by
Je Tsong Khapa
(For Tibetan see link below)
OM
MAY ALL BEINGS BE HAPPY
AND ALL BE WELL!
I bow at the feet of my kind Lama, root of all that is excellent,
To that most reverend treasure of wisdom, Mañjushri,
Who gazes upon the world with an eye to promote
the high states, liberation, and enlightenment;
To those true havens of rest for all wanderers weary of
the circular paths of samsara.
Buddha taught that the best way to gather
An abundant harvest of blessings with little effort
Is to rejoice in virtue,
Especially in those deeds oneself has done,
And said that by generating exultant delight
With pride extinguished,
The effects of those previous good deeds
Would be sure to flourish.
Hence, to comply with the meaning
Of those words the Buddha taught
And for many other reasons that I see,
O Mind, it is good that you generate true joy like this.
At the outset, I searched for the broadest range of learning;
Secondly, the teachings of our scriptural system
Dawned in my mind as personal instructions;
Then finally, all practice that I did incessantly both day and night
I dedicated for the increase of the teachings.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
If someone darkly confused in every way
About what to do and what not to do
Cannot see the path without illumination
From the lamp of perfect learning,
What need to say how crucial such learning is
For finding the entrance to the lofty city of liberation!
Therefore, unsatisfied with just rough and partial knowledge,
I trained by delving deeply into all the works
Of that Lord of Dharma, invincible Maitreya, and of those
renowned as The Six Ornaments of Jambudvipa
and Two Supreme Vinaya Masters.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
When I realized that the single way to establish
The empty nature of things,
Particularly for those confined to samsara’s shore,
Is by penetrating the difficult points
Of the texts on perfect reasoning, especially
The systematic path of Nagarjuna’s fine-honed logic
That plumbs the depths of reality,
I trained well in all the vital points of these
And thus was able to dissolve all doubts
That hinder inducement of the perfect view.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
There are two ways to go about
Reaching complete Buddhahood:
By way of the profound Vajra Vehicle
and of the Perfection Vehicle.
Yet of these two it is said
That the Vehicle of Secret Mantra is far superior,
In a way as obvious as the sun compares to the moon.
Yet were a responsible scholar not to investigate further
Into this statement so widely accepted as truth,
Would that not be a form of witless neglect
Thinly disguised as wisdom?
What a tremendous mistake
Not to investigate this unexcelled path,
Supreme among the Victor’s vehicles,
And far more rare than Buddhas even,
Especially knowing how difficult it will be
To encounter it in the future.
This is why I trained long and hard with the utmost diligence
To enter that profound treasure of two siddhis.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
How grateful I am to you for your kindness!
When I clearly realized that
To definitively determine Highest Yoga Tantra
As superior to all other groups of tantra
Without knowing anything about
The workings of the paths of the three Lower Tantras
Was nothing but mere speculation, an unfounded claim,
I began to familiarize myself for an extensive period
With the general collection of the three types of Action Tantras,
And in particular, with the Secret General Tantra,
Questions of Arya Subahu Tantra,
the Concentration Continuation Tantra and the like.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
By practicing the Complete Enlightenment of Vairochana Tantra,
Principal of the Performance Tantras, the second class,
I found my bearings in this class of tantra.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Then, by training in the Glorious Compendium of Reality Tantra,
Principal of the third class, and its commentary,
Vajra Peak of Tantric Explanations and so forth,
I experienced a real feast of Yoga Tantras.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
After that I trained in the root texts and commentaries
Of the fourth class – Highest Yoga Tantras –
Comprised of Father and Mother, which are as famous
To scholars of India as the sun and the moon.
Of the Father Tantras,
I studied the Guhyasamaja Tantra and others;
Of the Mother Tantras,
I studied the Hevajra and Chakrasamvara Tantras and so forth,
As well as the Stainless Light of Clarity,
Which in ellucidating the Kalachakra Tantra
Gives explanations that differ from those of other tantric works.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Thus concludes this first phase of seeking extensive learning.
Then, through maintaining a continued and fervent faith
In Mañjushri – the one who’s best
At dispelling the darkness from disciples’ minds –
I exerted enormous effort at gathering all the necessary causes
Such as ardent supplications and prayers.
Thereby the teachings began to dawn in my mind
As personal instructions.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Thus through zealous endeavor
I became thoroughly convinced of the unique value
Of the stages of the path to enlightenment that descended
In succession from the Aryas Nagarjuna and Asanga.
Just so did the supreme scriptures
On the profound Perfection of Wisdom
Dawn in my mind as personal instructions.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
In this northern land,
Scholars both trained and without any training in logic
Unanimously assert that the scriptures on valid knowledge
Such as the Sutra on Valid Cognition of Dignaga
And the Seven Treatises of Dharmakirti
Lack stages of practice for traveling to enlightenment.
But in thinking about how Mañjushri himself
Inspired the words of Dignaga through divine dictation,
Assuring him that in the future his composition on logic
Would be an eye for all beings,
I realized that this master’s words are strictly authoritative
And those scholars’ assertion nothing but utter nonsense.
Then when I examined more carefully
The meaning of the words of the homage
In the Compendium of Valid Cognition
Describing the way the Blessed One strove to liberate beings
Through teaching them about the inertial movement of samsara
And the method for reversing it,
I acquired profound certainty that
His teaching is the only valid one
And the single entryway for those who wish to become liberated.
When I realized that logical reasoning does, in fact,
Combine all the crucial points of the paths
Of the two vehicles, I became exceedingly overjoyed.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
By pouring myself diligently into the study
Of the Bodhisattva Levels and the Ornament of Sutras,
And combining the two,
The practice of all the scriptures of the Lord of Dharma,
Invincible Maitreya, and his followers
Dawned in my mind as personal instructions.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
How grateful I am to you for your kindness!
When relying upon the Compendium of Trainings of Shantideva,
Whose comprehensive compilation
Of the stages of superior wisdom
And teachings on the extensive path
Clarified for me all crucial points,
I saw clearly as stages of practice the many supreme meanings
Of the scriptural system of Arya Nagarjuna
Such as those that are found in this master’s
Compendium of Sutras and the like.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Then in reliance upon Buddhaguhya’s lucid explanations
On the Concentration Continuation Tantra and the
General Instructions of the Great Vairochana,
All the important points of the path dawned in my mind
As perfect personal instructions.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
When seeing that the important points
of the path of the Compendium of Glorious Thatness
Are comprised by the three samadhis,
Yet finding it difficult to realize how to meditate
On the subtle meaning that is therein contained,
I dispelled the darkness from my mind
By relying upon Pandit Buddhaguhya’s
Lucid explanations on how to combine the three
– root texts, commentaries, and similar portions –
And his exacting instructions on the stages of meditation
Of the profound practice of the three tantric groups.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Of all the eloquent words of the Muni
The glorious Highest Yoga Tantras are the ultimate.
And among these by far the most profound
Is the King of Tantras, the Glorious Tantra of Guhyasamaja.
As the holy propagator of the Buddha’s teachings,
The sage Nagarjuna, declared:
“The critical points of the path of that Root Tantra are sealed
By the six limits and the four modes and as such
Must be understood by complying with the Lama’s instructions
And following commentarial tantric explanations.”
Taking this to heart as a vital point and pithy ultimate instruction,
I proceeded to familiarize myself extensively with the fine points
Of the entire cycle of the Arya Guhyasamaja teachings,
Including such works as [Aryadeva’s] Compendium of Deeds
And [Nagabuddhi’s] Graded Presentation of Guhyasamaja.
Then, based on [Chandrakirti’s] Bright Lamp,
A commentary on the Root Text,
I trained assiduously to combine those
With the Five Great Tantric Explanations.
Just so did I gain in general
The two stages comprised by that training, and
In particular, all the vital points concerning the Completion Stage.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
On the strength of that, the meanings of many groups of tantras
Such as Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, and Kalachakra
Dawned as personal instruction in my mind.
Since I explained these in other works that I composed,
What is presented here
Is merely a door for the intelligent to enter.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Thus concludes the second period regarding
the dawning as personal instruction of all the scriptural systems.
Then when I became filled with a treasure of instructions,
I trained by combining into a complete path the vital points
Of the paths shared by the two parts of the Mahayana Vehicle
And the two stages of the unique path.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
The Ganges River of prayers of the bodhisattvas
May be condensed into a prayer to uphold the holy Dharma.
Hence, whatever roots of virtue I have accumulated by these acts
I dedicate all for the increase of the Muni’s teachings.
Contemplating what I did, I see that I attained my aims quite well.
O Treasury of Wisdom,
how grateful I am to you for your kindness!
Thus concludes the third period, the last,
which involves practicing day and night
and dedicating all virtue
for the sake of the flourishing of the teachings.
In order to extensively increase my virtue and
Properly reveal the unerring doorway
For all intelligent fortunate ones,
I composed this chronicle of my realizations.
Through the virtue that I’ve collected
May all beings without exception
Maintain the Muni’s highest practice and
Enter the path that pleases the Buddhas.
[This work, A Brief Chronicle of My Realizations, was composed by the erudite monk from the east,
Tsong Khapa Losang Drakpa, at Great Nomad Mountain, Nampar Gyelway Ling, Ganden Monastery.]
___________________________________
©Vincent Montenegro, translator
[This work was translated from Tibetan]
For Tibetan with English and footnotes:
A Brief Chronicle of My Realizations
