Advice for Osam

Advice for the Disciple Osam

by Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö

Homage to the noble gurus!
Inspire me to accomplish goals and aspirations that accord with the Dharma!

Reflect again and again on the sufferings
Of saṃsāra’s three realms and cultivate a determination to be free.
As it is certain that this precious jewel
Of rarely won freedoms and advantages will soon cease to be,
Practice the divinely sacred Dharma with heartfelt sincerity.
Whatever actions you perform, virtuous or harmful,
Will certainly bring about their effects,
So it’s crucial that you adopt and avoid causes and results correctly.
Develop strong, confident faith in the sources of refuge,
The guru and the Three Jewels.
Cultivate a benevolent wish to benefit
All beings, who are as limitless in number as space is vast.
Unless you purify misdeeds and obscurations in your mindstream
The experience of primordial wisdom will not arise,
So apply yourself to both accumulation and purification.
Unless you have devotion for the guru
You will not gain the supreme and common attainments,
So, strive with sincere commitment
In the profound path of guru yoga.
Having received secret mantra empowerments,
It’s crucial to practice approach and accomplishment for the yidam deity
And meditate on the yogas of the two stages.
The genuine nature of the unaltered mind
Is only obscured by tight deliberate focus.
When you allow yourself to settle naturally and relax,
You’ll experience the natural state beyond centre and periphery—
As open and expansive as space,
Unspoilt by the marks of dualistic perception,
A vast experience of naturally arisen clear light,
Which transcends designation and expression.
By sustaining this undistractedly while not meditating
All deluded thoughts will spontaneously subside.

The reckless and uncouth Chökyi Lodrö
Wrote these few words of advice
To fulfil a request made from afar
By the faithful student Osam.

May virtue abound!

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Khyentse Foundation and Tertön Sogyal Trust, 2021.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

’Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros. “Slob bu o bsam la gdams pa/“ in ’Jam dbyangs chos kyi blo gros kyi gsung ’bum. 12 vols. Bir: Khyentse Labrang, 2012. W1KG12986. Vol. 8: 246–247

Version: 1.1-20220215