THE CONCISE MEANING OF THE STAGES OF THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT
[lam rim dü dön]
by Je Tsong Khapa
NAMO GURU MAÑJUGHOSHAYA
I bow my head in veneration to the leader of the Shakya clan,
Whose body was produced by millions of excellent virtues,
Whose speech fulfills the hopes of limitless beings,
And whose mind perceives all knowables as they are.
2
I prostrate to Maitreya, the invincible one, and holy Mañjushri,
Supreme bodhisattvas, spiritual sons of that peerless Teacher,
Who assumed responsibility for all the Victor’s deeds
By manifesting emanations in innumerable Buddhafields.
3
I make prostrations at the feet of Nagarjuna and Asanga,
Grand ornaments of Jambudvipa
And most renowned in all three realms,
Who composed commentaries to the Conqueror’s true intent
Regarding the Prajñaparamita Sutras
– Mother of the Buddhas –
Whose meaning is so very difficult to fathom.
4
I bow down to Lord Atisha,
holder of a treasure of instructions,
Who condensed all the crucial points
Into a complete unerring path
Comprising the profound view and widespread activities
Whose lineages descended perfectly
From those two brilliant pioneers.
5
I pay homage with great devotion to my spiritual teachers
Who with skillful means elucidate the path for the fortunate,
Who are the entryway supreme that leads to liberation,
And very eye through which we view the myriad teachings.
6
This teaching on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment
Descended to us in perfect succession from two great masters
– Nagarjuna and Asanga –
Those two crown ornaments among all sages of Jambudvipa,
Among all beings resplendent banners of renown.
7
Since it fulfills each and every goal that beings wish for,
This Graded Path is a mighty king of precious instructions.
Because it gathers the rivers of thousands of scriptures,
It is indeed a glorious ocean of lucid explanations.
8
The Stages of the Path reveal that all the teachings
are without contradiction
And that all the Buddha’s words without exception
dawn as personal instruction.
Through them one gains easy access
To the true intention of the Victor
And finds protection as well from tumbling
Into the abyss of dreadful deeds.
9
Since this is surely the supreme instruction upon which
Many fortunate sages of India and Tibet have relied,
Who of discerning intellect would not be utterly captivated
By these Stages of the Path for the three types of person!
10
Even by teaching or hearing just once these instructions
That distill the very essence of all the teachings
You’ll accumulate the extraordinary benefits
Of explaining or studying the holy Dharma in its entirety.
Once you’ve comprehended the efficiency of such a compendium,
Contemplate the great import of what this means.
11
Thus, seeing that your holy Lama, the teacher of the path,
Is the root and harbinger of all auspicious things you have
in this and future lives,
Devote yourself with diligence
to relying on him with proper thought and action,
Bring him delight by making an offering of your practice
in accord with his instructions.
But above all, never ever abandon him
even for the sake of your life.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
12
A life endowed with fortunes that you’ve gained this once
Is far superior to a wish-fulfilling jewel,
Hard to find and quick to disappear – like lighting in the sky!
If you ponder thus you’ll realize that all activities of this life
Are nothing but winnowed chaff and so you’ll see the need
To take the essence of this life both night and day.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
13
Nothing assures that you won’t be born in the lower realms
Once you die.
So, understanding that the Three Most Precious Jewels
Are a protection from such fear,
Take refuge and make this practice firm,
Without ever letting your vows decline.
But that depends, you see, on practicing correctly
What to adopt and what to abandon,
And pondering the effects of actions both white and black.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
14
Until you’ve gained a life replete with the qualities
You need for practicing the supreme path,
You won’t be prepared to reach the goal.
So train in the causes for gaining them all.
Since for that it’s vital to purify
The karmic obscurations of the three doors,
Soiled as they are by stains of faulty deeds and downfalls,
Cherish a constant reliance upon the four opponent powers.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
15
Without devoting yourself to contemplating the defects
revealed by the Truth of Suffering,
You’ll not develop the mind that strives for liberation;
And by not pondering the Truth of Origination
– how it is you’ve gotten entangled in this cyclic round –
You’ll not know how to cut samsara from its very root.
Therefore, make firm your renunciation,
Have true disgust, and appreciate knowing
What it is that binds you to cyclic existence.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
16
Undeniably, Bodhichitta is the backbone
Of the Mahayana Path
And pivotal support for all effective activities;
Like a gold-producing elixir, it transforms
The two accumulations,
And is a veritable treasure of merit
Where myriad virtues gather.
Knowing that this is so, heroic Bodhisattvas
Make the precious mind of enlightenment
The very core of their practice.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
17
The perfection of generosity, like a wish-fulfilling gem,
satisfies the hopes of beings
And is paramount as a weapon for severing
The knot of stinginess.
It’s the activity of the Bodhisattva
That produces undaunted courage
And the very basis for renown
Proclaimed in the ten directions.
Knowing that this is so, sages rely on the noble path
Of unstintingly giving away their body, wealth, and virtue.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
18
The perfection of moral discipline is the water
That washes away the stains of bad activities,
The moonlight that dispels
The burning anguish of the mental afflictions.
Like Mount Meru resplendent
It shines in the midst of beings
And is the virtue to which all migrators yield
Through no threat of power.
Knowing this, the holy ones of old
Perfectly guarded the morality that they assumed
As if protecting their very own eyes.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
19
The perfection of patience
Is the supreme ornament of the powerful and
Consummate austerity against the torment
Of the mental afflictions.
Like the Garuda, it’s the most formidable enemy
Against the snake of hatred,
And impregnable armor against the weapon of harsh speech.
Knowing that this is so, Bodhisattvas train themselves
In the manifold use of the unsurpassed armor of patience.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
20
When you don the irreversible armor of resolute effort,
All the wonderful qualities of your scriptural knowledge
and realization will increase like the waxing moon.
Not only will your activities come to acquire true meaning
But whatever you undertake will be accomplished
according to your wishes.
Knowing that this is so, Bodhisattvas cultivate effort
As the most efficacious practice for dispelling
Any vestige of laziness.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
21
The perfection of concentration is the lord who rules the mind
For, when placed on an object
It stays immobile as Mount Meru,
And when allowed, it engages in any virtuous object,
Inducing the blissful pliancy of both body and mind.
Knowing that this is so, powerful yogis rely continuously
On calm abiding to conquer the enemy of distraction.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
22
The perfection of wisdom is the eye that views
Profound shunyata, the path that eradicates samsara,
The treasure of extraordinary qualities praised
In all the teachings, and best of lamps renowned
For dispelling the dark gloom of ignorance.
Knowing that this is so, those who strive for liberation
Generate this path with the utmost effort.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
23
Seeing that one cannot sever the root of samsara
By single-pointed concentration alone
Nor irreversibly avert the mental afflictions
No matter how much one investigates them
With wisdom dissociated from the path of calm abiding,
The wise mount the wisdom fathoming the depths of reality
On the horse of immovable calm abiding,
And employ the sharp weapon
Of the Madhyamika reasonings free of extremes
To destroy all objects of focus grasping at extremes.
This is how they analyze correctly using spacious wisdom
To increase their intelligence realizing emptiness.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
24
Needless to say, you can achieve concentration
By meditating on one single object.
But since you can also generate meditative concentration
By staying immovably fixed on the supreme object
After having correctly analyzed it with discriminating wisdom,
How marvelous are the efforts of those
Who conjoin calm abiding with profound insight!
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
25
The meditation of space-like emptiness
In meditative equipoise
And that of illusion-like emptiness
During subsequent attainment
Comprise the union of method and wisdom;
These are praised as the Bodhisattva activities
Critical for reaching the shore beyond.
Knowing that this is so, the system of fortunate yogis
Will not be satisfied with partial paths.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
26
Having properly generated the common paths required
for the supreme paths – both causal and resultant –
Of the Mahayana,
Under protection of a skillful captain
Who affords you complete instructions,
Embark upon the great ocean of the collection of Tantras.
By so doing, indeed you’ll have endowed with great meaning
This life of leisure and fortune that you’ve achieved.
I, a yogi, practiced this way,
You, too, who seek liberation please do the same.
27
In order to habituate my mind
And benefit the minds of those of equal fortune,
I’ve explained this complete path that delights the Conquerors
In words that are easy to understand.
By this virtue, may no being ever be separated
From this perfect noble path.
I, a yogi, prayed this way,
May you seekers of liberation also pray the same.
༺.༻
Colophon: Thus is completed Song of Experience: The Concise Meaning of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment, written as an aid to memory by the glorious sage renunciate, the monk Lobsang Drakpa, at Geden Nampar Gyelwe Ling, a hermitage located in the mountain Drok Riwoche.
༺.༻
Sarva mangalam
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©Vincent Montenegro, translator
