Human transcription — may contain minor errors.
The Six Session Yoga
by Pabongka Rinpoche
Translated by Sharpa Tulku & Alexander Berzin
I go for refuge, until I am enlightened, to the Buddhas,
the Dharma and the Highest Assembly.
From the virtuous merit that I collect
by practising giving and the other perfections,
May I attain the state of a Buddha
To be able to benefit all sentient beings.
May all sentient beings be parted from aversion and clinging,
Feeling close to some and distant from others;
May they win the bliss that is especially sublime;
May they find release from the ocean of unbearable sorrow;
And may they never be parted from Freedom’s true joy.
From this moment on, until I am a Buddha,
May I never give up, though my life be at stake,
The attitude wishing to gain full Enlightenment,
In order to free from the fears of samsara
and nirvana’s complacency, all sentient beings.
O Gurus, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and all,
Please listen to what I now say from the depths of my heart:
Just as all Buddhas of the past have developed
The thought of Enlightenment, true bodhichitta,
Then practised its stages of graded development,
Following the trainings for all Buddha’s Children,
So may I too, for the sake of all beings,
Develop bodhichitta and follow the trainings
Exactly as all Bodhisattvas have done.
At this moment my life has become truly fruitful,
For, having attained an endowed human body,
Today I have developed true Buddha essence – bodhichitta,
And have thus become a Buddha’s Child.
Applying now any skilled means whatsoever,
May I always accord what I do with this essence
and follow the actions of all Buddha’s Child.
May I never confuse with this pure faultless essence
Any teaching that lacks this Enlightening Thought.
In the sky before me, on a breath-taking throne of jewels,
On a mandala seat of a lotus, sun and full moon,
Sits my root Guru, the all-pervading Vajradhara
With blue coloured body, one face and two arms.
Holding vajra and bell and embracing his duplicate consort,
Vajra Dhatu-Isvhara
He shines resplendent with all the marks of a Buddha.
Adorned with many dazzling jewelled ornaments,
Draped with fine garments of enchanting, heavenly scarves,
Even the mere remembrance of him dispels all my torment.
With a nature encompassing every supreme refuge,
He sits cross-legged in the vajra position,
The three spots of his body marked with the three letters.
Light beams forth from the HUM at his heart
And invokes Guru Vajradhara from his actual abode.
DZA HUM BAM HO
They merge to become non-dual.
I bow at your lotus-feet,
Oh my jewel-like Guru Vajradhara,
Your kindness heralds
An instantaneous dawn of great bliss.
Homage to Lord Heruka
OM I prostrate to the Bhagavan Lord of the Brave Ones
HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you whose brilliance equals the fire that ends a great Aeon
HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you who have an inexhaustible crowning top knot
HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you with bared fangs and a wrathful face
HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you whose thousand arms blaze with light
HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you who hold an axe, an uplifted noose, a spear
and a skull staff, HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you who wear a tiger-skin cloth, HUM HUM PHAT
OM I bow to you whose great smoke coloured body
ends all obstructions, HUM HUM PHAT.
Homage to Vajrayogini
OM I prostrate to the Bhagavati Vajra Varahi
HUM HUM PHAT
OM To the queen of the female Arya practitioners,
invincible in the Three Realms, HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you who destroy all fears of evil spirits
with your great diamond-like means, HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you whose eyes empower those who sit on the Diamond
Throne not to be conquered by anyone, HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you whose wrathful body of psychic heat can desiccate
Brahma, HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you who terrify and dry up the demons and thus
can vanquish all other forces, HUM HUM PHAT
OM To you who can triumph over all that can make one
ill-tempered, excited or stupefied, HUM HUM PHAT
OM I bow to Vajra Varahi, the consort who overpowers lust
HUM HUM PHAT.
Mandala Offering
All the things that I possess and what is not mine,
What is actually placed here and what I mentally create,
I present you an ocean-like cloud of these various offerings;
Outer, inner and secret.
The body, speech and mind of myself and others,
Our wealth as well as our virtue amassed in the past,
present and future,
An excellent jewelled mandala together with a mass
of Samantabhadra’s offerings –
I envision all these and present them to you,
O my Guru, my Yidam and the Three Precious Gems.
Accepting these in your compassion,
Bestow on me waves of blessings.
IDAM GURU RATNA MANDALAKAM NIRYATAYAMI
Requests
I humbly beseech you, my precious Guru,
Just as the Buddhas of the three times and
Ten directions have tamed sentient beings,
You too enact the Buddha’s deeds in countless realms,
Taking the form of a saffron-robed monk.
I humbly beseech you, my precious Guru,
Esteemed by Vajradhara, for those of meagre mind,
As a field of merit more precious
Than the endless circles of infinite Buddhas.
Every supreme and mundane attainment
Follows upon pure devotion to you, my protector.
Seeing this I forsake my body and even my life;
Bless me to practise what will only please you.
Requested in this way, my supreme Guru
Comes to the crown of my head.
Once more he gladly merges with me.
We become of one taste.
Root Downfalls
With the pride of being Vajrasattva,
I embrace my consort Bhagavati
While holding a vajra and bell symbolic
Of the secret of Great Bliss
Simultaneous with the secret of Emptiness
Free from the mental fabrication of true existence.
From this moment on, without any sense of loss,
I send forth my body, likewise my wealth
And my virtue amassed throughout the three times
In order to help all beings, my mothers.
Praising myself and belittling others;
Not sharing my wealth or the Dharma;
Not forgiving even if others apologise;
Doubting and denying the Mahayana;
Taking offerings intended for the Triple Gem;
Abandoning the Dharma through sectarianism;
Disrobing monks or nuns;
Committing the five heinous crimes;
Holding distorted views;
Destroying places such as towns;
Teaching Emptiness to those untrained;
Discouraging others from full Enlightenment;
Causing others to break Pratimoksha vows;
Belittling those who follow Hinayana;
Proclaiming false realisations of Emptiness;
Accepting gifts from what has been seized from the Triple Gem;
Passing false judgement;
Giving up bodhichitta:-
These are the eighteen root Bodhisattva downfalls.
Not regarding these as detrimental,
Not forsaking the wish to repeat such behaviour,
Delighting and taking pleasure in them,
And having no shame or consideration
Are the four binding factors
Which must all be present for sixteen of these to be complete;
But for the other two,
Holding distorted views and giving up bodhichitta,
These four are not needed.
I shall guard myself from all these downfalls.
Root Tantric Downfalls
Despising or belittling my Guru;
Disregarding any practice;
Speaking badly of my vajra brothers and sisters;
Abandoning love for any being;
Giving up wishing and entering bodhichitta;
Scorning the teachings of Sutra or Tantra;
Revealing secrets to those who are unripe;
Abusing my own aggregates;
Denying or doubting Emptiness;
Remaining close to malevolent people;
Not recollecting the view of Emptiness;
Causing someone to lose their faith;
Not upholding my word of honour;
Despising women:-
These are the fourteen root tantric downfalls.
I shall protect myself from them at the cost of my life.
Secondary Tantric Transgressions
I shall abandon the four basic non-virtues,
As well as liquor and misbehaviour;
Devote myself to a holy, protecting Guru;
Treat my Dharma friends with respect;
Cultivate the ten virtuous actions;
Never withdraw from the Mahayana;
Avoid walking over, or showing disrespect
to a sacred object;
All these additional pledges I shall honour.
Relying upon an unqualified consort;
Sitting in union without the three recognitions;
Showing secret substances to an unsuitable vessel;
Fighting or arguing at an offering ceremony;
Giving false answers to sincerely asked questions;
Staying more than a week in the home of a Sravaka;
Boasting that I am a yogi, although I am not;
Teaching the sacred Dharma to those with no faith;
Conferring mandala-rites without full preparation;
Needlessly breaking the Pratimoksha or bodhichitta vows;
Acting in contradiction to The Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion:-
These are the secondary tantric transgressions.
I shall guard myself from them in accordance with the rules.
Vows Specific to Karmamudra
I shall perform all actions first with my left;
Make offerings to women and never abuse them;
Reject sitting in union with an unqualified consort;
While in union, never be parted from the view of Emptiness;
Relentlessly aspire to the path of transforming attachment;
Never forsake the two kinds of mudra;
Strive mainly for the outer and inner methods;
Never release seminal fluid;
Remain chaste in my behaviour;
And abandon repulsion when tasting bodhichitta.
Conclusion
I shall never transgress, even in my dreams,
The most minor rule of the pure moral trainings
Of the Pratimoksha, bodhichitta and Vajrayana vows.
I shall practise in accordance with the Buddha’s words.
As Buddha intended, I shall uphold
The complete Dharma of scriptures and insights
As gathered together in the three types of vehicle and four tantric classes.
I shall liberate all beings by whichever means is suitable.
Through the force of white merit from this virtuous act,
And by the compassionate power of Vajradhara throughout all my lives,
May I never transgress any vows that I have taken.
May I complete the stages of the twofold path.
In brief, may I be born in Shambala – the Great Jewelled Treasury,
And complete there the stages of the peerless path
In as quick a time as the amount of white merit that
I have gathered from this virtuous practice.
Throughout all my lives may I never be parted from perfect Gurus.
By making good use of the glorious Dharma
To fulfil the good features of the stages and paths,
May I quickly achieve Vajradhara-Enlightenment.