discursive through is dharmakāya is very radical! It is precisely because this is the meaning of this first line that masters of other lineages, such as Sakya Paṇḍita, make trenchant criticisms of this statement. You can read more about these criticisms in PKTC s books The Bodyless Dakini Dharma: The Dakini Hearing Lineage Of the Kagyus 4 and Drukchen Padma Karpo s Collected Works on Mahamudra 5 The second point is that meaning intended by Gampopa with the entity of discursive thoughts is very profound. It sums up the entirety of Gampopa s way of teaching essence Mahāmudrā because of which it has become a central pillar of 4 Published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee, 2010, ISBN: Published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee, 2011, ISBN:

33 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 23 Kagyu teaching of Mahāmudrā. Gampopa once gave a teaching that summed up his the entity of discursive thoughts is dharmakāya teaching. The teaching was recorded in writing and is now part of his collected works. A translation of the teaching with extensive explanations is available in PKTC s book Gampopa Teaches Essence Mahāmudrā Interviews with His Heart Disciples, Dusum Khyenpa And Others 6. From cover to cover this book sets out Gampopa s way of teaching Mahāmudrā; reading it will be especially helpful in understanding the verse currently under consideration. The style of practice connected with this is the non-meditation, free-of-rational-mind type of practice that goes with the nondistraction mentioned in the previous verse. When this type of practice is done, the meditator experiences reality directly and in a way that is described in the essence Mahāmudrā instructions with the three characteristics. The three sum up how the meditator knows reality, that is, Mahāmudrā, in direct experience. There is an enormous body of teaching on the practice of these three characteristics but this is all at the secret level and cannot be discussed here. Nonetheless, it is important to understand that the verse is talking about a meditator who does arrive at this experience, with all three characteristics involved. All other translations that I have seen mis-translate this verse, primarily because the translators did not know about this very profound and hence not widely known point. 6 Published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee, 2011, ISBN:

34 24 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER The meditator s direct experience of reality having the three characteristics is stated with these words, nothing whatsoever shining forth as everything, shines forth in unstopped play Note how there is no break between nothing whatsoever and shining forth as everything. That is correct: the wording is exactly that way in Tibetan and sounds that way when read. That is so because it describes two processes occurring simultaneously. When those two events are happening, whatever shines forth in mind shines forth in a process of what is called unstopped play, just as this translation says. The word un-stopped is a very special and important term that points out a special quality of the first two characteristics. Most other translations have called this unceasing or unhindered but that is incorrect; those words and others like them are not grammatically correct and are also not correct in terms of the profound point being addressed. The verse ends by asking for blessings so that the experience of Mahāmudrā could shine forth in the meditator s mind not merely as the path experience just discussed but as the final realization of buddhahood, mentioned as the inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. The qualities of enlightenment are inconceivable, in the sense that they are beyond the range of conceptual, that is rational, mind. However, for the sake of us practitioners, buddha, in its various manifestations such as Śhākyamuni Buddha, Vajradhara, and so on have given explanations of what it is like. One of the many ways of explaining it is to point out that, when realized, there is no boundary any longer between

35 A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF THE PRAYER 25 saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. There are various ways of explaining this but before mentioning them, it is important to understand that the inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is not something that can or ever will directly known by any saṃsāric sort of being. The inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa does not in any way mean that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are inseparable in the way that a saṃsāric, conceptual, dualistic, rational mind would always think about it. The inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are words that point at a state of being in which there is a fundamentally different way of knowing from that of the ordinary person. That different way of knowing is called wisdom. If you, as a person who has practised this kind of Mahāmudrā path, have reached the point where the direct experience of reality described in the middle lines of this verse is with you twenty-four hours a day, around the clock, and without any interruption at all to its continuity, then you have reached the fruition. You have returned to your own, innate state of Vajradhara because of having followed the path as it should be followed, as summed up in this prayer. If someone else who had not arrived at the end came along and asked you, Well how is it?, you would be stuck for words just as all the other buddhas have been. However, if you were pressed on the matter, you might, as they all have done, first offer the disclaimer, Look, this is not expressible by words and cannot be known through conceptual thinking and then say, All things of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa have one common point, which is that they all are empty. At this point, that emptiness has been fully realized; it is a fact continuously before mind. Therefore, for me, the phenomena that arise in that expanse of emptiness whether of saṃsāra or nirvāṇa, are

36 26 THE SHORT GREAT VAJRADHARA PRAYER the same and cannot be separated. For me, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are not two separate things the way that they are for you. Their way of being inseparable can be understood by a saṃsāric person using these kinds of words but the actual fact of inseparability can only be experienced when dualistic mind and all of its traces have been eliminated, at the point when you have returned to your original condition. The original condition is The Great Imprint, Mahāmudrā which manifests in the forms such as Vajradhara in order to teach other beings how to return to their original condition. The prayer is commonly recited with another verse added to the end, one which sums up the path into just one verse: Through all my births may I not be separated However, that is another prayer that is not part of the Great Vajradhara prayer. May all be good and Finally beyond good. Lama Tony Duff, Swayambhu, Nepal, 24 December 2008

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40 Tony Duff has spent a lifetime pursuing the Buddha s teaching and transmitting it to others. In the early 1970's, during his post-graduate studies in molecular biology, he went to Asia and met the Buddhist teachings of various South-east Asian countries. He met Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal and has followed it since. After his trip he abandoned worldly life and was the first monk ordained in his home country of Australia. Together with several others, he founded the monastery called Chenrezig Institute for Wisdom Culture where he studied and practised the Gelugpa teachings for several years under the guidance of Lama Yeshe, Lama Zopa, Geshe Lodan, and Zasep Tulku. After that, he offered back his ordination and left for the USA to study the Kagyu teachings with the incomparable Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Tony was very active in the community and went through all possible levels of training that were available during his twelve year stay. He was also a core member of the Nalanda Translation Committee. After Chogyam Trungpa died, Tony went to live in Nepal where he worked as the personal translator for Tsoknyi Rinpoche and also translated for several other well-known teachers. He also founded and directed the largest Tibetan text preservation project in Asia, the Drukpa Kagyu Heritage Project, which he oversaw for eight years. He also established the Padma Karpo Translation Committee which has produced many fine translations and made many resources for translators such as the highly acclaimed Illuminator Tibetan-English Dictionary. After the year 2000, Tony focussed primarily on obtaining Dzogchen teachings from the best teachers available, especially within Tibet, and translating and teaching them. He has received much approval from many teachers and has been given the titles lotsawa and lama and been strongly encouraged by them to teach Westerners. One way he does that is by producing these fine translations. PADMA KARPO TRANSLATION COMMITTEE P.O. Box 4957 Kathmandu Nepal