Retranslated Lama Chöpa, from A Commentary on the Guru Yoga of Lama Chöpa presented by Ven. Khensur Kangurwa Lobsang Thubten Rinpoche, translated by Ilia Durovic, © October 2009 Thekchen Shedrub Choeling Tibetan Buddhist Institute. Verse numbers follow that text. Verses 55-83 (the tsog offering, sections VII and VIII) are not part of this retranslation.
1. From within great bliss I manifest as a guru-deity;
From my body a profusion of light rays radiate forth to the ten directions
Transforming the environment and the beings therein.
All becomes most prefectly arrayed with only infinitely pure qualities.
2. From the state of an exalted white virtuous mind,
I and all the infinite beings, my mothers of old,
From this moment until our supreme enlightenment
Go for refuge to the gurus and the Three Jewels.
3. NAMO GURUBHYAH,
NAMO BUDDHAYA,
NAMO DHARMAYA,
NAMO SANGHAYA. (X3)
4. For the sake of all mother sentient beings
I shall become a guru-deity,
And thus place all sentient beings
Into the supreme state of a guru deity.
5. For the sake of all mother sentient beings
I shall quickly, very quickly in this very life
Attain the state of a primordial buddha, guru-deity.
6. I shall liberate all mother sentient beings from suffering
And lead them to the great bliss of buddhahood.
To this end I now shall practise
The profound path of deity yoga. (5 & 6 3X)
7. OM AH HUM, OM AH HUM, OM AH HUM
8. Pure clouds of outer, inner and secret offerings,
And rich offerings of ritual requirements spread inconceivably,
Pervading the reaches of space, earth and sky;
In essence they are pristine awareness, in aspect inner
Offerings and the various objects of offering.
Their function as objects to be enjoyed by the six senses
Is to generate the extraordinary pristine awareness of voidness and bliss.
9. In the vast space of indivisible voidness and bliss,
Amidst billowing clouds of offerings of Samantabhadra which are vast and of the nature of inseparable bliss and emptiness,
At the crest of a wish-granting tree embellished with leaves, flowers ands fruit,
Is a lion throne ablaze with precious gems, on which is a lotus, sun and full moon.
10. On the top petal one visualises one’s root guru who is kind in three ways.
In essence all buddhas in aspect of Je Tsong Khapa,
With one face, two arms, radiant with a bright smile.
His right hand is in the gesture of expounding the dharma,
His left in meditative poise, holding an alms bowl filled with nectar.
He is draped with three lustrous saffron robes, and his head is graced by a golden pundit’s hat.
11. In the heart of Je Tsong Khapa is Buddha Shakyamuni, and in the heart of Buddha Shakyamuni, is the all-pervading Lord Vajradhara with a blue-coloured body,
One face and two arms, holding vajra and bell, embracing Vajradhatu Ishvari;
They delight in the play of simultaneous voidness and bliss,
Are adorned with jeweled ornaments of many designs, and are clothed in garments of heavenly silks.
12. Radiant with light rays, adorned with the major and minor signs,
The guru sits in the vajra position enhaloed by a five-colored rainbow.
His purified aggregates are the five lineage buddhas gone to bliss;
His four elements the four consorts; his sense spheres energy channels,
Sinews, and joints are in actuality bodhisattvas;
The hairs of his pores are twenty-one thousand arhats;
His limbs are wrathful protectors;
The light rays are directional guardians, lords of wealth and their attendants;
While worldly gods are but cushions for his feet.
13. Surrounding him in their respective order sit the direct and lineage gurus,
Yidams, hosts of mandala deities,
Buddhas, bodhisattvas, heroes and dakinis,
Encircled by an ocean of dharma protectors.
14. The three doors of each are marked with the three vajras;
From the HUM syllables light rays radiate and
Draw forth the wisdom beings from their natural abodes
And they become inseparably set.
15. O sources of goodness and well-being throughout the three times;
O root and lineage gurus, yidams and three jewels of refuge,
Heroes, dakinis, dharma protectors and hosts of guardians:
By the power of your compassion come forth and abide steadfastly!
16. Though all things are totally free of inherent coming and going,
Still you arise through the action of wisdom and loving compassion,
According to the dispositions of the varied disciples;
O holy savior, please come forth with your entourages.
17. OM GURU BUDDHA BODHISATTVA DHARMAPALA SAPARIWARA EH YE HIH DZA HUM BAM HOH!
The wisdom beings and the symbolic beings become non-dual.
18. You, whose compassion grants even the sphere of great bliss,
The supreme state of the three bodies, in an instant;
O guru, with a jewel-like body, Vajradhara,
At your lotus feet I prostrate.
19. You are the pristine awareness of all infinite conquerors.
Appearing with supreme skilful means in any way that tames
Such as manifesting in the guise of a saffron robed monk:
I prostrate at your feet, O holy savior.
20. Sole source of benefit and bliss without exception,
You eliminated all faults and their imprints,
And are a treasury of myriad jewel-like qualities:
I prostrate at your feet, O venerable guru.
21. You are in actuality, all buddhas, teachers of all, including the gods;
The source of the eighty-four thousand pure dharmas,
You tower above the whole host of arya beings:
I prostrate to you, O benevolent gurus.
22. Praising the guru, as manifesting all of the victorious ones and their sons of the ten directions,
The three supreme jewels and all worthy of homage,
With faith, conviction and oceans of lyric praise,
Manifesting forms as numerous as the atoms of the world, to these infinite bodies we prostrate.
23. O saviors, O venerable gurus, together with your entourage,
I present you with oceans of clouds of various offerings.
24. From expansive well-fashioned vessels, radiant and precious,
Gently flow four streams of purifying nectar.
25. Beautiful flowers and trees, as blossoms, and
In exquisitely arranged garlands, fill the earth and sky.
26. Drifts of lazuli smoke from fragrant
Incense billow in blue clouds in the heavens.
27. From suns and moons, glittering jewels, and scores of flaming lamps,
Joyful light dispels the darkness of a thousand million billion worlds.
28. Vast seas of scented waters, imbued with the fragrances
Of saffron, sandalwood, and camphor swirl out to the horizons.
29. Delicacies of gods and men, drinks and wholesome feasts
With ingredients of a hundred flavors, amass a Mount Meru.
30. Music from an endless variety of various instruments
Blends into a symphony filling the three realms.
31. Goddesses of sense objects, holding symbols of
Sight sound, smell, taste and touch, pervade all directions.
32. To you, O saviours, treasures of compassion,
Eminent and supreme field of merit, I present with pure faith:
Mount Meru and the four continents a billion times over,
The precious royal emblems, the precious minor symbols and more,
Perfectly delightful environments and beings,
And a great treasure of all that gods and men use or desire.
33. On the shore of a wish granting sea, grow lotuses
Which are offerings arisen from samsara’s and nirvana’s virtues.
Both real and emanated, they captivate all hearts.
Flowers, being both worldly and supramundane virtues
Of my own and others’ three doors brighten all places.
This garden is diffused with myriad fragrances of Samantabhadra offerings;
It is laden with fruit—the three trainings, the two stages and the five paths:
I offer this in order to please you, O venerable gurus.
34. I offer a drink of china tea the colour of saffron,
Rich with a hundred flavours, with a delicate bouquet;
The five hooks, five lamps, and so forth.
Are purified, transformed, and increased into a sea of nectar.
35. I offer even illusion-like consorts, of youthful splendour,
Slender and skilled in the sixty-four arts of love;
A host of messenger dakinis—
Field-born, mantra-born and simultaneously-born.
36. I offer you the wisdom of great spontaneously unobstructed bliss.
The sphere of the true unelaborated nature of all phenomena
Beyond thought and expression, spontaneous and inseparable,
The supreme ultimate bodhichitta.
37. I offer all types of potent medicines
To cure the four-hundred and four afflictions caused by defilements
And I offer myself as a servant to please you:
Pray keep me in your service as long as space endures.
38. Before those having great compassion,
Through deeds which I have done in the past, the deeds I will do, those I will be doing in the future, and those I have rejoiced in,
Caused others to do, or in which I have rejoiced.
I confess these with profound repentance in front of the great compassionate ones
and I take the pledge never to commit them again.
39. Though all things are like a dream lacking inherent existence,
I sincerely rejoice in all bliss and happiness which ever arises
As the happiness and joy of all aryas and ordinary beings.
40. Shower rains of vast and profound dharma, I pray
From a gathering of a million clouds of perfect wisdom and compassion
To grow sustain and propagate a garden of moon flowers
Of benefit and bliss for limitless beings.
41. Though your varja body has neither birth nor death,
But is a vessel of the mighty king yuganaddha.
Please abide forever according to my wishes
Not passing beyond sorrow until the end of samsara.
42. Therefore, this collection of white virtue born thereby,
I dedicate to all sentient beings so that they may be inseparably cared for
So as to obtain in all my lives, the state of union of Vajradhara while never being separated,
And being taken care of by the noble guru who is endowed with the three kindnesses.
43. You are a source of virtue, an immense ocean of moral discipline,
And brim with a treasury of the jewels of vast learning;
Master, second king of sages, clad in saffron,
O elder, holder of vinaya, I make requests to you.
44. You have the ten qualities that make one a suitable guide
To teach the path of those-gone-to-bliss;
Lord of dharma, representing all the conquerors,
O Mahayana guru, I make requests to you.
45. With your three doors well subdued, wise, patient, and honest,
Honourable, knowing mantra and tantra,
Having both sets of ten principals, skilled in drawing and teaching,
O foremost vajra-holder, I make requests to you.
46. Unsuitable trainees of the age of the five degenerations,
Not having been tamed by the countless buddhas who came,
We beseech the noble lord protector,
Lead us to the state of the tathagatas, the good path.
47. At this time of setting of the sun of the Sage’s teachings,
You enact the deeds of a conqueror
For the many migrators who lack a lord and protector;
O compassionate lord and refuge, I make requests to you.
48. Even a single hair from the pores of your body
Is praised as a field of merit for us
Higher than the conquerers of the three times and ten directions;
O compassionate savoir, I make requests to you.
49. Adorned by the precious wheels and the three bodies of those-gone-to-bliss,
From an intricate web of appearances, with skilful means
You manifest in an ordinary form to lead all beings;
O protector and refuge, I make requests to you.
50. Your aggregates, elements, sensory bases, and limbs
Are in nature the five gone-to-bliss; their consorts,
Bodhisattvas, and wrathful protectors;
O essence of the Triple Gem, supreme guru, I make requests to you.
51. You have the nature of ten million mandala cycles.
Arising from the play of omniscient pristine awareness,
All-pervading lord of a hundred buddha families, foremost Vajradhara;
I beseech thee, O primordial lord and state of yuganaddha.
52. All-pervading lord of the fixed and the moveable,
Who is completely inseparable from the unobstructed
And the spontaneously-arisen play of innate joy,
Samantabhadra, free of beginning or end;
Actual ultimate bodhichitta, I make requests to you.
53. You are the guru, you are the yidam, you are the dakinis and protectors;
Since from now on until enlightenment I shall seek no other refuge than you;
In this life, the bardo, and all future lives, hold me with your hook of compassion;
Save me from the fears of existence and nirvana; grant all siddhis;
Be my constant friend and guard me from interferences. (X3)
54. By the virtue of having thus requested three times,
From the places of my guru’s body, speech, and mind,
White, red and dark blue nectars and rays
Stream forth one by one, and then all together, into my own three places.
And one by one and then all together they absorb,
Purging the four obscurations, and I receive the four pure empowerments
And seeds of the four bodies; a duplicate of the guru
Happily dissolves into me and he bestows blessings.
84. O holy and venerable gurus, supreme field of merit,
Inspire me to make offerings and devoted requests
To you, O protectors and root of all happiness and excellence,
That I may come under your joyous care.
85. Inspire me to realise how this opportune and fortunate rebirth
Is rare and found but once and swiftly destroyed,
And thereby, undistracted by the meaningless works of this life,
Inspire me to seize its meaningful essence.
86. Through fear of the fire of suffering of the lower realms,
Taking refuge in the Triple Gem from the very depths of my heart,
Abandoning non-virtue and practicing the collection of all virtues uninterruptedly,
With enthusiasm, I request your blessings.
87. Tossed violently by the waves of karma and the afflictions,
Beset by vast numbers of sea monsters of the nature of the three sufferings,
Bless me to seek powerfully the wished-for liberation
Through fearing the vast ocean worthy of anguish, which is endless.
88. Having abandoned seeing cyclic existence, which is akin to an unbearable prison, as a pleasure grove;
Bless me to grasp the banner of liberation,
Which is that very treasure of jewels of the three trainings held by the arya beings.
89. I have considered how all these tormented beings are
My mothers who have kindly cared for me again and again;
Inspire me to develop unfeigned compassion
Like that of a loving mother for her precious child.
90. No one desires even the slightest suffering
Nor is ever contented with the happiness one has,
There is no difference between myself and others;
Therefore inspire me to rejoice when others are happy.
91. This pandemic of self-cherishing
Is the cause of the arisal of unwanted suffering,
Perceiving this, may I be inspired to blame, begrudge
And destroy this monstrous demon of grasping at the self.
92. Cherishing my mothers and seeking to secure them in bliss
Is the gateway to infinite virtues;
Seeing this, may I be inspired to hold then dearer than my life,
Even should they arise as my enemies.
93. In brief, infantile beings labor for their own gain only,
While Shakyamuni works solely for the benefit of others;
Understanding the distinction between their respective faults and virtues
With the mind which analyses the qualities and the faults,
Bless me to practice the exchange of self and others.
94. Self-cherishing is the door to all vices,
While cherishing my mothers is the base of all qualities:
Therefore bless me to practice that very innermost practice,
The yoga of the interchanging myself for others.
95. Therefore, O venerable compassionate gurus,
Bless me that all the obscurations and sufferings and sins
Of those beings which have been my mothers without exception ripen upon me now;
And that I may give others my happiness and virtuous deeds
In order that all sentient beings may have happiness. (X3)
96. Since all of cyclic existence is filled with the results of sin, both the vessel and the essence,
Although suffering falls like rain unwanted on me,
Bless me to see all of the results of suffering as non-virtuous karma which is exhausted,
And to take all of the harmful conditions on the path.
97. Inspire me to immediately conjoin whatever I meet with meditation
By the skilful means of having the four applications,
To make this opportune rebirth worthwhile
By practising the advice and commitments of mind training.
98. In short, no matter what appearances may arise, be they good or bad,
Inspire me to take them onto the path enhancing the two bodhichittas
With the practice of the five forces – the essence of the entire dharma –
And thus enjoy only a mind of happiness.
99. So that I may rescue all beings from the vast ocean of becoming,
Inspire me to master true bodhichitta,
Through love, compassion and the supreme thought
Conjoined with the techniques of mounting, taking and giving upon the breath.
100. Inspire me to eagerly strive in the practice
Of the three moralities of the Mahayana,
And to bind my mindstream with pure bodhisattva vows,
The single path journeyed by the victorious ones of the three times.
101. Inspire me to transform my body, wealth and virtues of the three times
Into the objects desired by each sentient being;
And through the advice of the enhancing detached giving,
Complete the perfection of generosity XE “perfection of generosity” .
102. Inspire me to complete the perfection of ethics XE “ethics”
By working for sentient beings accumulating virtuous qualities,
And not transgressing both the natural and the prescribed abandonments of non-virtues,
Bodhichitta or tantric vows XE “tantric vows” even at the cost of my life.
103. Should all the nine types of beings the three realms
Become angry with me, abuse, upbraid, threaten or even kill me,
Inspire me to complete the perfection of forbearance XE “perfection of forbearance” ,
And undisturbed work for their benefit in spite of their harm.
104. Even if I must remain in the fires of Avici
For an ocean of eons for the sake of each sentient being,
Inspire me to complete the perfection of joyous effort,
And through compassion to strive for supreme enlightenment.
105. Through abandoning the faults which trouble the mind, that is agitation XE “agitation” and dullness XE “dullness” ,
With one-pointed concentration set
On the mode of existence of all phenomena – voidness of true existence –
Bless me to achieve the perfection of concentration.
106. Through the wisdom analysing suchness
Which induces pliancy and is connected to great bliss,
Bless me to complete the perfection of wisdom
Through the space–like yoga XE “yoga tantra” absorbed on the ultimate truth.
107. Inspire me to perfect the illusion–like concentration
By realising that all outer and inner phenomena
Lack true existence but still appear
Like dreams, illusions and the moon’s image in a still lake.
108. Samsara and nirvana XE “nirvana” have not an atom of true existence,
While dependant arising by cause and effect XE “dependant arising by cause and effect” is non-deceptive;
Inspire me to realise the import of Nagarjuna XE “Nagarjuna” ’s thought:
That these two are not contradictory, but complimentary.
109. Then, through the kindness of my helmsman, Vajradhara,
Inspire me to cross the labyrinth ocean of tantra
By holding my vows XE “vows” and pledges XE “pledges” , the root of siddhis XE “siddhis” ,
Dearer than my life.
110. Inspire me to cleanse all stains of attachments to ordinary appearances
Through the first stage yoga XE “yoga tantra” of transforming birth, death and the bardo
Into the three Conqueror’s bodies,
And to see whatever appears as the deity.
111. Bless me to attain in this very life,
The path of the state of union of the clear light and the illusory body XE “illusory body” ,
By placing your blessed feet, O guru,
In the central channel XE “central channel” ’s eight-petalled heart.
112. Should I not have completed the points of the path at the time of death,
Inspire me that I may reach a pure land
By either the instructions on applying the five forces,
Or by the forceful means to enlightenment, the guru’s transference.
113. In short, O protector, inspire me
That I may be cared for by you inseparably in all my future lives,
And become the foremost of your sons
Holding every secret of your body, speech, and mind.
114. O protector, please grant me the good fortune
To be the foremost of your circle wherever you manifest buddhahood,
And that all my temporal and ultimate wishes and needs
Be effortlessly and spontaneously fulfilled.
115. Having been thus entreated, pray grant this request, O supreme gurus,
So that you might bless me, happily alight on the crown of my head
And once again set your radiant feet firmly
At the corolla of my heart lotus.
116. I dedicate the merit thus gathered
Toward the realization of aims and deeds
Of buddhas and their children of three times
And to the upholding of the doctrine of scripture and insight.
117. May I in all lives through the force of this merit,
Never be separated from the four wheels of the great vehicle
And accomplish all the stages of the path,
Renunciation, bodhichitta, perfect view and the two stages.
118. Through the excellence of whatever white virtues there are in samsara and nirvana
May all be auspicious for us to be freed, here and now, from all misfortune and hardship,
And thus enjoy a glorious and perfect celestial treasure
Of temporal and ultimate virtue and goodness.
119. May all be auspicious for the Buddha’s teachings to endure long
Through your centers of dharma, omniscient Lobsang Dragpa,
Being filled with hosts of monks and yogis striving
Single-pointedly to master the three pure trainings.
120. Having requested your blessings, Lobsang Dragpa, who from the time
Of your youth made requests to the supreme guru-yidam,
May all be auspicious for you, O Lobsang Vajradhara,
Spontaneously to grant the wishes of others.
121. May all be auspicious for all our desired endowments to swell like a lake in the summer rains
Bringing an unbroken flow of rebirths of leisure in faultless families
So that we may pass our days and nights with your holy dharma, O Lobsang,
And thus delight in the glories of perfection.
122. By the collection of whatever virtues I and others have done
And shall do from now until enlightenment,
May all be auspicious, for you O holy venerable one, for your body of form,
To remain in this land immutable like a vajra.