Category: Reflections

The Root Verses

(Sanskrit: avatara / Tibetan: ‘jug pa / ‘entrance’)

[1] Recognize the arising of the intermediate states of: living; dreaming; [S. samādhi] meditation; the moment before death; [S. dharmatā] reality; rebirth… 

[2] Take sense perception and the nature of the mind as the path, overcome beast-like slumber, be not swayed by deceptive emotions, separate from the amalgam of flesh and blood, and arrive at the  crucial point, when steadfastness and pure vision are vital… 

[3] Practice the divine teaching from this moment on:

(S. charya / T. spyod pa / ‘activities’) 

Shedding indolence for which life has no time;
Shedding the corpse-like sleep of uncaring ignorance;
Shedding the multitude of distractions and fantasies
;
Shedding all attachment, grasping, and compulsion; 

Shedding all feelings of terror and fear, with strong resolve:

I will enter without distraction on the path of study, reflection, and meditation;
I will relax in the natural state of undistracted presence;
I will rest in the state beyond limitations without grasping or losing focus;
I will remain without distraction in the state in which the meaning of the oral teaching is clear;
I will recognize whatever appears as natural manifestations of my own pure awareness;
And determinedly unite with propensities of my past and good deeds.

Recognizing pure awareness [T. rigpa], taking sense perception and the nature of the mind as the path, with strong resolve: 


I will train in manifesting the three enlightened dimensions;
I will train in recognizing, generating, and transforming dreams;
I will train in achieving stability in the practice of generation and completion;
I will train in transferring my pure awareness into the unborn expanse of space;
I will train in knowing that sound, light, and rays are apparitions of the intermediate state;
I will train in blocking the womb entrances and recall the methods of reversal.

(bodhi[sattva] / sems dpa’ / ‘heroic being’)

Now that I have obtained a precious human body,

I do not have leisure to remain in the ways of distraction.

Having overcome beast-like slumber,

I will treasure the practice of integrating sleep and clear light.

Free of all activity, practicing single-mindedly,

I will not be swayed by deceptive emotions.

I will recognize my body as an ephemeral illusion.

I will not fear the host of peaceful and wrathful deities that emanate from myself.

I  renounce all attachments and meditate on my spiritual teacher with his consort.