The Tibetan Book Of The Dead Part 3

Prayer to the Lineage Teachers

(Then, in order to cultivate union with the spiritual teacher, the prayer to the lineage should be recited as follows:) I pray to the [direct] intentional lineage of the conquerors: To Samantabhadra, primordial lord, Buddha-body of Reality, To the Conqueror Vajradhara, embodiment of the sixth [enlightened family], And to Vajrasattva, foremost of guides, the supreme buddha-mind.

I pray to the [symbolic] lineage of the awareness holders: To the awareness holder Prahevajra, supreme among emanations, To the spiritual teacher Sr Simha, supreme son of the conquerors, To the undying Padmkara, established in the Buddha-body of Indestructible Reality, And to the dkin [Yeshe] Tshogyalma, worthy recipient of the secret mantras.

I pray to the aural lineage of [authoritative] personages: To Karma Lingpa, master of the profound treasures, To the one named [Nyinda] Choje, supreme son of his buddha-mind, And to the one named Sryacandra [Nyinda Ozer], lord of living beings during this degenerate age.

I pray to the a.s.sembled deities of the three roots: To all the genuine spiritual teachers of the core lineage, Who form the connecting links [of this transmission],25 To the Peaceful and Wrathful meditational deities, in whom appearance and emptiness are indivisible, And to the oceanic a.s.sembly of dkins and oath-bound protectors of the [sacred] teachings!

O you spiritual teachers who uphold the lineage of the oral transmission,26 And train each according to his or her needs!

If your teaching were to enter into decline, The yogins of this era would be [utterly] disheartened.

Please, therefore, continue to guide all beings from this swamp of cyclic existence!

As we call out to you with mournful and tormented cries, Bring to mind, now, the strict vows which you made in the past!27 Reveal your faces from the expanse of s.p.a.ce, endowed with major and minor marks!

Please guide all beings from this swamp of cyclic existence!

Let your Brahm voice reverberate like a thousand peals of thunder!28 Open [wide] the portals to the treasury of your buddha-mind!

Pour out the light rays of your discriminative awareness and compa.s.sion!

Please guide all beings from this swamp of cyclic existence!

Liberate now, without exception, all beings of this final era!29 Anoint [us] now with the river of the four pure empowerments!

Liberate now the four continua, bewildered by dissonant mental states!

Please guide all beings from this swamp of cyclic existence!

Grant now the fruitional attainment of the four buddha-bodies of Those Gone to Bliss!

May I become a spiritual teacher, [able] to guide all the infinite sentient beings, Who have been my parents, throughout s.p.a.ce, without exception!

Please guide all beings from this swamp of cyclic existence!

Receiving the Four Empowerments

(Then the meditation to be adopted while receiving the four empowerments should be as follows:30) From the crown of the spiritual teacher in union with consort, A white syllable OM, [radiating] rays of light, Descends into the mid-point between my eyebrows, The vase empowerment is thus received and the obscurations of the body are purified.

Please confer [upon me] the accomplishments of buddha-body!

From the throat of the spiritual teacher in union with consort, A red syllable AH, [radiating] rays of light, Descends into the sense faculty of my tongue, The secret empowerment is thus received and the obscurations of speech are purified.

Please confer [upon me] the accomplishments of buddha-speech!

From the heart of the spiritual teacher in union with consort, A blue syllable HUM, [radiating] rays of light, Descends into the centre of my heart, The empowerment of pristine cognition is thus received, and the obscurations of mind are purified.

Please confer [upon me] the accomplishments of buddha-mind!

From the navel of the spiritual teacher in union with consort, A red syllable HRIH, [radiating] rays of light, Descends into the centre of my navel, The obscurations which [mundanely] differentiate between body, speech and mind are purified, And the fourth empowerment of indivisible coemergence is received.

O glorious and precious root spiritual teacher!

Be indivisibly present, [seated] on the pistil of a lotus within my heart for ever!

Through your great kindness, favour me with your acceptance, And please confer [upon me] the accomplishments of buddha-body, speech and mind!

May we become exactly like you, glorious spiritual teacher!

Exactly resembling you in body, retinue, lifespan, fields, And in your supreme and excellent major marks.

These verses forming the preliminary practice of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [ent.i.tled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention may be applied as a supplementary method in the context of mental purification.

This spiritual practice of the unsurpa.s.sed Greater Vehicle (Mahyna) is an oral teaching of [Nyinda] Choje Lingpa, the eldest son of the treasure-finder Karma Lingpa; and it was committed to writing by Guru Sryacandrarami [i.e. Nyinda Ozer].

2.

A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, [ent.i.tled] Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons CONTEXT.

This prayer to the spiritual teacher is generally recited immediately after the Preliminary Practice. It is also recommended that it be recited at the beginning of any ritual, or when thinking of the spiritual teacher or whenever the pract.i.tioner is about to enter into periods of meditation.

A correct perception of the spiritual teacher is considered vital for all pract.i.tioners of the Vehicle of Indestructible Reality (Vajrayna). Further, it is considered essential that a pract.i.tioner receive spiritual inspiration, as transmitted through an unbroken lineage of masters, from a living teacher. First, however, before accepting anyone as a spiritual teacher, it is also regarded as essential that the pract.i.tioner examine and scrutinise the prospective teacher over a long period of time and accept him or her as a qualified teacher only when it is certain that the person meets the requirements of a spiritual teacher as set out in the authoritative sacred texts. Then, if they are sure that their own motivation is sincere, students should follow the advice of their chosen spiritual teacher with incontrovertible devotion.

Ultimately, the inspiration that is requested from the spiritual teacher is coming from the purity of the pract.i.tioner's own perception, altruistic intention and confidence.

Herein is contained A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, [Embodiment of] the Three Buddha-bodies, [ent.i.tled] Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons,1 [which is an extract] from the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [ent.i.tled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention.2 In the palace of reality's expanse, pure and pervasive, Is my spiritual teacher, the Buddha-body of Reality - Uncreated and free from conceptual elaboration.

To you, I pray with fervent devotion.

I request the primordially pure self-empowerment, The blessings of the Buddha-body of Reality,3 So that naturally arising pristine cognition Is uncontrived and spontaneously present, Through natural liberation, Without renunciation of ignorance and delusion.

In the palace of great bliss, which is pristine cognition, radiant and pure, Is my spiritual teacher, the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource - Unimpeded and supremely blissful.

To you, I pray with fervent devotion.

I request the spontaneously present self-empowerment, The blessings of the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource,4 So that intrinsic awareness, which is pristine cognition, Is naturally liberated in supreme bliss,5 Through natural liberation, Without renunciation of desire and clinging.

In the palace of the lotus, untainted and pure, Is my spiritual teacher, the Buddha-body of Emanation - Naturally arising in unlimited forms, beyond determination.

To you, I pray with fervent devotion.

I request the naturally liberating self-empowerment, The blessings of the Buddha-body of Emanation, So that intrinsic awareness, which is naturally manifesting Pristine cognition, naturally radiates,6 Through natural liberation, Without renunciation of discordant views and aversion.

In the palace of intrinsic awareness, the genuine inner radiance, Is my spiritual teacher, [the unity of] the three buddha-bodies - Beyond spatial delineation, and supremely blissful.

To you, I pray with fervent devotion.

I request the supremely blissful self-empowerment, The blessings of the Three Buddha-bodies, So that naturally arising pristine cognition Is spontaneously present as the three buddha-bodies,7 Through natural liberation, Without renunciation of the subject-object dichotomy.

How needing of compa.s.sion are suffering sentient beings, right here, Who are driven on through cyclic existence by delusion and confusion - Because they do not understand that their own mind Is the Buddha-body of Reality, free from extremes!

May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Reality!

How needing of compa.s.sion are mistakenly prejudiced sentient beings, right here, Who are driven on through cyclic existence by attachment and craving - Because they do not understand that their own awareness Is the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource, imbued with supreme bliss!

May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource!

How needing of compa.s.sion are sentient beings with discordant views, right here, Who are driven on through cyclic existence by aversion and dualistic perception - Because they do not understand that their own mind Is the Buddha-body of Emanation, arising and subsiding [naturally]!

May they all actualise the Buddha-body of Emanation!

How needing of compa.s.sion are all unenlightened living beings, right here, Who, as a result of grasping, are obscured by dissonant mental states and [subtle obstructions to] knowledge - Because they do not understand [that their own mind]

Is indivisible from the three buddha-bodies!

May they all actualise the three buddha-bodies!

These verses forming A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher, [Embodiment of] the Three Buddha-bodies, [ent.i.tled] Natural Liberation, without Renunciation of the Three Poisons, which are an extract from the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: A Profound Sacred Teaching, [ent.i.tled] Natural Liberation through [Recognition of] Enlightened Intention, were composed by Padmkara, the preceptor from Oddiyna.

May [the influence of] this sacred teaching not be extinguished until cyclic existence has been emptied!8 This prayer was brought forth from Mount Gampodar, which resembles a dancing G.o.d, by the accomplished master Karma Lingpa.

3.

Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States CONTEXT.

According to this cycle of teachings, the circle of birth and death can be seen as being composed of six intermediate states. These six modalities of existence: our waking living state, dreaming, meditation, the time of death, and the two successive phases of the after-death state are defined in the glossary.

This poem emphasises the centrally important perspective that relates to each of these states. It is recommended that pract.i.tioners should memorise these verses and recite them repeatedly, while reflecting on their meaning, throughout their lives.

Herein is contained the Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States.1 I bow down to the Conquerors, the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities.

The root verses concerning the six intermediate states are as follows: Alas, now as the intermediate state of living2 arises before me, Renouncing laziness, for which there is no time in this life, I must enter the undistracted path of study, reflection and meditation.

Taking perceptual experience and [the nature of] mind as the path, I must cultivate actualisation of the three buddha-bodies.

Now, having obtained a precious human body, this one time, I do not have the luxury of remaining on a distracted path.

Alas, now as the intermediate state of dreams arises before me, Renouncing the corpse-like, insensitive sleep of delusion, I must enter, free from distracting memories, the state of the abiding nature of reality.

Cultivating [the experience of] inner radiance, Through the recognition, emanation, and transformation of dreams, I must not sleep like a beast, But cherish the experiential cultivation which mingles sleep with actual [realisation].

Alas, now as the intermediate state of meditative concentration arises before me, Renouncing the ma.s.s of distractions and confusions, I must undistractedly enter a state, Which is devoid of subjective apprehension, and free from the [two] extremes, And attain stability in the stages of generation and perfection.

At this moment, having renounced activity, And having attained a singular [concentration], I must not fall under the sway of bewildering mental afflictions!

Alas, now as the intermediate state of the time of death3 arises before me, Renouncing [all] attachment, yearning and subjective apprehension in every respect, I must undistractedly enter the path, on which the oral teachings are clearly understood, And eject my own awareness into the uncreated expanse of s.p.a.ce.

Immediately upon separation from this compounded body of flesh and blood, I must know [this body] to be like a transient illusion.

Alas, now as the intermediate state of reality4 arises before me, Renouncing the merest sense of awe, terror or fear, I must recognise all that arises to be awareness, manifesting naturally of itself.

Knowing [such sounds, lights and rays] to be visionary phenomena of the intermediate state, At this moment, having reached this critical point, I must not fear the a.s.sembly of Peaceful and Wrathful Deities, which manifest naturally!

Alas, now as the intermediate state of rebirth5 arises before me, I must with one-pointed intention concentrate my mind, And resolutely connect with the residual potency of my virtuous past actions.

I must obstruct the womb entrance and call to mind the methods of reversal.

This is the time when perseverance and purity of perception are imperative.

I must give up all jealousy and meditate on my spiritual teacher with consort.

From the mouth of the accomplished masters come these words: 'O, [you], with your mind far away, thinking that death will not come, Entranced by the pointless activities of this life, If you were to return empty-handed now, would not your [life's] purpose have been [utterly] confused?

Recognise what it is that you truly need! It is a sacred teaching [for liberation]!

So, should you not practise this divine [sacred] teaching, beginning from this very moment?'

And it is also said, 'If I choose not to take the oral teachings of the spiritual teacher to heart, Am I not the deceiver of myself?'

This completes the Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States.