American Tibetan Buddhist sangha member, Diane, purchasing gold leaf to apply to statues of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as offerings, candles, statues covered with gold leaf, Bangkok temple, Thailand, Pilgrimage, 1993

American Tibetan Buddhist sangha member, Diane, purchasing gold leaf to apply to statues of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas as offerings, candles, statues covered with gold leaf, Bangkok temple, Thailand, Pilgrimage, 1993, a photo by Wonderlane on Flickr.

Thinking about Practice
Namo Ratna Gurawe.

Child,
Your wisdom shines.
You are lucky things came together for you to be born human.
You have opportunities and lack impediments.
You recognize that [the cycle of] birth and death is frightening.
You dream of making the teachings real.
Keep these things in mind:

Think about your practice.
Do it steadfastly,
With a lot of heart-bone.
Hold off on the cravings that arise in your mind.
Sit strong on a mountain top.
Try to let go of this life with your mind.

To grow wonders in your stream of being
Be pure in the three vows and in your commitment to your teacher.
Diminish your pride and arrogance.
Try to humbly hold all above you.

Make use of Lord Buddha’s blessings.
Carry with you a genuine appreciation of the Buddha
And his life story.
Offer your aspirations at all times.

The view will not fit into familiar terrain.
Scrutinize what arises in your mind.
Don’t reject or cling to Samsara or Nirvana.
Try to find an uncorrupted teacher.

When you meditate
Don’t work at holding onto your mind.
Rather, let bliss shine.
Get rid of your cravings.
Root them out.
Hold your ground.
Try to get past the land of words and thoughts.

When you practice
Drop what you have to and do what you must.
Let go of your fondness for duality;
Let things take their own place.
When it comes to the Eight Worldly Dharmas
Keep a level head.
Try to think of what good there is without trying to solve everything.

As for rewards,
Don’t plan on getting them in the future.
Turn your aspirations into something real.
Combine what is happening now with what comes next.
Try to get over liking or disliking what you are doing.

Do things to help other living beings,
But not by just by shooting off prayers.
Allow connections between causes and conditions to dawn on you.
Try to clean up your compassion till you have no ulterior motives.

This little song about eight things to try
Should be sung to make wisdom shine.
This is how you make it real, if you get what it means.
Till you do, you’ll hear about meditation as you grow up.

Samaaptamithi.

WORDS OF THE SAKYA MASTERS
Tibetan Translation by Chris Wilkinson