Parting from the Four Attachments

The Instructions on Parting from the Four Attachments

revealed to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo

Oṃ svasti siddham!

When he reached the age of twelve, the great Sachen Kunga Nyingpo undertook a six-month practice of the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. One day he had a vision, in which he actually saw, amidst a brilliant blaze of light, the holy Lord Mañjuśrī, orange in colour and seated on a jewelled throne, his feet placed flat upon the ground, his hands in the mudrā of explaining the Dharma, and with an attendant bodhisattva on either side.

Mañjuśrī spoke to him:

“If you are attached to this life, you are not a true spiritual practitioner;
If you are attached to saṃsāra, you have no renunciation;
If you are attached to your own self-interest, you have no bodhicitta;
If there is grasping, you do not have the View.”

When Sachen Kunga Nyingpo examined the truth of these words, he understood that the entire practice of the path of the pāramitās was condensed into training the mind in parting from these four attachments, and he attained a special conviction and insight into all the teachings of the Dharma.

Samāptamithi!

| Rigpa Translations 2011. Revised 2012.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

Sa chen kun dga' snying po. "zhen pa bzhi bral gyi rtsa tshig" in 'jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas, bkra shis dpal 'byor (ed.). gdams ngag mdzod/. 18 vols. Paro: Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimey, 1979–1981 (BDRC W20877). Vol. 6: 310

Version: 2.2-20220516