Advice for Gelong Jampa Dargye

Advice for Gelong Jampa Dargye

by Shechen Gyaltsab Gyurme Pema Namgyal

I prostrate at the feet of my incomparable Guru.

The freedoms and favourable conditions of a precious human birth are difficult to find; make sure to fully involve yourself—body, speech and mind—with dharma practice.
The time of your passing isn’t fixed, so don’t get lost in distraction.
The effects of karma are unmistaken; properly engage in positive deeds and give up negative ones.
The pains of saṃsāra are difficult to bear and should make you sad.
The source of all woes is an addiction to this life; cast it away.
The enemies of the dharma are the eight worldly concerns; eradicate them.
To reach accomplishment in isolated mountainous retreats, aim to remain there until you die.
Whatever you may experience, be it pleasure or pain, take it onto the path as a single taste.

Rely on the Three Rare and Sublime Ones as your enduring and undeceiving refuge.
Generate the sublime mind of bodhicitta, the root of the Great Vehicle.
To purify adverse conditions, put effort into meditation upon Vajrasattva and repetition of his mantra.
To gather favourable conditions and accumulate merit, offer the maṇḍala.
And to receive blessings, meditate on guru yoga.

The basis of all qualities is pure ethics; protect your vows as you would your eyes.
To acquire qualities, practice pure vision toward all without any partiality.
The actual acquisition of qualities comes from immersion in study, contemplation and meditation.
To complete the development of qualities, spur yourself on with the whip of diligence.

If you wish to receive blessings, practise the profound path of Guru Yoga.
If you wish to receive siddhis, apply the approach and accomplishment recitations of your yidam deity.
Make offerings to the ḍākinīs and dharma guardians and request their activity.

In particular, it is the tradition of the heart essence of natural luminosity
To have the faith and devotion of viewing the Guru as the Buddha in person,
To make supplications, receive empowerment, and meditate upon the indivisibility of his wisdom with your own mind.

The essence of your awareness is empty, its nature luminous,
And its dynamic display unimpeded—know these three to be of the nature of the three kāyas. They have been with you from the very beginning, yet left unknown.
This lack of recognition gave rise to the manifest illness of grasping and fixation, which has kept you ill and in saṃsāra for a very long time.

Now, however, you have the great medicine of the Guru's pith instructions
And can thereby heal all the pains of a dualistic mind.

It is essential to recognise that your uncontrived awareness, the fourth part beyond three,
Is the wisdom of Samantabhadra, the dharmakāya,
To hold and rest, and to be at ease within this unimpeded expanse.

No matter what thoughts, good or bad, may arise as the dynamic display of awareness,
Don’t try and alter them, accepting some and blocking others, but look directly into the nature of the one who views,
And you’ll find that without the slightest need for an antidote, they will naturally vanish,
Like a snake uncoiling itself or like writing on water.
The five destructive emotions are essentially the five wisdoms,
And, no matter what manifests, it will all arise to ornament the conduct of Samantabhadra.

Throughout post-meditation keep your mind and sense consciousnesses free and natural—
There is no joy to be won through grasping after a solely intellectual view and meditation.

Should intense experiences arise during meditation, don't hanker after them but continually put them to rest,
And, no matter what the situation, rely on the dharmatā mindfulness without ever forgetting.

The crucial instruction for removing obstacles and hindrances is to give up any thought of hope and fear.
While the sovereign instruction to enhance meditation is to have strong faith and devotion toward the Guru.

Meditate upon unconditional compassion for those who haven't realised this nature,
Recall and practice pure view toward all,
And remain ever diligent in the accumulation of merit and wisdom.

This advice was taught to the diligent practitioner, Gelong Jampa Dargye, at the excellent retreat place of Kharchu in Lhodrak, by Shechen Gyaltsab of Do Kham. May any ensuing virtue serve to ensure that all enter the citadel of omniscience.

| Translated by Shechen Gelong Tenzin Jamchen (Sean Price) with the kind assistance of Shechen Khenpo Gyurme Tsultrim. Special thanks to Shechen Lobon Jigme Dorje for providing the text and much more.

© Shechen Translations, 2020.