Sur offering on the steps of the Boudha Stupa, as seen from the northeast view of the shrine and candle offering rooms, on a sunny day with puffy clouds, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal, a photo by Wonderlane on Flickr.
When you wake up
You are sitting there by yourself.
You turn your thoughts up and down,
Full of wrath over this awful charnel ground of Samsara.
You start to wish for a home where you can be free.
Think about what you have to do to get that:
Knowledge, methods, and practice.
Consider this well:
Freedom begins by developing a knowledgeable perspective.
Your thoughts in days gone by were confused.
Different objects each have their wonders of great beauty.
Take a look at these wonders.
You will see the point
That there is no point.
You will have found the point you were truly aiming for.
When you look at an object you won’t recognize it.
It’s pointless.
What does it matter?
If you look at your body you won’t recognize it.
Remain calm when you can’t take form.
Physical appearance is like a reflection in a mirror.
It’s like an illusion.
What does it matter?
You’ll hear sounds,
But you won’t recognize them.
All the noises sound like echoes.
You figure out that nothing is making the noise.
Remain calm when the noise is empty.
Notice that holding, touching, and feeling begin and end with an object.
Perceptual experience is only a figment.
Remain calm when your awareness is empty.
You will find no reason to think the thoughts that are in your mind.
You will find no start or end to the things you think.
They have no center or edge.
They are like the sky.
Remain calm when you can’t be born.
There are no lands that are higher or lower.
There is no birth or ending.
There is no good or evil.
Remain calm in the equanimity of the Dharma.
Your thinking in yesterday’s thoughts was mistaken.
Nothing is born,
But you thought there was birth.
Nothing is sick or old,
But you thought there was.
Nothing ends,
But you thought there was an ending.
The Dharma does not begin with birth.
How could it stay or end?
You will get the idea that there is no birth or ending.
This conception will grow.
Watch it take its place and let it go.
Put down your fixations,
And let them go.
Settling on something is also a conception.
You don’t understood the way things are
When they are left to themselves.
You have not come to terms with the instructions
About not holding on.
You hold on to whatever you happen to be thinking about.
You even hold on to thoughts about not holding on.
Selflessness does not stop shining.
May you understand the interactivity of what is.
The meditation you practice has one point.
If you are diligent it is in your hands.
Don’t campaign for depression and madness.
They are your enemies.
Build your path out of Peaceful Abiding and Higher Perception.
The profound instructions for this practice
Are in the Tantric literature of the Secret Mantra.
Don’t sing the songs of the Secret Mantra.
Keep the Upadesha all in your mind.
Bodhisattvas who want to do this practice
Adorn themselves with the seven classes of Personal Freedom.
They are serious about the practice.
They do not use their body or speech frivolously.
They do not work against the Buddha’s teachings.
They do not abuse living beings.
They don’t throw us in the trash when things get bad.
The benefits are enormous, so they are serious.
This is the root;
Don’t be slack with it.
If you use this as a foundation
You will have three ways of practicing the Secret Mantra:
When things are complicated postpone them
On account of the difficulty of getting it together.
When things are not complicated
Or when they are totally uncomplicated
Get serious about watching what you’re doing.
If you use these words for your practice
The Buddha is in your hands.
It won’t be long till he sits
On the palm of your hand.
You’ll get results
Without a hassle.
WORDS OF THE SAKYA MASTERS
Translated from the Tibetan by Chris Wilkinson
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